Realme 8 deals

The realme 8 was built around one clear idea: put a proper Super AMOLED screen on a phone that most rivals were still fitting with LCD. Years on, that decision is still what makes it appealing second hand. Blacks are genuinely black, the in-display fingerprint reader works because of that panel, and at 177g with a body just under 8mm thick it is far more comfortable to hold than the chunky 5,000mAh phones it competed with. The trade-off realme made to get there was refresh rate: the screen runs at 60Hz, so scrolling looks less fluid than on cheaper handsets with 90Hz LCDs. The other significant limitation is connectivity. This is a 4G-only phone, so it cannot use UK 5G networks at all, which matters more now than it did at launch. Performance from the Helio G95 is fine for messaging, video and casual games but shows its age under pressure, and realme has stopped issuing updates. Its strengths are the screen, the light build and the 5,000mAh battery.