POCO F7 Early Review: Ticks All the Right Boxes, Almost

POCO is known for making performance-first phones that shake up the mid-range market.  In India, the original POCO F1 was nearly legendary. It was a flagship killer at half the price.  The F-series has had its ups and downs since then, but with the POCO F7, it looks like the brand is finally back in shape. 

Here are my first thoughts on the F7. This isn't a full review, but it should give you an idea of what works and what to look out for. 

Performance: Finally, flagship-class muscle 

The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chip inside is the most important part.  This isn't an old chip with a new name; it's a real top-tier performance, and you can tell. The Poco F7 houses a 6000mm² VC cooling system. The phone stays quick and cool whether you're scrolling, playing games, editing images, or just using a lot of apps at once. It has 12GB of LPDDR5x RAM and up to 24GB of Turbo RAM and up to 512 GB of storage, so it's great for demanding users.  This kind of performance once used to cost more than Rs 50,000.  The Poco F7 is priced at Rs 29,999 for the 12GB+ 256GB model. The 512GB model is priced at Rs 31,999. That's huge. The phone goes on sale on July 1. 

Display: Flat, Bright, and No-Nonsense 

The POCO F7 has a flat AMOLED screen instead of one with curves.  It is bright enough for direct sunshine (I tested it in a parked car at midday), and the punch-hole camera at the top centre is almost unnoticeable. The phone has a 6.83-inch AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and up to 3200nits of brightness. The scrolling felt smooth, and the animations don't lag. The screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 7i, and it is triple TUV Certified for eye protection. The phone can withstand dust and water splashes. The metal sides on the phone make it look and feel premium and sturdy. Bezels are thin, and the display comes with Dolby Vision. 

Setting Up the Camera: Early Signs Are Good 

Poco F7 comes with 50MP AI-backed dual camera set-up on the back. The camera UI has a Pro mode that lets you manually set ISO, shutter speed, white balance, and other settings. From fast test shots, the photographs taken during the day look clear and bright.  Don't expect miracles just yet; low light needs further testing. The 20MP front camera is good for taking selfies and making video calls. It focuses quickly and clearly. 

Software: Android 15 Right Out of the Box

Yes, it already has Android 15 and POCO's HyperOS on top.  So far, it looks clean and stable.  There isn't a lot of bloatware, which is a good thing.  The phone comes with promised four years of OS updates and six years of security updates.  This is a good start, but we'll need more time to evaluate it. 

Battery: Fast and long-lasting

Poco F7 is backed by a 7550 mAh battery, the largest battery size seen in Android yet. The phone ships with a 90W fast charger in the box and  22.5 reverse charging support, which is pretty great at this price point.  The phone can last for almost two days on normal usage. I still have to use the device for intense gaming sessions, but my unit ran smoothly for nearly two days upon normal usage like taking calls, listening to music on Spotify, taking a few random clicks and social media surfing. 

F-Series DNA: Is the POCO F7 the Comeback Kid? 

The POCO F7 makes me feel like the company is going back to its roots: no fluff, just speed.  People who sought substantial performance without spending too much money built the F-series, and the F7 fits that bill perfectly. This phone doesn't want to be the best of the best.  It just wants to be extremely good-fast, useful, and cheap enough to make flagship phones. It is too soon to tell if it's the best in its class, but the POCO F7 is looking like a good all-rounder phone with a performance edge.

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