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POCO managed to carve out a distinct segment within the price range and mid-range classes by delivering value-focused telephones, and units just like the X7 Professional exemplify this trait. If something, POCO is doing a greater job on this space than its Redmi sister model, and that is clearly evident within the mid-range, the place final 12 months’s F6 Professional remains to be a implausible alternative.
The model is doing issues a little bit in another way in 2025; whereas it is nonetheless launching the F7 Professional, the main focus this 12 months is the F7 Extremely — its strongest cellphone but. The F7 Extremely is a particular assertion from POCO that it might probably produce a cellphone that may maintain its personal towards the very best that OPPO, Vivo, Google, and Honor have to supply.
With the newest Qualcomm silicon, a QHD panel, 5300mAh silicon battery, and 120W charging, the F7 Extremely has a stable basis, however its the cameras the place the system actually stands out. POCO admitted prior to now that cameras aren’t the largest precedence for the model, and whereas its telephones took first rate photographs, they did not measure as much as their speedy rivals.
That is altering with the F7 Extremely; the cellphone has a 50MP principal digital camera with a Gentle Fusion 800 imaging module, and it is joined by a 50MP telephoto with 2.5x optical zoom, and 32MP wide-angle lens. The perfect half is the worth, with the cellphone debuting at $649, undercutting its rivals by a sizeable quantity.
I used the F7 Extremely for simply over two weeks, and this is why I believe it’s the greatest value-focused flagship you should buy in 2025.
POCO F7 Extremely: Pricing and availability
POCO unveiled the F7 Professional and F7 Extremely on March 27, 2025, and each units will go on sale in choose areas in Southeast Asia, the U.Ok., and different international markets within the coming weeks. The F7 Extremely is offered in yellow and black coloration variants, and POCO is promoting it in two fashions: the bottom version has 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, and it prices $649. There’s additionally a 16GB/512GB mannequin that prices $699.
To incentivize the launch, POCO is promoting the 12GB/256GB F7 Extremely at $599, and the 16GB/512GB version at $649. Contemplating there’s only a $50 distinction between the 2, I might recommend getting the 512GB mannequin — that is the one I am utilizing.
The F7 Professional has the identical design, similar panel, similar 50MP principal digital camera, and an even bigger 6000mAh battery. It misses out on the auxiliary cameras and is not fairly as quick, however in any other case, there is not a lot in the way in which of distinction between the 2 units. The F7 Professional is debuting in black, silver, and blue, and the blue variant is the one to get.
It is accessible with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, retailing for $499. The 12GB/512GB version prices $549, and similar to the F7 Extremely, POCO is discounting both mannequin of the F7 Professional by $50 through the launch window.
Class |
POCO F7 Extremely |
POCO F7 Professional |
---|---|---|
Show |
Row 0 – Cell 1 | Row 0 – Cell 2 |
OS |
HyperOS 2.0.4.0, Android 15 |
HyperOS 2.0.4.0, Android 15 |
Chipset |
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite, 3nm |
Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, 3nm |
RAM |
12GB/16GB LPDDR5X |
12GB LPDDR5X |
Storage |
256GB/512GB UFS 4.1 |
256GB/512GB UFS 4.1 |
Rear digital camera 1 |
50MP f/1.6 Gentle Fusion 800 OmniVision OVX8000, 1/1.55-inch sensor, OIS |
50MP f/1.6 Gentle Fusion 800 OmniVision OVX8000, 1/1.55-inch sensor, OIS |
Rear digital camera 2 |
50MP f/2.0 Samsung JN5 telephoto, 2.5x optical zoom, OIS |
8MP f/2.2 wide-angle |
Rear digital camera 3 |
32MP f/2.2 Samsung KD1, wide-angle |
❌ |
Entrance digital camera |
20MP f/2.0 |
20MP f/2.0 |
Ingress safety |
IP68 mud and water resistance |
IP68 mud and water resistance |
Connectivity |
Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, international 5G bands, NFC, dual-band GPS |
Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, international 5G bands, NFC, dual-band GPS |
Safety |
Ultrasonic in-screen sensor |
Ultrasonic in-screen sensor |
Audio |
USB-C, stereo sound, 24-bit/192kHz, AptX HD, AptX Adaptive, AptX Lossless, LHDC 5 |
USB-C, stereo sound, 24-bit/192kHz, AptX HD, AptX Adaptive, AptX Lossless, LHDC 5 |
Battery |
5300mAh, 120W charging |
6000mAh, 90W charging |
Dimensions |
160.3 x 74.9 x 8.4mm, 212g |
160.3 x 74.9 x 8.1mm, 206g |
Colours |
Yellow, Black |
Blue, Black, Silver |
POCO F7 Extremely: Design
Whereas Xiaomi’s telephones now have a semblance of design consistency between generations, that hasn’t trickled all the way down to POCO’s units. As such, the F7 Extremely has a brand-new design aesthetic that has no resemblance to the POCO F6 or F6 Professional. Fortunately, POCO is utilizing the identical design on the F7 Professional as nicely, so at the very least each fashions have similarities — which wasn’t the case final 12 months on the usual POCO F6.
The F7 Extremely has flat sides, however the beveled edges make it comfy to carry and use the system, and the again curves barely the place it meets the mid-frame. There is a new design for the digital camera housing on the again, and it would not fairly stand out as a lot; it is only a round design that homes the three imaging modules, with the flash sitting on the fitting.
There’s a metal ring encircling the digital camera island, and a yellow accent across the housing that offers it a little bit aptitude, however general, it would not have the identical daring traits that outlined POCO’s earlier telephones on this sequence. Speaking about daring, the yellow coloration undoubtedly stands out, and the matte texture on the again has an ideal in-hand really feel, and would not choose up any smudges.
I just like the yellow coloration scheme normally — it makes the system that rather more distinctive — and whereas the again seems nice, the perimeters are moderately plain, and I believe POCO ought to have color-matched the perimeters to ship a extra cohesive design. POCO did that with the F7 Professional, which has a silver again and sides, so I am probably not certain why it did not on the Extremely variant.
That stated, POCO did the fitting factor by utilizing matte sides, and it makes holding the cellphone a little bit simpler. The mid-frame is aluminum, and coming in at 212g, the cellphone has a pleasant heft to it. There’s good weight distribution as nicely, and it by no means as soon as felt unwieldy. The remainder of the options are customary; you get a dual-SIM tray, energy and quantity buttons on the fitting, and stereo sound.
Curiously, POCO is utilizing an ultrasonic module on the F7 Extremely, and it’s positioned at simply the fitting place. The module is quick and would not have any points, and it holds up simply as nicely with moist or oily fingers. Rounding out the design, the F7 Extremely will get IP68 mud and water resistance, and it may be simply submerged in as much as 2.5 meters of water — greater than the 1.5-meter restriction that is on most telephones.
The F7 Extremely is not fairly as flamboyant as just a few POCO telephones I used prior to now, however it has a superb in-hand really feel, and it is clearly constructed to final, and that is what finally issues.
POCO F7 Extremely: Show
POCO has used 6.67-inch shows for some time now, and that is not altering with the F7 Extremely; the cellphone has the identical measurement and 3200 x 1440 decision. There’s Dolby Imaginative and prescient and HDR10+, and the panel is noticeably brighter this time — I did not see any points utilizing it outside.
Colours are vibrant out of the field, and POCO is aware of the right way to calibrate these panels on the manufacturing unit. That has at all times been a plus level on the model’s units, and that hasn’t modified. You get good customizability with the colours as nicely; the Authentic color Professional is ready out of the field, and the system has Vivid and Saturated modes alongside color-accurate P3 and Adobe sRGB. In fact, it’s also possible to modify the colour steadiness in accordance with your tastes.
The cellphone is ready to FHD+ and auto refresh out of the field, so you will want to dive into the settings to alter these two to QHD+ and 120Hz to take advantage of out of the system. A brand new function that is debuting this time is round polarization expertise, which delivers a extra pure gentle. It’s just like what Honor did on the Magic 7 Professional, and it’s noticeable when utilizing the system subsequent to the F6 Professional.
The F7 Extremely additionally will get 3840Hz PWM dimming, and it is a welcome transfer. Xiaomi and different Chinese language manufacturers are doing all the fitting issues in the case of eye care on their units, and it is good to see the F7 Extremely get the complete suite of options. Xiaomi’s always-on types aren’t fairly as in depth as what you get with ColorOS or Funtouch OS, however you get a good choice, and you’ll select to have the mode enabled all through the day or arrange a customized schedule.
Curiously, the F7 Extremely will get a devoted VisionBoost D7 chip that optimizes video playback and delivers smoother visuals whereas gaming, with POCO positioning 120fps gaming as a transparent differentiator. On that topic, gaming is a delight on the system, with the cellphone in a position to deal with demanding titles with none trouble in any respect.
It holds up simply as nicely with multimedia content material; HDR rendering is dealt with nicely, and there is a noticeable distinction to final 12 months in the case of brightness ranges and coloration constancy. POCO is utilizing a customized Defend Glass resolution — just like what Xiaomi does by itself units — and in my use, the cellphone did not have any points even after a number of tumbles.
POCO F7 Extremely: {Hardware} and battery
I’ve at all times loved utilizing POCO’s units due to the highly effective {hardware}, and the F7 Extremely is in a league of its personal. Because of the newest Qualcomm silicon, the cellphone holds its personal towards the Xiaomi 15 Extremely, Honor Magic 7 Professional, Zenfone 12 Extremely, and OnePlus 13. Much like these units, I did not see any points with the F7 Extremely in common use; the cellphone dealt with mundane duties with out breaking a sweat, and even visually-intensive titles did not tax the {hardware} to any noticeable diploma.
The {hardware} tends to run hotter — that is the case with all Qualcomm-powered telephones this 12 months — and there’s overheating throughout prolonged gaming classes. That stated, it would not get so sizzling as to grow to be uncomfortable to carry. It is clear that Qualcomm elevated energy limits this 12 months, and that’s evident when utilizing the cellphone subsequent to earlier iterations. The plus facet is that you just get higher gaming efficiency, with rock-solid framerates.
Class |
POCO F7 Extremely |
POCO F7 Professional |
Vivo X200 Professional |
---|---|---|---|
Geekbench 6 (single-core) |
1813 |
2111 |
2381 |
Geekbench 6 (multi-core) |
6628 |
6096 |
7175 |
PCMark Work 3.0 (General) |
17847 |
16217 |
15731 |
PCMark Work 3.0 (Internet Looking) |
20993 |
16844 |
13716 |
PCMark Work 3.0 (Video Modifying) |
8124 |
7899 |
5823 |
PCMark Work 3.0 (Writing) |
16805 |
17045 |
24744 |
PCMark Work 3.0 (Picture Modifying) |
35264 |
30271 |
13582 |
3DMark Wild Life Excessive (rating) |
5985 |
4160 |
6070 |
3DMark Wild Life Excessive (FPS) |
35.84 |
24.91 |
36.35 |
3DMark Photo voltaic Bay (rating) |
7509 |
6182 |
11021 |
3DMark Photo voltaic Bay (FPS) |
28.55 |
23.51 |
41.91 |
3DMark Metal Nomad Gentle (Stress check) |
2290 (max) / 1624 (min), 70.9% stability |
1359 (max) / 813 (min), 59.8% stability |
2359 (max) / 1169 (min), 49% stability |
Geekbench AI (Quantized Rating) |
2251 |
2148 |
2436 |
POCO is utilizing the Surge T1S chip to ship higher connectivity, and though I did not see any distinction when utilizing the F7 Extremely on my house community, it had a stronger sign over mobile information. The cellphone has Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0 — similar to the Xiaomi 15 Extremely — NFC, AptX Adaptive, AptX Lossless, and LHDC codecs. Briefly, you do not miss out on something on the connectivity facet of issues.
The vibration motor is sort of good too, and whereas it is not as detailed because the one on the Xiaomi 15 Extremely, it has good suggestions when utilizing the keyboard — definitely a lot better than earlier POCO telephones.
There’s a lot to love with the battery as nicely. The 5300mAh battery simply manages to final a day with relative ease, and even with heavy use, I did not have to fret about battery operating out earlier than the tip of the day. POCO can also be utilizing silicon battery tech this time, and it permits the model to ship an even bigger battery in a smaller measurement — at all times a superb factor.
The cellphone will get 120W charging, and it takes 38 minutes to cost the battery. You will must allow the Enhance charging mode to unlock 120W charging, with the cellphone utilizing 90W in common use. General, that is the very best {hardware} package deal within the sub-$800 class, and like earlier years, POCO completely dominates the worth.
POCO F7 Extremely: Cameras
POCO was at all times upfront in regards to the cameras on its telephones; whereas its units did a good sufficient job, imaging simply wasn’t a precedence for the model. That is fortunately altering with the F7 Extremely; the cellphone has the identical 50MP Gentle Fusion digital camera as final 12 months, and it is utilizing the identical OmniVision OVX8000 module with OIS. What’s completely different is the auxiliary lenses; there’s now a 50MP Samsung JN5 tele lens with 2.5x optical zoom and OIS, and a 32MP wide-angle lens.
Simply with the addition of the auxiliary lenses, the F7 Extremely has the very best digital camera package deal of any POCO system by a substantial margin. Video capturing is a lot better too; you get 8K24 along with 4K60, and video high quality is leagues higher than earlier POCO telephones. The digital camera interface hasn’t modified a lot, so when you’ve used a Xiaomi or POCO cellphone prior to now, you will know your manner across the viewfinder.
Daylight photographs taken with the F7 Extremely have good element and coloration rendition, and there are completely no points on this regard. Whereas it’s utilizing the identical module as final 12 months, modifications to the tuning imply you get a lot better pictures, and that is evident in low-light and difficult eventualities. Briefly, the cellphone would not have any shortcomings in the case of the principle digital camera, and it does a superb job on this regard.
Whereas the auxiliary lenses aren’t nearly as good, they are much higher than every other POCO cellphone I used till now. The cellphone delivers clear photographs at 2.5x and usable pictures as much as 5x, and wide-angle pictures have good colours. The wide-angle lens has its drawbacks in low-light conditions, however on the entire, it is a vastly higher exhibiting than earlier years.
Finally, the F7 Extremely would not fairly measure as much as the OnePlus 13, Discover X8, Vivo X200, and Xiaomi 15, however the cameras do not feel like a limitation any longer — that in itself is a big deal.
POCO F7 Extremely: Software program
There is not a lot to speak about on the software program entrance; the system options HyperOS 2.0.4.0 out of the field, and it makes use of Android 15 as the muse. As I used the Xiaomi 15 Extremely earlier than switching over, the software program is just about similar; POCO does just a few issues in another way in the case of icons, however apart from that, it’s the similar software program as each different Xiaomi cellphone.
Though the interface itself hasn’t modified an excessive amount of over the past two years, it has higher fluidity, and that’s instantly noticeable when utilizing the F7 Extremely towards older POCO telephones. I nonetheless do not just like the break up notification pane, however I am used to it by now, and it’s simply customizable. The software program itself has loads of customizability normally, and that is fortunately one thing that hasn’t modified on POCO’s telephones.
There may be nonetheless some bloatware, however nowhere as a lot as years previous, and it may be simply uninstalled. POCO says it’s going to ship 4 Android OS updates alongside six years of safety updates to the F7 Extremely and F7 Professional, and that’s good to see. Whereas it is not fairly as a lot as what Google, Samsung, and Honor ship, it’s nonetheless a good transfer. That stated, the system is not prone to get Android 16 nicely after its launch; POCO takes its time to roll out software program updates, and it wants to alter that.
POCO F7 Extremely: The options
The perfect different to the F7 Extremely is the F7 Professional; the cellphone has the identical design, similar panel, similar principal digital camera on the again, and similar software program. The auxiliary cameras aren’t anyplace nearly as good, and whereas it is not fairly as quick, you do not discover any distinction even whereas gaming. As a bonus, the F7 Professional has an even bigger 6000mAh battery, and despite the fact that it will get 90W charging as an alternative of 120W, you are not truly lacking out a lot. All issues thought of, the F7 Professional is a wonderful worth at $499.
I just like the OnePlus 13 rather a lot; it has top-of-the-line digital camera packages on this class, and the design is gorgeous. Coming in at $899, it’s $250 costlier than the F7 Extremely, and I might recommend getting it when you want higher cameras; in any other case, the F7 Extremely is a better option in most areas.
POCO F7 Extremely: Do you have to purchase it?
You can purchase this if:
- You want a cellphone with the newest {hardware}
- You need first rate cameras on the again
- You want a high-end cellphone with the very best worth
- You want dependable battery life
You should not purchase this if:
- You want well timed software program updates
- You need the very best cameras
POCO did it as soon as once more — the F7 Extremely is proof that you just need not shell out a ridiculous sum of money to get an ideal cellphone. The cellphone loses a few of the flamboyance that characterised POCO units prior to now, however that is finally a superb factor; it seems far more like a mainstream cellphone now.
The {hardware} is a transparent differentiator; that is probably the most inexpensive solution to get your palms on the newest Qualcomm silicon, and that in itself is very alluring. Mix that with a high-quality OLED panel and all-day battery life with 120W charging, and the F7 Extremely nails the fundamentals.
It additionally has the very best cameras of any POCO cellphone but. I do know that does not imply a lot because the model did not prioritize imaging prior to now, however it undoubtedly makes a distinction, and it provides the F7 Extremely a sizeable lead over its predecessors. POCO nonetheless has a solution to go earlier than it might probably measure as much as OPPO, Vivo, Honor, and OnePlus, however it is a huge step in the fitting course.
Finally, there is not a lot to criticize with the system. POCO did all the fitting issues with the {hardware} and cameras, and whereas the software program is not fairly nearly as good, there is not any denying that the F7 Extremely is a particular cut price. Should you want the very best worth whereas nonetheless getting flagship internals, the F7 Extremely is the cellphone to purchase in 2025.