Earlier this 12 months, Poco launched its first-ever Ultra telephone, the Poco F7 Ultra. It was a formidable machine for its $649 price ticket. Still, it wasn’t within the league of mainstream flagships just like the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which prices over twice as a lot. Its successor, the Poco F8 Ultra, closes that hole with premium options like a bigger show and an enormous battery. It additionally introduces a novel promoting level that I’d by no means anticipated to seek out on a telephone: It sounds implausible.Poco says the F8 Ultra is its “official entry into the premium flagship segment” and the value enhance displays that. The Poco F8 Ultra prices $729 and is cheaper than the not too long ago introduced OnePlus 15, which begins at $900. It is not corresponding to the likes of Oppo Find X8 Ultra, the Xiaomi 15 Ultra or the Galaxy S25 Ultra (all of which price over $1,000). However, no telephone I’ve examined comes near the F8 Ultra’s audio high quality.Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content material and lab-based critiques. Add CNET as a most well-liked Google supply.The Poco F8 Ultra has three audio system: a prime and backside speaker, together with a further Bose-branded subwoofer positioned adjoining to the rear cameras. It permits for a full 2.1 stereo output (the two stands for the 2 audio system and .1 for the subwoofer), which in actual life sounds larger than anticipated. It provides a pleasing quantity of depth and bass to the audio. Poco F8 Ultra’s Sound By Bose partnership is a winner in each approach. It’s even branded on the telephone’s digicam plateau. Prakhar Khanna/CNETYou can select from two Bose-tuned sound profiles: “dynamic” and “balanced.” Default EQ presets are “immersive” (which provides a slight echo for a 360-degree impact) and “voice” (which boosts vocals). You can additional customise the equalizer beneath the “custom” setting.I used the “dynamic” profile for its added bass. It makes music sound wealthy with its huge soundstage, and there was no distortion over the telephone’s audio system, even at excessive volumes. The “balanced” setting sounds flatter compared.I’ve used the Poco F8 Ultra to look at YouTube movies and some Netflix exhibits. I even used it as a rest room speaker (I like good music within the bathe). It clearly is not the identical as connecting your telephone to a Bluetooth speaker, however it’s surprisingly first rate. In truth, I desire consuming media on the Poco F8 Ultra now as a result of it sounds higher than most tablets, that are often my go-to machine at dwelling.Still, I’m unsure if the world is prepared for telephones with this stage of sound high quality. There’s already that one particular person on the subway enjoying media by means of their telephone’s audio system, and this might make rides even noisier. If you are within the privateness of your individual room and revel in watching movies with out headphones or earbuds, the Poco F8 Ultra is made for you.The Poco F8 Ultra matches in my hand like a pair of denims It seems like a denims, however it is not made out of denim. Prakhar Khanna/CNETTurn the telephone over, and you may discover one other distinctive characteristic: It has a denim-like end on the again that seems like a pair of denims. Poco says the again is roofed in “Xiaomi’s third-generation nano-tech material, providing durability against dirt and wear while boasting a tech-chic look,” so it is not an actual material. I examined the sturdiness with a number of drops of chilly espresso, and I’m glad to report that it wasn’t affected.The F8 Ultra is comfy to carry, regardless of the flat sides. With rounded corners and barely curved sides on the again, it gives a snug grip, even when taking photographs with it. The Poco F8 Ultra has a giant, immersive display. Prakhar Khanna/CNETThe phenomenal speaker system is accompanied by a 6.9-inch show with a 2,608×1,200-pixel decision, supporting a 120Hz refresh price, 3,500 nits of peak brightness and Dolby Vision. It has what’s referred to as a HyperRGB display, the place every pixel has crimson, inexperienced and blue sub-pixels, slightly than sharing crimson and blue with inexperienced. In my expertise, the display appears sharp, vivid and is well legible in brilliant daylight. However, the distinction, particularly with HyperRGB, is probably going not noticeable to the informal consumer.To facilitate all this media consumption, the Poco F8 Ultra has a 6,500-mAh battery (a rise from the F7 Ultra’s 5,300-mAh battery) with assist for 100-watt wired charging. You’ll want to purchase a suitable charger to succeed in that pace, because it would not include one. It additionally helps 50-watt wi-fi quick charging and 22.5-watt reverse wi-fi charging, which can be utilized to cost gadgets equivalent to wi-fi headphones and different telephones.In my seven days of utilization, I have never felt any battery nervousness. The new Poco telephone simply lasted a complete day on a single cost.The Poco F8 Ultra is powered by probably the most highly effective Qualcomm chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. This is similar chipset that powers the OnePlus 15 and is prone to be discovered on the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. Poco’s new flagship is quick and snappy on its HyperOS 3 software program. I have never had time to play video games on it but (I used to be engrossed watching my favourite motion pictures, equivalent to Last Christmas and Kal Ho Na Ho), so I look ahead to seeing the way it performs throughout intensive gaming classes.Poco F8 Ultra cameras Poco F8 Ultra’s digicam island is not impressed by the iPhone 17 Pro. The Poco F6 Pro had an identical digicam module. Prakhar Khanna/CNETLet’s discuss concerning the optics. The Poco F8 Ultra has an upgraded digicam system with wide-angle, ultrawide and telephoto lenses, every with a 50-megapixel sensor. A trio of 50-megapixel cameras sounds good, however the telephoto and ultrawide sensors are fairly small. Poco F8 Ultra rear cameras in contrast Lens angle ApertureSensor sizeResolutionWide f/1.671/1.31″50MPUltrawide f/2.41/2.76″50MP5x telephoto f/31/2.88″50MP
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Portrait picture shot on the 5x telephoto digicam. It provides a pleasant bokeh with correct edge detection. Prakhar Khanna/CNETThe Poco F8 Ultra delivers superb pictures for the value. Unlike Xiaomi flagships, the Poco’s cameras don’t profit from Leica tuning. But the photographs have a vibrant look with colours that pop. During my testing, the F8 Ultra proved unreliable and infrequently struggled with picture processing. For occasion, it processed the background in a single shot and utterly missed it within the second, leading to an overblown white background behind me.
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There’s a bizarre processing distinction and colour shift taking place between the ultrawide (left) and foremost digicam photographs (center). The third picture is a macro shot. Notice the quantity of particulars on the watch face. Prakhar Khanna/CNETThe telephoto pictures have an excellent quantity of element, and I particularly just like the portraits I take with it. The telephoto lens doubles as a macro digicam, however it typically falls again to the primary digicam in low mild. As for the ultrawide digicam, it delivers average-quality pictures which can be inclined to paint shifting. It can also be a 0.7x, or an 18mm-equivalent, which is not as huge as most different telephones. The iPhone 17’s ultrawide has a 13mm-equivalent lens.Overall, I just like the photographs from the primary digicam and the telephoto digicam. It’s a succesful digicam system that I discover extra versatile than the equally priced iPhone 17 and Galaxy S25.Should you purchase the Poco F8 Ultra? The F8 Pro misses out on the flowery again panel. Prakhar Khanna/CNETI do not assume I’ve ever advisable a telephone for its audio, however the Poco F8 Ultra is a real media powerhouse. The audio system is on the head of its class, and it additionally has a beautiful show and an extended battery life. That makes it my go-to telephone for media consumption. The Poco F8 Ultra begins at $729 for 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. There’s additionally a 16GB/512GB variant for $799.If you are still on the lookout for one thing beneath $700, Poco additionally provides the extra reasonably priced F8 Pro, which begins at $579. It has a smaller 6.59-inch AMOLED show, 6,210-mAh battery and comparable Sound by Bose audio system. Both telephones have an IP68 score for mud and water resistance.The Poco F8 Pro is powered by final 12 months’s flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite processor and has 12GB of RAM and both 256GB or 512GB of storage ($629). It has a downgraded digicam system with a 50-megapixel foremost digicam, a 50-megapixel 2.5 optical zoom telephoto digicam and an 8-megapixel ultrawide digicam.Like all different Poco telephones, the brand new flagship gadgets will not be launching within the US.
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