POCO F7 Ultra - Legitimate 2025 flagship experience under PHP 35K
I'll keep it short. POCO outdid itself again with the release of the new F7 Series—especially with its first "Ultra" model.
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| Meet POCO F7 Ultra |
How "ultra" is this? Read on.
Ultra performance
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| 2.66 million score at AnTuTu benchmark |
Remember the POCO F6 Pro with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2? The POCO F7 Ultra comes with a two-generations-higher SoC—the 3nm Snapdragon 8 Elite chip with the latest Adreno GPU. AND this Snapdragon 8 Elite is the top-end octa-core version of the chip, not its 7-core variant. This is the most affordable with such a processor at this price point.
Top-end benchmark and real-life performance
To those who do not know, Snapdragon 8 Elite is currently the highest chip found in modern high-end Android devices, and it is commonly used in top-of-the-line flagships.
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| POCO F7 Ultra Geekbench scores |
Moreover, it has the 12nm VisionBoost D7 chip for enhanced and clearer graphics while helping in energy efficiency.
In addition, the device is paired with up to 16GB LPDDR5X RAM paired with up to 512GB of UFS 4.1 storage.
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| Genshin Impact on POCO F7 Ultra |
Our experience? Super SMOOTH. In short, no lags or hiccups in ALL of the tasks I do. Yes, even if I open a LOT of apps and games in the background.
YES, gaming on this phone is GREAT. I tested it with some demanding games like Genshin Impact, and even if you crank the settings all the way up, this phone can handle it. The VisionBoost D7 has made its visuals even better so far.
Obviously, it won't have issues on lighter games like Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and more, and all your social media apps like Facebook, TikTok, IG, and even editing apps like CapCut Pro.
For a Snapdragon 8 Elite-powered smartphone, POCO handled the heat incredibly well on this device. Even after 30 minutes of gaming, it barely gets warm, even on the Ultimate mode of its battery settings in an airconditioned room. Other phones with the same chip heat up faster under this condition.
The device also has the latest WiFi 7 with very stable connection when paired to our WiFi 7 network at home. It also has 5G SA/NSA tech with great speeds on areas with good 5G. This even has the new latest Bluetooth 6.0 tech with better efficiency and more stable connection, among others.
My slight gripe here is unlike other flagship phones, it only supports physical nano SIM cards. So, you can't use your eSIMs here.
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| It comes with a 120W power brick inside the box |
The battery? Superb. Even under the "Ultimate mode," which eats up more power, I still recorded 13 hours and 45 minutes of active usage time. Around 94.72 percent of that, Genshin Impact, was opened. Under casual usage, it lasts for an entire workday on a single charge.
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| Battery usage screenshots |
The 120W fast charging via USB-C is also legit. In our test, it was able to fully charge the handset from 1 to 100 percent in just 40 minutes when turned on. POCO's lab tests claim that it can do this in 35 minutes in a cold room while off.
There is no bypass charging to directly power your device while reducing the long-term effects on battery health.
This device also supports up to 50W wireless charging. You need to purchase an aftermarket wireless charger like the Xiaomi 50W Wireless Charging Stand to experience its speed.
Note: By default, its 6.67-inch display runs under the 1080p mode. The battery drains faster if you choose its 2K+ resolution mode.
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| A very nice panel |
Speaking of its display, the handset uses a high-quality 6.67-inch 12-bit Flow AMOLED screen with a smooth 120Hz refresh rate, 480Hz touch sampling rate, 3840Hz PWM dimming, and 2K+ 3200 x 1440 resolution at 526 ppi. This can go up to 3,200 nits of brightness when needed for outdoor use as well.
Crisp high-resolution panel
In our experience, it is a very good panel with rich colors, crispy details, and inky blacks. This is amazing for watching high-resolution content on YouTube, Netflix, Prime, and more.
I have almost nothing negative to say about it. It is just a tier below high-end LTPO panels from flagships around twice its price.
To protect our eyes, this even has TÜV Rheinland Low Blue Light (Hardware Solution) Certification, TÜV Rheinland Flicker Free Certification, and TÜV Rheinland Circadian Friendly Certification.
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| Speaker, USB-C, mic, and SIM tray slot below |
If POCO could improve something with our experience, it would be the speakers. The stereo speaker setup that this device had is decent and can go loud. But it is not as full-sounding as the other gaming-focused flagships we've tried.
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| It runs with HyperOS 2 |
The OS is Android 15 out of the box. The skin is Xiaomi's HyperOS 2. This is obviously cleaner-looking than previous MIUI skins of older POCO phones, rich in features, and comes with plenty of built-in AI tasks for improving the shots you take. The AI Erase sometimes has a hard time removing some unwanted people in your subject, though.
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| AI Erase |
This has Google Gemini built in. Just note that you still need the internet to do these tasks and register a POCO account. You need to be a little patient when running AI tasks as well.
As usual, what POCO could have done better here is to lessen the bloatware. While most of them could be removed, I personally prefer to download them manually. There are occasional ads in the notification bar as well.
Upgraded durability, premium design
For a mostly gaming-focused flagship, the design of this device is considered minimalist and premium-looking at the same time.
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| POCO F7 Ultra in Yellow colorway |
It comes in two colors—black and Yellow. Both feature a two-tone look and finish. The upper half has a glossy effect, while the lower portion is matte.
Pretty good build!
The device also has a circular camera hump of the upper left corner with subtle watch dial effect and a circular accent of a red orange ring. From afar, GIZGUIDE readers pointed out on social media that it is reminiscent of the "sharingan eye" on Naruto.
The material used is real glass with a quad-curved finish. The frame is aluminum, and the front panel is made with glass.
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| The display showing the icons of the HyperOS 2 |
What's new here is that it uses the POCO Shield Glass. According to the company, this is their toughest protection on a POCO device yet for better durability, drop, and scratch protection.
Moreover, this comes with an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance. This can endure submersion in static water up to 2.5 meters for 30 minutes.
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| Power key and volume rocker, the phone is just this slim |
All the buttons are easy to locate on the right side. The USB-C port, primary speaker, microphone, and dual nano SIM tray slot are at the bottom. The top and left side are clean.
The handset measures 160.26 x 74.95 mm and is just 8.39 mm slim and weighs 212 grams.
Pretty good cameras
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| The cameras |
The weakness of previous POCO phones we've tried often lies in the camera department, but the company aims to fix that with this model.
At the back, the device boasts a 50MP f/1.6 Light Fusion 800 with OIS paired with a 32MP f/2.2 120-degree ultra-wide camera and a 50MP f/2.0 2x telephoto sensor with OIS and a dual-tone LED flash. For selfies, it has a 32MP snapper.
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| The main cam can capture crisp and vibrant images |
I've been using the phone for more than a week now, and I took a lot of photos during our vacation in Singapore last week and the POCO launch trip this week. For a POCO phone, we are generally pleased with the photos we take.
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| Both the main cam and ultra-wide cam produce shots with similar colors |
I use it as one of my main phones for taking touristy shots, even if I have other, more expensive, high-end phones with me. Why? The shots it took are vibrant with great HDR and slightly boosted images.
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| Well-lit ultra-wide shots |
It doesn't have the most natural colors around, but it has the pop that will impress a lot of casual users. This means that it has good exposure, and you do not need to edit a lot of your shots anymore before uploading on social media.
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| More ultra-wide snaps |
I personally enjoyed using it on the vibrant Haji lane, newly opened Minion Land, Marina Bay area, and more. For me, this is one of the better phones for taking against-the-light snaps.
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| This ultra-wide cam has pretty good exposure and dynamic range |
I also like that the phone now has a better ultra-wide camera for taking shots with a wider field of view. The HDR is great here as well, and it is highly detailed.
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| 2x zoom on food |
The addition of a higher-quality zoom camera is a plus, too. It takes up to 2.5x optical tele shots with up to 5x lossless hybrid zoom snaps.
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| 5x and 10x macro zoom |
You can use the zoom for some macro snaps in daylight, and the quality is decent up to 10x 240mm zoom.
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| 1x to 60x |
The maximum zoom range is 60x, but expect the loss of details in that mode.
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| 35mm vs 60mm (2.5x) Portrait mode |
For Portraits, edge detection could be better. It may still fail if your subject has messy hair.
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| Low light Portrait mode |
Low-light performance, by default, is okay on both cameras. The main cam would be better in taking snaps.
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| 1x Night mode |
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| 1x Night mode, 0.6x Night mode |
The night mode really helps at times, too. There are times when shots may look a little unnatural, though. But generally, low-light camera snaps using this phone are more than usable.
For selfies, its 32MP camera is highly detailed and can take pretty good shots in most lighting conditions. There is a little beautification going on, but on the acceptable range for me. The Portrait mode for selfies is decent in quality so far. Expect it to produce shots with softening and lesser colors in low light.
This handset can also record up to 4K 60fps video with pretty good overall quality and decent stabilization. There are fewer jitters than ever, as well. The shots are impressively smooth for a performance-focused phone at this price point.
For ultra-wide shots and selfies, it has up to 1080p 60fps only. There is some crop here, but I suspect that it has some EIS going on as the shots are quite stabilized.
Generally, the cameras of the phone are average in terms of performance for the price. But, this phone shows that POCO is swiftly moving in the right direction in the camera department with this phone.
Killer price
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| Solid pricing |
The POCO F7 Ultra starts at PHP 36,999 (PHP 34,999 introductory price) for the 12GB/256GB variant and PHP 39,999 (PHP 37,999 intro price + PHP 1,500 discount from Lazada) for the 16GB/512GB edition.
This is the most affordable phone with these overall specs at this price point.
POCO F7 Ultra Specs
Display: 6.67-inch POCO Shield Glass protected 12-bit Flow AMOLED screen w/ 120Hz refresh rate, 480Hz touch sampling rate, 3840Hz PWM dimming, 2K+ 3200 x 1440 resolution at 526 ppi
CPU: 4.32GHz 3nm Snapdragon 8 Elite octa-core processor + 12nm VisionBoost D7 chip
GPU: Adreno
RAM: 12GB/16GB LPDDR5X
ROM: 256GB/512GB UFS 4.1
Back Camera: 50MP f/1.6 Light Fusion 800 w/ OIS + 32MP f/2.2 120-degree ultra-wide camera + 50MP f/2.0 2.5x telephoto w/ OIS + dual LED flash
Selfie Camera: 32MP f/2.0
Battery: 5,300mAh w/ 120W HyperCharge, 50W wireless HyperCharge
OS: Android 15 w/ HyperOS 2
Connectivity: WiFi 7, 5G, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 6.0, NFC, GPS (L1 + L5), dual SIM
Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic
Others: Ultrasonic In-Display fingerprint sensor, face unlock, IP68 dust and water resistance, IR Blaster, stereo speakers, LiquidCool Technology 4.0 with 3D Dual-channel IceLoop System, X-axis linear vibration motor, USB-C, Colors: Black, YellowDimensions: 160.26 x 74.95 x 8.39 mm
Weight: 212 g
Price: PHP 36,999 (12GB/256GB), PHP 39,999 (16GB/512GB)
Our thoughts
Value for money-wise, this phone is undeniably the top dog for the introductory price.
It still has some compromises in order to come up with this pricing, but they are now more forgivable than ever. Most are still near flagship experience in those aspects such as the IP68 rating and the 2K non-LTPO AMOLED panel.
The rest? Legit flagship experience starting at under PHP 35K, and we are impressed that they were able to use the top-end Snapdragon 8 Elite chip here. Moreover, they really improved the overall camera experience, and it has plenty of capabilities you won't normally see at this price point.
What do you guys think?
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