Lighter boxing weight classes are often associated with speed and technical precision, rather than raw power.

Yet history has shown us “outliers” like Roberto Duran, Miguel Cotto, Manny Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez, and more recently, Gervonta Davis and Naoya Inoue — who proved bantamweights to welterweights can deliver devastating knockouts too.

That’s the parallel I see with the POCO F8 Pro: a supposedly “lite” flagship that punches (pun not intended) above its weight, like a lightweight device with knockout power.

After two weeks of use, it feels less like a compromise and more like a contender, especially considering its accessible price that embarrasses midrange rivals.

Lightning quick

The POCO F8 Pro is supposedly the “lite” or “base” model underneath the POCO F8 Ultra in the series, but it is far from being watered down.

POCO F8 Ultra review: An Achievable aspirational all-rounder

Powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite, its performance matches the spec sheet: straightforwardly and consistently smooth and fluid swipes, scrolls, apps switching, and navigation.

It’s an overkill for casual use which includes messaging, browsing, and photography. But for heavier workloads like content creation, filming, and multitasking on the fly, it’s a reliable workhorse.

Rendering short-form videos and uploading them over Wi-Fi impressively takes less time. It’s actually a shame that I have not taken advantage of the device yet for livestreaming sessions but I suspect it would be just as smooth.

Smooth gaming

Gaming performance is equally strong. Honkai: Star Rail sessions ran flawlessly at max graphics.

Call of Duty Mobile battle royales feel responsive without exaggerated sensitivity for panning left and right or shooting foes. Wandering around the titles’ maps looked smooth and satisfying too.

There’s WildBoost Optimization and a dedicated panel where you can adjust further settings.

You can also tell that the system is optimized as there’s no overheating after an hour or so. It’s actually during shooting photos and videos for a lengthy amount of time where the phone starts to get warm.

But that’s how you know it’s doing its work. Interestingly, the case was similar when I reviewed the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE in the past.

Ample battery life

“All-day battery” still ultimately depends on usage, but the F8 Pro holds its own. Naturally, expect about 15 to 20% reduction per hour for intensive gaming.

In my case, although I wasn’t able to utilize the handset too much for gaming, I still brought another phone with me just to be sure.

The F8 Pro can prevail comfortably for 12-hour turnarounds. That’s for mixed use which includes hotspotting, shooting, browsing, comms, and more.

You just have to take breaks from time to time. I understand that “flagship” devices still drain faster no matter how optimized they are because of the advanced hardware like their antenna, as well as other features.

Anyway, the F8 Pro’s 6210mAh battery supports 100W charging and 25W reverse wired charging. With a fast 60W USB C-to-C cable, the phone refuels about 70% in an hour, which is at par for the segment.

Sound by Bose

A standout feature is POCO’s partnership with Bose. The co-developed speaker system for both models delivers a more refined audio quality than typical midrange phones. There’s better bass and clearer mids and highs.

The best way to describe the audio is this way: it’s as if you’re listening to something while wearing budget earbuds below US$ 50 / PhP 3,000, except you you’re not wearing any.

Compared to other midrange devices, the soundscape is richer and less flat with the F8 Pro.

Display: Crisp and clear, but cutout on corners

Onto its display, the F8 Pro has a 6.59-inch 120Hz POCO HyperRGB AMOLED display with a high resolution and 100% DCI P3.

Visuals look lively, be it sports highlights, random TikTok videos, or mobile games. Edges aren’t jagged, and you can see just how sharp 4K videos are. Such screen is useful for viewing photos to check their focus and overall quality.

In addition, the panel has a maximum peak brightness of 3500 nits so it’s easy to see content outdoors when needed.

The only drawback is that with curved corners, some UI elements get clipped. For instance, CODM’s real-time data. Still, it’s a trade-off I’m willing to accept over fully curved displays.

Design

Visually, the POCO F8 Pro is a head-turner. Obviously, manufacturers have pivoted to the elevated horizontal upper back panel on top of the camera module as one of their phones’ key design elements, and the F8 series is no different.

The cameras protrude distinctively, while the Bose branding is also inscribed beside the shooters. It’s a simple and clean aesthetic. Thankfully, POCO avoided further gimmicks like camera control buttons or ring/silent switches to keep the appearance neat.

However, the back panel is very slippery, and I’ve had problems one-handing the phone when typing or taking photos while my other hand is holding a bag or something else.

HyperOS 3

Models under the F8 series run on HyperOS 3. Admittedly, it takes a while before getting used to the icons, the layout, and everything else as I’ve reviewed a ton of devices under the BKK Electronics umbrella prior.

It’s worth noting that the F8 series devices come with gambling apps right out of the box, as if they’re essentials. I’d rather have bloatware mobile games at this point even if they’re just as useless.

Anyway, there’s a handful of nuances that I’m not used to, like being unable to unlock the device with a fingerprint code unless you press the power button once first.

If you swipe down from the upper left to check the notifications, you cannot swipe from the upper right-hand side to switch to the quick access icons either.

Even the gallery’s editing tools have a slightly different arrangement and you’ll need a few seconds to find the AI eraser or other sliders. I am fond of the endless built-in filters for photos, though.

The camera app does not have a Night Mode that I can access quickly either. It’s just a matter of familiarity, I guess.

Cameras: Pro level, but with limits

Onto the POCO F8 Pro’s camera package, here are the phone’s shooters:

• 1/1.55-inch f/1.88 50MP Light Fusion 800 main camera with OIS
• 50MP f/2.2 telephoto camera
• 8MP f/2.2 ultra-wide camera
• 20MP front camera

The main camera simply captures photos that are of the budget DSLR or mirrorless cameras’ quality. They’re of great detail and come out with excellent color reproduction and depth.

Once, I took the F8 Pro to a gathering and the photos came out as if they were from the official event photos’ Google Drive folder. At least, when viewed from a small screen, that’s how they appeared.

With a dedicated telephoto camera (starts at 2.5x zoom), you can also retain quality and detail at up to 5x zoom. I once stumbled upon the Miss Grand International homecoming event at One Ayala.

More telephoto samples:

There’s just a bit of difference between the color temperatures; shots from the main camera look warmer while the telephoto shooter produces cooler captures.

Where the system struggles is with portraits. It’s hit or miss, and it’s as if portrait mode only works mostly with people as subjects. The blurring isn’t enough for me, and sometimes, the segmentation isn’t very smooth.

Night Mode also struggles in producing non-shaky or noisy images beyond 2.5x zoom. But let’s just say it’s a more accurate way of portraying what I’m actually seeing in reality.

Filming is smooth, thanks to the main camera’s OIS. I am able to shoot 1080p@60fps videos with ease for publishing to my personal vlog.

Is this your GadgetMatch?

In spite of some quirks, the POCO F8 Pro is still a Swipe Right for its overall package. There aren’t many devices in the upper midrange segment that can offer what the F8 Pro can deliver. That’s for a competitive price starting at US$ 579 / £ 549 / PhP 29,999.

The burning question here is if you are willing to live with the caveats when it comes to camera performance in favor of a more superior chipset and optimized performance for days where you have to push your handset to the limit.

POCO calls the Pad X1 an all-round tablet built for every scenario. After using it for actual work and downtime, we can see why they position it that way. This is one of those devices that we end up carrying around because it doesn’t hold us back. And for the most part, it doesn’t.

How the display shapes the overall experience

The first thing that stands out is the display. POCO went with a 3.2K panel running at 144Hz, and it shows. The screen looks sharp the moment you wake it up. Text is crisp. Colors feel vivid without leaning too far into oversaturation. 

Videos benefit the most from this bump in resolution. Stranger Things looks clean and cinematic. K-Dramas like Dynamite Kiss look bright and fluid, especially during outdoor scenes where you get a lot of gradients and motion. 

YouTube videos also look clear and consistently sharp. We watched the Doctor Doom trailer, a few Fliptop battles, and a range of recommended content, and everything held up across different lighting conditions.

Brightness is another thing POCO got right. The screen stays visible even when you take the tablet outside. Glare shows up once in a while, but the panel has enough brightness to keep everything readable. This helps when we’re moving from indoor setups to open-air cafés or outdoor production locations.

Natural and fast

Performance is another highlight. The Snapdragon 7+ Gen 3 keeps the device responsive across different workloads. Multitasking feels natural and fast. 

You can open Canva for layout work while a YouTube video plays and the tablet doesn’t flinch. App switching feels instant. Even when several apps remain open in the background, the Pad X1 stays smooth. 

This consistency holds up during longer work stretches and quick productivity bursts in between meetings or errands.

This level of responsiveness carries over to entertainment. Animations stay fluid. Scrolling stays clean. Basic interactions like navigating through settings or sliding through the gallery feel snappy. 

It’s the kind of performance that blends quietly into your day because you don’t need to think about it.

Real-world battery life and audio quality

Battery life is another strong area. In mixed use–light photo and video editing, checking emails and messages, moving between Spotify and YouTube–the tablet lasts about eight hours with around 40% to 50% left. 

That means it can go through a normal workday and still have enough left for streaming at night. This kind of endurance is one of the clearest signs that the Pad X1 supports your routine instead of interrupting it.

The speakers also deliver more than we expected. They get loud and stay clear. Vocals sit nicely over instruments, and the sound doesn’t distort even when you push the volume. 

We played a couple of playlists–mostly 2000s pop punk and some road trip material–and the speakers stayed consistent. The overall experience sits above what we usually hear in this price range, making it reliable for music sessions, podcasts, and continuous video watching.

Accessories that extend what the tablet can do

POCO includes accessories that help the Pad X1 transition into more serious workflows. The floating keyboard is one of the standouts. It’s responsive and easy to get used to. 

The trackpad gestures feel familiar because they work almost exactly like the ones you use on a laptop. We didn’t even have to check the manual to learn them. The adjustment period was practically zero. 

This accessory shifts the tablet into a compact workstation, making it useful for email replies, light document work, and navigating through apps with more control.

The Focus Pen is another tool for productivity. It’s responsive enough for note-taking and quick sketches. There’s a bit of lag here and there, but it’s not enough to break the flow when you need to write something fast. 

For more detailed drawing or thicker brushwork, you’ll feel the delay, but for everyday scribbles and quick storyboard drafts, it works as intended.

What helps the Pad X1 slot into our workflow is how naturally it adjusts to different situations. 

You can use it as a second display next to your laptop. You can mount it as a monitor during drone flights when you need a clear feed. You can open it on a small café table and finish your tasks while listening to Spotify. 

And at the end of the day, you can shift to K-dramas or YouTube without thinking about charging.

Is the POCO Pad X1 your GadgetMatch?

The POCO Pad X1 is the kind of device you keep using because it behaves the way you expect it to. It feels fast. It lasts long. It plays content well. 

It offers accessories that let you cross into more professional tasks. It doesn’t try to be a flagship powerhouse, but it doesn’t need to. Its strength lies in being dependable. And when you combine that with an impressive display and solid sound, you get a tablet that fits neatly into workdays and weekends alike – that’s why we’re Swiping Right.

If you’re looking for a device that won’t slow down your day, the POCO Pad X1 makes a strong case. It’s built for the small transitions in your life–those quick shifts between work, play, planning, and rest. And that’s exactly why it stands out.

There’s a certain expectation that comes with a phone wearing the “Ultra” label. It should feel powerful the moment you pick it up, glide effortlessly through your day, and hold up across everything you throw at it — from people-packed events to late-night video-viewing sessions to accidental creative bursts you didn’t plan for.

The POCO F8 Ultra fits into that space: a device that wants to be the flagship for people who don’t normally buy flagships, while still delivering most of the things you look for in one.

I spent close to two weeks with the Denim Blue variant — the only version I tested — and that alone shaped a big chunk of my experience. The material feels unlike anything else in this bracket, enough that the included silicone case never even crossed my mind.

And that pretty much sets the tone for this review: the POCO F8 Ultra consistently punches above its class, not always perfectly, but convincingly enough that you’ll wonder why other brands can’t make this balance work.

What follows is my time with the phone across a handful of real events: the PIXEL by EPlayment ambassador announcement featuring cosplayer Charess, a Sony Media Thanksgiving Party where KAIA took part in some games, and finally, a quick tour of the Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park in Bali — my last chapter with the device. 

The rest was pure day-to-day: doomscrolling, chat threads, emails, random YouTube spirals, obsessing over Zoe Dang dances, a few shows (Would You Marry Me, plus fancams of LE SSERAFIM’s Kazuha during “Spaghetti” promotions), and a lot of Spotify time.

Performance: Fast, fluid, and mostly problem-free

Day-to-day use on the POCO F8 Ultra feels exactly as you’d expect from a POCO F-series — and maybe even a touch more refined. 

Everything from opening apps to jumping across socials to switching between the camera and messages felt speedy. Nothing sluggish, nothing hesitant. Even coming from flagship foldables with comparable high-end chipsets, the POCO F8 Ultra holds its ground surprisingly well.

The dual-chip setup — Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 paired with the VisionBoost D8 — didn’t make itself known in dramatic ways. It just worked. That’s usually the best-case scenario: when speed feels normal, not overwhelming.

There was, however, one odd slowdown that forced me to restart the phone. I don’t recall it overheating or being under load. I even remember being inside an air-conditioned room. But it happened just once in nearly two weeks, and the phone went right back to normal afterwards.

Heat management also tells two different stories. Indoors, on most days, the phone stayed comfortably cool. But during the GWK tour in Bali — a very humid afternoon — the F8 Ultra warmed up quickly after just a handful of photos. Earlier too, while recording one-to-five-minute fancam videos of KAIA during a party game segment, the heat was noticeable but not alarming.

Nothing throttled, nothing crashed. Just warmth you can feel — something common in hot weather and during extended video recording.

Gaming: Zenless Zone Zero at high settings, no drama

I kept gaming simple: Zenless Zone Zero was the only title I tested. I didn’t tweak the settings; everything was mostly set to high.

And honestly? The F8 Ultra handled it like a champ.

Fast-paced scenes with lots of particle effects felt smooth, clean, and stable. No visible stutters, no dips that broke immersion. Performance simply stayed out of the way and let me play.

It never throttled during gameplay. The only hitch was that earlier slowdown outside of gaming.

The Bose-tuned speakers also played a big role here. They’re really good — richer and more rounded than the recent flagship-level phone I tested, though not significantly better than the personal phones I use like the Galaxy Z Fold7, Magic V5, or iPhone 14 Pro Max. Equal, but considering the price, that’s already a win.

Display: Big, immersive, and surprisingly comfortable

Jung Somin in Would You Marry Me on Disney+

You’d expect a 6.9-inch display to feel unwieldy, but in hand, the POCO F8 Ultra feels smaller than it looks. The body is mostly flat with rounded edges and a slightly raised camera module — nothing distracting.

Media consumption on the HyperRGB panel was pure fun. I watched a few episodes of “Would You Marry Me” on Disney+, along with some fancams of LE SSERAFIM’s Kazuha. No issues. Just a large, immersive screen that knows how to make content look good.

LE SSERAFIM Kazuha Spaghetti Fancam

Under direct sunlight — especially during the GWK tour — legibility was excellent. I didn’t think about brightness once. It just worked.

At night, eye comfort wasn’t a problem either. I tend to catch up on videos in low-lit conditions; the display never felt harsh, never strained my eyes.

As for color accuracy, it doesn’t feel perfectly neutral — there’s a hint of saturation. Not enough to skew reality, but enough to make things look more vibrant than flat.

Battery Life: Quietly impressive

I didn’t keep track of exact screen-on time, but I kept an eye on percentages. What stood out was how the phone rarely dipped below 50%, even on days when I used the camera heavily. On lighter days — doomscrolling, chats, shows — I typically ended around 58% to 62%.

Charging performance is reliable:

• 100W wired charging:
  10–15% to full in around 1 hour and 5 minutes
• Daily top-ups (my usual routine):
  From ~50% to full in 20–25 minutes

Wireless charging works. I only used it briefly to confirm it existed — I didn’t have the spec sheet then — but it’s there if you need it.

No major shifts in routine, but the 6500mAh battery gave me enough confidence to leave the powerbank at home more often.

Camera: Reliable in Good Light, Creative at 10x, and Mostly Consistent

My shooting leaned heavily on people. During the PIXEL by Eplayment event, I captured a lot of photos of Charess. During the Sony Media Thanksgiving Party, I shot several photos and videos of KAIA. And in Bali, I covered the cultural sights at GWK, a few scenic shots and some food.

Main camera (50MP Light Fusion 950)

In good lighting, the results are vibrant, lively, and clean — exactly what you expect at this level. At night, results are mixed but lean toward usable to good, depending on the situation.

Periscope (5x and 10x)

This was more fun than expected. I shot a lot at 5x and 10x during the Charess event and during KAIA taking part in party games.

Here’s a quick reel of KAIA at the Thanksgiving party.

@rodneil KAIA playing games at the Sony Thanksgiving Party. Finally saw them live after missing out on several tech events this year. 😁 @Angela @Charice 🍒 @charlotte! 🌺 @Sophia ♡ @A-leXa #KAIA ♬ original sound – Rodneil

Portraits were also fun.

At 10x, the F8 Ultra can produce fantastic images — one of my favorite focal lengths of the entire review. There were a few moments of sharpness inconsistency when I shot KAIA, but outside of that, 10x delivered some of my most memorable shots.

Favorites

A few stood out:

A couple walking out of a shaded area into a patch of light with the massive Vishnu structure looming behind them.

A fun shot where I posed with Naruto hand-signs with the same Vishnu structure in the background.

A framed shot of the Vishnu and Garuda fountain at the GWK entrance, taken through tree branches.

A distant flower shot that created a naturally shallow depth of field.

A handful of KAIA photos that turned out much better than expected.

Front camera

I’m not a big selfie taker, so the samples are limited. They looked… nice? Nothing to complain about.

Quirks

For some reason, launching the camera in Bali occasionally slid into Document mode instead of a zoom level. Probably just a swiping mishap, but worth noting.

Here are a few more sample photos:

Audio: Warm, rich, and better than expected

So Easy (To Fall In Love) by Olivia Dean

I didn’t touch any audio settings during my listening sessions. Out of the box, the Bose-tuned speakers delivered warm, rich tones with no distortion even at full volume.

Messy by Estelle Fly

My soundtrack during the review included:

• Olivia Dean
  
• “Messy” by Estelle Fly
  
• “Shampoo” by Greg Shilling, Jesse Barrera, and Albert Posis
  

Shampoo by Greg Shilling, Jesse Barrera, and Albert Posis

Across all of them, the F8 Ultra sounded fuller than phones in its bracket, and at par with flagships I normally use. That doesn’t make it a miracle speaker system — but it does make it one of the most impressive audio experiences in its price range.

Design & Handling: Denim Blue steals the show

The Denim Blue variant feels genuinely premium. The texture stands out in a sea of smooth glass slabs, and it feels great in hand — light, easy to grip, and consistently nice to hold. This alone puts it comfortably in my Top 5 best in-hand phones of 2025.

IP68? I splashed the device a bit. Water clung to the Denim material instead of rolling off the way it does on slippery glass, but it wiped clean and left no issues.

Software: Smooth and snappy with a familiar caveat

HyperOS 3 felt buttery throughout my testing. Snappy animations, fluid transitions — nothing to complain about.

HyperIsland also worked reliably. It updated consistently with whatever I played on Spotify, which is more than I can say for certain flagship phones that stop showing the right track after a while.

The only drawback: the ads. Still not a fan of them. Still too many.

eSIM setup was painless and worked instantly.

Is the POCO F8 Ultra your GadgetMatch?

The POCO F8 Ultra sits in a tight spot. It wants to be the phone for users who want flagship performance without paying flagship prices — and it largely achieves that. It offers:

• Strong performance
  
• Rich audio
• A large, immersive display
  
• Dependable battery life
  
• A versatile camera setup
  
• A design that doesn’t feel cheap in any way
  

And it does all this with the top-end variant priced at US$ 799 / GBP 799 / PhP 42,999, with early-bird discounts bringing it even lower.

It’s not perfect — the occasional warm-ups, a few sharpness inconsistencies, and the ad-heavy software are real drawbacks — but the overall experience feels far more refined than what POCO used to offer.

The F8 Ultra is what I’d call an achievable aspirational flagship: the kind you can actually buy without feeling like you’re stretching too far, while still enjoying the feeling of owning something premium.

For a lot of people, that’s exactly the sweet spot. That’s why this is a Swipe Up and deserves the GadgetMatch Seal of Approval.