In recent years, we’ve seen an influx of smartphones that fall outside the mainstream brands in our region, yet manage to deliver flagship-level performance at a more affordable price. Among the companies doing this is Poco, whose F-series phones have felt like viable alternatives to Apple’s iPhones and Samsung Galaxy devices, which often feel like the only games in town. Its latest release, the Poco F7, promises flagship performance in a much more affordable package.
In the box, you’ll find the Poco F7, a USB-C to USB-C cable, a 90-watt power adapter, and a black phone case. The phone comes in black, white and a Cyber Silver edition (the model we received for review). The F7 features a glass front and back with an aluminum frame, and it weighs just over 215 grams.
The Poco F7 features a 120Hz AMOLED display with a peak brightness of 3,200 nits, HDR10+ support, and a 1,280 x 2,772 pixel resolution. Inside, it houses the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chipset with an octa-core CPU and Adreno 825 GPU. It comes with 12 gigabytes of RAM and is available in 256GB and 512GB versions.
“The Poco F7 promises flagship performance in a much more affordable package.”
As for the Poco F7’s cameras, the rear of the phone features a 50-megapixel f/1.5 26mm wide lens with a 1/1.95-inch sensor and an 8-megapixel f/2.2 15mm ultra-wide lens with a 1/4-inch sensor. The rear cameras are capable of recording up to 4K at 60 frames per second, while 1080p video supports slow motion at up to 960 frames per second. The main camera also includes gyroscopic electronic image stabilization. The selfie camera is a respectable 20-megapixel f/2.2 lens with a 1/4-inch sensor, capable of capturing 1080p video at 60 frames per second.
Photo quality on the Poco F7 is quite good. It isn’t the absolute best I’ve seen, but it’s great for the price. The dynamic range on the selfie camera, even in darker environments with its fairly small sensor, is impressive and avoids crushed blacks. The detail in my selfies—both in normal and portrait modes—was fantastic, delivering crisp photos that I’d be happy to post on social media.
The main camera delivers spectacular detail. Zooming in on any photo taken with that lens reveals that even the space between two hairs remains sharp. Colour accuracy is also strong on the Poco F7. For the average user who doesn’t need telephoto capabilities, this phone will more than suffice. What holds it back from being a top pick for serious photographers, however, is the camera’s user interface, which can feel a little choppy during advanced use.
Video quality is strong on paper and, provided you don’t need to zoom in much, it’s perfectly usable for everything from home videos to vlogs. With only wide and ultra-wide lenses available, anything shot at a distance won’t hold up well on platforms like YouTube, since all zooming is done digitally. Selfie video is limited to 1080p, and with a sensor half the size of the main camera, I wouldn’t recommend it for content creators either. At this budget price point, though, there’s little to complain about.
Poco phones have always been solid when it comes to battery life, but the Poco F7 takes it to the next level. It features a 6,500 mAh battery that delivers all-day performance under typical use. On the rare occasion you manage to drain that massive battery—or if you’re using the 22.5-watt reverse charging—the 90-watt charger will get you powered back up in no time.
“If you’re willing to sacrifice a camera lens or two for less than half the cost, the Poco F7 is hard to beat.”
For gamers, the Adreno 825 GPU in the Gen 4 chip is a significant improvement over the Gen 3, and you can feel it in action. Animation is silky smooth, and the extended battery life gives you more game time than ever. The Poco F7’s GameTurbo app can further enhance performance, but even without adjusting a single setting, I was able to play Genshin Impact and Real Racing 3 comfortably at a steady 60 frames per second. Meanwhile, LiquidCool Technology 4.0 with IceLoop kept the Poco F7 icy cool throughout.
The Poco F7’s benchmark scores were respectable across both Geekbench 6 and AnTuTu. On Geekbench, it achieved a GPU score of 13,339—positioned between the Samsung Galaxy S23 and Galaxy S24 series—with a single-core CPU score of 2,037, edging out the Galaxy S24. Its multi-core score of 6,221 came in just below the S24. Meanwhile, the AnTuTu score totalled 1,758,226, with a CPU score of 388,297 and a GPU score of 732,601. Both the overall and GPU scores beat those of the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
To see this level of performance in a phone priced well below $1,000 US—$449 for the 512-gigabyte version and $399 for the 256-gigabyte version (with $50 and $60 off respectively for early bird pricing)—raises an important question: what do you really need from your phone beyond the brand name? The latest Samsung and Apple flagships are undoubtedly more powerful, but if you’re looking for a phone that can mostly keep up, and are willing to sacrifice a camera lens or two for less than half the cost, the Poco F7 is hard to beat.
