Nothing much in terms of hardware, the processor is the main thing that was upgraded from the previous Realme 8

The Realme I series is almost often a watered-down version of their main "Realme" series. That's always a tradition. That or it's just another filler or alternative phone for users to buy in case they find the main series underwhelming or expensive. This, of course, comes with some downgrades, but still, Realme tends to keep the most important elements of the main series intact.

The Realme 8i is an example of that description. It sits in the middle between the Realme 8 and the Realme 8 5G. The reason why Realme released this one is to market the Helio G96 processor in a rush.

Starting with the screen, it's a 6.6in. IPS LCD screen with 120Hz refresh rate which is normally unheard of within its price range. It's powered by the Mediatek Helio G96, one of the phone's main selling points.

Everything else is mundane. You get a large 5000mAh battery, which is typical for any phone released this year, with 18W fast charging. You also get a 50mp main camera complemented by the useless 2mp depth and macro sensors, along with a 16mp selfie camera on a dot notch. There's a side-mounted fingerprint scanner for biometrics and BBK's specialty feature: the expandable virtual RAM. For the Realme 8i, you can expand up to 11GB of RAM. This takes a part of your internal storage and can be toggled on and off anytime (though for the Virtual RAM feature to take effect, you have to restart the phone, same when toggling it off).

Realme 8i price and sale price on Lazada via Revu Philippines

In the Philippines, the phone starts at Php9,990 for the 4/64 variant while the 6/128 variant starts at Php11,990. As part of its debut sale, the phone is discounted to Php1,000 for both variants starting today until the 21st of November. It's available for purchase in Lazada.