Competition
With the F8 Ultra, the Poco F-series is continuing its climb in terms of overall capability. Its MSRP reflects that, with the numbers set at £750/€830 for a base 12GB/256GB variant and £800/€900 for a 16GB/512GB trim level. Early bird pricing is a lot more enticing, though – £550/€650 for the 12GB/256GB variant and £599/€700 for the 16GB/512GB variant. With such moving goalpoasts, picking the right competitors is a bit tricky, but we’ll do our best.
The nominal MSRP could also get you one of the recently released Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 phones that cut some corners in the camera department, or last year’s proper cameraphones, but with an year old chipset inside.
The OnePlus 15, for example, is among the more recently released alternatives, though it’s priced higher than even Poco’s MSRP. The extra spending will net you a nicer display (hardly tangible though), longer battery life (but the Poco’s is pretty awesome already), and more autofocus (on the ultrawide and the selfie camera – this just might make a difference). In the end, we’d be inclined to go Poco and pocket the difference.
Depending on where you are and what day of the week it is, the vivo X300 (non-Pro) might be only slightly more expensive than the Poco. The vivo’s key advantage is in its compactness, and it doesn’t sacrifice capabilities to get there – in fact, it’s likely a better cameraphone than the Poco.
A bit of a curved ball is what we’d call the nubia Z80 Ultra. Its cameraphone aspirations don’t necessarily translate into impressive real-life results, but it’s got a large screen and plenty of personality, and its base version can be had for less than the F8 Ultra (or at least match its early bird price) – if a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 on the cheap is what you’re after, the nubia fits that bill at least as well as the Poco.
OnePlus 15 • vivo X300 • ZTE nubia Z80 Ultra
With the right amount of research, you might be able to track down last year’s Oppo Find X8 Pro, or a vivo X200 Pro at the Poco’s MSRP, and we reckon each of those will be a better choice. They were not necessarily widely available when current though, so now that they’ve been replaced, maybe you should consider yourself lucky if you spot them at a retailer. Grab one and run.
It’s the exact opposite with the Galaxy S25+ – sold virtually everywhere, Samsung’s not-quite-a-flagship retails for Poco money and will get you all the niceties of the Samsung ecosystem, but the F8 Ultra is looking like a better cameraphone overall. And its early bird pricing is quite lower.
Oppo Find X8 Pro • vivo X200 Pro • Samsung Galaxy S25+
Verdict
The Poco F8 Ultra makes a few small missteps – no one is perfect. In the game of budgeting and market segmentation, a couple of camera choices ended up being less than ideal, though even in failing to provide everything, the phone still manages to do quite well with what it’s got. Yes, we’d take a selfie camera with autofocus and we’d also prefer a wider ultrawide, but selfies aren’t bad as is, and the ultrawide has its virtues (well, not in video).
Similarly, the display may not go below 60Hz but with battery life as long as it is, how much better could things have been with more granular refresh rate control? Now, we’ll admit that the long-term CPU load graph doesn’t look good, but that too can easily be rationalized around.
The list of positives is longer, we’d say. The display goes really bright and supports all sorts of HDR. Battery life is indeed great, and charging is plenty fast too. The speakers were a nice surprise – we thought it was going to be all marketing, but the Bose-branded setup is actually quite impressive. The denim-like back cover could be a selling point if you’re tired of all phones looking the same and the addition of eSIM support on this model will make it a viable option for travellers.
Then there’s the camera system, which is completely reworked for this generation. A higher-grade main camera means great stills and video, day and night. And it’s good at 2x zoom too, so the new 5x telephoto’s added reach won’t have you missing the 2.5x zoom camera of the F7 Ultra. The ultrawide has its limitations, but it does have a sweet spot which may align with yours. Selfies, too, are pretty great, even if we typically shudder at the sight of a 32MP fixed-focus front-facing camera.
At its list price, the Poco F8 Ultra is well worth considering. At its current early bird pricing, on the other hand, it’s shaping up as one of the best deals of the season.
Pros
IP68-rated body, jeans finish is interesting.
Super-bright Dolby Vision-capable OLED display.
Excellent battery life, fast charging (honest too).
Among the best speakers we’ve heard.
SD 8 Elite Gen 5 is super fast.
Excellent main camera, very capable telephoto, solid ultrawide (with caveats).
eSIM support added in this generation.
Cons
Display isn’t LTPO – no granular refresh rate control.
Heavy CPU throttling, erratic behavior as heat builds up.
Ultrawide camera lacks autofocus, so does the front-facing one.
Subpar ultrawide videos.