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Over the past two decades, I’ve been lucky enough to test hundreds of smartphones from a range of brands around the world. Some of these brands receive the credit they’re due, others are criticized fairly or unfairly, and some fail to get the global recognition they deserve.

Xiaomi's sub-brand, Poco, falls into the latter category, and the Poco F8 Pro is another example of an extraordinary phone that should be talked about more than it is.

While its pricier sibling, the Poco F8 Ultra, packs true flagship specs and a stunning denim material finish, the Poco F8 Pro more closely follows Poco’s model: take the core features that every smartphone user needs, build a great overall experience, and offer it at a truly affordable price.

The Poco F8 Pro marries the first-gen flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset with 12GB of RAM and either 256GB or 512GB of storage. Yes, this is not the second-gen Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 that powers many of the current best Android phones, but you’d be hard-pressed to notice the difference. The Poco F8 Pro flies through day-to-day tasks with flagship-level ease, and its Bose-tuned stereo speakers deliver the same great audio experience as its pricier sibling.

There’s also an excellent 6.59-inch 120Hz OLED display, which is my favorite size for a smartphone screen, and it’s wonderful to use, with a 3,500-nit peak brightness and excellent color reproduction. As is customary with Poco phones, there’s no skimping on battery life, either, with the F8 Pro packing a 6,210mAh battery that can last for multiple days, and 100W charging that’s among the fastest on any phone.

There’s also a 2.5x telephoto camera, a first for Poco’s Pro lineup, although it does lack OIS. That’s indicative of the Poco F8 Pro as a whole; yes, there are compromises — including a lack of wireless charging, occasional slowdowns under heavy gaming loads, sluggish USB speeds, and some bloatware in apps — but if you can live with them, this phone offers the best value-for-money in its price bracket.

• Launched for £549
• The current retail price in the UK is ~£449
• Not available in the US or Australia

In terms of availability, the Poco F8 Pro falls into the "widely available outside the US" category, and if you’re in the UK, you’ll find it’s priced extremely aggressively (the phone can be imported to the US, but its network compatibility will be limited).

At the time of writing in August 2026, the 256GB model is available for just £449. That's £100 cheaper than its already reasonable £599 launch price, and exceptional value for money in 2026 (note that the Poco F9 series is likely to arrive towards the end of the year, though we're expecting to see a sizeable price hike for all models).

This £400-£500 range pits the F8 Pro directly against devices like the Google Pixel 10a, Nothing Phone (4a), and Samsung Galaxy A57. But compared to these phones, it offers the fewest compromises against a £1,000+ flagship. If you want the higher 512GB storage option, that configuration has also been discounted by £100 to £499.

The Poco F8 Pro is available in three colors: Black, Blue, and Titanium Silver. There’s no denim-leather finish, like you'll find on the Poco F8 Ultra, but my Titanium Silver unit did come with a nice silicone case in the box.

• Value score: 5 / 5

Dimensions:

163.2 x 78 x 7.5mm

Weight:

194g

Display:

6.83-inch AMOLED (1280 x 2772), 120Hz, 3,200 nits peak brightness

Chipset:

MediaTek Dimensity 8400 Ultra

RAM:

12GB RAM

Storage:

256GB / 512GB

OS:

Android 15, but Android 16 is now available

Primary camera:

50MP, f/1.7
1/1.55-inch sensor
PDAF, OIS

Ultra-wide camera:

12MP, f/2.2, 120°
1/3.06-inch sensor,

Telephoto camera:

50MP, f/1.9, 46mm
1/2.75-inch sensor
2x optical zoom, PDAF

Selfie camera:

32MP, f/2.2
1/3.44-inch sensor

Battery:

5,500mAh

Charging:

67W wired

Colors:

Black, Gray, Rose Gold

• Three colors
• Premium aluminum and glass design
• 6.59-inch display is ergonomically friendly

I mentioned earlier that 6.59 inches is my favorite smartphone screen size, and that’s because it's at the top end of the perfect 6.5-6.6-inch range. With these sizes, I’ve found you get the comfort benefits of a smaller phone like the Pixel 10 Pro while also getting the viewing benefits of larger flagships like the Galaxy 26 Ultra.

The F8 Pro strikes the perfect balance between those two phone sizes, and it pays off: it’s very comfortable to hold. Yes, it lacks the added grip of the denim leather finish on the Poco F8 Ultra, but the F8 Pro's is a more mature approach that appeals to everyone. Instead of a denim back, you get a flat aluminum frame paired with a frosted glass rear panel. It’s adult and functional, but deliberately less interesting than its flashier sibling.

What makes this design more comfortable is the overall lack of heft: weighing 199g and measuring 8.1mm thick, this is a phone that’s lighter than most, and that pays dividends in the overall experience. What's more, despite being thinner and lighter than many other phones, the F8 Pro still offers full IP68 dust and water resistance; it's one of only a few devices to do so at this price point.

At the top of the phone, you’ll find the IR blaster, which is a common feature of Chinese-made phones, and it’s brilliant. I think every phone maker should bring back an IR blaster, as it’s a feature you don’t know you need until you lose your TV remote or need to bypass a locked-down hotel TV remote. Yes, the IR blaster has solved both of those problems for me.

• Design score: 4.5 / 5

• 6.59-inch 120Hz OLED display
• Flagship-grade color accuracy

The F8 Pro's 6.59-inch display is not only the perfect size but also an excellent all-around panel. Poco has rightly recognized that the display is arguably the most important part of any phone, and here you get a vibrant, rich, and colorful display that’s a joy to use.

Poco claims the display can reach a peak brightness of 3,500 nits. In day-to-day use, it is apparent that this display isn’t just bright; it’s extremely colorful, with testing showing it covers 99.2% of the sRGB gamut and 96.5% of the DCI-P3 color space. This is flagship-level display performance, and it makes the Poco F8 Pro a champion for consuming content.

Beyond that, there’s a 120Hz dynamic refresh rate. While it lacks the expensive LTPO technology found on £1,000+ flagships, the phone's software automatically cycles between 60Hz and 120Hz depending on the content you’re using. The higher refresh rate is perfect for super-smooth scrolling and gaming, but drops to save battery when you’re just reading a book or an article online.

The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 7i, which offers strong durability against general wear and tear. Across my testing, I have had no concerns about the toughness of the F8 Pro's screen.

• Display score: 4.5 / 5

• 50MP main sensor
• First Poco Pro with 2.5x optical telephoto
• 8MP ultra-wide camera

Poco’s rivals should take note of the Poco F8 Pro for several reasons — most of which are positive. Poco has traditionally ignored telephotos on its more affordable devices, but the Poco F8 Pro marks a shift in this area, likely driven by increased competition from triple-camera-toting rivals.

Although Poco has added a 50MP telephoto lens with 2.5x optical zoom, it lacks OIS, and the ultra-wide camera is an 8MP snapper that just about scrapes by. The 50MP Light Fusion 800 main camera sensor, meanwhile, takes excellent daylight photos with dynamic range and natural colors that look fantastic on the Poco F8 Pro screen.

The new telephoto lens does a decent job overall, but it’s nothing to write home about, and somewhat ironically, the 50MP main sensor enables a 2x in-sensor crop that can take better photos than the telephoto lens. The lack of OIS means you’ll get some blurry photos unless your hands are perfectly stable, so while it’s great that a telephoto lens exists, it won’t be as capable as those you'll find on a true flagship smartphone camera.

While the main rear camera can handle up to 4K video at 60 fps (and even 8K at 30 fps), the 20MP selfie camera is noticeably compromised, with Poco limiting selfie video capture to 1080p. These aren’t necessarily dealbreakers, but they are compromises you need to be conscious of.

• Camera score: 3.5 / 5

• Flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset
• 12GB RAM + 256GB/512GB storage
• Excellent in-display fingerprint sensor

If speedy performance is your jam, look no further: the Poco F8 Pro has the best processor you’ll find in a smartphone at this price.

The Poco F8 Pro uses the first-generation Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, which is paired with 12GB of RAM and either 256GB or 512GB of storage. This processor powered many of the best Android phones last year (including the Galaxy S25 Ultra), making it extremely powerful and far superior to the mid-range chipsets used by other phones at this price point.

During day-to-day use, the chipset absolutely shines. It’s fast to respond, shows no signs of slowing down, and often reminds me of the Duracell bunny in that it just keeps on going. If you want a phone that can handle most things you throw at it, this is the best package at this price point. It’s great for everything from everyday multitasking and social media to emulating Nintendo Switch games, though it struggles under the heaviest gaming loads.

Many phones aren’t limited by their internals as much as by how effectively phone makers manage thermals, and Poco firmly took the approach of raw power over cool operation in the F8 Pro. This means the aluminum frame and camera island can get a tad warm to the touch, but not to the point where it’s dangerous.

Where Poco does deserve credit is for the excellent in-display fingerprint sensor, which is fantastic even with wet or sweaty fingers. This is among the best in-display fingerprint sensors on any phone, and it’s wonderful that Poco chose not to skimp on this feature like many rivals in this category.

However, the F8 Pro is an exercise in acceptable compromise, so you do have to live with sluggish USB 2.0 wired speeds. Mind you, this is a trade-off I find acceptable, especially since you can use wireless transfer apps like LocalSend to easily send files to other devices or to your Mac or PC.

• Performance score: 4.5 / 5

• HyperOS 3.0 with Android 16
• 4 Android updates and 5 years of security updates
• Bogged down by bloatware and ads

Like all current Xiaomi phones, the Poco F8 Pro runs HyperOS 3.0 on top of Android 16. Depending on what you are used to, HyperOS 3.0 will either be comfortable or polarizing.

All phone makers are now forced to focus on longevity as well as features, especially as phones cost more and customers upgrade less frequently. For Poco, this presents an interesting challenge: it offers a respectable four years of Android version updates and five years of security updates, which provides some longevity, but it is known to be slow in pushing these updates out to users.

Look beyond this (and the final point below), and you’ll find that Xiaomi actually has some neat software features. Take Hyper Island, which looks and feels exactly like Apple’s Dynamic Island. It was inevitable that Xiaomi would be among the first to adopt (read: copy) this feature, and while the UX is unabashedly inspired by Apple, Xiaomi has executed it extremely well. Timers, voice recordings, and music playback all minimize into a dynamic bubble centered around the selfie camera.

Then there’s Hyper Connect, which makes even more sense in light of the above. Like many Android phone makers, Xiaomi is targeting Apple users, and Hyper Connect enables file sharing, clipboard syncing, and interoperability with Apple devices, as well as other Android phones and PCs.

Throughout this review, I’ve talked about compromises, and the biggest one comes in the software department. But first, some context: simply put, there isn’t much margin in making affordable smartphones, especially given the current AI-fueled RAM and storage shortage, which has increased the cost of these components by up to 10x.

What this actually means for you is that Poco had to either raise prices or offset higher costs with higher income from alternative revenue sources, such as ads. In native apps like Themes, Files, and Security, you’ll find annoying system-level ads that slow down the experience. There are also many preloaded apps, although you can at least remove these.

All of this serves as a reminder that this phone has compromises, which detract from the overall experience. However, the pragmatist in me also recognizes that companies like Poco already had tight margins before the current RAM crisis, which will have been eroded further, and if ads like these mean it’s possible to keep making phones like these, then this is a trade-off that becomes slightly more acceptable. I’d rather they didn’t exist, but I also recognize that the raw cost of tech has exploded in a very short amount of time.

• Software score: 3.5 / 5

• Huge 6,210mAh battery
• 100W charging gets you to full in 42 minutes
• No wireless charging

What happens when you put a humongous battery in a phone with a power-efficient display and flagship performance? You get phenomenal battery life, and when you need to top it up, one of the fastest charging speeds of any smartphone.

The 6,210mAh battery in the Poco F8 Pro is massive, and far larger than batteries offered by the mid-range competition. It features Poco’s latest silicon-carbon technology, which offers much higher energy density, allowing Poco to pack a larger battery into the same size or a smaller phone.

In practical use, it offers around 7 to 9 hours of screen time over up to two days, depending on your settings. This puts the F8 Pro on par with most flagship phones and makes it superior to others in this category.

Then there’s 100W charging, and it’s ridiculously fast, charging your phone to full in around 42 minutes. This gives it a charging rate of around 148mAh per minute (mAh/min), which is considerably faster than its rivals, and almost three times the speed of the 30W charging on the Google Pixel 10a (57 mAh/min).

Again, like any phone at this price, there are compromises, but in this case, it’s the lack of wireless charging or an included charger. The former is a dealbreaker for some, while the latter is common practice among flagship smartphone makers but a shift for Poco, which traditionally included a charger in the box. Regardless, for most people, this is the best battery life you can get at this price.

• Battery score: 4 / 5

Attributes

Notes

Rating

Design

Sleek and durable with a premium aluminum frame, IP68 water resistance, and an excellent ultrasonic fingerprint scanner, let down only by sluggish USB 2.0 speeds.

4.5 / 5

Display

The 6.59-inch 120Hz OLED panel is vibrant, exceptionally bright at up to 3,500 nits, and accurate, making it a total treat for gaming and watching content.

4.5 / 5

Performance

Powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite, daily multitasking is blazingly fast and responsive, though thermals can run warm under sustained, high-intensity 3D gaming loads.

4.5 / 5

Camera

A versatile camera array bolstered by a new 2.5x telephoto lens and solid main sensor, though lack of OIS on zoom and mediocre selfie video and ultra-wide cameras hold it back.

3.5 / 5

Battery

The massive 6,210mAh battery easily delivers multi-day endurance, paired with blistering 100W fast charging that eclipses rivals, though it lacks wireless charging.

5 / 5

Software

HyperOS 3.0 offers slick animations, clever Apple connectivity, and Hyper Island, but is held back by system-level ads, preloaded bloatware, and historically sluggish update rollouts.

3.5 / 5

Value

Unbeatable value for money. It undercuts top-tier flagships by roughly 40% while delivering flagship-level core specs, making it the premier choice in its price bracket.

5 / 5

You want great bang for your buck
This phone offers an incredible flagship-like experience at a price tag that won’t hit your wallet as hard.

You don’t need the best camera
The camera is fine, but it's an area where Poco had to compromise slightly. It’s worth noting that the F8 Pro takes good enough photos for many people.

You want phenomenal battery life and fast charging
The Poco F8 Pro is the Energizer Bunny of smartphones. If battery life is important to you, look no further: it excels in day-to-day use and offers ridiculously fast charging.

You want the best phone that money can buy
The Poco F8 Pro's specs are definitely impressive, but more expensive phones do offer a more complete experience overall.

You need the best camera
If photography is important to you, this camera, especially the zoom, may be a disappointment. The main camera is usually good enough, but the same can’t be said for the ultra-wide, telephoto, or selfie cameras.

You want software longevity
HyperOS has ads, questionable update timeliness, and an inferior integration of AI services like Gemini. This will be a dealbreaker for some, but not for others, and the Poco F8 Pro is definitely for the latter group.

There are three real competitors worth considering, but like the Poco F8 Pro, they all have their compromises.

Google Pixel 10a
The Google Pixel 10a starts at £449 or $499 with 128GB of storage. It offers the best of Google's software, and although it has only one camera, it’s proven extremely capable. The problem? It feels like a considerable compromise in flagship specs for the benefit of AI features and better updates.

Read our full Google Pixel 10a review

Samsung Galaxy A57
Then there’s the Galaxy A57, and this phone brings the best of Samsung’s Galaxy S26 to a more affordable price point. It costs $550 (or £450 in the UK) for 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, three cameras, an Exynos processor, and a large 5,000 mAh battery. It’s not quite at the same level as the Poco, but it has better updates, wider support, and greater availability.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy A57 review

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro
The other phone that’s definitely worth considering is the Nothing (4a) Pro. Priced at $499 or £499, it’s one of the most unique phones you’ll find, thanks to its Glyph Matrix display on the rear. Key reasons to consider the Nothing 4a Pro? A more unique design and better selfie and telephoto cameras. Both phones are pretty evenly matched, but the Poco F8 Pro has a better display, charging, battery life, and performance.

Read our full Nothing Phone (4a) Pro review

• Review test period = ~2 weeks
• Testing included = Everyday usage, including navigation, web browsing, social media, photography, gaming, streaming video, music playback, and reading e-books.
• Tools used = Geekbench 6, 3DMark, CellMark, native Android stats

☑️ 100s of smartphones reviewed
☑️ 15 years of product testing
☑️ Over 16,000 products reviewed in total
☑️ Nearly 200,000 hours testing tech

I used the Poco F8 Pro for approximately two weeks across two different stints, including over a week of consistent usage before writing this review.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed: May 2026

Companies are investing in Forward Deployed Engineers, or FDEs.

AWS has announced a $1 billion investment in a dedicated organization intended to embed thousands of engineers with customers.

OpenAI has established a dedicated Deployment Company and agreed to acquire Tomoro, adding approximately 150 FDEs and deployment specialists.

Microsoft has said it would hire 6,000 people and invest $3.5billion in its new AI delivery unit, according to CNBC.

But what should FDEs deliver, and what value do they really offer for customers?

The FDE model is an evolution of how companies would previously work around projects with customers based on understanding the business and the technology involved, with a much higher expectation of hands-on engineering.

What has changed is the technology being deployed.

FDEs typically embed directly into a customer and work across multiple teams. They identify a high-value workflow, understand the customer’s data and operational constraints and then work to build the required integrations and take the system from prototype into production.

For AI deployment, that involves more than connecting a model to an application. This includes looking at the enterprise context and data available to the model, as well as evaluating accuracy, reliability and confidence thresholds.

It can also involve looking at the guardrails that should exist, the review and escalation process, security and observability. It should also look at integration with existing workflows and business processes.

Companies need FDEs because companies want to deploy probabilistic systems into deterministic operating environments. In other words, enterprises want to use systems that can be different each time they respond within business processes that depend on predictable and uniform results. FDEs have to translate those outputs in a way that delivers what enterprises want to achieve.

For example, a technically impressive model might fail inside an actual workflow for multiple reasons, from incomplete context or poor quality data, through to the organization not being prepared to let the system take action without review.

At their best, FDEs should solve those problems and get a company into their production deployment phase. This ensures that the technology works and delivers value. However, that is not the end of the story.

FDEs should also convert what they learned with one company into reusable capabilities that others can take advantage of too. If every deployment remains bespoke and depends indefinitely on individual engineering talent, then the technology itself cannot scale.

Instead, a successful engagement should lead to reusable connectors, evaluation frameworks, governance patterns and product improvements that other companies should be able to benefit from. For the companies that hire the FDE, they should deliver successful projects. But the ultimate goal is to make the next deployment less dependent on any specific FDE, and instead make the product better.

Are there any bigger lessons from the growth of the FDE role? The real hiring trend is toward a hybrid professional who can be an expert in multiple areas simultaneously, from writing production-quality software and understanding the behavior and limitations of AI models through to learning a customer’s business and domain with enough insight to reconfigure business processes.

At the same time, they are expected to navigate security, governance and organizational constraints, take responsibility for measurable business outcomes in their business and in their customers, and be as adept at communicating with engineers in rolled-up sleeves as they are executives in suit and tie.

For companies that base their products on FDEs, this expansion is a sign that there is a huge market opportunity and that customers want what is being offered. There is an element of marketing involved too, with FDEs the latest “new” position that will solve problems for enterprises.

Some of this recruitment will be genuinely new, while some will be a reallocation or relabeling of people who would previously have been called field engineers, solution architects, technical consultants or professional services engineers.

This continued growth is also a potential warning sign. The number of FDEs needed over time should drop as AI products and infrastructure mature and lessons are learned. This demand for a specific role is a sign of category immaturity. Industries mature when repeatable work is standardized, industrialized and embedded in software rather than recreated as a one-off service for every customer.

The same test applies to AI today. The reliance on FDEs shows that enterprises want AI, but that today’s products are not yet sufficiently complete, predictable or easy to operationalize without substantial human input. If every implementation requires embedded specialists to assemble the context, controls, evaluations and integrations by hand, the category has not yet fully matured.

Enterprises should therefore be careful not to measure success simply by the number of FDEs hired or proofs of concept completed. The right measures are time to production, sustained adoption, measurable business value, customer self-sufficiency and the amount of reusable product capability created from each engagement.

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