Looking back at my first few months with GadgetMatch back in 2018 nostalgically evoked my Pocophone F1 core memory. It was touted as THE “flagship killer for less.”

Pre-pandemic, that “Pocophone” simply became “POCO” and became an “independent” kiddo who moved out of its parent’s house.

Almost eight years after that very first iteration, I’ve finally had my first (and long overdue) POCO-perience with the latest POCO M8 Pro.

Design: Repurposed with a purpose

While I have not held a POCO phone until very recently, I am still aware of the brand’s offerings over the years.

Seeing the POCO M8 Pro for the first time instantly reminded me of last year’s Redmi Note 14 Pro series. That’s not me saying POCO blatantly ripped the aesthetics as the POCO X7 also had the same design language.

Like a full circle moment, the aforementioned phones were launched back a year ago.

In all honesty, it still confuses me which direction Xiaomi is heading, especially with the non-stop rebadging of existing POCO and REDMI phones — just with scrambled internals and CMF (color, materials, finish).

Having said that, I still consider the M8 Pro a level up from the last M7 Pro. The former’s design felt like it was not given much importance.

The centered camera island with a squircle cutout seemed like a signature design element of Xiaomi’s newer midrange line moving forward.

I also love how the phone felt in my hands. Even with that plastic back, it felt grippy enough when held.

You have to be wary of fingerprint smudges though — especially if you rock the black colorway. Luckily, the green shade I have still looks clean despite those unwanted smears.

And, if you’re brave enough to clean it in running water, the POCO M8 Pro boasts not just one, not two, but quadruple IP ratings: IP66, IP68, IP69, and even IP69K. These used to be exclusive only among 2025 flagships.

Now Playing: IDOL I

Much like my fanaticism to anything tech, the same can be said with Korean Pop Stars. More known as “K-Pop Idols”, I have been a huge geek of K-Pop for 16 long years (and still counting).

Interestingly, after finishing a series that just ended in Netflix, IDOL I swiftly came by. Even if I am the type of viewer who values the drama’s synopsis more than the cast involved, this K-Drama instantly hit two birds in one.

For one, its starred by a true iconic idol herself: Choi Sooyoung — or one of the nine members of SNSD / Girls’ Generation a.k.a the ultimate 2nd generation K-Pop girl group I’ve been stanning since my youth.

Although Maeng Se-na here is a heartless and “selfish” lawyer, she is the opposite for being a huge (yet silent) fan of “Gold Boys” with Do Ra-ik as his “Ult” (or Ultimate Bias).

In a wild turn of events, the idol became a “murderer” overnight — blaming him for the sudden death of his co-member after waking up from their drinking session.

But, no matter how the general public looks at him as the prime suspect, finding faults against Ra-ik is difficult. That’s pointing out the fact that he was just sleeping in his bed while his former bandmate slash loyal friend got stabbed without clear answers.

I can pretty much say the same thing with the 6.83-inch screen of the POCO M8 Pro: I cannot see any fault at all.

For one, it’s an AMOLED display that made me enjoy binging the first four episodes non-stop. But, being able to display 68.7 billion Colors and 12-bit color depth aside from the usual HDR10+ and Dolby Vision support? That’s likely unusual for a phone in such price point.

And, with a 1.5K display resolution plus a pixel density of 447 ppi, it’s as crisp as it could get. Watching it outdoors is neither a problem with its mighty 3200 nits peak brightness.

While my eyes aren’t very sensitive to light and flicker, its 3840Hz PWM dimming and TÜV Rheinland Flicker-Free and Low Blue Light certifications are still worth mentioning — especially if you stay up all night binge-watching hours worth of titles like yours truly.

On Queue: Apink’s RE:LOVE + Chuu’s XO, My Cyberlove

Pumping up the volume by 60%, it’s expected that the POCO M8 Pro possesses a louder than ever sound output. However, my audio assessment doesn’t end just there.

Just like POCO starting the year with a bang, the K-Pop scene in January 2026 has already exploded with real hit bangers.

First and foremost, Apink finally gathered again to released their 11th Mini Album (their previous Mini Album dates back to 2020). As per usual, I used Apple Music to take full advantage of that Lossless format.

Their title track “Love Me More” not only brought a lot of the group’s nostalgic intro and dance break instrumental during their early days in the industry, it also reminded me of the pre-millennium K-Pop era back in the early 90s.

Pair that with b-sides such as “Sunshine” that sounded pure and soulful, this latest mini album will truly make Pink Pandas’ hearts flutter.

In addition, Chuu (LOONA) finally releases her 1st Full Album titled “XO, My Cyberlove.” It is a complete opposite of her first ever solo song “Heart Attack” almost a decade ago which highlighted her cutesy, innocent charms.

The comeback track of the same title is as quirky and whimsical as it gets. Not only does it highlight Chuu’s light yet ethereal vocals, but it shows her newer, more mature side.

Furthermore, lyrics that evoke unexpected budding love in this digital era where everyone enjoys making connections through the cyber world.

With POCO M8 Pro’s speakers, I fully enjoyed playing the entirety of her freshly-baked album while I was writing this piece. Teeny Tiny Heart and Love Potion are currently my fave b-sides from this release.

Such music fulfillment was possible with the Dolby Atmos stereo speaker setup and Hi-Res Audio support of the M8 Pro. Not only its proudly loud, the audio produced is full and immaculate with clear line between its highs, mids, and lows.

Performance: Adequate for most

On paper, the POCO M8 Pro runs Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 7s Gen 4 SoC based on a 4nm process. As confusing as it seems, this is different from the more powerful Snapdragon 7 Gen 4.

That being told, game settings will vary depending on how demanding one is.

For instance, CoDM (Call of Duty: Mobile) runs in Very High and Max settings upon first set-up.

Meanwhile, Racing Master (based on NVIDIA’s PhysX engine) can run Ultra settings at 60fps.

However, it throttles during the first two ranked races.

Fortunately, the game detects if it gets sluggish — suggesting lowering down the settings altogether.

Lastly, playing Zenless Zone Zero is doable but, at the lowest graphics by default.

You wouldn’t dare to go past it as Combat Mode will literally feel like combatting the phone itself due to how heavy the game is.

The only “remedy” for these hardware limitations? It’s none other than the Game Turbo mode that boosts graphics performance and input through Xiaomi’s software advancements. And it sort of helped make the gameplay smoother, but not fully.

For the rest of apps that are not graphics-intensive, the M8 Pro can breeze through various apps without hiccups, do split-screens, or multitasking along floating windows with ease.

I can truthfully say that the only thing dragging the POCO M8 Pro down is the software as a whole.

After experiencing the beauty of vivo’s OriginOS 6 and HONOR’s MagicOS 10, Xiaomi’s HyperOS still feels like an after-thought. While it can keep up with the modern-day Android features, its stability and optimizations simply don’t make the cut.

Besides, its built-in AI tools, device ecosystem, as well as cross-compatibility functionality aren’t as polished as what you get on other Chinese brands. Let alone, a rip-off from everyone’s fruit rival without much feature improvements.

Worst thing? Maybe the ad slash bloatware infestation found not just on the lock screen. Even transferring personal files through Xiaomi’s native File Manager app plays an unskippable ad.

Battery: Eat it up! Eat it, eat it up! 🍝🎶

At 8.31mm, the POCO M8 Pro is as slender as it can get. How they were able to fit a 6500mAh battery inside its chassis is a true feat of engineering.

For the record, this is the first POCO M-series smartphone to have such a ginormous battery. It joins the same league as the POCO F8 Ultra, F7, and the X7 Pro (in India).

For added context, the M7 Pro, as well as the X7 with a similar form factor, only had a 5110mAh battery. But, numbers are just part of the story.

In day-to-day scenarios with light to moderate usage, the POCO M8 Pro can last you a full day — even more when you hit the bed with around 30% to spare.

As one would expect though, the biggest hogging can be felt when playing games.

During my gameplay stress test, downloading resources in Racing Master for about 30 minutes already consumed 5% charge (92% down to 87%). An hour of racing ate up 11 percent — from 87% down to 76%.

Letting it rest on my desk for 18 hours, the phone depleted to 51%.

At around 9 in the evening, I then started playing HoYoverse’s Zenless Zone Zero for exactly an hour. Battery charge went down further to 36%. Then, a 1.5-hour game in CoDM resulted to a 28% battery percentage. And, as of writing, the POCO M8 Pro still had a 3 percent charge left in its massive tank.

That said, the POCO M8 Pro comes with Xiaomi’s 100W wired HyperCharge speeds — adapter still bundled in the box.

By default, the battery charging speed is set in regular with the prompt / option to enable boosting.

In my GadgetMatch Charge Test results, it can be seen that the difference isn’t too far off.

	Boosted HyperCharge	Regular HyperCharge	PPS Charging (UGREEN 100W Nexode)
START TIME From 0%	1:11AM	3:10PM	4:06PM
3 minutes	10%	8%	1%
5 minutes	17%	11%	4%
10 minutes	25%	18%	13%
15 minutes	40%	23%	21%
20 minutes	46%	32%	28%
30 minutes	70%	50%	46%
45 minutes	88%	71%	67%
1 hour	99%	91%	84%
1 hour 15 minutes	–	99%	96%
END TIME 100%	2:14AM 1 hour 3 minutes	4:27PM 1 hour 17 minutes	5:30PM 1 hour 24 minutes

PPS Charging is also possible. Although the device only showed “Quick Charge” while being filled up, it’s safe to say that it performs as fast as Xiaomi’s regular HyperCharge with a super close margin of only seven minutes.

Cameras: Surprisingly Satisfying

Prospective buyers of the M8 Pro wouldn’t have a hard time dealing with its conventional camera configuration: a 50MP f/1.6 main (wide) camera based on Light Fusion 800’s 1/1.55-inch sensor. That’s paired with a less outstanding 8MP f/2.2 UWA (ultra-wide angle) camera.

For the most part, the main camera does its job very well considering this type of device.

With the satisfactory 1x image sensor, 2x zoom is also possible, thanks to in-sensor cropping.

I honestly used the 2x mode more than I thought — especially when capturing my cats and food I devour.

You can go beyond the bounds. But, with obvious hardware limitations, the camera processing can only do so much.

Once that natural light disappears, it will be tricky to take low-light shots as this has NO dedicated Night Mode feature. No luck if you are using them indoors with artificial light around.

Instead, regular Photo Mode automatically detects a low-light subject and toggles Night Mode processing by itself.

While most results are satisfying, it’s also a testament that its cameras are far from being flawless.

Good thing, the flash exists for a funkier look in subjects that suit it — food specifically.

Portraits weren’t missed. Although it only relies on some software-based processing, it still gets the job done of separating the subject away from the background — humans and pets alike.

Personally, the aperture function was a bit of a nuisance.

For context, these shots were set to a low “f/1.8 aperture.” But, the M8 Pro rendered DoF (Depth of Field) that isn’t as shallow as what it’s supposed to show.

My frustration continues as the setting defaults back to f/4.5 after quitting and re-opening the camera app. That’s not even the standard lens opening when taking portrait photos.

And while we’re already here, selfies taken with its front-facing shooter.

Is the POCO M8 Pro your GadgetMatch?

While this isn’t the “flagship killer” most expect from a POCO phone, it’s hard not to go loco over how well-rounded yet wallet-friendly this POCO phone is — especially in the year 2026 where inflation is still unstoppable alongside the almost instantaneous and ridiculous RAM price hike.

ICYMI, the POCO M8 Pro has a starting price of GBP 299 / SG$ 389 / RM 1199 / PhP 16,999 (around US$ 279) for the 8+256GB configuration.

Meanwhile, the 12+512GB variant that I handle is priced at GBP 349 / SG$ 449 / RM 1499 / PhP 19,999 (approx. US$ 359).

Its closest rival is none other than the HONOR X9d. Coincidental or not, it was launched just a day after the unveiling of the M8 Pro.

Frankly, the only thing you’ll let go from HONOR’s sweet treat are its monstrous 8300mAh battery and more polished OS. This POCO-ffering blows it out of the water with a greater chipset, faster wired charging, bigger and better display, capable cameras, durability never forgotten.

Although it wasn’t totally highlighted, the POCO M8 Pro is undoubtedly a rebadged REDMI Note 15 Pro+ — Xiaomi’s upcoming midranger that heavily markets its “Titan Durability” capabilities.

The POCO M8 Pro simply possess them all: from its sturdy aluminum frame, quad IP ratings, even the fully-shielded front glass care of Corning’s Gorilla Glass Victus 2. The biggest disparity? REDMI has a 200MP main camera over POCO’s 50MP shooter.

Despite some inconsistencies, the POCO M8 Pro is still an all-around midranger that will satisfy most users who want to purchase a shiny new smartphone without burning holes in your pockets.

It is a Swipe Right, Super Swipe, and a worthy recipient of the GadgetMatch Seal of Approval.

Concerts are unfair camera tests — wild lighting, fast movement, and zero second chances. So when I brought the HONOR Magic8 Pro to TWICE’s THIS IS FOR concert in Bangkok, I wanted to see if HONOR’s Stage Mode could actually handle it.

Everything here was shot using Stage Mode at 4K 30fps.

This wasn’t lab testing. This was real-world, heart-racing, shaky-hands shooting.

Where I was seated and why zoom mattered

 

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The concert used a 360-degree stage. I was lucky enough to sit close to one of the extended stages, which meant I was often shooting between 3.7x to 10x zoom.

For the main stage, I mostly relied on 15x zoom.

That’s where a phone either wins your trust… or completely falls apart.

Surprisingly stable, even with shaky hands and excitement

Let’s start with what impressed me most — stability.

I’m naturally shaky, and TWICE being right in front of me did not help. I was vibrating out of excitement most of the night. Even then, Stage Mode stabilization held things together beautifully.

 

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Shots stayed usable. Footage stayed watchable.
Even when I wasn’t being my most careful self.

This gave me confidence to keep shooting instead of worrying about every tiny hand movement.

Image quality: sometimes magical, sometimes uncertain

Now the honest part.

Stage Mode still needs to mature.

There were moments when footage looked crisp, clean, and genuinely impressive for a smartphone in that environment.

 

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But there were also times where it clearly struggled — particularly with lighting transitions and focus.

 

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Some clips handled spotlights well. Others felt like the processing panicked a little.

It wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t consistent yet.

How it compares to other concert kings

 

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If I were purely relying on zoom to watch the concert through my phone, I’d still recommend the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. It remains the phone I trust most when zoom is mission-critical.

vivo also still leads in Stage Mode execution. The vivo X300 Ultra’s Stage Mode feels more refined and reliable at this point.

HONOR isn’t there yet.

But it’s also much closer than I expected.

So… would I bring the Magic8 Pro to concerts again?

Yes.

Even with the inconsistencies.
Even knowing there are better Stage Mode implementations out there.

 

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Because the Magic8 Pro still gave me plenty of shots and clips I was genuinely happy with. Stability is excellent. Quality can be great. And for most users, it delivers results worth keeping and sharing.

If I didn’t have a Galaxy S25 Ultra or vivo X300 Ultra with me, I’d still confidently bring the HONOR Magic8 Pro.

Stage Mode isn’t perfect yet.
But it’s promising — and when it works, it really does feel like magic.

 

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SEE ALSO: 

• HONOR Magic8 Pro review
• HONOR Magic8 Pro price and availability 

There are phones that feel like upgrades because the spec sheet says so. Then there are phones like the HONOR Magic8 Pro — where the longer you use it, the more you start asking, “Wait, what kind of sorcery is happening here?” Because on paper this feels incremental. In real life, it feels like HONOR finally clicked.

Coming from the Magic7 Pro, the feeling was immediate. This is just better overall. Not loudly. Not showy. It’s one of those “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” situations where individual improvements don’t scream at you, but together they create something that feels confident, smooth, and genuinely premium. Not “premium for HONOR.” Premium, full stop.

HONOR may still be playing catch-up in reputation, but with a phone like this, they’ve stopped chasing in experience. They’re executing — and sometimes, it really does work like magic.

This is for the person who wants out of the usual rotation — who doesn’t want yet another iPhone or Samsung — but doesn’t want to feel like they’re experimenting. It’s different. But familiar enough that you don’t feel like you’re learning a new ecosystem from scratch.

Design and hand feel: lighter, friendlier, easier to live with

First impression: this feels better in the hand. Lighter. More balanced. More like something you’ll mindlessly hold even when you don’t need to. HONOR’s quad micro-curved screen plays a big part in that. It melts into your palm in a way that disappears after a few days — which is exactly the point.

I wasn’t immediately in love with the design or color options. They didn’t hit me the way some aggressively styled flagships do. But like many good decisions in life, it grew on me. Over time, you realize it’s not designed to impress in photos. It’s designed to feel right while you live with it.

NanoCrystal Shield? IP rating? I forgot they existed. And that’s a compliment. These are silent guardians — not features you constantly think about.

What surprised me most is how right the size and shape feel. HONOR didn’t go flashy. They went comfortable. And comfort wins long-term.

Display and eye comfort: the “oh right, real flagships exist” moment

The first true “wow” moment wasn’t dramatic. It was simply turning the phone on.

I came from a device that proudly wore the “flagship killer” label. Good display. Good everything. But the Magic8 Pro reminded me that “flagship killer” is still not the same as “flagship.” Real flagships feel different — and this one does from the first second.

Brightness when it needs to punch. Warm and easy when the lights go down. It’s the kind of display that never calls attention to itself, but you notice how relaxed your eyes feel after hours of use.

Late nights? This is still my favorite kind of HONOR device to use. I watched a lot of Surely Tomorrow on Prime Video — yes, partly because of Won Ji-an — but mostly because watching on this screen is simply satisfying.

Eye comfort has been consistently good across HONOR Magic devices, and that continues here. And while we’re talking consumption: the speakers are excellent. Not “good enough.” Excellent.

Outdoor visibility? Never squinted. Never fought the brightness slider. Just worked.

MagicOS’s translucent visuals sit quietly in the background. They’re there. They add polish. But they don’t steal attention. Think liquid glass aesthetic. Familiar, but still HONOR.

Camera: confidence at night, honesty in tone, and just… fun

The first thing I checked? Stage mode. Because I was planning to bring this to a concert. It was there, it worked, and I ended up writing an entirely different story about it. That should tell you how confident I felt about the camera system early.

Outside of that? I didn’t “test” the camera. I just used it. Food. My mom’s cats. Street moments. CES 2026 in Las Vegas. Normal life. Which is the highest compliment — I wasn’t thinking about whether the camera could keep up. I trusted it to.

At 10x and beyond, I’ll be honest — I didn’t trust it before reviewing shots. Then I checked. And I was pleasantly surprised. There’s definitely processing going on, especially at night. But the results are consistently usable, and more importantly, they look good.

 

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Blue hour? Beautiful. Cinematic without feeling fake. My default has always been the Authentic preset — warm, moody, emotional images that still feel real.

Skin tones behaved well even under chaotic neon and mixed street lights. That matters. HONOR’s camera finally feels like something I want to shoot with, not just something I can rely on.

And yes, handheld night shooting absolutely feels more confident than before. I enjoyed shooting on the Magic8 Pro. Simple as that.

Magic Color: not a gimmick — just early

Magic Color sits somewhere between “interesting toy” and “future essential.” In the right hands, it’s powerful — letting people create their own color identity without going into full editing mode. For me? It didn’t completely replace editing, but it did speed things up.

More often than not, I was already happy with the output. Especially in fast-paced shooting. This has potential to evolve into something truly meaningful over time.

AI Button and AI features: helpful… but not yet instinctive

HONOR really wants the AI Button to matter. I… almost forgot it existed.

Not because it’s useless. But because habits take time to rewire. I kept it on default, rarely reached for it, and never felt disrupted by it. It’s neutral for now — useful eventually, but not yet muscle memory.

Where AI did help: setup and daily flow. The AI Settings Agent organizing my apps? Loved that. Anything that saves time in review cycles is a win. AI suggestions sometimes felt smart, sometimes like they needed more maturity. But HONOR is on the right track.

Gemini remains my primary AI tool on Android — translate and circle-to-search will always be two of my most-used features. HONOR AI and Gemini don’t clash. They coexist.

AI Safety features? Good to have. Haven’t had to use them. Hopefully never will.

Performance, gaming, and heat

Zenless Zone Zero ran well. Frames felt stable. Movement felt crisp. The phone does heat up faster than I’d like — not uncomfortable, but noticeable. You can feel it working hard.

Oddly enough, screen brightness and audio probably impacted my gaming enjoyment more than raw horsepower. And honestly, that matters more in real use.

Battery and charging: genuinely excellent

This might be the most boringly excellent part of the Magic8 Pro. Full day? Absolutely. Even during heavy usage days — like concerts with constant video recording — I never felt anxious.

Charging feels like cheating. Blink, and you’re basically back. Wireless charging? Actually useful. Not just “nice to have.”

Battery here feels dependable. Quietly elite.

MagicOS 10 and day-to-day life

MagicOS 10 feels like a helpful salesperson at a store. Mostly out of sight. Never pushing. But always there when you need help. Feature-packed without feeling like it’s shouting for attention.

It fades into the background the right way. Just letting you live.

Cross-device life

I primarily use a MacBook Pro M4. Connecting wasn’t smooth. Sharing sits somewhere between “fine” and “needs work.” If you’re deep in Apple’s ecosystem, this will be the hesitation point.

But also? I switched from an older iPhone. And yes — I’d still recommend that switch.

Is the HONOR Magic8 Pro your GadgetMatch?

Compared to the Magic7 Pro? No hesitation — upgrade.
Is this HONOR’s strongest non-folding flagship so far? Absolutely.

This feels like the year HONOR quietly cracked the code. Not because of a single headline feature, but because everything finally works together — display, performance, battery life, cameras, and all the little quality-of-life details that make a phone feel reliable, capable, and genuinely exciting to use.

If you want a phone that feels different without feeling risky, swipe up.
If you shoot a lot at night and want photos that simply work, swipe up.
If you want a device that feels confident without trying too hard to impress you, swipe up.

Hesitate only if you’re deeply tied to Apple’s ecosystem and that cross-device life matters more than anything else.

Otherwise? The HONOR Magic8 Pro is HONOR at its most polished, most confident, and most magical yet — the kind of phone that looks incremental on paper but feels like sorcery in real life. A no-brainer recommendation, and absolutely worthy of the GadgetMatch Seal of Approval.

SEE ALSO: 

• We took the HONOR Magic8 Pro to a TWICE concert
• HONOR Magic8 Pro price and availability