Poco F8 Extraordinarily Canadian Overview: Android’s IPhone

As soon as I pulled the Poco F8 Extraordinarily out of its area for the first time, my preliminary thought was the company had despatched me the flawed system. It regarded and felt exactly like an iPhone 17 Skilled Max, correct proper all the way down to the digicam housing. Solely as quickly as I turned it on did I keep in mind this generally is a high-end Android.

Poco’s mannequin of Android is trying to be iOS. This isn’t basically a foul issue. The phone is fast, polished and performs exceptionally successfully. However it’s a phone that follows, not leads, and it’s that lack of originality that an Android loyalist like me finds irritating.

Is that this a perfect phone? Hell positive. Is that this a perfect Android? Successfully, there’s some nuance to find sooner than answering that question.

A premium performer in a widely known face

As soon as I pull the F8 Extraordinarily out of my pocket, it’s going to get mistaken for an iPhone. The rounded-corner, all-metal chassis with the aluminum alloy middle physique and rectangular deco on the once more all contribute to a way of deja vu. The black variant I’m using has a matte-gloss fibre assemble and feels elegant, nonetheless the Denim Blue mannequin makes use of Xiaomi’s third-generation nano-tech supplies and is supposed to have a denim-like actually really feel that’s sturdy and dirt-resistant. I didn’t get to play with that one, nonetheless the entire lineup rings a bell in my memory of what Android seems like when it’s following, not predominant.

Effectivity-wise, I’ve zero complaints. The phone is blazing fast because of its dual-chipset construction with a flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and an upgraded VisionBoost D8 chipset. Poco claims an AnTuTu score of over 3.9 million and I think about it. I put it by means of my very personal Geekbench check out, and it returned a single-core score of three,583 and a multi-core score of 10,989, on par with the iPhone 17 Skilled with 3,900 single-core and 9,900 multi-core.

I certainly not as quickly as hit a stutter inside the few weeks I used this as my daily driver. Even multitasking was a breeze. It video video games successfully, too, and loaded Identify of Obligation: Mobile and Honkai: Star Rail quickly. Its personalized cooling system consists of a 3D dual-channel IceLoop system that works laborious and the phone solely grew to turn out to be warmth participating in these video video games. Nonetheless this isn’t a loyal gaming phone identical to the Redmagic 11 Skilled I merely reviewed, so I wasn’t blown away. Nonetheless, this isn’t meant to be a gaming phone. It’s solely a extremely efficient multipurpose system.

A feast for the eyes (and ears)

The Poco F8 Extraordinarily actually shines as an leisure system.

The show is gorgeous. Poco debuted its HyperRGB present proper right here, and in distinction to standard 2K OLEDs, it makes use of a full RGB subpixel building. The outcomes are distinctive readability that’s akin to 2K nonetheless with 20 per cent a lot much less vitality consumption than an on a regular basis OLED. It has deep blacks and vibrant colours and I could nonetheless see clearly on a sunny winter day. My favourite parts of the show are the slim 1.5mm bezels. I don’t like bezels.

The place this phone is more healthy than any iPhone is the audio system. They merely rock. I was truly excited in regards to the partnership with Bose they usually didn’t disappoint. Poco collaborated with the audio massive to create a premium triple-speaker acoustic system with 2.1 channel construction. What this jargon means is the sound is loud and clear. I proceed to be blown away by the rich bass and detailed sound that this skinny system pumps out.

You’ll be capable of choose between a Dynamic sound profile for rich bass or Balanced for pure vocals. In truth, I chosen Dynamic.

Skilled-level photographs with a catch

The digicam system is good. The first setup incorporates a 50-megapixel main shooter with optical image stabilization (OIS). A giant 1/1.31 inch sensor results in elevated gentle sensitivity as compared with the F7 from closing yr. The photographs are sharp, detailed and superb.

I’m an unlimited fan of the Xiaomi digicam interface Poco continues to utilize on all its devices. It’s my favourite digicam UI of all telephones, notably the Skilled setting that allows me to manage every little aspect of the digicam, from the f-stop to the ISO to the white steadiness. The lenses have lastly caught as a lot as this wonderful interface.

These cameras embody Poco’s first-ever 50-megapixel 5x periscope telephoto lens, and sadly, that’s the place I ran into points. I tried to zoom in as far as potential on distant objects, and the sensor merely couldn’t work out what I was looking at. The output stayed blurry as a result of the lens would certainly not focus. I pulled once more a little bit bit and the digicam would instantly stabilize and alter into clear, nonetheless I couldn’t get a clear shot when zoomed in to the utmost.

Video, then once more, was wonderful. Android has always lagged behind iPhone as regards to video, nonetheless the Poco F8 Extraordinarily is the first shut contender I’ve used. It captures distinctive video, smooths out the bounces and jolts, and outputs in good 4K 60 fps (my non-public sweet spot for mobile video). Poco moreover consists of software program program enhancements like 1440P ultra-clear dynamic images with EIS stabilization and HDR enhancement. The end result’s this phone info video increased than the latest Pixel or Galaxy S25.

Good video seize paired with these Bose audio system makes this a beautiful YouTube or TikTok streamer’s system.

A stifling OS nonetheless a perfect battery

The Poco F8 Extraordinarily packs an unlimited 6,500mAh battery, the most important Poco has used. A full day and a half of ordinary use isn’t any disadvantage. 100W wired HyperCharging solely takes 38 minutes to go from 0 to 100 per cent, consistent with Poco, nonetheless I wouldn’t know on account of they didn’t embody a charging brick inside the area. It does help 50W wi-fi charging, which I  used with out complaints.

In precise reality, my largest grievance about this technique is unchanged from closing yr’s F7 Extraordinarily: the OS. The phone runs on Xiaomi Hyper OS 3, which is engineered with AI choices and Google Gemini.

The problem is that Poco has gimped Android by locking down all of the issues. Theming, icons, dwelling show format and completely different customizations are solely obtainable by means of what Poco permits. I couldn’t drop a model new launcher on it the least bit. I’m a fan of Good Launcher 6, nonetheless equivalent to closing yr, it may not work on a Poco F-series system. I already have an iPhone; I acknowledge Android for its deep customizability, so I uncover this walled-garden technique terribly irritating.

Do it’s a must to buy it?

The Poco F8 Extraordinarily is a inconceivable phone for any person who merely wants good {{hardware}} that’s reliable, fast and feels good to utilize, nonetheless doesn’t want an iPhone. The non-technical normies amongst us will acknowledge this technique. This generally is a good different if you don’t care about customization and want wonderful cameras, audio system, and a beautiful show.

Nonetheless, if you’re a heavy customizer or an Android fanatic, you’ll wish to transfer. Merely get an iPhone 17 Skilled at this stage.