Poco F8 Ultra review: Android’s iPhone

When I pulled the Poco F8 Ultra out of its box for the first time, my initial thought was the company had sent me the wrong device. It looked and felt exactly like an iPhone 17 Pro Max, right down to the camera housing. Only once I turned it on did I remember this is a high-end Android.

Poco’s brand of Android is trying to be iOS. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The phone is fast, polished and performs exceptionally well. But it’s a phone that follows, not leads, and it’s that lack of originality that an Android loyalist like me finds frustrating.

Is this a great phone? Hell yes. Is this a great Android? Well, there’s some nuance to explore before answering that question.

A premium performer in a familiar face

When I pull the F8 Ultra out of my pocket, it gets mistaken for an iPhone. The rounded-corner, all-metal chassis with the aluminum alloy middle frame and rectangular deco on the back all contribute to a feeling of deja vu. The black variant I’m using has a matte-gloss fibre build and feels elegant, but the Denim Blue version uses Xiaomi’s third-generation nano-tech material and is supposed to have a denim-like feel that is durable and dirt-resistant. I didn’t get to play with that one, but the entire lineup reminds me of what Android looks like when it’s following, not leading.

Performance-wise, I have zero complaints. The phone is blazing fast thanks to its dual-chipset architecture with a flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and an upgraded VisionBoost D8 chipset. Poco claims an AnTuTu score of over 3.9 million and I believe it. I put it through my own Geekbench test, and it returned a single-core score of 3,583 and a multi-core score of 10,989, on par with the iPhone 17 Pro with 3,900 single-core and 9,900 multi-core.

I never once hit a stutter in the few weeks I used this as my daily driver. Even multitasking was a breeze. It games well, too, and loaded Call of Duty: Mobile and Honkai: Star Rail quickly. Its custom cooling system consists of a 3D dual-channel IceLoop system that works hard and the phone only became warm playing those games. But this isn’t a dedicated gaming phone like the Redmagic 11 Pro I just reviewed, so I wasn’t blown away. However, this isn’t meant to be a gaming phone. It’s just a powerful multipurpose device.

A feast for the eyes (and ears)

The Poco F8 Ultra truly shines as an entertainment device.

The screen is gorgeous. Poco debuted its HyperRGB display here, and unlike traditional 2K OLEDs, it uses a full RGB subpixel structure. The results are exceptional clarity that is comparable to 2K but with 20 per cent less power consumption than a regular OLED. It has deep blacks and vibrant colours and I could still see clearly on a sunny winter day. My favourite parts of the screen are the slim 1.5mm bezels. I don’t like bezels.

Where this phone is better than any iPhone is the speakers. They simply rock. I was really excited about the partnership with Bose and they did not disappoint. Poco collaborated with the audio giant to create a premium triple-speaker acoustic system with 2.1 channel architecture. What this jargon means is the sound is loud and clear. I continue to be blown away by the rich bass and detailed sound that this thin device pumps out.

You can choose between a Dynamic sound profile for rich bass or Balanced for pure vocals. Of course, I chose Dynamic.

Pro-level photography with a catch

The camera system is great. The main setup features a 50-megapixel main shooter with optical image stabilization (OIS). A large 1/1.31 inch sensor results in increased light sensitivity compared to the F7 from last year. The images are sharp, detailed and perfect.

I’m a big fan of the Xiaomi camera interface Poco continues to use on all its devices. It’s my favourite camera UI of all phones, particularly the Pro setting that allows me to adjust each and every little detail of the camera, from the f-stop to the ISO to the white balance. The lenses have finally caught up to this excellent interface.

These cameras include Poco’s first-ever 50-megapixel 5x periscope telephoto lens, and unfortunately, this is where I ran into problems. I tried to zoom in as far as possible on distant objects, and the sensor simply could not figure out what I was looking at. The output stayed blurry as the lens would never focus. I pulled back a little and the camera would instantly stabilize and become clear, but I couldn’t get a clear shot when zoomed in to the maximum.

Video, on the other hand, was excellent. Android has always lagged behind iPhone when it comes to video, but the Poco F8 Ultra is the first close contender I’ve used. It captures exceptional video, smooths out the bounces and jolts, and outputs in brilliant 4K 60 fps (my personal sweet spot for mobile video). Poco also includes software enhancements like 1440P ultra-clear dynamic shots with EIS stabilization and HDR enhancement. The result is this phone records video better than the latest Pixel or Galaxy S25.

Perfect video capture paired with those Bose speakers makes this an excellent YouTube or TikTok streamer’s device.

A stifling OS but a great battery

The Poco F8 Ultra packs a massive 6,500mAh battery, the largest Poco has used. A full day and a half of regular use is no problem. 100W wired HyperCharging only takes 38 minutes to go from 0 to 100 per cent, according to Poco, but I wouldn’t know because they didn’t include a charging brick in the box. It does support 50W wireless charging, which I  used without complaints.

In fact, my biggest complaint about this device is unchanged from last year’s F7 Ultra: the OS. The phone runs on Xiaomi Hyper OS 3, which is engineered with AI features and Google Gemini.

The problem is that Poco has gimped Android by locking down everything. Theming, icons, home screen layout and other customizations are only available through what Poco allows. I could not drop a new launcher on it at all. I’m a fan of Smart Launcher 6, but just like last year, it would not work on a Poco F-series device. I already have an iPhone; I appreciate Android for its deep customizability, so I find this walled-garden approach extremely frustrating.

Should you buy it?

The Poco F8 Ultra is a fantastic phone for someone who simply wants great hardware that is reliable, fast and feels nice to use, but doesn’t want an iPhone. The non-technical normies among us will appreciate this device. This is a great choice if you don’t care about customization and want excellent cameras, speakers, and a beautiful screen.

However, if you’re a heavy customizer or an Android enthusiast, you will want to pass. Just get an iPhone 17 Pro at this point.