POCO has mastered the art of balancing cost and performance. Consistently offering powerful smartphones at a fraction of what the competition offers. The POCO F7 Pro continues this legacy as the newest addition to their flagship lineup, delivering impressive performance, enhanced cameras, and a larger battery—all while keeping the price surprisingly affordable.
But does it live up to the flagship killer reputation of the series? I believe it does. Read on to find out why.
What we like:
- Flagship-level performance (Snapdragon 8 Gen 3)
- Fast and smooth display
- Large 6000mAh battery
- Decent cameras for a gaming phone
What needs to be improved:
- No telephoto camera
The POCO F7 Pro is priced at PhP 27,999 for the 12GB + 256GB variant and PhP 30,999 for the 12GB + 512GB model.
Appealing to professionals?
From a commonly gamer focused design, POCO has slightly shifted towards a more mature yet gamer-centric aesthetic on the F7 Pro. The back has a dual-texture finish—the top third features a shiny holographic design that blends seamlessly with the camera bump, while the bottom two-thirds sport a smooth matte finish.
This design makes the phone feel incredibly comfortable for one-handed use. At just 8.1mm thick and 199g, it’s much lighter and more compact than most gaming phones. It's easily one of the most comfortable ones I have in my review line up as of now.
Fast and responsive OLED
The F7 Pro features a 6.67-inch 2K OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. It’s bright enough indoors (3200 nits peak) but slightly dim under direct sunlight. The touch response is fast, making everyday use feel incredibly smooth.
The screen feels like it needs a bit more vibrance but thankfully, there are a few enhancements that can be turned on to improve the visual experience further. First, the display resolution can be bumped to WQHD+ to add clarity, but there's also Super Resolution that upscales video resolution making it sharper.
There's also AI HDR Enhancement that bring out more details in darker and lighter areas in videos. Lastly, MEMC can also be turned on to make videos feel smoother if you're a fan of the high frame rate look. Personally, I like the first two, but MEMC for me is something that I'd reserve when watching sports to add more smooth motion.
Absolute performance
There’s absolutely no shortage of power on the POCO F7 Pro. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, paired with 12GB of RAM, ensures top-tier performance. If I’m not mistaken, this is the second fastest chip right now, with only the Snapdragon 8 Elite (found in the POCO F7 Ultra) being better.
I don’t put too much weight on benchmarks, but 1.8 million on AnTuTu we got is undeniably impressive. And this translates to real-world speed.
With Wuthering Waves, I was surprised it ran flawlessly at max settings—a game that normally causes mid-range phones to stutter. Frame rates reach above 60 FPS most of the time with some occasional dips around 45.
On Genshin Impact, it’s a similar story. Even in graphically intense areas, the game remains buttery smooth.
But my favorite gaming experience came with Call of Duty: Mobile. The compact design makes everything easily reachable, and the camera bump doesn’t get in the way—something I usually struggle with on larger gaming phones.
For lighter games like Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, expect top-tier performance with ultra settings enabled.
Huge battery with 90W charging
Performance is one thing, but what’s power without endurance?
The POCO F7 Pro packs a massive 6000mAh battery—a rare find in a phone this thin. Even after five matches of Call of Duty: Mobile, my battery only dropped to 99 percent. For regular use, it easily lasts 1.5 to 2 days.
When you do need to charge, the 90W fast charger gets it from 0 to 100 percent in just 38 minutes.
Upgraded optics
Despite being primarily marketed for its performance, POCO didn't cut back on the cameras on the F7 Pro. This packs a 50MP main camera that has a LYT800 sensor with OIS paired with a 8MP ultra-wide sensor.
Out of the main camera, images are sharp, contrasty, and are well-saturated. Observably, POCO has taken some notes from its more camera focused distant siblings from Redmi Note Pro lineup.
While I personally prefer photos with less digital sharpening and contrast to give room for editing, on the F7 Pro, it's easy to notice that these already come with a fair amount.
I brought my mirrorless camera with me during the Gardens by the Bay tour for the POCO F7 Series launch, but ended up using only the F7 Pro for the entire trip. So, I suppose that alone is a good indication that the camera on this phone performed well.
POCO has also added a bunch of AI capabilities to the camera of the POCO F7 Series. There's the AI erase feature, an AI reflection removal tool, and most interesting yet, AI Expand which expands the area of your photo.
In our test, these all work well and might come in handy if in case we have some photos we might want to save, but do keep in mind that these require internet connectivity to work.
The POCO F7 Pro doesn't come with a telephoto lens, a feature they've reserved for the ultra variant, but this can still take zoomed in shots at 2x that are still considerably usable.
You can push it to 4x under good lighting, though anything beyond that would already look too processed.
The ultrawide camera is also pretty decent, but is noticeably less sharp than the main sensor. Something that's been pretty common at this price point.
Overall, the lack of telephoto lens might be the only “flagship” feature missing, but given the price, it’s understandable.
Conclusion: Is the POCO F7 Pro Worth It?
We really can’t deny how impressive this phone is at this price. With a flagship-level Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and a massive 6000mAh battery packed into a compact, comfortable design, this phone is a true contender for anyone seeking the best performance at an affordable price.
The only downsides? No telephoto lens and no wireless charging—but at this price, those are easy to forgive.
POCO once again proves that you don’t need to spend over P40K for flagship performance. If you’re looking for the best gaming phone under P30K, this is it.
The POCO F7 Pro is available in two storage variants: 12GB + 256GB, priced at PHP 27,999, and 12GB + 512GB, priced at PHP 29,999.