The competition
The Poco X7 Pro was a phone that was not only an instant recommendation, but also one that stayed in our Buyer’s Guide for many months. It was only natural for us to have high expectations for its sequel.
And the Poco X8 Pro does live up to the expectations set by its predecessor, whether it’s the Iron Man Edition or not. The Poco X8 Pro is a powerful smartphone with a top-notch display, outstanding battery life and charging speed, and solid camera quality. The price is what makes this whole package so sweet, though. The base 256GB is priced at €399, with an early bird offer of €309. The 12GB/512GB is €479 with an early bird price of €369, and the Iron Man Edition costs €499.
Poco X8 Pro Max vs. Poco X8 Pro
Naturally, the Poco X8 Pro Max is the first alternative to the X8 Pro. The Pro Max has a larger display, flagship Dimensity 9500s chip, and a whopping 8,500mAh battery. The Max costs €120 over the Poco X8 Pro, but we’d say this price premium is worth it if you are after even better performance and battery life.
The Motorola Edge 60 Pro has the last year’s Dimensity 8350 Extreme chip, which scores a bit lower than the 8500, but it will offer you a more versatile camera experience, including a 3x telephoto and a far superior selfie camera, wireless charging, and a tougher build in a thinner and lighter body. It’s definitely worth considering as well.
The Realme 16 Pro+ offers a tough build, a similarly premium screen, and a more advanced camera kit with 200MP primary, 50MP 3.5x telephoto, 8MP ultrawide/macro, and a 50MP selfie camera. The Realme 16 Pro+ is at least 80€ more expensive, and not as powerful as the X8 Pro, but you should consider it for its camera prowess and even longer battery life.
The €389 Nothing Phone (4a) is probably the X8 Pro best match with a similar display, build, and the same main and ultrawide cameras. The performance is not that behind either. The Nothing Phone (4a) has an additional zoom camera for 3.5x magnification and Glyph lights. But its battery capacity is lower, and the charging, well, slower. But considering how close those two are, we do urge you to explore the Nothing offer before making a decision.
Xiaomi Poco X8 Pro Max • Motorola Edge 60 Pro • Realme 16 Pro+ • Nothing Phone (4a)
Our verdict
And if your decision turns out to be buying the Poco X8 Pro, it will be the right one for sure. The phone is the epitome of a flagship killer with high-end specs at a bargain price.
The Poco X8 Pro has a likable and durable body, an excellent OLED screen with all sorts of perks and high brightness, capable cameras, amazing battery life, and, of course, impressive raw and sustained performance.
We expected the selfie camera to be a disappointment, but it turned out rather okay, so we are gladly admitting when we’re wrong. We’d still prefer a 50MP AF shooter here, of course, but that’s reserved for Xiaomi’s more expensive phones.
It was really hard to find fault with anything about the Poco X8 Pro. A telephoto camera would have made this phone a killer offer for sure, but even without it, it’s sort of still killing it.
The Poco X8 Pro is probably our easiest recommendation for 2026 so far. There is just no better phone at the same price, let alone at the early bird price.
As for the Iron Man Edition, we like the design much better this year, but paying the premium for it will probably only make sense to Marvel fans. You will be better off sticking to the vanilla model for the best bang for buck.
Pros
Solid build, relatively comfortable size.
Excellent OLED, HDR10+, Dolby Vision.
Superb battery life, fast charging.
Great raw and sustained performance.
Very good photo and video quality from all cameras.
UFS 4.1 storage, IR blaster, LED notification lights on the back.
Cons
No zoom camera, no 4K selfie videos.