This Phone Redefines What ‘budget’ Really Means

How overmuch capacity tin you battalion into a smartphone successful nan $600-$700 conception successful 2025 and are location immoderate compromises? Xiaomi and Poco precocious discovered really to navigate this business by building the beautiful crazy Poco F7 Ultra, which costs a cool $599 astatine launch. Here is our review.

Design and Display

The F7 Ultra comes successful nan emblematic playful Poco look. The large, circular, achromatic camera land dominates nan apical near conception behind. On our yellow-colored reappraisal unit, this provides a beardown opposition to nan different agleam yellowish backmost pinch its blase surface.

The super-smooth solid backmost consists of individual segments that look glossy aliases matte, depending connected wherever nan ray lands. However, this happens from different angles, creating a much aliases little visible "etching" depending connected nan viewing angle. This has a comic-like value and should spell down good pinch nan target demographic. Clearly, nan F7 Ultra is not a smartphone for iPhone fans.

The framework astir nan smartphone is made of aluminum and feels fantabulous to nan touch. The full smartphone looks very solid, which is besides further underlined by nan IP68 certification. Unfortunately, location is nary established Gorilla Glass type to protect nan panel, but "only" Poco Shield Glass and a very scratch-prone surface protector that was applied astatine nan factory. It's champion to bid a surface protector to spell on pinch nan handset. Nevertheless, Poco besides includes a elemental acheronian grey silicone lawsuit successful nan box.

The show measures 6.67 inches crossed diagonally pinch super-sharp 3,200 x 1,440 pixels resolution, and nan OLED show simply looks great. With up to 1,800 nits (HBM) and 3,200 nits (peak) brightness, nan surface is highly agleam — amazingly brighter connected insubstantial than nan S25 Ultra (review), for example. Indeed, the quality is intelligibly visible nether nan blazing March sun successful Europe. Thanks to a maximum refresh complaint of 120 Hz, nan show is besides buttery smooth, though it tin only beryllium reduced to 60 Hz.

The show of nan Poco F7 Ultra is noticeably brighter successful nonstop sunlight than that of nan Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. © nextpit

Software: What Can HyperOS 2.0 Do?

The Poco F7 Ultra runs HyperOS 2.0 which is based connected Android 15 and therefore, is nan aforesaid operating strategy arsenic each existent Xiaomi smartphones. The personification interface is comparatively colorful and somewhat playful successful nature.

Compared to erstwhile Xiaomi smartphones, however, nan interface has go overmuch much mature. What remains, however, is nan comparatively ample bloatware package. Six third-party apps came pre-installed connected our reappraisal portion correct retired of nan box. Although this is not a utopian amount, it is still unsightly for a smartphone that falls wrong this value range.

Xiaomi has intelligibly caught up successful position of update promises successful caller years. The Poco F7 Ultra is now group to person Android updates for up to 4 years, letting you instal Android 19 connected your handset successful 2029 and beryllium outdated only aft 2030 has travel to pass. The shaper guarantees information updates for up to six years.

That's not connected a par pinch Samsung, Google, aliases Honor, which guarantee immoderate devices for 7 years for some Android and information updates, but it's still a coagulated connection of intent. After all, nan hardware has to past for 5 years earlier it originates to show its age.

Even if nan shaper doesn't make a large woody of it, nan Poco F7 Ultra besides comes pinch each kinds of AI gimmicks. Gemini is connected committee arsenic an adjunct and tin beryllium called up straight pinch a agelong property via nan on/off button. And yes, Gemini besides has entree to apps connected nan Poco handset and tin cardinal successful appointments successful your almanac aliases hunt for restaurants connected Google Maps for instance.

There are besides various image editing features you tin play astir with. You tin impressively erase objects and group that capable half nan framework from photos without leaving a trace, usage AI to further grow photos that were taken excessively close, aliases alteration nan entity to thing much favorable successful photos.

How Powerful Is nan Poco F7 Ultra?

The Poco F7 Ultra is powered by nan Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC, wherever you presently cannot find a much powerful processor successful an Android smartphone. Unsurprisingly, nan smartphone achieves nan aforesaid level of capacity arsenic nan Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra aliases nan equivalent. In synthetic benchmarks, nan Poco smartphone performed moreover somewhat amended and achieved higher scores successful continuous load benchmarks. However, nan F7 Ultra is much prone to overheating than nan Samsung flagship.

At slightest successful benchmarks, nan Poco F7 Ultra throttles down importantly little than nan S25 Ultra. However, nan Poco smartphone does get rather basking astatine times. © nextpit

In mundane usage that do not impact benchmarks, this looks acold much harmless. In Genshin Impact, for instance, nan smartphone ne'er gets arsenic basking arsenic successful nan benchmarks but of course, not each past shred of capacity matters here, either.

Speaking of performance, nan Poco F7 Ultra besides offers various options to optimize games. In nan Game Turbo Suite, location is simply a graphics upscaler known arsenic "2K Super Resolution" for games and pinch "Wild Boost", nan graphics capacity tin beryllium boosted moreover further. The upscaler acts for illustration a sharpener, expanding nan micro-contrasts successful nan crippled and frankincense ensuring a sharper image effect. "Game Audio" was besides designed to supply a much immersive sound acquisition successful games erstwhile playing while wearing headphones.

Apart from that, nan Poco F7 Ultra besides offers Bluetooth 6.0, Wi-Fi 7, 5G, and dual SIM support but misses nan people by ommiting nan eSIM and microSD slot. The deficiency of eSIM is so a shame, but I'll inquire you astir nan missing representation paper slot: Do you really request 1 successful 2025, astatine slightest for a handset successful this value range?

Camera Experience

The camera often falls unfortunate to nan price-performance trade-off successful high-performance Poco smartphones. This does not needfully use here. We already cognize nan main camera successful nan F7 Ultra from nan F6 Pro, and unsurprisingly, nan image value of nan existent exemplary is besides fantabulous during nan time and still offers very bully results successful debased ray conditions. As is emblematic for Poco, nan colors are rather agleam but that's decidedly beautiful Insta-worthy.

The sensors successful nan telephoto camera and nan ultra wide-angle camera are importantly smaller than those successful nan main camera, and nan image value is noticeably lower, which you will announcement erstwhile you zoom successful aliases enlarge nan photos. For astir mundane scenes and sharing pictures complete societal media, however, nan value is mostly perfectly adequate, astatine slightest if nan taxable is still.

The overmuch bigger disadvantage of nan smaller sensors is nan comparatively slow shutter speeds successful mixed lighting conditions. These pose a greater consequence of camera shake, particularly pinch nan zoom lens, than pinch nan immense telephoto zoom sensor successful nan Xiaomi 15 Ultra (review), for instance. Of course, nan Xiaomi 15 Ultra is simply successful a different value people and does not person to make specified a compromise.

A maximum solution of 8K astatine 24 fps is imaginable successful video mode. However, only nan main camera tin execute this solution arsenic nan different camera modules are constricted to 4K solution astatine 60 fps. Honestly speaking, that should beryllium much than capable for mundane use. By nan way: location is an ultra-slow mobility mode that continuously records 240 fps astatine Full HD resolution. Even doing truthful astatine 960 fps is imaginable for astir a second.

Battery and Charging

At 5,300 mAh capacity, nan Poco F7 Ultra unluckily has a bully 10 percent little artillery capacity than nan F7 Pro, though nan much economical processor should compensate for this successful theory. Unfortunately, our emblematic Work 3.0 artillery benchmark from PCMark grounded respective times, but nan half trial runs bespeak a consequence of astir 12 to 14 hours, which would spot nan smartphone good beneath nan Xiaomi 15, but still a wholly decent performer successful nan mid-range segment. We will drawback up connected nan reappraisal and update nan trial study present pinch nan last result.

A statement connected this astatine this point: Since nan smartphone has specified a coagulated people of 4 stars according to our reappraisal protocol and this consequence tin nary longer beryllium changed by nan consequence of nan artillery benchmark, we are besides publishing nan reappraisal without including nan last artillery benchmark result.

The Chinese are traditionally beardown erstwhile it comes to charging, and nan Poco F7 Ultra is moreover much "ultra" than nan ample Xiaomi 15 Ultra (review). A maximum charging velocity of 120 W is supported, which intends a afloat discharged F7 Ultra will summation much than 50 percent charge after being plugged successful for little than 15 minutes; wherever a afloat artillery complaint takes anyplace betwixt 30 and 35 minutes, depending connected nan ambient temperature.

Incidentally, wireless charging is besides supported, which is different rarity successful nan Poco bid astatine speeds of up to 50 W. If you want to return afloat advantage of this speed, you will request a proprietary wireless charger from Xiaomi. The aforesaid besides applies to its 120 W wired charging: This besides only useful pinch a Hypercharge charger, which, dissimilar nan world version, is unluckily not included pinch nan German-bound Poco F7 Ultra.

Should You Buy nan Poco F7 Ultra?

Poco F7 Ultra Availability: Where to Buy It

As usual, Poco doesn't waste devices successful nan US, but done their world website, they connection you nan chance to bargain it from AliExpress. However, you tin besides find them successful different regions for illustration Europe, India, and China. Poco offers nan F7 Ultra successful a full of 4 variants. You tin bargain nan smartphone pinch either 256 aliases 512 GB of memory, positive 12 aliases 16 GB of RAM. You besides person nan prime betwixt yellowish and achromatic colors.

The smallest 256 GB capacity of nan Poco F7 Ultra costs $649 a popular based connected nan RRP, while nan 512 GB type costs $699. From now until April 10, Mi.com is moving an Early Bird promotion wherever you tin prevention $50 connected your purchase. During this period, you tin besides acquisition nan 120 W charger for $29.99 aft a discount, since nan charger is not included pinch each purchase.