Xiaomi Poco F7 Ultra – Super cheap top mobile

For many years we were used to being able to find mobiles that could be compared to the best Samsung and Apple had but at significantly lower price tags, at best half the price. Often it was about manufacturers who tried to praise the market by selling good products with very small margins. Once they have built a brand, these prices gradually raised until they were closer to Apple and Samsung. We saw Huawei, OnePlus and Xiaomi, among others, make that journey in the Swedish market.

In Poco's case, the plan is probably another, because Poco actually stands Xiaomi. You want it to appear as much as possible that it is a brand of its own, and for those who are not familiar, it is only “Powered with Xiaomi Hyper OS” on the carton of Poco F7 Ultra that reveals the matter. And of course, the phone is mainly sold through Xiaomi's Swedish web shop Mi.com. Poco, and for the part Xiaomi's second low -price brand Redmi, is rather compared to the cheaper car brands in the Wolkswagen Group, a way to capture the buyers who want a cheaper mobile without devaluing the value of their regular brand.

When it comes to cars, everything from the interior to driving comfort is usually labeled if a car is a cheaper brand. For mobile phones it is not as obvious, and especially for the Poco F7 Ultra, it is difficult to see what you would miss.

Almost half the price

Poco F7 Ultra is a mobile with a 6.67 inch large Oled screen and the Snapdragon 8 Elite system, the one that runs the real top models of the year such as Samsung Galaxy S25 and OnePlus 13. It can be compared to the Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus, which is sold for SEK 14,500, not really twice as much, but not far from.

Of course, it requires that you see the large screen as an advantage, the smaller and smoother common S25 is cheaper, and in general it is rarely you find a cheap mobile that is also small and smooth. The Poco F7 Ultra is also a bit thick and heavy for its size, but it is used for a battery of 5300 mAh, more than most phones have. This is not noticeable for some reason on the battery life, which is below average.

The charging velocity, on the other hand, is clear above the average, a 120-watt charger comes along that charges the phone from Tom to 50 percent in 10 minutes and full in 28 minutes. Fast charging is said to be more on the battery, at least if it is made careless, but Xiaomi promises that the battery will retain 80 percent of its capacity after 1600 charging cycles, ie more than four years if you charge the mobile from Tom to full once a day.

The design feels a bit nervous with a glass back with a part that is matte and one that is glossy with interesting designs. Besides in black, the phone is in a clear yellow color but you are afraid if you may still use the included rubber shell that is opaque and you do not notice so much of the design.

Water and shock resistant

The durability is also not the budget, the phone is waterproof according to IP68 just like the more expensive top models, and the phone's screen is protected by Poco Shield Glass which must only be the same as Xiaomi Shield Glass that protects the screen on Xiaomi 14 and according to Xiaomi has significantly better impact resistance than Gorilla ice cream. Naturally, we have not tested this in practice.

The screen also holds top model class with both rapid update frequency, high resolution and above all high maximum brightness which makes the screen fully readable even in sunlight.

The phone is in performance tests just as fast as we expect from a new top model. In some cases faster, Xiaomi (or Pocco if you wish) seems to be more careful in strangling the phone's performance at elevated temperatures, which means that the phone in the 3Dmark performance test keeps high speed over time, when the test is not interrupted due to overherently to say.

The cameras are the area where I have the lowest expectations on the phone. It is logical to save on if you want to make the phone cheaper, and it is also easy to mask a simpler camera set with high megapixel and extra cameras of limited value.

Xiaomi has not done here. We get a main camera with a sensor that is as large as the one sitting in the Samsung Galaxy S22, a 2.5 times optical zoom telecommunications camera and a wide -angle camera with relatively high resolution. All three are approved or better.

All -round camera

Certainly it is noticeable that the Poco mobiles are not allowed to take part in Xiaomi's collaboration with Leica, the color rendering does not feel quite as vibrant, but when I compare pictures from the cameras with them from Samsung Galaxy S25 (Galaxy S25 Ultra plays in another and more expensive class), I usually get better. The wide -angle camera is slightly worse but still perfectly okay, while the telecommunications camera is noticeably better than the one in the Galaxy S25. Telekameran's high resolution is used to take 12.5-megapixel images that are sharp in 5 times zoom, and even at 10 times zoom I think the images are clearly enjoyable. As a whole, thus matches or exceeds the camera set what you find in many more expensive mobiles.

The system is Android 15 with Xiaomi's user interface Hyper OS 2, with a special POCO-theme that will give the phone some its own character. Xiaomi is fond of apps, both own that sometimes double Google's system apps and others. If you are not attentive during the installation process, you will have a whole lot of games installed for you, and even when I cross them I can uninstall a bunch of third -party apps I do not want. As a whole, Xiaomi's user interface is a bit messy, but not worse than recognizing yourself directly from other mobiles.

Xiaomi promises four major system updates to Poco F7 Ultra. It is significantly fewer than Samsung promises to its top models but on the other hand as much as you promise to its more expensive Xiaomi 15.

As a whole, it is therefore difficult to find real arguments against Poco F7 Ultra. Why pay SEK 14500 when you can get an equally good phone for 8000? Poco F7 Ultra is not only as good but in many cases better.

Questions & answers

I read that the phone has a special graphics chip. What is it doing? It is reported to provide better gaming experience and video recording, but I cannot say that I notice any major difference.

Does the phone have a memory card slot? No, but at least you get a lot of storage for the money in both configurations.

How is the vibrator feedback? A little hard and audible.

An alternative

If you want a cheaper mobile with top properties, Google Pixel 9A is an interesting option. It is smaller and smoother but lacks telecommunications.

Camera example

The colors from the camera can sometimes feel a bit boring, but only sometimes, and the sharpness is excellent.