Poco F7 Ultra review: Flagship performance, mid-range price

Poco is thought for producing succesful mid-range telephones at shockingly inexpensive costs, however relating to flagships, they usually carry the badge of ex-parent firm Xiaomi. Nevertheless, with the launch of the Poco F7 Extremely, it appears that evidently’s starting to alter.

The F7 Extremely has all of the makings of a real flagship-level machine. It comes with one of many quickest chips available on the market, the Snapdragon 8 Elite, an enormous battery, a stunning show, speedy wi-fi charging and a well-specced triple digicam system on the rear.

Even the construct will get the premium therapy, with a steel body and glass rear panel that you simply usually solely discover on the priciest telephones. The query is, does this sustain with 2025’s spectacular array of flagship handsets, or is Poco’s budget-oriented heritage nonetheless obvious? I’ve been dwelling with it for the previous week, and right here’s what I feel.

Design & Construct

• Aluminium body, glass again
• 160.3 x 75 x 8.4 mm, 212g
• IP68 rated

The Poco F7 Extremely is on the market with a traditional black end, however the signature brilliant yellow colourway (full with contrasting black siderails) is rather more attention-grabbing.

It most likely wouldn’t be my first alternative, however I like that such a daring possibility is on the market, it’s positive to enchantment to beekeepers and Wu-Tang Clan followers alike.

Luke Baker

The cellphone has a very flat display, with boxy sides and a flat rear panel with refined curves on the edges. It’s a big cellphone, and the boxy development makes it really feel bigger nonetheless, nevertheless it’s not particularly heavy, solely tipping the scales at 212g. On the similar time, it’s substantial and dense sufficient as to not really feel low cost.

There’s a round digicam hob on the rear, positioned within the higher left-hand nook. It seems to be good sufficient, however I can’t assist however suppose it seems to be a bit retro.

Most fashionable flagships are choosing centrally positioned digicam models, whereas this jogs my memory of the Vivo X90 Professional from a couple of years again. Evidently, when you don’t like your cellphone rocking about when positioned on a desk, this one received’t be for you.

Luke Baker

The F7 Extremely has an IP68 ranking for mud and water resistance, which implies it’s proof against mud and might be dunked in contemporary water with out hurt.

The cellphone additionally boasts ‘Poco Defend Glass’, the model’s toughest-ever display coating, which is alleged to spice up drop resistance and scratch safety. My pattern hasn’t been handled too roughly, however after utilizing it for per week or so with no display protector utilized, it’s nonetheless trying spotless. So, it appears the Poco Defend Glass is doing its job. 

If you wish to preserve your cellphone trying contemporary, you additionally get a primary TPU case included within the field. It’s a matt black case, which I’m comfortable to see. These circumstances are likely to fare higher in the long run than their clear counterparts, as you’ll see much less mud accumulation, and it received’t flip yellow. It’s all the time good to get a decent-looking case at no further cost.

Luke Baker

Display screen & Audio system

• 6.67-inch, 1440 x 3200, OLED, 120Hz
• 3200 nits, DCI-P3 vast coloration gamut
• Stereo audio system

The Poco F7 Extremely has a beautiful show. It’s a spacious 6.67-inch OLED with an adaptive 120Hz refresh price and a peak brightness of 3200 nits.

After spending quite a lot of time with quad-curved units, the totally flat display is refreshing, and I undoubtedly desire it for gaming. It’s a good selection right here, since avid gamers are probably the principle viewers for this cellphone. That mentioned, gesture controls that require you to swipe from the sting of the show don’t really feel as good, particularly with a case connected.

The display covers the DCI-P3 vast gamut and produces extremely correct colors with wonderful distinction ranges. For those who desire to tweak your picture, you’re given extra choices within the settings than a lot of the competitors. The record consists of 4 preset color modes, all of which may have their temperature adjusted, in addition to a complicated mode for extra thorough calibration.

There are many eye-care measures inbuilt, together with a layer of round polarisation that extra intently matches pure gentle. It additionally helps as much as 3840Hz PWM dimming charges, guaranteeing a flicker-free expertise at low brightness ranges.

Luke Baker

This show has one other trick up its sleeve: a co-processing chip known as the VisionBoost D7. That is supposed to extend readability on apps like YouTube and Netflix with out as a lot pressure on the battery. To be trustworthy, I didn’t see an enormous distinction with the setting toggled on, however in case you have a very low-quality supply, it would make an even bigger influence.

The F7 Extremely can be rocking an ultrasonic fingerprint scanner hidden underneath the show. This function is omitted on among the priciest flagships round, so I’m satisfied to see it right here. It means your cellphone will unlock shortly and reliably, regardless of how soiled your display will get.

The cellphone boasts stereo audio system – one which fires out from the underside subsequent to the USB-C port, and one other that fires from the earpiece. This creates a pleasant, vast soundstage that’s nice for gaming and movie-watching. 

Luke Baker

The readability is nice and the audio system get a lot loud sufficient, however they’re missing within the bass division – as is so typically the case. In order for you the perfect audio expertise, you’ll most likely wish to get a pair of wi-fi earbuds.

Specs & Efficiency

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite
• 12GB / 16GB RAM
• 256GB / 512GB storage

The Poco F7 Extremely has one of the vital highly effective chips available on the market, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite. It is available in two varieties, both with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, or 16GB of RAM and 512GB storage. I’ve the latter mannequin in for testing, which has greater than sufficient room for all of the media you can wish to eat.

With a robust chip like this at its core, it’s no shock that the F7 Extremely is a high performer. All the things feels lightning-quick, from navigating the OS to opening apps and multitasking. For those who change the animation velocity to “quick” within the settings, it seems like an absolute rocket.

This machine is well probably the greatest performers in its worth class

For those who’re searching for gaming efficiency, this machine is well probably the greatest performers in its worth class. By default, it’ll run any sport you may throw at it on most graphical settings with out difficulty, however the Poco F7 Extremely has a couple of further tips to push the efficiency additional.

The built-in sport overlay means that you can allow Tremendous Decision and Good Body Price, two new options that utilise the VisionBoost D7 chipset. These work a bit like DLSS and body technology on a gaming PC, utilizing AI algorithms to interpolate and upscale your gameplay.

Luke Baker

It really works fairly properly, and basically means that you can run the sport at a decrease preset with out sacrificing smoothness or high quality – which is simpler in your battery and generates much less warmth.

The Good Body Price function impressed me probably the most, and it’s particularly good for Genshin Affect, which is restricted to 60fps on Android. With the function enabled it seems to be a lot nearer to 120fps, which is an opulent expertise.

Poco F7 Extremely benchmarks

Frustratingly, quite a lot of our traditional benchmarks had been blocked on this cellphone. It’s nothing new; we’ve seen the identical from pre-release Xiaomi and Redmagic devices plenty of times, but it does make it difficult to compare the performance with competing devices.

At the very least, I was able to run Geekbench 6, where the device scored a little lower than the Galaxy S25 Ultra, but higher than the Oppo Find X8 Pro. It’s still well behind dedicated gaming phones in the Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro and Nubia Redmagic 10 Pro, though.

Cameras

• 50Mp main sensor
• 50Mp 2.5x telephoto
• 32Mp ultrawide
• 32Mp selfie camera

As usual, Poco has placed more emphasis on the F7 Ultra’s gaming performance than on its cameras, so I wasn’t expecting the world from these lenses. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the results. 

Luke Baker

Of course, image quality is somewhat subjective, but for my tastes, the Poco F7 Ultra might take the best photos of any gaming-centric phone. It easily trades blows with the Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro, and it outclasses any of Redmagic’s attempts, too.

The Poco F7 Ultra might take the best photos of any gaming-centric phone

The main reason for this is the image processing: colours look pleasing and lifelike, dynamic range is great, and the trio of lenses give you a good amount of versatility for framing up shots. It handles digital zoom better than I expected, too, delivering usable results up to around 10x magnification.

The ultrawide is the weakest of the trio, as is often the case, and that’s especially true at night. Details are very muddied on this lens and it doesn’t have autofocus, so you can’t use it for close-up shots. The colours are also a little shifted compared to the others.

During the day, the main and telephoto can capture some stunning shots, but at night, you’ll want to stick to the main camera as much as possible. The telephoto does a decent job, but there’s only so much you can do with this tiny sensor, and you’ll be heavily relying on night mode most of the time.

The selfie camera is solid, but not the most remarkable. I was pleased with the level of detail, and the portrait mode effects work well, but there’s no autofocus, and colours lack some vibrancy in low light conditions.

For video shooting, the F7 Ultra can record at up to 8K 24fps on the main lens, but only for 6 minutes at a time. More realistically, you’ll want to shoot at 4K 60fps, which works on the main and telephoto cameras. Meanwhile, the ultrawide and selfie cameras max out at 1080p 60fps.

The results are decent enough, but the inconsistency is a clear indicator that this system is a step below your typical flagship. You’ll need to think carefully about which resolution to choose before hitting record, or else end up stuck with a smaller selection of lenses.

Battery Life & Charging

• 5300 mAh battery
• 120W wired charging
• 50W wireless charging

The Poco F7 Ultra has a 5300mAh battery pack, more than your typical flagship, but not quite matching the latest silicon-carbon models that hover around the 6000mAh mark. Because of this, I was expecting good battery life, but nothing mind-blowing. However, the F7 Ultra surprised me.

Luke Baker

I managed two days on a charge without trying, and I’m a fairly heavy user. If you were more considered, I think making it well into a third day is feasible. Of course, intense gaming sessions will drain the battery much faster, so as always, it depends on how you use it. In any case, it’s safe to say the battery life is great.

The phone managed to go from fully dead to 100% charged in just over half an hour

When you eventually drain it, you won’t be waiting long for a charge. With the included 120W wall adapter, the phone managed to go from fully dead to 100% charged in just over half an hour. If you prefer wireless charging, you can expect impressive speeds there too. The Poco F7 Ultra supports up to 50W wireless charging with the appropriate charging pad.

Software & Apps

• HyperOS 2, based on Android 15
• Circle to Search and Gemini
• Some bloatware to deal with

The Poco F7 Ultra runs HyperOS 2, a heavily customised version of Android 15 found on many Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco phones. If you’ve used a recent model from any of these brands, you won’t be in for too many surprises.

Luke Baker

Starting with the positives, HyperOS has a very slick look, and it’s very speedy. There’s some iOS influence here, especially with the quick settings shade and lock screen customisation. Personally, I’m fine with that, as both look great.

There are tons of customisation options in every area of the system, so if anything doesn’t look or act the way you want it to, there’s a good chance you can change it. I love the freedom it affords, and I also appreciate the sheer amount of apps I can have on my home screen.

The downsides are the same as ever. There’s a bit of bloatware to clean up when you first set up the device, nothing too bad, but a frustration I could do with out. There are also ads baked into some of the system apps, like the wallpaper selector and the game centre. It really detracts from an otherwise premium-feeling experience.

Luke Baker

I was pleased to see that the phone has Google’s latest features included, like the ability to set Gemini as your default search assistant, and Circle to Search. These aren’t too novel in 2025, but they’re very useful to have. Otherwise, AI functionality is a little scarce, aside from the aforementioned gaming enhancements.

Price & Availability

The Poco F7 Ultra launched globally on 27 March 2025.

In the UK, the phone costs £649 for 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, while the 16GB+512GB model is £699.

You can buy one outright from the Xiaomi website and via Amazon. Nevertheless, no networks are promoting the cellphone on contract, and it’s not obtainable within the US as traditional.

That outright worth places it on the higher finish of the mid-range cellphone market, the place it’s competing with units such because the Xiaomi 14T Professional and OnePlus 13R, whereas the Google Pixel 9 is commonly discounted to the same worth.

Do you have to purchase the Poco F7 Extremely?

For those who’re in search of flagship-level efficiency however can solely stretch to an higher mid-range funds, it’s exhausting to think about a greater possibility than the Poco F7 Extremely. It’s very good worth for cash and delivers a gaming and productiveness expertise that’s up there with the perfect telephones available on the market.

It’s solely actually the cameras that aren’t fairly flagship-level. They’re nonetheless fairly good, and positively higher than most gaming telephones, however received’t match handsets such because the Samsung Galaxy S25 Extremely or Xiaomi 15 Extremely.

In any other case, the display, battery life and charging speeds are all high notch. It’s a pleasure to make use of, and as long as you’re not too choosy together with your images, you’re in for a superb time.

Specs

• HyperOS 2, based mostly on Android 15
• 6.67-inch, 1440 x 3200, OLED, 120Hz show
• In-display ultrasonic fingerprint reader
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite
• 12GB / 16GB RAM
• 256GB / 512GB storage
• Cameras:
  • 50Mp predominant sensor
  • 50Mp 2.5x telephoto
  • 32Mp ultrawide
  • 32Mp selfie digicam
• As much as 8K @ 24fps rear video
• Stereo audio system
• Twin-SIM
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e/7
• Bluetooth 6.0
• 5300mAh battery
• 120W wired charging
• 50W wi-fi charging
• 160.3 x 75 x 8.4 mm
• IP68 licensed
• 212g
• Colors: Yellow, Black