Beebom
Rating8
The Poco X8 Pro continues the series tradition of delivering exceptional performance but with some much-needed upgrades. It now comes in an aluminium and glass chassis, with a water-resistant build, stunning display, large vapour chamber, improved HyperOS 3 experience and 100W fast charging. While the cameras are a let-down, it was never a highlight of this Poco series. So, if gaming is all that you crave, the Poco X8 Pro wouldn't be a let down for you.
Pros
- Compact glass and metal design
- Sharp and smooth AMOLED screen
- Great gaming performance
- Reliable battery life with fast charging
- Improved software experience
Cons
- Cameras are average at best
- Multiple bloatware apps
The Poco X8 Pro is here, and true to its legacy, this phone sets a new bar for performance-oriented smartphones in its segment. But this year, it features some other big improvements too over the previous year's devices. Plus, it also has some competition from its own big brother, the Poco X8 Pro Max, which also launched alongside it. So, I have been using this phone for a week, and in this Poco X8 Pro review, I will help you answer whether you should buy this phone or skip to the Pro Max instead.
Unboxing
The Poco X8 Pro comes with all the necessary items in the box itself. Here's a list of everything that's included:
- Poco X8 Pro smartphone
- Good quality case
- 100W fast charging adapter
- USB-A to USB-C cable
- SIM ejector tool
- Paperwork
POCO X8 Pro Key Details
- Mali-G720 MC8
- 1.5K AMOLED
- Dolby Vision
- 100Watt (wired)
- Charger in the box
- OmniVision OV20B
- 1080@60fps
- Sony IMX882
Hybrid Stabilization
4K@60fps
- 256GB (UFS 4.1)
- Frosted Glass (Back)
- Metal Frame (Side)
- IP66/IP68/IP69/IP69K (Dust and Water Resistant)
- 4 year(s) of OS Update
Design and Build
- 157.5 x 75.1 x 8.4 mm, 201 grams weight
- Aluminium frame, Glass back, 2.5 meter drop protection
- IP 68/69/69K dust and water tight, USB Type-C 2.0
The Poco X8 Pro has received big upgrades in terms of design compared to the Poco X7 Pro. It ditches the plastic build and goes for a more premium aluminium frame paired with a glass back. Both have a soft matte texture that makes the phone feel more premium than its price would suggest.
The company has also toned down its usual flashy yellow racing stripe and replaced it with more subtle black, white, and green colour options. I have been using the white variant for this Poco X8 Pro review, and it looks very clean. The white colour also features red accents around the power button and camera rings, which add a bit of personality to the phone.
Moreover, the Poco X8 Pro is also more ergonomic than the X7 Pro, thanks to its smaller display. Personally, I like this change. The phone feels more comfortable in the hand and doesn’t create that awkward bulge in my jeans pocket. The phone also feels quite solid in the hands, and it is IP68/69/69K certified, so I can even take it for a swim with me in the pool without any worries.
But what good is a gaming phone without some RGB lights? right? Well, Poco has you covered there, too. The phone features a new back-light, which is tucked under the huge camera sensors on the back. You can turn it on from Additional settings, and these can glow to notify you about incoming calls, app notifications, music playback, and even sync with some games too.
Honestly, I am not a fan of this light whatsoever, as it looks weirdly cheap and flashy, contrasting with the look of the phone. So, I had it turned off after my first hour of using the device. But overall, in terms of build and design, it is one of the best Poco phones I have used in a while.
Display and Audio Quality
- 6.59-inch (1268 x 2756) 1.5K AMOLED display, 120Hz
- 3840Hz PWM dimming, 10+2-bit, HDR 10+, Dolby Vision
- Corning Gorilla Glass 7i, 3500 nits peak brightness
Poco always ships their phones with the best display out there, and the trend continues with the X8 Pro. It features a 6.59-inch AMOLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate, and the experience feels smooth the moment you start scrolling. The bezels are quite slim, which makes content look immersive whether you’re browsing, watching videos, or gaming.
The screen itself looks fantastic. Colours are vibrant, blacks are deep, and the overall sharpness makes everything pop. During my Poco X8 Pro review, I spent some time watching nature documentaries, and the landscapes and wildlife looked stunning on this screen.
It also supports Dolby Vision and HDR10 streaming on Netflix. The brightness is also good enough for outdoor use, and the in-display fingerprint scanner is pretty quick to unlock. To further complement the screen, the X8 Pro comes with a stereo speaker setup which gets fairly loud and sounds full, making it one of the best display mobile phones under Rs 40,000.
Performance Tested
- Mediatek Dimensity 8500 Ultra (4 nm), Mali-G720 MC8
- Up To 12GB LPDDR5X RAM, 256GB UFS 4.1 Storage
- 5300mm2 3D ICELOOP Vapor Chamber cooling
The Poco X8 Pro debuts the MediaTek Dimensity 8500 Ultra for the first time in India. It is only seen before in devices like the Redmi Turbo 5 and Honor Power 2, which were released in China only. This is a pretty powerful processor that is almost comparable to the flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 in performance. But here are its benchmark scores for reference.
In everyday use, the Poco X8 Pro literally flies past anything I throw at it. Apps open quickly, multitasking was effortless, and I didn’t run into any slowdowns either. In terms of gaming, BGMI runs at Smooth graphics with Ultra Extreme (120FPS), while Call of Duty: Mobile can hit Ultra (120FPS) on Medium graphics. Both maintain a very stable frame rate with only minor drops. Even titles like Genshin Impact ran at the highest settings at 60FPS without any noticeable stutter or frame drop.
I knew that gaming would be a piece of cake for this phone. What actually surprised me is its thermals. Even after 45 minutes of Genshin Impact, the phone was barely warm to the touch. The vapour chamber cooling system clearly does its job, and all this makes the X8 Pro one of the best gaming mobile phones in its segment.
| Games | Settings |
|---|---|
| Genshin Impact | Highest Settings + 60FPS |
| CoD Mobile | Max Graphics = Very High + Max (60FPS) Max Framerate = Smooth + Ultra (120FPS) |
| BGMI | Max Graphics = Ultra HDR + Ultra Max Framerate = Smooth + Ultra Extreme (120FPS) |
Software and Updates
- HyperOS 3.0 based on Android 16
- Up to 4 major Android updates, 6 years of security patches
The Poco X8 Pro comes with the latest HyperOS 3 based on Android 16 out of the box. This is clearly a major leap over the older HyperOS 2 that shipped with the Poco M8 earlier this year. It looks more polished with improved animations, Gaussian blur effect, new lockscreen depth effects, and other more subtle changes all over the UI.
Even the haptic integration seems to be improved, and you can add AI pets to your home screen if you're feeling cute. But the most standout feature has to be the new Hyper Island. This is Xiaomi's take on Apple's Dynamic Island feature.
It shows song previews and expands when you tap on it. But I haven't been able to get more use out of it. Like on Google Maps, it doesn't show live directions like other implementations of the same feature on Oppo and Vivo devices do. I hope Xiaomi adds support for more live activities to the Hyper Island over the coming updates.
One area that still hasn't been improved is the bloatware situation. The phone comes with over 17 bloatware apps, and pushes out adware notifications now and then. There's also the iconic glance lockscreen present here as well. This is quite infuriating to see in 2026, and I hope that the company at least tones down the number of apps they ship with the phone.
Cameras Reviewed
- 50 MP (main), f/1.5, 23mm, video recording up to 4K 60 FPS
- 8 MP (ultrawide), f/2.2, 15mm, 120˚
- 20 MP (selfie), f/2.2, video recording up to 1080p 60 FPS
Cameras have traditionally been the Achilles’ heel of Poco phones, and the Poco X8 Pro more or less follows the same pattern.
The main camera performs well in daylight. The photos come out sharp with a decent amount of detail in the shot. However, the colours can sometimes look boosted. Especially in shots with a lot of greenery, the tones appear a bit neon. That said, in other cases, the photos have fairly natural-looking colours.
At night, the camera struggles worsen. Images turn out soft with less detail, and zooming in on the main camera further drops the quality of the image. To fix this, I tried clicking photos with the Night Mode, but that only works for still subjects. Moving subjects remain difficult to capture.
The ultra-wide camera can take some nice wide landscape shots, but during my Poco X8 Pro review period, I noticed some noticeable colour disparity in the ultrawide lens compared to the main sensor. Its colours look slightly muted, and the lower resolution means you aren't getting the most detailed shot.
As for selfies, the 20MP front camera does a good job, producing natural looking skin tones. Even the portrait mode works reasonably well too, however, it occasionally struggles to accurately cut out edges in the photos. Plus, the beauty filter is enabled by default on the selfie snapper, so you might want to turn that off first if you don't want polished skin texture.
Battery Life and Charging
- 6500 mAh silicon carbon battery
- 100W wired charging, 27W reverse charging support
To keep up with your gaming needs, the Poco X8 Pro packs a big 6,500mAh battery, which lasts quite a while. It is not going to take on the likes of Realme P4 Power, which has a 10,001mAh capacity, or even the Poco F7 with its 7,550mAh battery size. Still, during my Poco X8 Pro review period, I managed to get 7 hours of screen time on average.
This included a mix of gaming, social media, checking and replying to Slack messages now and then, and watching YouTube videos. And when the phone was about to touch 0%, the 100W charger revived it back from 0–100% in a little less than an hour. So, it might not be the best battery mobile phone under Rs 40,000, but it definitely deserves a spot on that list.
Poco X8 Pro Review Verdict: Should You Buy It?
The Poco X8 Pro is one of the best offerings from Xiaomi so far this year, and especially if your needs are gaming-centric. It delivers a great display, loud stereo speakers, durable build quality, excellent performance, and dependable long battery life. Plus, the RGB back lights are a nice touch. But the cameras on the phone as well as the bloated software are a big let-down.
That said, I can't help but ignore how much Poco has improved their formula this year. The phone feels more refined than its older siblings. So, if you are looking for a gaming and only gaming-focused device for under Rs 35,000, then the Poco X8 Pro is a good choice to go with.
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