Poco F8 Ultra Review: The New Flagship Killer That Finally Feels Premium

Poco has built a reputation for offering aggressive performance at budget-friendly prices, but its phones often came with obvious compromises — uninspired design, average cameras, and software that could frustrate more than delight. The Poco F8 Ultra changes that narrative.

This time, Poco is going after the true flagship segment with a refreshed design, upgraded cameras, a next-gen Snapdragon processor, and a big battery packed into a sleek metal frame. 

Poco F8 Ultra

Poco F8 Ultra	Details
Rating	8.3/10
SoC / Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
RAM	12GB / 16GB
Storage	256GB / 512GB
Battery Capacity	6,500mAh
Operating System	Android 16 / HyperOS 3
Front Camera	32MP
Rear Cameras	50MP main / 50MP ultra-wide / 50MP periscope telephoto (5x optical, 10x hybrid)
Display	6.9-inch AMOLED, 120Hz, 2608 x 1200
Audio	Bose-tuned stereo speakers
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, Dual SIM
Other Features	IP68 water/dust resistance, 100W wired / 50W wireless charging

 

Pros	Cons
Denim Blue version is gorgeous	Software can frustrate
Bose audio sounds fantastic	Camera needs refining
Big, beautiful screen	Processor can overheat in some circumstances
Versatile periscope zoom camera	—
Long battery life	—

Design & Display — Bold, Premium, and Packed With Innovation

Poco has completely redefined its design identity with the F8 Ultra. This isn’t just another performance-first Poco phone — it’s the most premium, most refined, and most visually distinctive device the brand has ever made.

A Fresh, High-End Design Identity

The Poco F8 Ultra introduces a bold new design language, offered in two finishes: Black and the standout Denim Blue. The Denim Blue variant immediately catches the eye with its textured, denim-inspired surface — a unique aesthetic choice that refers purely to the finish and contains no actual denim fabric. The phone’s premium feel is further elevated by Poco’s third-generation Nano-tech material, engineered from natural silicon ore using an eco-friendly, solvent-free manufacturing process. This material not only looks stylish but also offers enhanced durability, stain resistance, and a more environmentally conscious build.

Complementing this is a high-strength glass fiber back cover, which keeps the device slim, lightweight, and impressively resistant to cracks. The mid-frame, camera housing, and lens bezels are all reinforced with aluminium alloy, giving the phone a solid, refined feel without unnecessary weight. Up front, POCO Shield Glass provides added protection against scratches and accidental impacts.

Durability is a major highlight, with an IP68 rating that allows the device to withstand up to 1.5 meters of water for 30 minutes — a first for many Poco fans. And despite its expansive 6.9-inch display, the F8 Ultra remains surprisingly ergonomic, thanks to its curved edges, slim profile, and well-balanced weight distribution. In hand, it feels every bit like a premium flagship.

Display — HyperRGB Brilliance With Next-Gen Clarity

The Poco F8 Ultra’s display is just as ambitious as its design. On paper and in real use, it stands among the best displays in its price range — bright, sharp, immersive, and incredibly power-efficient.

Ultra-Large, Ultra-Immersive 6.9” HyperRGB Display

The F8 Ultra features a 6.9-inch (6.85-inch actual viewable) HyperRGB panel with:

• 94.25% screen-to-body ratio

• 1.68mm ultra-slim bottom bezel, Poco’s narrowest ever

• A near quad-equal bezel design, with only a tiny 0.18mm difference across the sides

This creates one of the most immersive viewing experiences you can get today — especially for video lovers, gamers, and big-screen smartphone fans.

POCO HyperRGB Display — Comparable to 2K Clarity

Unlike traditional OLEDs that use PenTile subpixels, the F8 Ultra’s HyperRGB panel uses a full RGB subpixel structure, maximizing sharpness and reducing distortion.

Key Display Specs:

• 68 billion colors

• 100% DCI-P3 wide color gamut

• 120Hz adaptive refresh rate

• 2560Hz instant touch sampling rate (in Game Turbo mode)

Compared to typical 2K OLEDs, the HyperRGB panel offers higher effective resolution, producing sharper text and clearer images.

Global Debut M10 Display Panel

Poco debuts its new M10 luminous display panel, featuring improved red luminous materials that boost brightness efficiency by 11.4%. This results in:

• Brighter outdoor readability

• Lower power consumption

• More accurate, vivid colors

Even under strong sunlight, the F8 Ultra’s display stays clear and vibrant.

3,500 Nits Ultra-Bright “Super Sunlight” Mode

The F8 Ultra reaches up to 3,500 nits peak brightness over 25% of the screen — making it one of the brightest smartphone displays available. Outdoor visibility is excellent, even under harsh midday sun.

Next-Gen Fingerprint & Eye Comfort Enhancements

The Poco flagship introduces an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor for the first time, delivering 83% faster enrollment, improved accuracy, reliable unlocking even with wet hands, and a more ergonomic placement, resulting in a faster and more refined experience. For eye comfort, Poco includes all-day DC dimming to reduce hidden flicker, a 1-nit minimum brightness for dark environments, and Circular Polarisation 2.0 for more natural screen lighting, along with three TÜV Rheinland certifications—Circadian Friendly, Low Blue Light (Hardware Solution), and Flicker Free—making long reading, gaming, or video sessions significantly more comfortable on the eyes.

Performance — Snapdragon Power With Surprisingly Good Thermals

The Poco F8 Ultra delivers one of the most impressive performance packages of any flagship this year, powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. Built on a cutting-edge 3nm process, this chipset represents a major leap in raw power, efficiency, and AI capabilities — making the F8 Ultra feel effortlessly fast in every scenario.

UltraPower CPU & GPU Upgrades

At the heart of the phone is Qualcomm’s new 3rd-generation Qualcomm Oryon CPU, offering:

• +20% better performance

• +35% better power efficiency

• An advanced 2+6 All-Big-Core design

• Clock speeds above 4.6GHz

The Graphics also receive a major boost thanks to the next-gen Adreno GPU, which brings:

• 23% higher GPU performance

• 50% increase in graphics memory capacity

• 20% lower power draw under heavy gaming

• Smoother rendering and improved stability in long sessions

AI processing sees a 37% jump, allowing for better image processing, game optimization, and system-level intelligence.

Memory, Storage & Benchmarking

Poco pairs the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 with ultra-fast hardware LPDDR5X 9600Mbps RAM and UFS 4.1 storage, offering improved speeds and reliability. In benchmarks, it pushes an impressive 3,944,934 points on AnTuTu V11, placing it firmly among the top Android performers. (POCO internal lab data; results may vary.)

Real-World Performance — Fast, Fluid, Effortless

In day-to-day use, the F8 Ultra feels incredibly fluid:

• Zero lag during social apps, browsing, or multitasking

• Smooth animations across HyperOS

• Excellent load times in graphically intensive games

• Quick app switching thanks to aggressive memory bandwidth

Whether gaming, editing photos, or juggling heavy apps, the phone maintains stable, top-tier performance without slowdowns.

Thermals — Surprisingly Cool for an Ultra Flagship

Despite its power, the Poco F8 Ultra runs cooler than many Snapdragon 8 Elite competitors.

In normal use, temperatures stay consistently low. Under heavy gaming or stress tests, heat builds mostly around the camera island — and even then, the denim-textured back helps disperse heat better than glass phones.

LiquidCool Technology — Advanced Real-World Heat Management

The phone uses a sophisticated 6700mm² 3D dual-channel, dual-layer IceLoop system, designed to maintain performance under pressure. It includes:

• A large cooling surface that targets key heat zones

• Dual channels to independently cool the SoC and camera module

• Real-time multi-surface temperature monitoring

• Smart heat redirection away from your grip area

This results in sustained performance even during long gaming sessions.

VisionBoost D8 Chipset — AI-Powered Graphics Enhancement

To further enhance visuals, the Poco F8 Ultra includes the VisionBoost D8 graphics chipset, featuring a GEX module and pre-trained AI models.

What It Does:

• Dual-Core Visuals: Improved clarity, smoother tone-mapping, and better HDR in YouTube and Netflix

• 120FPS Smart Frame Rate: AI-driven frame interpolation for ultra-fluid gameplay at lower battery cost

• AI Super Resolution: Sharper textures and enhanced clarity in supported games (CODM, Genshin, Honkai Star Rail, MLBB, PUBG)

This makes games and videos look noticeably better without compromising power.

WildBoost Optimization — Stable High FPS Gaming

The WildBoost engine intelligently predicts compute demands for every frame, helping the phone:

• Recover dropped frames

• Maintain more stable FPS

• Reduce power consumption during long gaming runs

Combined with the Adreno GPU and AI enhancements, the F8 Ultra is one of the most stable gaming performers in its class.

Camera — Poco’s First Truly Reliable Camera System

Historically, the camera has always been Poco's weakness. But the F8 Ultra finally changes that.

Poco installed a powerful triple-50MP setup:

• 50MP Light Fusion 950 main sensor

• 50MP ultra-wide

• 50MP periscope telephoto with 5x optical zoom (10x hybrid)

• 32MP selfie camera

Strengths	Weaknesses
Vivid, punchy photos ideal for social media	Overprocessing visible when zooming in
Very good detail in well-lit environments	Colors appear more “enhanced” than natural
Improved low-light performance thanks to image fusion	5x lens can struggle with quick-focus situations
Surprisingly sharp 5x and 10x zoom	Video stabilization needs more refinement
Great dynamic range and strong portrait depth	Not Pixel-level in natural color accuracy

It’s still not Pixel-level in natural color accuracy, but for the average user, this is the best camera Poco has ever made — and a huge step forward for the brand.

Verdict: A real upgrade. Not perfect, but finally capable of competing in the mid-flagship camera tier.

Battery — Big, Reliable, and Fast With 100W Charging

With a 6,500mAh battery, the Poco F8 Ultra easily delivers all-day usage:

• 5–6 hours of screen-on time

• Excellent standby efficiency

• Heavy-use days still leave you with extra percentage

Charging is where Poco shines:

• 100W wired charging

• 50W wireless charging (rare in this segment)

To hit the absolute fastest speeds, you need Xiaomi’s HyperCharge adapters, but even with standard chargers:

• 50% in ~25 minutes

• 100% in about 1 hour

Verdict: A dependable, long-lasting battery with powerful charging options.

Software — HyperOS 3 Is Cleaner, But Still Has Rough Edges

Running Android 16 with HyperOS 3, the Poco F8 Ultra offers the smoothest and most polished Poco software experience yet. The UI is cleaner, visuals are toned down, and overall stability has noticeably improved — but some long-standing annoyances remain.

Software Summary Table

Xiaomi HyperAI

The Poco F8 Ultra also integrates Xiaomi HyperAI, which brings smarter system-level optimizations:

• App behavior prediction for faster launches and smoother multitasking

• Battery management enhancements, adapting power consumption to usage patterns

• Resource allocation improvements to prevent lag in heavy-use scenarios

• AI-driven animations that optimize performance without sacrificing visual quality

HyperAI makes HyperOS 3 feel more intelligent and responsive, especially when juggling multiple apps or gaming.

Verdict: HyperOS 3 is much improved over previous Poco software, and HyperAI adds a helpful layer of smart optimization. It’s better than before, but still not as polished as Samsung’s One UI or Google’s Pixel UI.

Audio — Surprisingly Immersive With Bose-Tuned Sound

The Poco F8 Ultra takes a big step forward in audio, thanks to its Bose-tuned stereo speakers — a first for the brand. This collaboration actually pays off, delivering sound that feels richer and more balanced than previous Poco models.

What Stands Out

• Loud, full stereo output with noticeably improved clarity

• Bose tuning adds warmth to vocals and better separation between mids and highs

• Great for movies and gaming, with wider spatial presence

• Minimal distortion at high volumes

• Works well when paired with Dolby Atmos presets for more depth

Where It Could Improve

• Bass is decent but not as deep as Samsung’s flagship speakers

• The soundstage is wide, but not class-leading

Overall, the audio experience feels more premium than you’d expect at this price point — especially with Bose’s tuning giving it a smoother, more refined signature.

Verdict: One of Poco’s best audio setups yet. Great speakers for music, movies, and gaming.