Realme 8 5G has landed as the cheapest 5G phone in the UK

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Realme 8
The Realme 8 (Image credit: Realme)

5G phones are now truly affordable, and the Realme 8 5G is a new arrival that pushes the price down even further – at least briefly.

Available from May 20 in the UK, the Realme 8 5G has a standard starting price of £199 (around $280 / AU$360), which we believe would make it the joint cheapest 5G phone, alongside the Moto G50. However, if you order it between May 20 and May 23 then you’ll be able to get it for an early-bird price of £179 (approximately $255 / AU$325).

Do that and it becomes the very cheapest 5G handset – as Realme is keen to point out. That price gets you a model with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, while for £249 (roughly $350 / AU$450), with an early-bird price of £229 (around $325 / AU$415), you can get one with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

Specs of the Realme 8 5G include a 6.5-inch 1080 x 2400 LCD screen with a 90Hz refresh rate, a MediaTek Dimensity 700 5G chipset, a 5,000mAh battery, and a triple-lens camera, with a 48MP main sensor, a 2MP macro camera and a 2MP black and white snapper.

There’s also a 16MP camera on the front in a punch-hole, a side-mounted fingerprint scanner, and the phone runs Android 11.

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Realme 8 5G
The Realme 8 5G(Image credit: Realme)

As well as the Realme 8 5G, the brand has also launched the standard Realme 8 in the UK, and this phone is available now. It costs £199 (around $280 / AU$360) for a model with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, or £219 (roughly $310 / AU$400) for one with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

Those are some similar prices to the 5G model, despite the absence of it here, but instead you get a 6.4-inch 1080 x 2400 Super AMOLED screen and a quad-lens camera with a 64MP main sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide, a 2MP macro and a 2MP depth sensor.

The Realme 8 also has a 5,000mAh battery, but with faster charging than the Realme 8 5G (at 30W versus 18W), and it has a 16MP selfie camera, a slightly lower end Helio G95 chipset, and an in-screen fingerprint scanner.

There’s no news yet on US or Australian availability, but the Realme 7 range didn’t land in these regions, so don’t count on seeing the Realme 8 or Realme 8 5G either.

James Rogerson
James Rogerson

James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.