Poco F7 Ultra Is An Ultra Phone In Every Way, Except The Price Tag
Poco F7 Ultra in Yellow
Phone companies usually pack everything into their Ultra phones but sell them for an expensive $1,000 or more. But there’s a new Ultra in town, the Poco F7 Ultra, which offers the latest flagship chipset, a versatile camera array, an OLED display, a big battery, and more. And the best part? It’s priced well under $1,000. Poco’s first Ultra smartphone stays true to the company’s value-for-money philosophy without any major compromises.
The Poco F7 Ultra sports a signature yellow-black tone on the Yellow variant, which isn’t tacky but rather pleasing to the eye. I love its distinctive look. Like the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, it features flat sides. But it is more handy, thanks to the curved edges. At 212 grams, it’s one of the lightest Ultra phones on the market. Other design features include a dual-SIM tray, stereo speakers, and an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance.
Poco F7 Ultra screen
On the front, you get a 6.67-inch OLED screen with a 3200 x 1440 resolution, support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+, a dynamic 120Hz refresh rate, and more. It’s protected by Xiaomi’s custom Shield Glass solution, which is quite durable. Under the display lies a fast and accurate ultrasonic fingerprint sensor.
Outdoor legibility is no issue and itgets plenty bright. Poco has also introduced a new circular polarization technology for a more natural look. You might not notice it until you place it next to a previous-generation Poco phone.
Poco’s first Ultra phone is powered by the same chipset as other $1,000+ phones like the Honor Magic 7 Pro, Galaxy S25 Ultra, and Xiaomi 15 Ultra, as well as the $899 OnePlus 13. It features the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite to deliver a lag-free experience, even with heavy gaming.
The Poco F7 Ultra consistently delivers over 100fps while playing Genshin Impact. In comparison, the Galaxy S25 Ultra maxes out at 60fps. This is made possible by a dedicated VisionBoost D7 chip, which optimizes gaming for smoother visuals. I didn’t notice any stutters while playing Genshin Impact. The phone gets warm to the touch but never uncomfortably hot.
Poco F7 Ultra
Poco’s new phone runs HyperOS 2.0.4.0, based on Android 15 out of the box. It is promised to receive four major Android OS updates and six years of security updates. I love the smoother animations of HyperOS. The user interface is intuitive and fast. But not without some minor annoyances. For instance, the screen timeout setting is under Lockscreen instead of Display, you can’t customize the home screen and app drawer layout separately and more. That said, the bloatware situation has improved.
Poco has also packed its best camera system yet into the F7 Ultra. You get the same 50MP Light Fusion main camera from the Poco F6 Pro, but with better color tuning. Plus, there’s a new 50MP Samsung JN5 camera with 2.5x optical zoom and a 32MP ultrawide-angle camera.
Poco F7 Ultra samples
The new camera system delivers vibrant colors and retains details well in daylight shots. The 2.5x zoom shots are sharp and full of details as well. You can easily get social media-worthy shots up to 5x digital zoom.
Poco F7 Ultra camera samples
It shoots decent portriats but the processing can mess with skin tones at times. The software processing needs to be more reliable but when it gets things right, they look really good.
Another major improvement is in video recording capabilities. The Poco F7 Ultra allows you to shoot up to 8K at 24fps and 4K at 60fps good-quality videos. It’s not quite iPhone-level, but it’s much better than before. The only downside is low-light footage, which tends to be noisy. However, overall, this is an immensely improved camera system compared to previous years.
In terms of connectivity, you get Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, NFC, and high-end audio codecs like AptX Adaptive, AptX Lossless, and LHDC but no eSIM support. Poco is also using the Surge T1S chip, which, in theory, improves connectivity.
The new Poco flagship packs a large 5,300mAh battery in an 8.4mm form factor. It supports 120W fast charging, with the power brick included in the box. In my experience, the phone easily lasted a full day and charged from 25% to 100% in just 30 minutes.
Poco F7 Ultra Measures Up To More Expensive Phones
Poco F7 Ultra
The Poco F7 Ultra is an excellent combination of a big and bright screen, powerful performance, versatile cameras, and all-day battery life—all for just $650. Its closest alternative is the OnePlus 13, which offers a better user interface, a superior camera experience, and timely software updates, but it’ll cost you $250 more.
The Poco F7 Ultra is available in the UK and select regions in Southeast Asia, with a wider global launch coming soon. It’s priced at $649 for the base model (12GB RAM + 256GB storage), while the 16GB RAM + 512GB storage variant costs $699. You can buy one right now for $599 with a $50 launch discount offer, depending on your region.