When a new smartphone is released, it’s always worth taking a step back and asking whether it truly delivers good value for money. A competitive price alone isn’t enough; performance, build quality, software support, and specifications all need to align. With so many devices launching each year, separating genuine value from clever marketing has become increasingly important. In this review I take an in-depth look at the Poco F8 Ultra, examining its design, performance, camera capabilities, and overall user experience to determine whether it meets the expectations set by its price tag.
In comparison, From Apple : iPhone 17 Pro Max.
From a pricing perspective, you can get your hands on a Poco F8 Ultra from 699,-
In comparison to Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max, with 512GB of memory, you pay 1729,- that is 1000,- euro’s more!
If you compare both phones, side to side, you won’t notice to much difference from the looks.
Look here:
What does the Poco makes it a great comparison to iPhone in the world of Android?
Well, the following:
- Screen size
- Used Materials, the back of the phone is impressive! Such nice material, but, for the long term, I am curious how long it stay’s good. It will not crack when dropped, that’s for sure! And, why use a case?
Speaking of which… a case is included, if you think you are unlucky and want to keep the phone clean and scratch free:
Besides the case, you will get:
- Screen Protector factory installed, but be careful: it’s not a tempered glass screen protector, but it is nice to see that Poco delivers the phone with a protector out of the box! Good job Poco!
- USB charging Cable, of course!
- Some manuals/documentation/energy labels
- Sim Eject Pin
What does the phone deliver?
The main specs of the phone, we (of course) want to know, before we buy something:
- Snapdragon® 8 Elite Gen 5 Mobile Platform
- 12GB or 16GB Memory – 256GB or 512GB Storage -> always go for the latter, price difference is in my opinion too low and expansion is not possible.
Fingerprint Sensor
Fingerprint Sensor, while Apple has FaceID, Android still uses fingerprint, but this fingerprint scanner is blazing fast! Every time I unlock the device, I am surprised how quick it is. In relation to other phones / older devices, even older phones are quick (in relation), but you will notice when you try! It just feels “natural” in a sort of way.
IR-Blaster
It has an IR blaster, yes sir, it has! Is it something you need, well… maybe! It’s a fun fact, that’s for sure! Think of your television, maybe an Airconditioning with IR…, haven’t seen this feature in a while, and whilst a niche feature, you are the one always carrying a remote control for basically every television / airconditioning etc wherever you are!
Bose Speakers
Bose Speakers, and yes they are good! I can talk ours about the audio quality, but in a written review it stays difficult to convince about the quality the phone delivers, but keep in mind, it is and stays a small phone with a small speaker, but even small, the sound is really great, the “subwoofer” is just a great nicely integrated addition to the phone. When playing games, watching content, it’s just that extra what makes the phone better in my opinion to other phones.
Screen/display
The display is just, enormous, it has a real estate / screen-to-body ratio of a whopping ~ 91.8 %, the specs are just amazing:
AMOLED, 68B colors, 2560Hz PWM, 120Hz, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, 2000 nits (HBM), 3500 nits (peak), that’s just a mouth full of specs.
In normal language, the screen is bright, even in direct sunlight, it has a 120 HZ refresh rate which makes scrolling butter smooth, but! There’s a little (software) catch. I notices that sometimes when scrolling webpages, the auto setting decided to refresh with 60Hz or less, resulting in less smooth scrolling, but it is not always the case, so I just don’t understand why sometimes it runs 120Hz and other time 60Hz.
It’s possible to force 120Hz for apps who support 120Hz, but it will drain the battery more.
Overall, the display is great, no complaints!
Camera
The back “plateau” consists of 3 camera’s with a flash in the middle, did I wrote 3? Yes! The sensor right-bottom is not a camera sensor
For the looks it’s a fourth camera, but it isn’t, in fact it seems to have 3 sensors in it, one on the top left (hard to see), one on the top right and one on the bottom. These are probably a depth and/or an assist sensor. From ecstatics point of view it’s logical to have 4 of the same “circles”.
Performance / Gaming
This device is also great for gaming, besides the (butter) smooth experience within Android, gaming is also great, with gaming mode balanced, it’s performing and taking care of the battery, when wild boost is enabled, it’s all about performance within games.
Screenshot
Used Materials
To be truly honest, the back of the phone, it’s genius, the back won’t crack, it’s new, it’s authentic, but how will this hold op in the future. And, it’s also a taste question, you just like it or not. Fun-fact, Poco delivers a case with the phone, so if you want the performance and great price, but don’t like the back of the phone, just put the case on.
Are there no complaints?
Unfortunately there are, one of the main things/concerns, are the pre-installed apps.
Screenshot
When trying to start some pre-installed apps, like the Mi Store for example, you will be confronted with a warning message about security, and when allowing it you will be charged even with more security related questions.
Charging
Charging, 100 watt? Yeah, that’s possible with a proprietary charger, I use an Anker charger which can charge up to above 100 Watts, but the phone stops at max 45 watts. So if you need the fast charging, you need to buy an additional Xiaomi (supported) charger. In my opinion, 45 watt is still quick!
But that speed is not forever, it quickly drops to 25 watts of charge speed.
There is – however – an option to unlock faster charging, but still, you need a proprietary charger in order to get 100 Watts. But in my experience with my Anker charger, it stays then at about 33 watts of charge speed.
The Poco also supports QI-charging!
Conclusion
The Poco F8 Ultra has :
- Fast processor!
- Awesome (denim) design and materials used!
- Gives you a lot of bang for buck!
- Out of the box / pre-installed Screen Protect, nice!
- A case for protection included!
- Whopping fast fingerprint reader
- IR Blaster
- 2 days of battery
- Enormous battery (lasts up to 2 days)
- Large screen estate
- Fast charging (proprietary charger needed)
- Wireless charging
To conclude: if you want a flagship Phone with mid-end pricing, while getting a unique design/materials, the Poco has it all, including 100 watt’s charging (again, only with a proprietary charger, not included), the IR blaster is a nice feature! The only downside of this phone in my opinion is the pre-installed software (which of course you can get rid of).
