Realme Realme GT 8 Pro (RMX4010)

A ₹73,000 flagship with a swappable camera module sounds gimmicky—until you realize that 200MP telephoto lens shoots telemacro at 10cm focus distance. The Realme GT 8 Pro isn't playing it safe.

Quick Take Box

What it is: India's first Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 flagship with Ricoh-tuned cameras and modular design philosophy

Who it's for: Photography enthusiasts valuing zoom versatility over gaming endurance, creators wanting unique shooting styles

Reality check: Battery life from that massive 7,000mAh cell somehow lags behind competitors—efficiency optimization clearly went wrong

Design & Build Quality

Realme's swappable camera module isn't just a party trick—it's an actual mechanical assembly you can unscrew and replace. Ships with circular and rectangular options, plus a third choice: run it naked to expose the clean glass back. The process takes 30 seconds with the included screwdriver. Whether you'll actually swap modules more than once is debatable, but it's genuinely novel in an industry where everything's sealed tight.

The Urban Blue variant rocks paper-textured vegan leather that feels premium without the slippery glass fingerprint magnet problem. Dairy White uses frosted glass instead. At 214g, it's lighter than expected for a 7,000mAh battery phone—OnePlus 15's 226g feels noticeably heavier. The flat 6.79-inch display with symmetrical bezels finally gives Realme a flagship-worthy front design.

Build quality is exceptional: IP68 and IP69 ratings mean you can dunk it 2 meters deep or blast it with water jets. Gorilla Glass 7i protection is the latest generation. The metal frame feels solid without the creaky plastic issues plaguing earlier GT models.

For professionals: Premium build matches Samsung/Apple standards

For casual users: That swappable design adds personality missing from cookie-cutter flagships

Display & Multimedia

The 6.79-inch 2K LTPS AMOLED panel is a mixed bag. The good: 7,000 nits peak brightness destroys competitors in direct sunlight—text stays readable where OnePlus 15 struggles. The 144Hz refresh rate feels noticeably smoother than standard 120Hz, especially in gaming. HDR10+ and Dolby Vision support makes Netflix sessions pop. 10-bit color depth delivers smooth gradients.

The bad: This is an LTPS panel, not LTPO. That's why battery efficiency suffers—the display can't dynamically drop below 60Hz like the OnePlus 15's adaptive 1-165Hz range. At ₹73K, that's unacceptable cost-cutting.

Display brightness reality check: Realme claims 7,000 nits peak, but you'll see that only in specific HDR highlights. Real-world sustained brightness hits around 2,000 nits, which is still excellent but not the miracle number suggests.

Audio quality impresses with symmetrical dual 1115E speakers. Bass response surprises—deeper than expected without distortion. The 0816 ultra-haptic motor delivers tight, punchy feedback that actually enhances typing and gaming. No headphone jack (2025, after all), but aptX HD and LHDC 5 Bluetooth codecs handle wireless audio well.

Performance & Software

Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 flexes hard in benchmarks: 3.75 million AnTuTu score, 3,480/10,204 Geekbench 6 single/multi-core. That's roughly 20% faster than last year's Elite chip. Daily performance feels snappy—apps launch instantly, multitasking handles 30+ tabs without hiccups, 4K video editing in CapCut doesn't stutter.

But sustained gaming reveals thermal issues. The GPU throttles aggressively after 20 minutes of Genshin Impact, dropping performance by 50%. Competitors like OnePlus 15 maintain more consistent frame rates. The 7,000mm² vapor chamber isn't keeping up with this chip's heat output.

Realme UI 7.0 (Android 16) is polished but shamelessly copies iOS design language—that "Light Glass" aesthetic is pure Apple. Still, it's fast, customizable, and feature-rich. The ultrasonic fingerprint scanner is excellent—unlocks instantly, works with wet fingers. Four years of OS updates plus five years of security patches match Samsung's commitment.

Bloatware situation: About 10 pre-installed apps (Hot Apps, Hot Games, various Realme services). Removable, but annoying out of box.

For gamers: Benchmarks impress, but sustained performance disappoints—OnePlus 15 maintains steadier framerates

For productivity users: Multitasking and app switching feel instantaneous with 16GB RAM

Camera System

This is where things get interesting. Realme partnered with Ricoh for that "street photography soul" tuning, and it shows.

Main camera (50MP Sony LYT-906, f/1.8, OIS): Daylight shots look natural with controlled sharpening—Ricoh's influence reduces the over-processed AI look. Colors lean slightly muted compared to Samsung's saturation bombs, which purists will appreciate. Low-light performance is solid but not class-leading—the sensor size (1/1.56") hasn't changed from GT 7 Pro. Inconsistency issues pop up occasionally where exposure goes wonky.

Telephoto camera (200MP Samsung HP5, f/2.6, 3x optical, OIS): The star of the show. This periscope telephoto is absurdly good—200MP resolution captures insane detail at 3x zoom. Push it to 10x digital and images still look usable. The killer feature: 10cm minimum focus distance enables proper telemacro photography. Competitors can't touch this. Portrait mode benefits from that massive sensor—natural bokeh and sharp subject separation.

Ultrawide camera (50MP Samsung JN5, f/2.0, 116°): Acceptable but unremarkable. Daylight detail is fine, distortion control is decent, low-light gets noisy. It does the job without wowing anyone.

Front camera (32MP, f/2.4): Solid 4K video capability for calls, decent detail in selfies, natural skin tones. No complaints.

Ricoh GR Mode reality: The five film presets (Positive Film, Negative Film, Standard, High-Contrast B&W, Monotone) add character but aren't revolutionary. Think Instagram filters with better control. Street photographers will appreciate the grittier, less-processed aesthetic. Casual users might find them pretentious.

Camera comparison: Telephoto beats OnePlus 15 and iQOO 15 handily. Main sensor trails Oppo Find X9's larger IMX906. Overall versatility is strong but not best-in-class.

Battery & Charging

Here's the disappointment. A 7,000mAh battery should deliver 1.5 days easily. Instead, real-world usage barely scrapes through a full day with 6 hours screen-on time. Heavy camera use, 5G enabled all day? You're hitting 10-12% by 9 PM. That LTPS display (no adaptive refresh) is the culprit—constantly running at higher refresh rates even when unnecessary.

Competitors with smaller batteries outlast it: OnePlus 15 (7,300mAh) delivers 13 hours in PCMark tests vs GT 8 Pro's middling performance. The efficiency optimization clearly went wrong somewhere.

Charging speeds: 120W wired hits 50% in 15 minutes, full charge in 43 minutes. Fast enough to rescue you during the day. 50W wireless charging is a welcome addition missing from GT 7 Pro—79 minutes to full wirelessly.

Power user scenario: Moderate social media, browsing, calls = barely full day

Normal user scenario: Light usage might stretch to 1.5 days, but that's underwhelming for 7,000mAh

Connectivity & Extras

5G support: All major Indian bands covered (n1/n3/n5/n28/n40/n41/n77/n78)

Wi-Fi 7: Future-proofed with latest standard

Bluetooth 6.0: aptX HD and LHDC 5 codecs for high-quality wireless audio

NFC: Yes, for payments

IR blaster: Doubles as universal remote—surprisingly useful

Ultrasonic fingerprint: Fast, reliable, works with wet fingers

Dual SIM + eSIM: Flexibility for travelers

Missing: No microSD expansion (not unusual for flagships), no headphone jack (expected), USB 2.0 port (inexcusable—file transfers are painfully slow compared to USB 3.2 on rivals)

Marketing Claims Reality Check

"7,000 nits peak brightness" = You'll see that number only in HDR highlights. Sustained brightness is around 2,000 nits, which is still excellent.

"7,000mAh all-day battery" = Technically accurate but only barely. Competitors with smaller batteries last longer thanks to better efficiency.

"Switchable camera design" = Works as advertised but feels more experimental than essential. Most users will pick one style and forget about it.

"Ricoh GR partnership" = Adds unique character to photos, but don't expect Leica/Hasselblad level transformation. It's refinement, not revolution.

"India's first Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5" = True, but OnePlus 15 launched days later with better thermal management of the same chip.

COMPETITIVE CONTEXT:

Direct Rival: OnePlus 15 (₹72,999) - Same price, larger 7,300mAh battery with better efficiency, 165Hz LTPO display, more consistent gaming performance

Value Alternative: Realme GT 7 Pro (now ₹54,999 with offers) - 30% cheaper, Snapdragon 8 Elite, lacks Ricoh cameras and wireless charging but delivers better battery life

Aspirational Upgrade: Oppo Find X9 Pro (₹82,999) - Better main and selfie cameras, superior battery optimization, longer software support, more refined overall package

Gaming Alternative: iQOO 15 (expected ₹72,999) - Dedicated Q3 gaming chip, better sustained performance, but less interesting camera system

REGIONAL CONSIDERATIONS:

• Network compatibility: All major 5G bands for India covered (Jio/Airtel/Vi)
• Service centers: Realme has 500+ service centers across India—adequate coverage
• Warranty: 1-year standard warranty, extendable to 2 years with Realme Care
• Software updates: Android 16 out of box, promised updates to Android 20
• Regional pricing: India pricing is aggressive compared to China (CNY 3,999 ≈ ₹49,700 base model)

FINAL ASSESSMENT:

The Realme GT 8 Pro isn't a bad phone—it's a confused one. That 200MP Ricoh telephoto delivers genuinely exceptional zoom photography that justifies professional consideration. The swappable camera design adds personality missing from homogenous flagships. Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 flexes impressive benchmark numbers.

But cost-cutting decisions undermine flagship aspirations: disappointing battery efficiency despite 7,000mAh capacity, no LTPO display at ₹73K, USB 2.0 ports in 2025, heavy GPU throttling under sustained loads. The ₹13,000 price hike over GT 7 Pro feels aggressive when competitors deliver more consistent real-world performance.

Buy if: You prioritize telephoto photography, want unique Ricoh shooting modes, appreciate modular design philosophy, need IP69 water resistance

Skip if: Battery endurance matters, you game heavily, USB transfer speeds matter, you want best-in-class efficiency—OnePlus 15 or Oppo Find X9 serve you better

Bottom line: Realme's ambition to create a camera-first flagship is admirable, but execution stumbles where it counts—battery optimization and thermal management. The GT 8 Pro shows potential but needs another generation of refinement to truly challenge OnePlus and Samsung dominance.