Poco X8 Pro Review: Mid-Range marvel with smooth performance

The Poco X8 Pro made its debut along with the X8 Pro Max. It is available in two variants-- 8GB RAM + 256GB storage and 12GB RAM + 256GB storage-- with prices starting at Rs 32,999.

Poco X8 Pro is the watered-down version of the X8 Pro Max (review) series. However, the company has not compromised on its build quality and also features a reliable Mediatek chipset. Does it deliver? Let's check it out.

Design, build quality and display

The X8 Pro shares the same design language as the Max variant. It features a chocolate bar-like exterior layout.

On the back, it features two camera islands with crimson red-hued rings, and an LED flash in the top left corner. The rest of the back cover is plain with just the Poco branding at the base. Our review unit is the white, which comes in prestine snow-hued colour, and it has dual tone. The right side has a smooth textured finish, and the rest has a frosted glass finish.

Poco X8 Pro.

It does a fantastic job of repelling the sweaty fingerprint smudges. Add to that, it comes with IP66+IP68+IP69+IP69K water-and-dust rating, meaning the device can survive a fall in a fresh water body such as a swimming pool, a river or a pond for close to a depth of 1.5 metres (around five feet) for up to 30 minutes.

Also, it can survive high-pressure water jets, but only for a few seconds. Further, the display features Corning's Gorilla Glass 7i, which protects it from getting scratched.

Poco X8 Pro.

And, the company offers a free silicone cover case with a retail box. In terms of safeguarding the device, Poco has covered all bases and ensures it serves the customer for several years.

Besides white colours, X8 Pro is available in black and green.

The device sports a 6.59-inch 1.5K(2756 x 1268p) OLED display with 120Hz refresh rate, offering up to 3,500 nits peak brightness. It is a really good display for consuming multimedia content with brightness put to the max. The uniform bezel around the screen makes the viewing experience better.

Poco X8 Pro.

Also, scrolling on the display to browse the internet and social media apps is a buttery smooth experience. Even when playing games, it delivers an immersive user experience.

It also features a Type-C USB port, infrared sensor, dual-SIM slots (type: nano), stereo speakers and an in-display optical fingerprint sensor. The latter works amazingly fast in recognising the finger impression and instantly unlocking the home screen.

Performance

Under the hood, Poco X8 Pro houses a reliable 4nm class MediaTek Dimensity 8500-Ultra with Arm Mali-G720 MC8 GPU, , 8GB / 12GB LPDDR5X Ultra RAM, and 256GB UFS 4.1 storage.

Poco X8 Pro's CPU and GPU performance score on Geekbench 6.0.

The device can easily handle heavy-duty work like battle royale game titles and running generative Artificial Intelligence applications.

It also boasts of a 5,300mm² dual-layer IceLoop system, which ensures efficient heat dissipation, so the device doesn't overheat and remains stable to deliver smooth performance.

Poco X8 Pro's camera sample.

The device runs Android 16-based HyperOS 3.0. It comes with a familiar user interface. Even a first-time smartphone user can get the hang of the settings and easily navigate through the phone within a day or two of usage.

The device is powered by a 6,500mAh battery. Under normal usage, it can easily last one and a half days.

With a 100W charger, it can go from zero to 50 per cent in under 30 minutes and can hit the 100 per cent mark in one hour

Poco X8 Pro's camera sample.

Photography

Poco X8 Pro boasts a dual-camera module-- main 50MP (with 1/1.95-inch IMX882 sensor, f/1.59 aperture, OIS: Optical Image Stabilisation, EIS: Electronic Image Stabilisation) and 8MP (f/2.2) ultra-wide camera with LED flash.

Poco X8 Pro's camera sample.

The device performs well in natural sunlight. It does fantastic with boosting the vibrancy of the subject's colour. Be it the human face or the colourful flower, the photos appear clear with crisp details and are more radiant than they appear to our eyes.

Poco X8 Pro's camera sample.

It supports ultra-wide-angle mode, and this enables the camera to capture a wide area of the field without any software tricks.

Poco X8 Pro's camera sample with ultra-wide angle mode.

Poco X8 Pro's camera sample with 1X.

The device also supports 2X optical zoom and can digitally zoom up to 10X. The picture quality remains sharp and retain quality up to 5X, but beyond this point, it begins to accumulate noise and grainy by the time it reaches 10X.

Poco X8 Pro's camera sample with 2X zoom.

Poco X8 Pro's camera sample with 5X zoom.

Poco X8 Pro's camera sample with 10X zoom.

At night, it takes pretty nice pictures with less noise.

Poco X8 Pro's camera sample.

It does a fine job with portrait mode. It takes sharp photos of the face and artfully blurs the background.

Poco X8 Pro's camera sample.

Poco X8 Pro's camera sample.

The device can also capture close-range images with minute details of the subject.

Poco X8 Pro's camera sample.

It can support up to 4K at 60fps (frames per second) video recording capability.

Poco X8 Pro's camera sample.

On the front, it houses a 20MP (with OV20B sensor, f/2.2) sensor. It takes pretty nice selfies in natural lighting conditions.

Poco X8 Pro's camera sample.

The camera also comes with native tools and filters to enhance the quality and make the face photogenic, worthy of being shared on social media platforms.

Poco X8 Pro's camera sample.

It can record up to 1080p full HD at 60fps.

Final thoughts

Poco X8 Pro is a well-rounded mid-range phone. It excels with impressive build quality, reliable performance, long battery life and decent camera hardware.

Poco X8 Pro.

It is available in two variants-- 8GB RAM + 256GB storage and 12GB RAM + 256GB storage-- for Rs 32,999 and Rs 35,999, respectively.

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