Poco X8 Pro Max review: Minimum spend, maximum speed

Finest Costs As we speak: Xiaomi Poco X8 Professional Max

Poco’s X-series telephones have at all times supplied top-notch efficiency at discount costs. Usually, we see a typical mannequin and a Professional mannequin every year, however with the X8 collection, issues are totally different. This 12 months, there’s the X8 Professional, and the X8 Professional Max. At present, there doesn’t appear to be a typical X8, however perhaps that may arrive later.

That is the primary Poco cellphone from Xiaomi to don the very Apple-esque Professional Max moniker, and I’ve been utilizing it as my predominant cellphone for the previous week. On paper, it’s a really spectacular cellphone, at a really affordable value.

It boasts a mammoth 8500mAh battery, 100W charging, a flagship-level Dimensity 9500s chipset, and a premium construct with an aluminium body and a glass again. And it is available in at a value cheaper than the Google Pixel 10a, Nothing (4a) Professional and Samsung Galaxy A57.

However what’s it wish to stay with? Let’s discover out.

Design & Construct

• Aluminium body, glass again
• RGB LED rings across the cameras
• IP69 rated

The Poco X8 Professional Max has pretty understated appears, particularly for a gaming-focused system. At a look, you possibly can virtually mistake it for the bottom mannequin iPhone 17, because it has an identical form and digicam format. However there’s a hidden function that makes this cellphone stand out from the group.

Luke Baker

There are RGB LED rings round every of the digicam lenses, which could be set to light up together with your cellphone notifications, pulsate together with media playback, or react to in-game occasions. Though the latter function is barely presently supported by PUBG Cell and Name of Responsibility.

They’re not the brightest or flashiest LEDs we’ve come throughout, however they make sufficient of an announcement to show some heads. Additionally they serve to inject some pleasure into an in any other case pretty plain-looking cellphone. Flip the cellphone sideways they usually give the cellphone a cute robotic vibe.

In any other case, the cellphone encompasses a matte rear panel with a refined striped design that seems when the sunshine hits it. The digicam island has an aluminium end, which matches the body of the cellphone, and the ability button has a refined crimson ring round its edge.

The X8 Professional Max has a surprisingly premium construct, contemplating its value level. It sports activities an aluminium body and glass again, identical to you’d anticipate from a top-tier flagship. It’s a contact of luxurious at this value, the place most handsets are plastic slabs.

It is available in black, blue and white colors with the latter examined right here.

Luke Baker

The cellphone options the standard energy button and quantity rocker mixture, with no further buttons. All you’ll discover here’s a SIM card tray and USB-C port. Some avid gamers shall be sore in regards to the lack of a headphone jack, however I’m definitely not expert sufficient for the latency of wi-fi buds to matter.

The Poco X8 Professional Max boasts the very best doable IP score, IP69K, which suggests it’s licensed to resist full immersion in water, in addition to blasts from jets of sizzling water. You may take this factor anyplace with out being too involved.

Luke Baker

An thrilling addition with this mannequin is the brand new ultrasonic under-display fingerprint scanner. It’s a real rarity at this value, and it’s a lot faster and extra dependable than the standard optical scanner.

Display & Audio system

• 6.83-inch 120Hz OLED panel
• 3500 nits, 3840Hz PWM dimming
• Stereo audio system

Because the identify may counsel, the Poco X8 Professional Max has comparable display dimensions to the iPhone 17 Professional Max. It’s barely smaller, but it surely additionally doesn’t have that huge pill-shaped digicam cutout on the prime, so I suppose it evens out.

Luke Baker

It’s an OLED panel with a speedy 120Hz refresh charge and 3840Hz PWM dimming, which ought to assist cut back eye fatigue. It’s a lot shiny, boosting as much as 3500 nits in sure circumstances, and I by no means had bother seeing it within the daylight.

It’s a stunning display, with deep blacks and vibrant colors that look glorious straight out of the field. Should you fancy tweaking the color replica, although, there are many choices to fiddle with within the settings menu.

Luke Baker

The audio system are additionally very spectacular. There’s an honest quantity of bass and loads of readability, they usually can get tremendous loud.

These audio system simply rival some flagship units, however I’d advise in opposition to maxing out the quantity, as they start to distort on the higher finish.

Specs & Efficiency

• MediaTek Dimensity 9500s
• 12GB RAM
• 256/512GB storage

The Poco X8 Professional Max is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 9500s. Which has similarities to the flagship Dimensity 9500 (present in telephones just like the Oppo Discover X9 Professional), but it surely’s a barely cut-back model that may not obtain the identical lofty benchmark scores. 

Luke Baker

Alternatively, this model is claimed to be extra environment friendly, which ends up in higher stability throughout lengthy gaming periods, decrease temperatures, and higher battery life. It’s nonetheless very a lot a flagship-level chip in a mid-range cellphone and a brand new one at that, having launched in January 2026.

My take a look at unit got here with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, which is the higher-tier possibility, whereas the bottom mannequin comes with 256GB of storage. In both case, these are beneficiant capacities that shouldn’t maintain you again an excessive amount of.

In use, the distinction between the Dimensity 9500s and the full-fat 9500 feels minimal. Swiping across the OS is clean and stutter-free, apps open shortly, and there’s loads of energy on faucet for picture and video enhancing, gaming, and just about anything.

Luke Baker

I put a number of hours into Wuthering Waves, a graphically spectacular Android title that’s infamous for being arduous to run. The Poco X8 Professional Max dealt with it with finesse, sustaining a fairly stable 60fps on the very best graphics preset. The cellphone acquired heat after some time, but it surely by no means grew to become uncomfortable to carry.

Poco X8 Professional Max benchmarks

Cameras

• 50 Mp f/1.5 predominant digicam (1/1.95-inch)
• 8Mp f/2.2 ultrawide 
• 20Mp f/2.2 selfie digicam

The Poco X8 Professional Max has two cameras on the rear, a good 50Mp predominant digicam with a 1/1.95-inch sensor, and a considerably much less spectacular 8Mp ultrawide with a tiny 1/4-inch sensor. Across the entrance, there’s a 20Mp punch gap selfie digicam.

Luke Baker

Clearly, Poco is extra centered on the efficiency of this system, moderately than chasing digicam specs. These snappers received’t appease discerning photographers, however that doesn’t imply that they will’t take nice images.

The primary digicam is the star of the present. It produces the best-looking photographs in all lighting circumstances, however that’s very true at night time. If you’d like Instagram-worthy footage, it’s your greatest guess.

The selfie digicam is first rate, too, and stable portrait mode results add to the enchantment. Remember there’s no autofocus, although, so in the event you’re taking a bunch picture, you’ll be higher off utilizing the rear digicam.

The ultrawide is beneficial when the sunshine is in your aspect, but it surely’s a noticeable step down in high quality in comparison with the opposite lenses, and it has a set focus, so it’s no good for close-ups. At night time, you’ll need to keep away from this as a lot as doable, because the tiny sensor creates noisy, blur-prone photographs.

The most important draw back of this digicam system, in comparison with rivals just like the Nothing Telephone (4a), is that there’s no telephoto digicam. Should you’re zooming, you’ll simply be cropping into the 23mm equal predominant sensor, and consequently, you’ll be able to solely push to 10x – whereas some rivals zoom ten occasions additional.

In relation to video, the Poco X8 Professional Max can shoot at as much as 4K 60fps on the primary digicam, whereas the ultrawide maxes out at 1080p 30fps, and the selfie digicam goes to 1080p 60fps.

Stabilisation is pretty first rate throughout the board, however the decision discrepancy means switching lenses whereas recording isn’t at all times doable.

Battery Life & Charging

• 8500mAh battery
• 100W wired charging
• 27W reverse wired charging

One of the spectacular points of the Poco X8 Professional Max is the battery. It encompasses a mammoth 8500mAh pack, and it outlasts virtually each different smartphone I’ve examined. I’ve been utilizing it for per week, operating some fairly demanding exams, and I’ve nonetheless solely wanted to cost it twice.

To be extra particular, when utilizing the cellphone as I usually would, I charged the cellphone at 5pm on Wednesday, and I didn’t have to cost it once more till about midnight on Friday. That’s nicely over two days of use. Spectacular stuff!

A results of 21 hours and 53 minutes in our traditional PCMark battery take a look at may be very respectable certainly.

Luke Baker

It doesn’t cease there, both. Whenever you finally have to cost this cellphone, you received’t be ready round for lengthy. It helps as much as 100W speeds, which ought to get you to round 60% charged in simply half an hour, regardless of the big capability.

There’s no charger included within the field, however I used to be happy to study you can get 100W speeds from appropriate PPS chargers, not simply Xiaomi’s first-party options. This meant it was capable of pull 100W from my Sharge HyperTower energy financial institution, for instance.

With this technique, regardless of the massive cell, I noticed it cost 59% in half-hour.

One other neat function is the flexibility to reverse-charge different units at as much as 27W (with a wire). It’s nice for topping up your earbuds, and with a battery this huge, it’s a function you may really begin utilizing.

There’s no wi-fi charging obtainable, however that’s nothing uncommon on a mid-range handset like this one. Look to the Pixel 10a if it is a dealbreaker.

Software program & App

• HyperOS 3, primarily based on Android 16
• Complete gaming options
• 4 years of OS updates, 6 years of safety patches

The Poco X8 Professional Max runs HyperOS 3, Xiaomi’s customized software program constructed on prime of Android 16. Should you’ve used a current Xiaomi or Poco cellphone, you’ll have a good suggestion of what to anticipate.

Luke Baker

The newest model has extra iOS-inspired components than ever earlier than. HyperOS has its personal model of Dynamic Island, known as Hyper Island, and new lock display choices embody depth results and the ever-popular huge clocks.

Whereas these decisions won’t be essentially the most authentic, they give the impression of being nice, and the Hyper Island is genuinely helpful. So, I’m all for it. 

For essentially the most half, my expertise of Hyper OS on the Poco X8 Professional Max was virtually similar to Xiaomi’s flagship units, just like the Xiaomi 17. The one main distinction is the quantity of bloatware that comes pre-loaded.

There’s a good bit of junk to wash up once you first arrange the Poco X8 Professional Max, together with folders filled with beneficial apps and video games on the homescreen. It doesn’t take too lengthy to wash all of it up, and it’s nothing uncommon at this value level, but it surely’s nonetheless an annoyance.

Most significantly, I discovered the software program to be clean, secure, and straightforward to stay with. It’s tremendous customisable, too, so in the event you don’t like the way in which one thing appears, you’ll be able to virtually definitely change it.

Luke Baker

Poco guarantees 4 years of OS updates and 6 years of safety patches for this cellphone. It’s an honest providing, outshining lots of equally priced telephones, but it surely doesn’t match the likes of Samsung and Google, which supply seven years of OS upgrades on their A-series telephones.

Value & Availability

The Poco X8 Professional Max is priced from £469 within the UK, with the 512GB mannequin rising to £519. That’s the priciest X-series mannequin we’ve seen from Poco up to now, but it surely’s not the entire story. 

At present, the Poco X8 Professional Max could be had for simply £359/€429 on Xiaomi’s web site. In the meantime, the 512GB variant will value you simply £399/€469. How lengthy these early-bird huge reductions will final stays to be seen.

It’s in the stores now within the UK and Europe, in addition to most different areas globally, however as traditional, the US doesn’t get a glance in. You will discover it at Amazon a

The pricing places it in competitors with telephones like Nothing Telephone (4a) and the Samsung Galaxy A37, however the X8 Professional Max has benefits over both of these (and a few flagships, too). The bottom mannequin offers you 256GB of storage, moderately than 128GB, and it’s far more highly effective, too.

Take a look at our record of the very best mid-range telephones proper now.

Do you have to purchase the Poco X8 Professional Max?

The Poco X8 Professional Max is tremendously good worth. Should you’re on the lookout for a tool that may recreation with the very best of them, at a value that received’t break the financial institution, look no additional.

I’m actually impressed with the construct high quality and the LEDs across the cameras give it character. The glass again and aluminium sides make this system really feel like a flagship cellphone, when in actuality, it’s lower than half the value. The battery life is astounding, too. It’s simply a two-day system, and it costs tremendous fast once you finally handle to run it down.

It’s actually solely the cameras that fail to impress. They’re not terrible, however the weak ultrawide digicam and the dearth of a telephoto imply that this cellphone lags a bit behind its rivals.

If pictures isn’t an enormous precedence, however gaming is, you’ll love this cellphone. It’s a robust performer at a value that’s arduous to beat.

Specs

• HyperOS 3, primarily based on Android 16
• 6.83-inch, 1280 x 2772, OLED, 120Hz
• Ultrasonic fingerprint sensor
• Mediatek Dimensity 9500s
• 12GB RAM
• 256/512GB storage
• 50Mp predominant digicam
• 8Mp ultrawide
• 20Mp selfie digicam
• As much as 4K @ 60fps rear video
• Stereo audio system (Dolby Atmos)
• Twin-SIM + eSIM
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6/7
• Bluetooth 5.4
• 8500mAh battery
• 100W wired charging
• No wi-fi charging
• 162.9 x 77.9 x 8.2mm
• IP69 licensed
• 218g
• Colors: Blue, White, Black