Xiaomi Poco F7 Review: Serious Bang For Your Buck

A few months back, Poco launched the F7 Pro and the F7 Ultra. They’re both seriously powerful phones at incredibly affordable price points, but the standard F7 was oddly missing from the lineup.

I was beginning to think the brand may forego a standard model this time around, but it has finally arrived, and now that we know what’s inside it, the delay starts to make a little more sense: This is one of the first phones to feature the brand new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 processor.

If you’re not quite up to speed with Qualcomm’s naming conventions, this chip is essentially one step down from the almighty 8 Elite, but a massive leap ahead of the 7-series processors. Crucially, it’s much more affordable, so it can be found in cheaper smartphones, like the F7.

It’s not all about the processor, though. This phone has a massive battery, speedy charging, a slick design and a gorgeous display. On first impressions, it seems like a bit of a bargain. I wanted to see if that’s the case, so I slipped my SIM card in, and a week later, here’s what I learned.

Design & Build

• Aluminium frame, plastic back
• 216g, Corning Gorilla Glass 7i
• IP68 water and dust resistance

The Poco F7 is available in three colorways, and somewhat unusually, I’ve managed to get my mitts on all three options to showcase in this review. As standard, there’s a black version and a white version, which both have two-tone designs split with a diagonal line down the rear panel. The upper portion has a more matt finish, while the lower portion is more glossy.

There’s also a special limited edition silver version, which makes a bit more of a statement. It’s black on top, with embossed elements that give it the appearance of a semi-transparent design, and glossy silver on the bottom portion. It’s the most gamer-looking model in the lineup, which might divide opinion, but I think it looks great.

All three variants have aluminum side rails and plastic rear panels. However, at a glance, the rear looks a lot like glass.

All three variants have aluminum side rails and plastic rear panels. However, at a glance, the rear looks a lot like glass. The only real giveaway is that the darker colors are a little more smudge-prone than usual.

Overall, the phone feels pretty premium, and I think the aluminum side rails are the main reason for that. That said, it should be fairly durable, with Corning Gorilla Glass 7i coating the screen and a flagship-level IP68 certification for dust and water resistance.

It’s a pretty big phone, with a 6.83-inch display, and the boxy iPhone-like design means it feels substantial in the hand. I found it perfectly comfortable to use, but I have big hands; those with smaller paws might have a more difficult time.

Screen & Speakers

• 6.83-inch, 2772 x 1280, OLED, 120Hz
• 3200 nits peak brightness
• Stereo speakers

The Poco F7 has a large, fully flat display, which is luxurious for watching content and playing games. It’s well specced, too. It’s an OLED panel with a speedy 120Hz refresh rate and an ample 2770 x 1280 resolution.

The screen has a slim, even bezel on all sides, which immediately gives the handset a more premium look than some of the competition.

It’s a very bright panel, too, boosting up to 3200 nits in certain scenarios. This means you’ll never have trouble seeing it outdoors, and HDR content from Netflix and YouTube looks incredibly dynamic.

The phone has dual stereo speakers. One speaker fires from the base, next to the USB-C port, while the other doubles up as the phone’s earpiece. I’m always happy to see stereo speakers on mid-range handsets; it’s an easy way for manufacturers to cut costs, but it makes a significant difference to the listening experience, and it’s especially important when you’re gaming without a headset.

You’ll never have trouble seeing it outdoors, and HDR content from Netflix and YouTube looks incredibly dynamic

They sound pretty great, too. The phone kicks out more volume than most, with lots of clarity and very little distortion. As usual, it’s the bass that’s lacking a little, but it’s still decidedly above average. They’re more than good enough for playing games and watching content around the house.

Specs & Performance

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 4
• 12GB RAM
• 512GB storage

As mentioned in the intro, the Poco F7 is one of the first devices to land with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 inside. Slightly confusing naming aside, it should be a little slower than the 8 Elite and faster than the previous-gen flagship, the 8 Gen 3.

In most benchmarks, that’s exactly what I saw. I got some slightly odd results with GFXBench, but that has been known to happen from time to time. Crucially, the Poco F7 was able to outpace the Samsung Galaxy S24 in Geekbench and 3DMark Wildlife Extreme – pretty impressive stuff for a phone this cheap.

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