Realme Just Dropped a $340 nuke on the Flagship Market

Friday, 23 January 2026 at 09:29

I’ve been doing this for a long time, and usually, when a phone launches at 2,399 yuan (about $345), you just assume it’s going to be a plastic, underpowered mess. But the Realme Neo8 just landed in China, and honestly? It makes me want to throw my $1,200 iPhone out the window.

Realme isn't just "competing" here; they’re basically trolling the rest of the industry. We’re talking about a Snapdragon 8 Gen 5—the absolute top-tier silicon for 2026—packed into a phone that costs less than a decent pair of headphones.

Key Points

Unbeatable Performance: Features the flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 for just ~$345.
Insane Battery Life: Packs a record-breaking 8,000mAh battery with bypass charging for gamers.
PC Gaming in Your Pocket: Includes a "PC Handheld Mode" verified to run 50+ AAA Steam titles.
The "Sky Screen": A 165Hz Samsung OLED that hits a blinding 6,500 nits of peak brightness.
Rugged & Flashy: Combines a transparent RGB design with a hardcore IP69 water-resistance rating.

The 8,000mAh Elephant in the Room

The spec that everyone is losing their minds over is the battery. It’s 8,000mAh.

For context, most "big" phones struggle to hit 5,000mAh. Somehow, Realme’s engineers managed to cram this massive silicon-carbon cell into an 8.3mm body. I don't know what kind of black magic they’re using, but a multi-day battery on a flagship-level chip is basically the holy grail of mobile tech. They even added a PC Handheld Mode that apparently lets you play actual Steam games like Sekiro or Hollow Knight natively. If that actually holds a stable frame rate, the Steam Deck might finally have some real competition in your pocket.

Cyberpunk Aesthetics and "Sky Screens"

Visually, this thing is anything but subtle. It’s got a transparent RGB back with what they call the "Awakening Halo"—basically a glowing ring that pulses when you get a text or land a kill in a game.

The screen is just as over-the-top. It’s a Samsung Sky Screen hitting a local peak brightness of 6,500 nits. That is genuinely insane. You could probably use this thing to signal a rescue plane from a desert island. It’s 165Hz, too, which is great, though I doubt most people can actually tell the difference between 144Hz and 165Hz in real-world use.

No More "Budget" Cameras

Usually, the camera is where these "flagship killers" fall apart. Not this time. Realme actually threw in a 50MP periscope telephoto lens. That’s a 3.5x optical zoom on a "budget" phone. Combined with the Sony IMX896 main sensor, you’re getting a camera setup that—on paper, at least—beats the base iPhone 17 and Galaxy S26.

With a triple IP66/IP68/IP69 rating (you can literally power-wash it), this is easily the most aggressive value play of the year. If this hits the global market as the Realme GT 8, the rest of the mid-range market is basically toast.