Xiaomi Poco F7 Pro

At Rs. 185,999, the Xiaomi Poco F7 Pro is priced against upper mid-range phones, yet it carries a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, a chip that is hard to find at this price.

• Main advantages: top-level performance, a 2K 120Hz AMOLED screen, an IP68 glass and aluminium body, a 6000 mAh battery and 90W charging.
• Main compromises: no telephoto camera, a basic 8 MP ultrawide, ordinary selfies and no wireless charging.

The Oppo Reno 16 and Vivo V80 cost about the same and offer more camera flexibility, but the Poco is the faster phone.

Verdict: strong value for gamers and power users; less convincing for buyers who mainly care about cameras.

The 6.67-inch AMOLED panel has 1440 x 3200 resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate and 480Hz touch sampling, and games that support 2K resolution can run at it.

• Colours: punchy indoors, with Dolby Vision and HDR10+ support for streaming apps.
• Outdoors: peak brightness is rated at 3200 nits, and visibility in sunlight is better than on the previous generation. GSMArena calls it an excellent, bright display.
• Wet touch: the screen and the ultrasonic fingerprint sensor keep working with wet hands, which helps in the rain.
• Protection: Gorilla Glass 7i on the front, with slim bezels and an always-on display option.

For gaming, scrolling and video, this is one of the strongest screens at its price.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 with 12GB RAM handles everyday apps, app switching and multitasking with ease. A liquid cooling system with a large vapour chamber is there to control heat.

• Gaming: games such as PUBG run smoothly, with steady frame rates at high settings.
• Benchmarks: scores land at about 1.8 to 1.9 million, depending on whether performance mode is switched on.
• Heat: the cooling is designed to prevent overheating, but sustained performance over long gaming sessions has not been verified yet.

The chip is the same one used in the previous Poco F-series Pro model, so the gain is in cooling and battery rather than raw speed.

The rear has a 50 MP main camera with OIS and an 8 MP ultrawide; there is no telephoto lens. GSMArena rates the main camera excellent in daylight and at night, even at 2x, while the ultrawide is basic but solid for its class, without autofocus or 4K video.

• Video: the main camera records up to 8K at 24fps and 4K at up to 60fps, with gyro-EIS.
• Selfies: the 20 MP front camera records only up to 1080p at 60fps, and GSMArena calls its selfies unremarkable.
• Editing: the AI object eraser removes unwanted objects accurately.

It is a capable camera phone for everyday shots, but not the pick for zoom or selfie lovers.

The Poco F7 Pro has a 6000 mAh battery, a big step up from the previous generation, and GSMArena lists the large battery among its strengths.

• Charging: 90W wired charging fills the battery in about 37 minutes.
• No wireless charging: charging is by cable only.
• Battery health: Poco says the battery should hold up well for four to five years of use, a claim only time can confirm.

GSMArena notes that the charger is not included in the box in some markets, so check what comes with your unit.

The phone runs HyperOS 2 on Android 15, which GSMArena describes as feature-rich.

• Useful extras: an always-on display, an AI object eraser in the gallery and an infrared port to control TVs and air conditioners.
• Updates: Poco's stated support is about three to four years of Android updates and five to six years of security patches. Confirm the exact policy before buying, as figures vary between sources.

Advertisements and preinstalled apps have not been verified for this model, so check the setup screens and disable what you do not need.