POCO has just introduced the latest members of its F-series namely the POCO F7 Pro and POCO F7 Ultra. What’s more notable this time around is the latter device, which is the company’s first true flagship device. Yes, flagship, powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset.
What was more surprising, aside from the announcement itself, was the price tag of the POCO F7 Ultra. The company has built its brand offering highly competitively priced devices while delivering high performance, specifically for gaming. It looks like the company is carrying over this philosophy with the introduction of its true flagship for less than PHP 40,000.
We’re talking about a 2K AMOLED panel, Snapdragon 8 Elite, and more for the price of what is basically a premium midrange device. But how does it actually fare in the real world? Is it just a highly powerful gaming phone? Or can it compete with established flagships?
POCO F7 Ultra Review
Full Specifications
| Display | 6.6-inch 2K AMOLED 120Hz refresh rate |
| Processor | Snapdragon 8 Elite |
| GPU | Adreno 830 |
| RAM | 12/16GB |
| Storage | 256/512GB |
| Rear Camera | 50MP main (Sony LYT-800, 1/1.55″, OIS) 50MP 2.5x telephoto camera (f/2.0, OIS) 32MP ultrawide (f/2.2) |
| Front Camera | 32MP |
| Battery | 5300mAh 120W HyperCharge 50W wireless HyperCharge |
| OS | Xiaomi HyperOS 2 (Android 15) |
| Colors | Black Yellow |
Unboxing Experience
We unboxed the POCO F7 Ultra, as it arrived fresh, plastic seal and all. And for the most part, it was a pretty straightforward unboxing, at least from a device from China, and yes, I mean including a charging brick and a silicone case.
POCO could’ve easily gone the route of OnePlus, Samsung, and Apple by offering just the bare minimum of the device and a charging cable out of the box to at least cut down on production cost. However, clearly, POCO decided to stick to its guns, offering everything, and I’ve got to respect them for that.
Build and Design
If you watched the video, I was totally blown away by the Yellow colorway of the POCO F7 Ultra. It does come in Black too, but I am grateful we got the Yellow device. The curved glass back has a two-tone design with a smooth matte finish, which you can only really appreciate when you hold it for yourself.
The top third features a circle that seems to emanate from the round camera module and gives it a unique touch. Speaking of the camera module, it has a nice gold accent on the rim that just helps make it pop.
I also loved the black metal for the body to really bring the iconic POCO colors for its first true flagship device.
The bottom has the usual combination of SIM card tray, microphone, USB-C port, and speaker grille, Meanwhile, the power button and volume rockers can be found on the right-hand side.
I appreciate that POCO opted for a flat panel for the POCO F7 Ultra. This, of course, comes down to personal preference as I’ve had my share of mistouches with curved panels.
The POCO F7 Ultra has an IP68 rating, which isn’t the best, but for its price, its really hard to complain. I’m just glad that the device offers that for ease of mind for clumsy users, like me.
Performance and Experience
Under the hood is where POCO really poured in the work, powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite. This is coupled with either 12GB or 16GB RAM and either 256GB or 512GB storage.
The Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset can handle everyday tasks like checking emails, watching videos, scrolling through social media, and similar with ease. But before I get into detail, here’s how it performs in AnTuTu, Geekbench, 3DMark, and PCMark:
The POCO F7 Ultra specifically impresses in gaming. It runs Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Honkai Star Rail, and Diablo Immortal extra smoothly, regardless of graphical settings.
But where I was surprised the most was Genshin Impact. POCO was able to enable it to run at 120 fps through the Game Turbo app and AI. The Game Turbo app allows you to tweak settings like GPU settings as well as turn on options like Smart Frame Rate and 2K Super Resolution mode when in the game.
This makes running around the overworld and clearing quests so much fun with buttery smooth graphics and animations.
I can’t forget the 6.6-inch QHD+ AMOLED panel with 120Hz refresh rate. This is among the first smartphones that I experienced firsthand with a higher resolution, and I may not be able to go back to 1080p. As someone who enjoys watching YouTube videos and doom scrolling before bed, I thoroughly enjoyed these even more with the 1440p resolution. Everything just felt so crispy.
Camera
The POCO F7 Ultra features a triple rear camera with a 50MP Sony LYT-800 main, a 50MP 2.5x telephoto lens, and a 32MP ultrawide snapper.
Overall, it delivers pretty good photos. It also has improved results from the POCO F6 series. However, I think this is where it could be a deal breaker for some people.
I generally enjoyed shooting with the device, but I noticed that my photos, especially on the main and telephoto lens, were a bit more saturated. This hints that it uses post-processing to deliver photos. I don’t doubt the capability of the Sony LYT-800 lens, but with the amount of post processing, it could be a turn off to some people, especially those who want to edit their photos.
Moreover, the ultrawide lens seemed to have more washed out colors when compared to the main and telephoto lenses. This was more noticeable for me while taking photos out the window of the airplane to Singapore.
The front snapper is also decent, but looked a bit grainy in dimmer settings.
Overall, I think the camera system of the POCO F7 Ultra is average and has room to improve, either next year, or through software updates from the company. I think that aside from the ultrawide and the noise of the front camera, it is already capable and good enough to populate my social media pages.
However, it’s worth noting that the device, sadly, doesn’t have a periscope telephoto lens. So it probably isn’t for people who want a device to bring to concerts or other events where you take photos from afar.
Battery
In the battery department, it’s quite a mixed bag but still pretty impressive nonetheless. The POCO F7 Ultra is equipped with a 5300mAh battery, which is smaller than the 6000mAh on its Pro sibling, but POCO enabled faster charging at 120W HyperCharge for the F7 Ultra. Moreover, there’s support for 50W wireless HyperCharge, if that’s something you use.
Based on my experience, you can enjoy over a workday and more with the POCO F7 Ultra, and that’s with mobile data turned on and QHD+ resolution on. You can surely get more out of the battery if you opt for Wi-Fi or turn it off occasionally and go for FHD+ resolution or a lower refresh rate.
The POCO F7 Ultra does come with the 120W HyperCharge charger out of the box, and in this day and age, that is a massive win.
Software
Out of the box, the POCO F7 Ultra runs on Xiaomi HyperOS 2 on top of Android 15. It introduces vital features like the Game Turbo app features we previously talked about, but overall, I think this is where I struggle with this device.
It comes with quite a lot of bloatware on boot, which I’m not a huge fan of. Moreover, I think there are features that can be streamlined better, like customizing your home screen.
An example of this is where my muscle memory would tell me to just touch and hold the home screen to choose pre-installed wallpapers and more, but doing this and choosing customize leads me to the company’s Themes app. I later on found out that you had to go to Settings and then Personalization to find the more typical window you see to fully customize your home screen and more.
I understand the push for the proprietary Themes app, but this downplays the level of customization that you can do natively like changing up the icons of your apps, fonts, and even the fingerprint effects. I would prefer the Themes option to either be a separate option when you touch and hold or just be part of the Personalization menu that you can reach when you touch and hold your home screen.
Another struggle for me was setting a default watermark for my photos. Sure, not everyone uses these watermarks, but there’s actually quite a lot to choose from when you stumble upon the Watermark option when editing your photos. This isn’t quite as obvious because when you open the camera app, you’re only given two options, text and frame. I would’ve loved to see all the watermarks offered from the camera app itself and being able to select your default.
That said, HyperOS 2.0 still unlocks so much, especially for gamers with the Game Turbo app and more, so the customization things for me might not even matter since you don’t really enjoy changing things up as much as I do.
Verdict
POCO F7 Ultra is definitely a shocker. It is POCO’s first flagship device and it easily could’ve gone either way. However, with this device as the ‘first generation’ feels so polished and well-thought out. Let’s not forget that its price tag for the maxed out 16GB+512GB option is just a little under PHP 40K.
Honestly, the price itself is a feat in itself. However, at the end of the day, it will still depend on what you expect of your device.
If you’re looking to game on your smartphone and have really good day-to-day and still be able to capture photos for your social media pages, then this is worth checking out. But if you’re looking for a device that you can bring with you to concerts like your favorite K-Pop idol/group, and still see them in relatively good quality despite shooting from afar, this may not be for you.
Likewise, if you prefer having a bit more wiggle room to give your photos your own color and touch, this may be worth skipping.
However, if you just want a flagship device that works really well and more, then the POCO F7 Ultra should be on the top of your list to check out since you won’t have to break your bank to get it.
For more information, visit the official website and the official Lazada.
Ram found his love and appreciation for writing in 2015 having started in the gaming and esports sphere for GG Network. He would then transition to focus more on the world of tech which has also began his journey into learning more about this world. That said though, he still has the mentality of "as long as it works" for his personal gadgets.
