Poco F7 At $399: 7 Things To Know About The Spec-Heavy Mid-Ranger

Forbes

2 days ago

Poco F7 in Silver
Earlier this year, Poco made its first true flagship phone with no-compromise cameras (for the price) in the form of F7 Ultra. It is continuing the value-for-money pitch with its new Poco F7.
The latest addition to Poco F-series doesn't feature top-notch cameras, but it delivers almost-flagship-level power, a huge battery, and a head-turning design -- all for $399. There's not much to fault with the phone when you consider the price. It is packed to the brim for a mid-ranger, and here are 7 things you need to know about the new Poco F7.
1. An Attention-Grabbing Design
Poco F7 in Silver with shimmery effect
Poco has always focused on gamers with its design language, and the F7 is no different. The Poco F7 Cyber Silver Edition, in particular, is very flashy and might come off as an in-your-face design, but the top section has a translucent finish that seems to reveal the underlying vents and circuit boards. This is accentuated by the diagonal neon green lines on the camera module and the mirrored silver finish on the rest of the back that shimmers with rainbow colours.
The White and Black variants, by contrast, aren't as flashy but retain the two-tone finish. All of them are rated IP68 for dust and water resistance, which isn't the norm for $400 smartphones.
I love the Poco F7 design. It evokes the gaming and performance-centric appeal very well. While I'm not fond of the flat sides because they aren't ergonomic, the F7 is easy on the wrist and comfortable to use for long durations, especially while gaming.
2. On Par With 2024's Flagship Performance
The Poco F7 is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chipset. While it belongs to the 2025 chipset family, it doesn't have the new Oryon CPU cores, which puts it on par with last year's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC. It is paired with 256GB of UFS 4.1 storage and 12GB of RAM in the base model.
The Poco F7 Ultra and F7 situation is like the OnePlus 13 and OnePlus 13R, where the flagship phone offers current-year performance and the lower-end version matches the previous year's power. That said, it isn't weak by any means. In fact, the Poco F7 is the most powerful $399 phone you can find on the market right now. You're unlikely to notice any issues, even with visually demanding games.
3. A Big and Bright Display
Poco F7 display
The Poco F7 features a 6.83-inch AMOLED screen with a 2772 x 1280-pixel resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, and support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+. It is slightly less sharp than the Poco F7 Ultra's 1440p resolution, but the difference is only visible when you're consciously looking for it.
The screen is brighter than its predecessor, with support for 1,700 nits high brightness and 3,200 nits peak brightness for supported HDR content. Poco F7's big display is immersive for long gaming sessions, as well as doomscrolling and watching video content on Netflix and YouTube.
4. The Poco F7 Packs A Massive Battery
The global variant of Poco F7 packs a 6,500mAh battery, whereas the Indian model houses a huge 7,550mAh silicon-carbon battery. I used the global version, and it lasts all day with ease. No matter what you do, it is highly likely to last an entire day.
The Poco F7 supports 90W fast charging that can top up its 6,500mAh cell within 45 minutes. In my usage, it went from 30% to 90% within 30 minutes. It is easily an all-day phone with superfast charging capabilities.
5. Four Years of Android OS Updates
Poco F7 in Black
The Poco F7 runs Android 15-based HyperOS 2.0. My previous nitpicks and annoyances with the software remain, but it is a highly customizable phone and you can uninstall the pre-installed bloatware. I would take a $399 phone with uninstallable bloatware over a $500 phone with 'clean software,' despite not being a fan of HyperOS design.
Poco's new phone offers several AI features like AI Notes, AI Interpreter, AI Image Enhancement, AI Image Expansion, etc., as well as Google Gemini and Circle to Search. You won't miss out on the 2025 AI feature set. Moreover, the company is promising four Android OS updates alongside six years of security patches.
6. An Okay Camera Setup
The Poco F7 sports a dual rear camera setup with a 50MP Sony IMX882 primary camera and an 8MP ultrawide-angle sensor. On the front, you get a 20MP fixed-focus selfie shooter.
The Poco F7 is not the phone for you if you shoot a lot of photos and videos. While the main camera can deliver good results, the ultrawide camera is average. You can always tweak the settings to get better results, but I wouldn't rely on it for my vacation photos.
7. Poco F7: Price and Availability
Poco F7
The Poco F7 was launched on June 24 and will go on sale starting July 1. It is priced at $399 for the base 12GB/256GB variant and $449 for the 12GB/512GB model. You can buy the 256GB variant for as low as $339 during the initial sale.
In India, the Poco F7 will be available for INR 31,999 ($372) for the 12GB/256GB model, and INR 33,999 ($395) for the Silver Edition with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
As for the U.K., it is priced at £389 ($530) and £429 ($584) for the 12GB/256GB and 12GB/512GB models, respectively. If you buy them before July 7, you can get them for £319 ($434) and £359 ($488), respectively.