Poco F7 Review: Sets the bar high for its segment

The Hindu

6 days ago

Poco's approach to understanding the market sentiment over the years has been on point. The same is highlighted in its product lineup and its latest launch - Poco F7. Succeeding the F6, the new F7 delivers on every front. It features a 6.83-inch 1.5K AMOLED display, a powerful battery of 7,550 mAh, and the segment's first Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 SoC at just ₹35,999. The features position the phone as a segment re-definer. So, let's find out if it delivers or not.
Design
There's something uniquely satisfying about holding the Cyber Silver variant of the Poco F7. I got the limited edition to review. The rear panel is a bit unique, carrying two shades of Black and Metal Grey. From the looks of it, you can determine that the phone is made for heavy performance, and the smart placement of the Snapdragon branding adds more weightage.
The finish is minimal yet reflective, adding just the right touch of flair to the back panel. However, the surface gets smudgy quite easily. The in-hand feel is solid — it's not the lightest phone around at 222g, but its slim 7.98mm profile keeps it manageable. However, the large frame does occasionally interfere with one-handed usage, making it feel slightly bulky, especially when trying to reach the top edges of the screen.
The front of the device is all screen — thin bezels wrap around the vibrant AMOLED panel, and the punch-hole camera is subtly integrated. The overall aesthetic is premium, even if the grip occasionally reminds you of its size.
(For top technology news of the day, subscribe to our tech newsletter Today's Cache)
The placement of the buttons is typical yet intuitive. On the right side, you'll find the power button and volume rockers, both tactile and easy to reach. The bottom houses the USB Type-C port, speaker grille, and SIM tray. It's also worth noting the phone boasts IP66 + IP68 + IP69 ratings, which is rather rare at this price point. Also, the phone comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 7i protection, providing users complete mental satisfaction.
Display
The Poco F7 sports a 6.83-inch 1.5K AMOLED display, and it's easily one of the best panels in this price segment. The 120 Hz refresh rate is expected, but welcome nonetheless, and everything from scrolling through Instagram to high-frame-rate gaming feels fluid. Add to that a 3,200 nits peak brightness which ensures a clear visible screen under direct sunlight. The display also gets the Wet Touch 2.0 feature, ensuring that the phone can be used freely in the current monsoon season.
Other enhancements like 3840 Hz PWM dimming, 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut, Dolby Vision, and HDR10+ make it a treat for content consumption. The 68.7 billion colour support ensures that visuals pop, whether you're binging Netflix or editing photos. Compared to rivals like the iQOO Neo 10 or OnePlus Nord 4, the F7 edges ahead, particularly in brightness and contrast calibration.
OS and AI
Out of the box, the Poco F7 runs on HyperOS, Xiaomi's latest operating system built over Android 15. It's smoother and cleaner than MIUI, though remnants of the old UI DNA remain. The animations are fast, and multitasking feels well-optimised. HyperOS brings refinements in task handling, permission control, and notification management — subtle but important upgrades that improve the day-to-day experience.
On the AI front, Poco has started integrating more context-aware tools across photography, battery management, and app suggestions. While it's nowhere near what Google's Gemini or Samsung's Galaxy AI offers, the F7 uses AI where it matters most — like in image processing and system-level tweaks for performance efficiency.
Performance
Being a successor to the Poco F6, expectations were naturally high, and the new Poco F7 did not disappoint. It features the most powerful processor in its segment - the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4. Built on TSMC's 4nm process, the chip brings flagship-level performance with eight powerful cores, including the Cortex X4 clocked at 3.21GHz. This makes the F7 not just an upgrade, but a leap ahead.
Paired with 12 GB LPDDR5X RAM and 512 GB UFS 4.1 storage, the F7 can juggle demanding apps without breaking a sweat. You can keep a dozen apps open in the background and jump between them without a single reload. Poco also adds Turbo RAM (up to 12 GB more) depending on the variant, but honestly, the native 12 GB is already plenty for most users.
In synthetic tests, the F7 flexes its muscles — 2035 in single-core, 6440 in multi-core, GPU score of 13321, and an Antutu score of 1879568. That's serious firepower for the price. Gaming, unsurprisingly, is buttery smooth. From Genshin Impact to BGMI, the Adreno 825 GPU handles everything with minimal frame drops and zero overheating, thanks to the 6000mm² liquid-vapor cooling system.
Camera
There's an unspoken assumption these days that phones with minimalistic rear designs often come packing great camera capabilities. The Poco F7 teases that same idea with its dual camera layout — and while it's not a photography revolution, it holds its own.
The primary 50 MP Sony IMX882 sensor (f/1.5) with OIS and EIS delivers shots that are crisp, with good contrast, and full of detail. Some might feel the images have slightly higher contrast than neutral, but I found them vivid and lifelike, especially during daylight. Texture retention is solid, dynamic range is above average, and colours don't look overprocessed.
Low-light performance is equally commendable. The dedicated night mode manages to preserve shadow details without over-brightening the scene. There's a nice balance between exposure and tone, maintaining the essence of dimly-lit surroundings instead of artificially boosting every pixel.
Portrait shots came out well too. Edge detection is reliable, and the background blur (or bokeh) feels natural. The phone doesn't overdo skin smoothing unless you dig into beauty settings — a welcome approach.
The 8 MP ultra-wide camera is basic, with decent colour parity to the main sensor but a noticeable drop in detail. It's good for landscapes, but don't expect flagship-tier results here.
Up front, the 20 MP selfie camera captures clean and well-exposed shots. Facial features are retained accurately, and portraits manage to avoid the over-processed, plastic look. Vlog mode and features like voice shutter add convenience, especially for content creators.
Battery
This is where the Poco F7 pulls another ace from its sleeve — a massive 7,550 mAh battery. It's the kind of battery that easily lasts more than a day, even with heavy use. I ended most days with 25-30% juice left, and this includes gaming, video playback, social scrolling, and camera testing.
Charging is just as impressive. The 90 W Turbo Charger takes the F7 from 0 to 50% in just 26 minutes and a full charge in under an hour. There's even 22.5 W reverse charging for accessories — a thoughtful addition that makes the phone even more versatile.
Verdict
Starting at ₹35,999, the Poco F7 comes in slightly higher than the F6, but the upgrades — particularly the display, battery, and processor — justify the bump. If I had to name one phone that fits the description 'value for money' in the initial premium segment, it would be the Poco F7.
So, does the Poco F7 deliver? Absolutely. It checks all the boxes that matter and adds a few more, making it the new benchmark for what a premium phone should aspire to be.