Poco X8 Review: Bets Big on Design, Bigger on Battery

Poco has launched four X8 series smartphones in India this year. The mid-range lineup, long known for delivering great performance at an affordable price, was refreshed this year with the Poco X8 Pro and Poco X8 Pro Max. To many people's surprise, the Xiaomi sub-brand, which initially targeted a higher price band, seemed out of character. But Poco was not the only OEM to follow this strategy. With the RAMageddon, an expression used for the ongoing RAM crisis, pushing up the prices of most phones, brands have shifted their focus to their more expensive offerings, delaying the debut of their more affordable models.

However, soon, the family grew by two with the arrival of the Poco X8 and Poco X8 Power. The standard Poco X8 arrived at a very competitive sub-Rs. 30,000 price bracket, which has statistically seen the most price revisions and fewer value-for-money launches. The Poco X8 promises a huge battery, decent performance, and a unique design. Here's our review putting the Poco X8 to the test.

Poco X8 Design, Display: Orange is the New Black!

• Dimensions and weight - 163.45 x 78.27 x 8.6mm; 223g
• Durability - IP66 + IP68 + IP69 + IP69K ratings for dust and water resistance
• Colours - Black, Frost White, Fiery Orange
• Display - 6.83-inch 1.5K AMOLED display; up to 120Hz

The Poco X8 gets a uniquely designed rear panel, with a real focus on ingenuity. It is a large phone, measuring 163.45mm in height and 78.27mm in width. The phone is also quite thick at 8.6mm. These dimensions add to the phone's weight, which tips the scales at 223g, about 20g heavier than other handsets of its size. For its price, these dimensions and weight are justifiable, especially with a 9,000mAh battery packed inside.

Poco X8 sports a polarising design

But its flat mid-frame feels really premium, and the overall build quality also seems quite good, which is definitely a notch above its competition. The Poco X8's flat rear panel has been divided into three parts. One-third of the panel gets a plain glossy look, placed above a dotted, mesh-like pattern in the bottom-left corner. It also sports a vertical striped pattern on one side of the panel. However, these patterns are only visual and remain plain to the touch.

This weird design choice creates mental dissonance, since what you touch and what you see do not match. The phone comes in Black, Frost White, and Fiery Orange. I got the orange shade, which is definitely the most unique of the bunch. Its orange colour is really subtle, unlike what you must have seen on the iPhone 17 Pro series and other affordable offerings. This subtle colour choice makes it stand out while maintaining the phone's premium look.

The mid-frame is finished in a shade of gold, which complements the orange rear panel. The power button and volume controls are on the right side of the Poco X8. The physical buttons are easy to reach and press, placed in the top-mid of the frame. The phone feels good to hold one-handed, despite its hefty build.

Poco X8's ergonomically placed physical buttons are easy to press

A rectangular camera module, finished in the same colour as the mid-frame, is placed in the top-left corner of the rear panel. The deco protrudes from the panel, making the phone rock when lying flat on a tabletop. I no longer see this as a downside since most OEMs have opted for this design. But, in my opinion, a flatter rectangle for the camera island works better.

Moving on to the display, the Poco X8 sports a large 6.83-inch AMOLED touchscreen with a standard 1.5K resolution and up to a 120Hz refresh rate. The peak refresh rate is only unlocked during select tasks, like gaming. Meanwhile, during other daily tasks, the screen appears to be locked at 60Hz or lower. Despite its 1.5K resolution, the display itself doesn't feel very high quality.

Poco X8 is a decent device for content consumption

Yet, the visuals are sharp, making it decent enough for casual viewing. Even with night mode turned off, the display has a warm, yellow tint that could get annoying while watching a movie or show. The colour contrast and overall colour reproduction seem passable, too. I expected these traits from a budget or lower-end budget phone, so I wasn't surprised.

Poco X8 sports an AMOLED panel

I binged season 2 of Game of Thrones on Jio Hotstar and The Kapil Sharma Show on Netflix. It worked well across both apps, despite Netflix's lack of HDR support. The deeper blacks add to the overall viewing experience. For its price, the Poco X8 is decently designed and well equipped.

Poco X8 Performance, Software: Not Impressed

• Chipset - Snapdragon 6s Gen 4
• RAM and storage - 6GB + 128GB, 8GB + 128GB, 8GB + 256GB
• Software - Android 16-based HyperOS 3

Chipset performance is where I was left quite disappointed. I expect an X series phone to punch above its weight and price category. That does not seem to be the case here. It runs on the Snapdragon 6s Gen 4 chipset. The Poco X7, on the other hand, came with the MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Ultra SoC. The choice seems odd, even given current market conditions.

The Poco X8 delivers a peak clock speed of up to 2.4GHz. However, the efficiency cores are clocked at 1.8GHz, which is much lower than the 2.0GHz performance delivered by the efficiency cores of the Poco X7. For most of your time, your phone will use its efficiency cores, and some tasks may take a hit.

Poco X8 delivers sub-par performance

That said, I want to be clear: I didn't notice any stutters or lag while navigating the UI, which is a major plus. Cold boot-ups are very quick, taking about 10 to 15 seconds. Launching multiple apps at the same time was also a cakewalk for the Poco X8. I ran multiple synthetic benchmarking tests on the Poco X8 to quantify its performance. Here are the results.

With my expectations already lowered, I wasn't expecting mind-blowing gaming performance. Yet, it performed quite well. Of course, it ran all the arcade titles, like Temple Run 2, Subway Surfers, and Angry Birds with ease. The phone also handled heavier titles like Call of Duty Mobile and BGMI at medium graphics settings. There were a few frame drops here and there, but barely noticeable.

Other daily tasks, like using Google Maps and recording long 1080p videos, also feel smooth. But it can get a bit warm when you are running these tasks simultaneously outdoors. In an air-conditioned room, I did not notice any thermal issues.

Poco X8 ships with Xiaomi's HyperOS 3

The HyperOS 3 experience is also the same as usual. The OS feels buttery smooth, and it offers a bunch of AI features, too. But it does bring the unwanted bloatware you would expect from a budget phone.

Poco X8 Cameras: Inconsistent

• Rear camera - 50-megapixel (f/1.8) main + 2-megapixel
• Selfie camera - 16-megapixel

The Poco X8 gets a dual rear camera setup with the secondary shooter being a 2-megapixel depth sensor. The star of the show is the 50-megapixel primary camera with a fixed f/1.8 aperture, but its behaviour is inconsistent. In natural light, with the sun overhead, the Poco X8 does a decent job.

Poco X8 daytime camera performance

The images are detail-rich and sharp. The problem starts when you point towards a tree or an object with multiple shades of the same primary colour. Suddenly, the images start to appear noisier. Pixel-peeping also isn't ideal, especially when you are trying to capture text from a digital board. The figures and alphabets turn to a mush, appearing blurred.

Poco X8 low-light camera performance

Low-light photography brings its own set of problems. The Poco X8 uses computational photography to overexpose images, ruining saturation levels. Images appear almost monochromatic in certain conditions. The camera is also not well tuned for light flares. Even with shadows, the Poco X8 struggles.

Poco X8 selfie camera performance

On the bright side, pun not intended, its 16-megapixel selfie camera is much better. It captures plenty of detail in both day and night. It also manages to get the skin tones right, with slight post-processing. Overall, the handset can get you decent pictures for your social media accounts.

Poco X8 Battery: It's All About the Long Hours

• Capacity - 9,000mAh
• Fast charging - 67W wired
• Charging Adapter - Included

The Poco X8 brags about its massive 9,000mAh battery and rightfully so. The handset can get you through two full days with ease, and at the end of the second day you might still have enough juice to watch a bunch of videos before hitting the bed. I got about 9 hours of screen-on time, which is more than enough. On the PC Mark Battery Life test, it lasted a little over 24 hours, which is impressive.

Poco X8 packs a 9,000mAh battery

Owing to its 67W wired fast charging support, the Poco X8 also wakes up quickly, reaching 43 percent charge in 30 minutes and 76 percent in an hour. However, in my testing, the phone took about an hour and 31 minutes to show a fully charged status, which was slightly longer than I expected.

Poco X8 Verdict

Priced at Rs. 29,999, the Poco X8 is a decent budget smartphone. It delivers on most of its promises, making it a good fit for the masses. However, it is harder to recommend to people looking for better camera performance or outright gaming performance. In that case, you have little choice but to increase your budget. Its competitors from Motorola and Infinix have their own set of longevity, camera, and OS problems, which are hard to look past.

If the Poco X8 isn't for you, consider the OnePlus Nord CE 6 (review), a more well-rounded device at a slightly higher price. The Poco X8 Pro is also worth considering, as it packs more punch