POCO F7 review: your first "almost flagship"

In the spring, we wrote about POCO F7 Ultrawhich unpleasantly surprised with its price and some features. And now ITC.ua has POCO F7 under review — a novelty in the mid-range category that costs an adequate money, looks great, and can even boast of some flagships. We have already tested the smartphone for several weeks, walked around with it, played with it, and we are ready to tell you more about it.

Technical characteristics of POCO F7

Screen	AMOLED, 6.83 inches, 1280×2772 pixels, 447 ppi density, 120 Hz, average brightness -1700 nits, peak brightness – 3200 nits, Dolby Vision, HDR10+, 12-bit colors, Gorilla Glass 7i protective glass
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 s Gen 4, eight cores (1×3.21 GHz Cortex-X4 and 3×3.0 GHz Cortex-A720 and 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A720 and 2×2.0 GHz Cortex-A720), maximum clock frequency 3.21 GHz
Graphics chip	Adreno 825
Memory	12 GB LPDDR5X RPU, 256/512 GB UFS 4.1 RW
Main cameras	Main shooter with 50 megapixels, f1.5 aperture, 26 mm sensor, DAF, OIS, 4K@60fps video recording; ultra-wide-angle shooter with 8 megapixels, f2.2 aperture, 15 mm sensor
Front camera	20 megapixels, f2.2 aperture, video recording in 1080p@60fps
Modules and interfaces	Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, NFC, IR port, GPS navigation, BDS, GALILEO, QZSS, NavIC, GLONASS
Battery	6500 mAh, wired charging 90 W, reversible 22.5 W
Software	Android 15, HyperOS 2
Colors	Cyber Silver, Black, White
Case materials	Aluminum and glass
Protection against water	YES, IP68
Dimensions	163.1 × 77.9 × 8.2 mm
Weight	215 grams

Packaging and equipment

POCO F7 is sold in a black and yellow flat box.

Inside the box is the phone itself with a screen protector, a USB Type-C cable, a paper clip to open the SIM card slot, a silicone case and documentation. There is no power supply in the box, but this is specific to our region. I’ve seen that in other regions the kits have a 90W power supply, but for some reason Europe is limited with this. Perhaps because of the existing “green” laws.

Design and ergonomics

POCO F7 has a modern and minimalist design. The smartphone has flat edges and rounded corners. The novelty has a metal frame and glass back and front surfaces. The dimensions of the model are 163.1×77.9×8.2 mm and it weighs 215 grams.

The front panel features thin bezels and a front-facing camera built into the screen.

On the back there is a POCO inscription, a protruding oval module of the main cameras with strange green lines, and a separate flash.

On the left side, there is a classic screen lock button and volume buttons. The top panel has a microphone. The bottom panel has a second microphone, a speaker, a USB-C port and a SIM card slot (two nano-SIMs).

The device body is protected according to the IP68 standard. This means that it can be immersed in fresh water to a depth of 1.5 meters for half an hour and will not be damaged. At the same time, we remember that it is better not to do this on purpose, because the warranty does not apply in such cases. It’s just good that we have this bonus, which may come in handy somewhere.

POCO F7 is definitely not a small phone and not light. At 215 grams, the figure is small, but the model feels monolithic and heavy in your hand. This is definitely not a compact phone that will look neat in a small hand. Quite the opposite.

We had a white smartphone for review, and there are also black and double-colored ones with a cool back cover design. In our case, there are no traces of use or dust on the case at all. This will probably not be the case with the black color, but I don’t know about the third one, we’ll have to see.

However, this is not an LTPO matrix, so the screen refresh rate will not drop to 1 Hz in standby mode. In the settings, you can choose the basic automatic mode, when the phone itself determines where and in what scenarios to increase or decrease the refresh rate. Or you can manually select 60 or 120 Hz. Of course, I’m in favor of 120 Hz. This slightly reduces battery life, but significantly improves the overall user experience.

In the settings, there are different color temperature profiles (I chose the saturated color mode or the cool “Standart PRO”), there is an improvement of textures and HDR with the help of AI, there is a night mode and a reading mode, etc. I highly recommend the latter when reading books if you read them on your phone. This way, your eyesight will be protected a little better and the text will look more bookish as much as possible in this case.

We haven’t forgotten about the Always-On Display function, which can be activated only for the first ten seconds or only when you look at the screen. This is a great option to save battery if you still need this feature.

There is also a built-in ultrasonic fingerprint scanner. It’s fast, even very fast, but still a little slower than the flagships, but that’s okay. In any case, it works almost instantly, but often does not respond to wet fingers.

Sound and vibration response

The new POCO F7 has stereo sound, which is realized through one main speaker and one earpiece speaker. Despite this, the sound is very close, if not flagship. The sound is loud, without buzzing and even somewhat surround. In the settings there is a Dolby Atmos and Xiaomi Sound mode, but I like the first one better. There is also a manual equalizer, and when you connect headphones, the smartphone supports LE, aptX and LHDC 5. The sound is definitely better than you’d expect from a mid-range phone.

The same can be said about the vibration motor. Only the level of tactile feedback can be adjusted, but in general, the vibration is excellent, almost flagship-like. I don’t know if flagships have the same one, but it’s definitely not something budget-friendly.

POCO F7 cameras

The POCO F7 has only two main cameras, which is very rare for modern models. And it’s good that it is, because the manufacturer didn’t add a third module just for the sake of quantity.

The main camera here is a Sony IMX882 50-megapixel camera with f1.5 aperture, 26 mm sensor, autofocus and 4K video recording at 60 fps. The second module is an ultra-wide-angle 8-megapixel module with f2.2 aperture and a 15 mm sensor.

The smartphone’s cameras are okay, but that’s all we can say about them. They’re definitely not bad, but they’re not exactly something you should buy this model for.

Of course, everything is shot in 12.5 megapixels by standard, but there is a 50 megapixel mode. I more or less liked the detail and colors, but the problems with the dynamic range are immediately apparent. And the color reproduction is good only for smartphones, but for me it’s still unrealistic, the colors are too saturated. However, I think this is often what many social media users want when they post photos.

I would also like to note the good single and double zoom with almost no loss of detail and a good portrait mode. But the night mode is just there, it just makes day out of night by default and often makes a lot of noise.

The front module of the smartphone is 20 megapixels with f2.2 aperture. Video recording in 1080p@60fps is declared.

The selfie camera is also just fine. The detail and color reproduction are fine, and the background is adequately blurred.

Productivity, software, and games

The heart of the POCO F7 is the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 s Gen 4 4-nanometer processor. It has eight cores (1×3.21 GHz Cortex-X4 and 3×3.0 GHz Cortex-A720 and 2×2.8 GHz Cortex-A720 and 2×2.0 GHz Cortex-A720) and a maximum clock speed of 3.21 GHz. The graphics chip here is Adreno 825. The smartphone also received 12 GB of LPDDR5X RAM (plus virtual RAM) and 256 GB and 512 GB versions of UFS 4.1 ROM. Among the modules and interfaces are Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, NFC, IR port, as well as GPS, BDS, GALILEO, QZSS, NavIC, GLONASS navigation.

The fresh Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 s Gen 4 is not a flagship chip, but it is close to them in terms of performance. Unfortunately, the same applies to high temperatures. The processor is very hot, literally and figuratively. It sometimes throttles because of this, but in general it works well and heats up the phone a lot, not only during stress tests, but also when the user is playing.

Of course, in the second case, the device can be held in your hands without any problems, and if you put on a case, you can barely feel it, but you just need to be aware of it.

But the processor runs any modern popular and graphic games at maximum graphics settings with excellent fps. It can run Wreckfest, Genshin Impact, Diablo Immortal, PUBG Mobile, and any other project you know. Therefore, there are no problems with this at all and the smartphone can be safely recommended to mobile gamers.

POCO F7 runs on Android 15 with Xiaomi’s proprietary HyperOS 2. The manufacturer promises four years of OS updates and six years of security updates.

I’ve written about this shell and my reserved attitude towards it more than once. You can read more in this review. In general, I would like to note the excellent customization and extensive user settings. It’s good that there is such a long support. The downsides for me are ads and an overabundance of pre-installed apps. Also, the system is relatively unstable. Sometimes things are fixed with frequent updates, and sometimes they only make things worse.

The smartphone also supports work with artificial intelligence, there is the aforementioned image enhancement and HDR using AI, it is in the photo and video editor, and so on. Of course, there is the Gemini out of the box, which already supports the Ukrainian language.

Autonomy of POCO F7

POCO F7 is equipped with a 6500 mAh battery. This easily gives you up to two days of battery life, but without mobile games. With them, but not too much, it will be a day and a half. And this is with a screen frequency of 120 Hz and auto-brightness. In the settings, you can also enable smart charging to reduce battery wear. In this case, the battery will be charged only to 80% except in certain cases.

The PC Mark test showed a result of 17 hours and 13 minutes, which is a very impressive result, confirming its excellent battery life.

The device supports 90W fast charging and 22.5W reverse charging. In the first case, they promise charging from 0 to 90% in 30 minutes. But let’s not forget that there is no power supply in the package, so for these figures to be real, you need to have or buy such a power supply.

In the second case, you can adjust the reverse charging power, but in general, the phone can charge a fitness tracker, headphones, or a smart ring without any problems.

User experience

POCO F7 is definitely an eye-catcher. First with its design, metal and glass case, water protection, etc. And then with its features and capabilities. That’s why I didn’t just like this model — it made a pleasant impression on me.

For its relatively small price, and the price will continue to drop, users literally get a sub-flagship with a powerful but hot processor, full water protection, and a serious battery. The camera here is just okay, so it definitely shouldn’t be considered a reason to buy.

The limited edition is a problem, but the film is there and so is the case. And nowadays, this is good news even for Chinese brands.

I think it’s definitely a potential hit and I liked the POCO F7 much more than the strange POCO F7 Ultra.

Also, keep in mind its considerable weight and large size. 6.8 inches in a metal and glass body is no joke, so we have a classic big and heavy modern shovel. Plus, there’s also a cover, so be prepared for some considerable size.

Prices and competitors

POCO F7 is sold at a price starting at UAH 17,699 for the 256 GB version. However, in large networks such as Allo, the price is from UAH 19,499. In my opinion, the price is adequate, but someone will want to wait for a little bit of a discount, and that’s their right. The model has plenty of competitors, but it can give everyone a decent fight.

Pay attention to Poco X7 Pro with a price tag of UAH 11,999 if you need something from this brand, but simpler. There are also Realme 14 Pro Plus (price from UAH 18,499) and Realme GT 7T with a price tag starting at UAH 19,499. Together with them, we sell Samsung Galaxy A56 (price from UAH 13,250), Google Pixel 9a (price from UAH 19,700), OnePlus Ace 5 Ultra (price from UAH 17,900) and a brand new Nothing Phone 3a Pro with a price starting at UAH 17,400.

Висловлюємо подяку мережі магазинів "Алло" за наданий для огляду смартфон POCO F7.