flaship performance for mid-range price

Let’s address the elephant in the room first: yes, this phone looks like an iPhone 17 Pro. No, Poco is not trying to hide. it. But most people buying this phone won’t care, because this is a genuinely solid device.

The F8 Pro is gorgeous. The flat glass and titanium finishes make the phone feel like a $1,500 flagship, not a $600 device. It’s also slightly smaller than Apple or Google “pro” devices, so it’s noticeably nicer to hold for long periods.

Because there’s no giant dynamic island, the display feels clearer and more modern than iPhones. The build quality alone is better than most mid-range phones, with Gorilla Glass 7i, an aluminum frame and a glass back, and full IP68 water resistance. It’s flagship hardware in a mid-range phone.

This is not a gaming phone

This thing is powered by a 3nm Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, and it is absurdly good. Everything is instant. Apps launch instantly. Scrolling is smooth as butter and multitasking is effortless. This is one of those phones where I stopped worrying about performance and just used it, but there’s a catch.

Gaming thermals are horrible. The Snapdragon can handle any game I throw at it, but the heavier games pushed the phone hard and made it hot. Not necessarily “shut-down-the-phone” hot, but enough to make my hand sweat. Light and mid-tier games are totally fine, just don’t expect much Call of Duty: Mobile.

That’s fine, honestly, because this is not a gaming phone. This is a great daily driver for adults who need reliability and consistency from their device.

Best phone audio setup I’ve used

The F8 Pro really surprised me when it came to its screen and speaker setup. It has a 6.59-inch AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh, Dolby Vision, HDR10+ and extremely high brightness. It’s one of the nicest displays I’ve used recently. Colours pop and blacks are deep, even in a bright winter sun. But it’s the audio that really blew my mind.

Poco’s Bose-tuned speaker system is impressive. It’s the same setup as on the Poco F8 Ultra, which I really enjoyed. You get actual, noticeable bass thanks to the stereo speakers and rear acoustics tuning. This is real bass, not the fake boosted kind. This phone doesn’t sound tinny or thin at all, making music and videos dramatically more immersive.

The cameras are average

You get what you pay for, and the cameras on the Poco F8 Pro are no exception. These cameras aren’t bad, they’ll get the job done, but they’re not premium flagship quality.

The 50MP main sensor produces sharp, colour-accurate photos with decent dynamic range. The 2.5x telephoto and the ultrawide are both solid, even if not class-leading.

The front-facing selfie camera is just okay. It’s fine for video calls and sending photos to your partner, but I wouldn’t use it for professional social content. There’s noticeable grain, and the AI processing gets heavy.

Video is excellent, at least. Stabilization is strong. 4K 60fps looks great. It doesn’t blow my mind but, like the still shooters, it gets the job done.

Frustrating software decisions with incredible battery life

I love Poco batteries. I’m convinced this brand has the best, longest-lasting batteries in the industry. The huge 6,210mAh battery on the F8 Pro gives me two to three days of normal use, easily. Light use can push five days. That’s rare.

And when it does start to get low, 100W wired charging is stupidly fast. I basically stopped worrying about the battery entirely while I had this phone in my pocket. The real problem is software.

HyperOS3, Xiaomi’s Android skin, is fast and smooth, but Poco locks down customization hard. Themes, icons, layout control and even simple settings are all heavily managed. This will annoy Android diehards.

I get constantly annoyed by an aggressive suggestion sheet that appears every time I swipe open the app drawer. It’s intrusive and unnecessary, especially when the suggestions are never what I’m looking for. I searched the settings and could not find a way to turn this off. The F8 Ultra didn’t do this, so I’m not sure why Poco slapped this onto the Pro.

Should you buy the Poco F8 Pro?

This is a phone for people who want zero performance stress and a highly functional phone with few bells and whistles. It’s not built for power users who want deep customization, or for gamers.

Instead, it’s something that feels and looks premium, runs fast, gets the job done and sounds amazing. Plus, it lasts forever on a single charge. It might be one of the easiest mid-range Android devices to live with, even if it’s not the most exciting.