POCO F8 Ultra review: a challenge to Xiaomi and all the flagships?

The POCO F8 Ultra is a challenge to all flagship smartphones, maybe even to the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, Xiaomi’s own flagship. I tried it out in Bali. Important to know up front: in the Xiaomi Store, you can currently get the POCO F8 Ultra from €699.90, and the price trend is more likely downward. That makes it much cheaper than the Xiaomi 15 Ultra. Everything that follows should be seen against that background.

Processor and performance

It has the current Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, which only one or two other smartphones in the world have right now. On top of that comes the Vision Boost D8 chip, which is meant to optimize the display and gaming: better image quality, more stable frame rates and an extremely high touch sampling rate. Gamers and anyone who does complex things with their smartphone will be happy. For everyday users, it’s probably more like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Sound by Bose

The F8 Ultra has a triple speaker system developed with Bose: speakers at the top and bottom and a mini subwoofer on the back. For a smartphone, the sound is outstanding. It seems to come from all sides, and it is loud, clear and deep, with music, movies and podcasts. The question is whether you really use the speakers like that in everyday life or have headphones on anyway.

Design

I love the design with the mini subwoofer on the back and the catchy look in Denim Blue, meaning artificial jean fabric, combined with silver. It feels surprisingly premium. The texture is slightly roughened, which gives grip, and it doesn’t leave any fingerprints behind. For me, those are otherwise the ultimate design killer.

Battery and charging

The battery has 6,500 mAh. It charges at 100 watts wired and 50 watts wireless. I suspect you can easily get through more than two days with it, depending on use.

Camera

Surprisingly, my personal highlight is the camera. I didn’t have high expectations. It consists of three cameras:

• 50-megapixel main camera
• 50-megapixel ultra-wide
• 50-megapixel periscope telephoto with 5x optical zoom, which you otherwise don’t get in this price range

In Bali, I almost only took photos and videos at 2x or 5x magnification, because the picture is so sharp and the background bokeh so beautiful. What impressed me most was the low-light performance in photos and videos: I wouldn’t have expected the shots to be this bright in this price range.

Display

The 6.9-inch AMOLED display reaches a peak brightness of 3,500 nits. In the blazing sun in Bali, that is extremely handy: taking photos and reading works without any problem because the display gets so bright. There is nothing worse than not being able to see anything on the display on vacation because of the sun.

Software

HyperOS 3 comes preinstalled, with cool features and all the AI currently available on smartphones. I made a detailed video on HyperOS 3.

POCO F8 Ultra vs Xiaomi 15 Ultra

The Xiaomi 15 Ultra is much more expensive. It came out in February and has an older processor, a smaller battery and less powerful speakers. The POCO F8 Ultra gets dangerously close to it. In my view, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra only builds a big lead with its brutally good Leica camera. With the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, the gap between POCO and the Xiaomi flagship will probably grow again.

Verdict

With the latest processor, the new camera, the huge battery, the cool design and the Bose sound system, the POCO F8 Ultra offers an extreme amount of high-end tech at a mid-range price. If you’re a gamer, a power user or a music lover, or you find the design super strong like I do, you’ll have a lot of fun at this price. I’m curious what role POCO will play on the smartphone market in the future.