POCO aims to recreate the magic it cast during its inception with its all-new POCO F7. Six years old, it became an instant hit among geeks with the F1, as it made flagship performance affordable; however, it struggled to reclaim this position with subsequent iterations. The F7 now feels like the F1 reborn, but with altered DNA. It boasts a more aggressive yet sophisticated look, features a new powerful chipset, and offers an unprecedented battery capacity.
POCO F7
Rs 31,999
What Is Good?
- Premium feel
- Dependable cameras in various conditions
- Great option for gaming, good performance
- Seamless app-opening animations
- Delightful, comprehensive multimedia experience
What Is Bad?
- Bloatware
- Battery life leaves room for improvement
- Tends to heat up under sustained heavy load
With this change to the sauce recipe, has POCO finally settled on a formula to divert attention from its formidable rivals, such as the iQOO Neo 10 and the Realme GT 7? Read my review to find out.
Pricing and Availability in India
The POCO F7 is available in two storage variants on Flipkart and major retail chains. Here’s a look at pricing:
| Variant | Price |
| 12GB+256GB | Rs 31,999 |
| 12GB+512GB | Rs 33,999 |
Design and Build Quality
Undoubtedly, the F7 exhibits that POCO has worked extensively to refine its design language from its predecessor. By adding a metal frame, the F7’s weight has significantly increased.
However, coupled with clever sculpting, this approach has given the phone a feel akin to that of flagship models. But I can’t bring myself to repeat the same compliment for its design.
| Design | Specifications |
| Colour Options | Frost White, Cyber Silver Edition (reviewed), and Phantom Black |
| Weight | 222g |
| Thickness | 7.98 mm |
| IP Rating | IP66 + IP68 + IP69 |
| Port and Button Placements | Bottom: Primary microphone, SIM Card tray, USB port, and speaker grille
Top: Secondary microphone and speaker Right side: Power button and volume button |
The F7 represents a significant upgrade from last year’s F6, gaining a performance-centric aesthetic in place of the latter’s bland look.
However, POCO leaned so heavily on incorporating more retro-futuristic elements that its appeal has become limited to the gaming crowd, rather than capturing the broader customer base. To top it off, the other half of F7’s rear profile is a fingerprint smudge magnet, so you constantly need to carry a micro-fibre cloth to erase it.
Display and Audio Quality
Whether it is gaming, watching videos, or scrolling through the Instagram feed, the F7’s display has been exceptional in my usage.
Every content was rendered beautifully with delightful, vibrant colours and rich detail. Moreover, the phone is quite luminous even at 34 per cent brightness.
| Display | Specifications |
| Size | 6.83-inch |
| Type | AMOLED |
| Resolution | 1280×2772 pixels |
| Refresh Rate | 120Hz |
| Display Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 7i |
| Peak Brightness | Claimed: 3200 nits |
Setting aside everything else, the F7 offers a comprehensive multimedia experience. Its stereo speakers emit music with richness that is hard to come by in the sub-Rs 40,000 segment. I found myself watching videos without needing to grab my earbuds.
Performance and Software
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chipset is the F7’s chief of operation. This is the same chipset also found in the iQOO Neo 10. Its optimisation excels at regular usage without lags or stutters. However, playing graphics-intensive games reveals a flaw in POCO’s handling of this new chipset in the F7.
It draws more power than the required amount, resulting in a rise in the phone’s temperature. Racing in Grid Legends at summertime room temperature makes it challenging to hold.
| Hardware | Specifications |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 |
| RAM | Up to 12GB LPDDR5X |
| Storage | Up to 512GB UFS 4.1 |
| Storage Test | 172947 |
| CPU Throttling Test | 77 per cent of its max performance |
| Software Version | Xiaomi’s HyperOS 2, based on Android 15 |
| Connectivity Details | Bluetooth 6, Wi-Fi 7, and NFC |
| Number of Software Updates | Four years of software updates and six years of security patch updates |
On a side note, it slightly underperformed in our benchmark tests. The iQOO Neo 10 performed significantly better.
Additionally, I would like to emphasise that BGMI currently doesn’t support 120fps gaming in the F7, giving the iQOO Neo 10 a competitive advantage, which does provide this feature.
The Xiaomi HyperOS 2 skin on the F7 was nearly flawless. It delivered smooth and swift app-opening animations, and transitioning between various apps was equally seamless.
While it provides an extensive list of customisation options, it also comes with a cluster of several pre-installed apps in the F7.
Camera
The camera specifications below perfectly encapsulate the POCO F7’s entire narrative. It doesn’t really focus much on the camera side of things, with a dual camera setup that also skips a telephoto lens.
In daytime, the F7’s primary camera can capture captivating photographs with nearly every detail it sees. Additionally, these photos retain almost true-to-life colours. HDR tuning is surprisingly well-adjusted as well.
Portrait images taken from it have an accurate human skin tone. However, background separation is hit or miss, as loosely tied human hairs or similar intricate items sometimes get blurred.
| Cameras | Specifications |
| Primary camera | 50-megapixel Sony IMX882, f/1.5 (OIS) |
| Secondary camera | 8-megapixel, ultra-wide |
| Selfie camera | 20-megapixel |
| Video capabilities | Up to 4K at 60fps for the rear cameras and up to 1080p at 60fps for the front camera |
The 8-megapixel ultra-wide somewhat demonstrates all the above-mentioned qualities; however, its lower megapixel count hinders it from gathering more details from the scene.
The low-light performance is satisfactory. Photos clicked in ample light ooze in details and nearly accurate colours.
The decline in light intensity triggers its slower shutter speed, causing it to produce hazy images with sudden movement.
The front camera captures good selfies that are rich in detail in daylight conditions. Lower luminosity prompts it to soften facial features. Overall, the entire setup is still reliable, but for camera nerds, this is definitely worth a skip.
Battery Life and Charging Speeds
On paper, the F7 boasts the largest battery found in any smartphone in the Indian market. However, it didn’t perform as intended in our PCMark Battery test. The Realme GT 7 lasted five hours longer than this phone, despite having comparatively less capacity.
POCO needs to improve its battery performance, as we made a similar observation in the X7 Pro. In the real world, I attained a respectable battery life with moderate usage. But more intensive usage didn’t take long to deplete its battery.
| Battery | Specifications |
| Capacity | 7,550mAh |
| PCMark Battery Test | 17 Hours 56 Minutes |
| Charger Support | 90W |
| Charging Speed | 1 Hour and 30 minutes |
It’s 90W charger takes an hour and 30 minutes to fully charge the battery.
Verdict
The POCO F7 marks a departure from its predecessors, yet it is significantly more compelling. It provides almost a well-rounded experience. The cameras yield surprisingly captivating photographs in various conditions, but lack versatility. Furthermore, it offers a pleasing, comprehensive multimedia experience.
The phone performs adequately for everyday use and intensive tasks; however, its current optimisation causes it to heat up. While the software is seamless and feature-rich, the collection of preinstalled apps may irritate some users. The F7 can last long with moderate usage, but it could last even longer if POCO had managed its functioning more efficiently.
Overall, POCO has created a nearly all-rounder smartphone in hopes of reclaiming the reception it received from the F1. It’s a great choice for mobile gamers, but it is also plagued by its rival, the iQOO Neo 10, which manages the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 slightly better.
