Poco X7 review: Good performer with flashy design

Poco earlier this month launched two new phones-- X7 and X7 Pro-- in India.

The X7 Pro (review) was a really good premium mid-range phone. It delivered good performance, photography experience and battery life, whereas the standard Poco X7 shines in terms of pretty unique design language and MediaTek's reliable chipset.

I used the device for little over a week and here are my thoughts on Poco X7.

Design, build quality and display

As noted earlier, Poco X7 is better looking than its premium Pro version. Poco Yellow variant, in particular, is really pretty. It has an eye-catching yellow-black dual-tone colourway with a leather finish. The back panel made of faux leather is of premium quality.

Besides the Poco yellow, the device is available in two other colours--- cosmic silver and glacier green.

Poco X7 series.

It has a curved squarish camera module with metallic accents with a gold finish around the sensors in the back. On the right side, it features a volume rocker and a power button. On the top, it houses a speaker, two microphones and an IR blaster, which comes in handy to control Internet of Things (IoT) gadgets at home.

At the base, it has a type-C port at the centre with a speaker, dual-SIM tray and a microphone.

On the front, the X7 sports a curved display that cascades to the left and right sides. It blends beautifully with the mid-frame and offers a good grip for the hands to hold onto the device.

The screen is protected by Corning's Gorilla Glass Victus 2 shield. And, on top of it, the phone comes pre-fitted with an additional plastic-based screen guard.

Poco X7 series.

The device boasts IP68, meaning it can survive an accidental drop in a freshwater body such as a pond, a river or a swimming pool up to a depth of 1.5 metres (approx. five feet) for close to 30 minutes.

The company also offers a free silicone cover case. The device is fully protected against accidental drops and scratches when the phone is kept in close confines of a pant pocket with keys and coins.

It has a beautiful 6.67-inch 1.5K (2712×1220p) OLED display, 120Hz refresh rate, and offers up to 3,000 nits peak brightness. The screen is really good for consuming multimedia content on OTT apps indoors and at night.

Under direct sunlight, the screen's brightness has to be put at the max to view messages or watch short videos on social media platforms.

The in-display fingerprint sensor worked fine without any issues as long the finger is clean and dry.

Performance

Poco X7 is powered by a 4nm class MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Ultra processor with Mali-G615 MC2 GPU, 8GB LPDDR4X RAM with 128GB / 256GB UFS 2.2 storage.

Our review unit comes with 8GB RAM + 256GB storage configuration. The physical memory can be further expanded to 8GB RAM and this makes the device more faster and swifter in terms of loading the apps when switching between multiple apps and operating apps.

As advertised, the device managed to deliver smooth performance without any pressing issues to complain about.

Poco X7 series.

It runs on Android 14-based Xiaomi HyperOS. The device comes pre-loaded with several third-party apps in addition to core Google apps. This doesn't affect much on the storage as 128GB or 256GB is more than enough to accommodate hundreds of more apps and also people can use their camera to capture thousands of pictures and videos without worrying much of running out of memory anytime soon.

The device comes packed with a 5,500mAh battery and supports a 45W charger, which by the way is offered free of cost by the company with the retail box.

The X7 delivers a long battery life under normal usage with Wi-Fi at home and the office. It can go for one and a half days.

If the device is fully dependent on the 5G cellular network for media consumption all day, it can easily last till the night. With a 45W charger, it can go from zero to 50 per cent in under 20-25 minutes and hit the 100 per cent mark in around 50 minutes.

Poco X7's camera sample.

Photography

It comes with a triple-camera module-- main 50MP (with 1/1.95-inch Sony LTY-600 sensor, f/1.5 aperture, OIS: Optical Image Stabilisation, EIS: Electronics Image Stabilisation) + 8MP ultra-wide camera (f/2.2) + 2MP(f/2.4) macro camera with LED flash.

Poco X7's camera sample.

It takes pretty good photos in bright sunlight and even during the evening or early morning with little light.

Poco X7's camera sample.

It can capture really nice portrait shots. It does an amazing job of getting a sharp picture of the subject and artfully blurs the background to deliver a dramatic bokeh effect.

Poco X7's camera sample with portrait mode.

Poco X7's camera sample.

The ultra-wide angle mode ensures the wide of the landscape are captured.

Poco X7's camera sample with ultra-wide angle mode.

Poco X7's camera sample with ultra-wide angle mode.

Poco X7's camera sample with ultra-wide angle mode.

On night mode, the device takes pretty beautiful pictures with less noise.

Poco X7's camera sample with night mode on.

Poco X7's camera sample.

It can record up to 4K video at 60 frames per second (fps). The video quality is on par with rival brands in its class.

Poco X7's camera sample.

On the front, it houses a 20MP camera. It takes fine selfies in the sunlight. Also, the video quality is really good.

Poco X7's camera sample.

Final thoughts

Poco X7 is a tad less powerful than the X7 Pro, but lookswise, it is way more refreshing and prettier. Also, for its price, the Poco X7 has a great camera and delivers a long battery life.

Poco X7.

The regular Poco X7 comes in three colours-- cosmic silver, glacier green and poco yellow. It is available in two variants-- 128GB and 256 GB storage-- for Rs 21,999 and Rs 23,999, respectively.

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