Not every country has access to the bang-for-your-bucks Redmi smartphones. Even if you do have access, it is not all that cheap when it hits certain shores (looking at you, Singapore). Xiaomi has a brilliant solution: Poco. It is Xiaomi’s budget brand for the global market, which, save for the first Poco (F1), is mostly made up of rebranded Redmi models. The Poco F8 Ultra and F8 Pro are no different.
You are not wrong that these two devices look somewhat familiar, because they are essentially the Redmi K90 and Redmi K90 Pro Max—complete with Sound by Bose. Everything from the aesthetics to the build, right down to the specifications, is through-and-through Redmi K90 series. The only key difference is that these devices have POCO branding instead of REDMI.
We also noted that the protective glass layer may be different, or it could simply be rebranding. The Poco F8 Pro—which is essentially the K90—has Corning Gorilla Glass 7i. However, there is no mention of the brand or type of protective glass on the K90. Meanwhile, where the K90 Pro Max is outfitted with Xiaomi “dragon crystal” glass, its Poco equivalent, the F8 Ultra, has “POCO Shield Glass.” It could be just rebranding, really, but I thought I’d point that out.
Beyond that, the two devices are identical to Redmi’s, down to the millimeter in dimensions. That said, expect to find features like the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, LPDDR5X memory, UFS 4.1 storage, a 120 Hz 6.9-inch eye-care AMOLED display with 1-nit minimum brightness and eye-protection certifications, a 50 MP triple camera setup (including the Light Fusion 950 main sensor, periscope telephoto, and ultra-wide), a 32 MP selfie camera, a 6,500 mAh battery with 100 W HyperCharge and 50 W wireless HyperCharge, an ultrasonic in-display fingerprint sensor, AI Face Unlock, IP68 rated, and more on the F8 Ultra.
The iPhone 17 Pro-ish camera module on the F8 Ultra also has a Sound by Bose speaker embedded in it, realizing a 2.1 speaker setup on a mobile phone. Meanwhile, you can expect the F8 Pro to rock a Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, LPDDR5X memory and UFS 4.1 storage, a 120 Hz 6.59-inch eye-care AMOLED display with 2,510 × 1,156 resolution (also with eye-protection certifications), a 50 MP Light Fusion 800 main camera, a 50 MP telephoto, an 8 MP ultra-wide-angle camera, a 20 MP selfie camera, a 6,210 mAh battery with 100 W HyperCharge, an ultrasonic in-display fingerprint sensor, AI Face Unlock, IP68 rated, and more.
The F8 Pro, like the K90, does not have a speaker unit on the back, but it does have sound tuned by Bose. Both devices run on Android-based Xiaomi HyperOS 3.
The new Poco F8 Ultra and F8 Pro have been launched in select countries and regions, including the U.K., where the former starts at 549 quid and the latter starts at 399 quid.
Images: Poco.
