As a brand, Poco doesn’t have the same recognition as its parent – Xiaomi, which plays in your favour if you’re looking to save cash. Keen to get new customers, you get an awful lot for your money by going for a Poco.

　　The F9 Ultra comes not too long after the F8 Ultra, and it has some really top-end specifications – on paper at least – at a more affordable price than you’d generally expect to pay.

　　With a starting price of just $799, for your cash you get three high-resolution sensors, a large, bright screen and a massive battery. Presumably there will be something not to like about this phone, but let’s take a closer look.

　　Poco F9 Ultra at a glance $799/£899 (12GB RAM, 128GB storage) $949/£999 (16GB RAM/512GB storage) $1199/£1199 (16GB RAM/1TB storage) 1x camera, 24mm equiv, 200MP f/1.68 Periscope telephoto 5x camera, 120mm equiv, 50MP, f/3.0 Ultrawide 0.7x camera, 17mm equiv, f/2.4 32MP selfie camera 8050mAh battery 6.9-inch screen Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 Mobile Processor Bose speaker IP68 water and dust resistance How I test phones I review smartphones from the point of view of choosing one for its photographic capabilities and performance. For the Poco F9 Ultra, I look at what it offers in terms of cameras, but also associated things such as battery life and the screen. I won’t generally comment on things such as gaming performance or call quality.

　　Features Despite debuting not too long after the F8 Ultra, the F9 Ultra sees some notable upgrades.

　　First up to mention is the main sensor, a 200MP 24mm f/1.68 device. It’s joined by an additional two lenses, a 5x lens with a periscope design offering 120mm equivalent, and a 17mm f/2.4 ultrawide lens. These two latter lenses appear to be the same as found on the previous model.

　　A 32MP selfie camera is found on the front – again that seems to be the same as before, but regardless is quite a high resolution for a selfie unit.

　　The screen is a huge 6.9-inches, which although the same size as the previous model now has a faster (185Hz) refresh rate, and a peak brightness of 10,000 nits – I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a high peak brightness listed in a specs list before. For context, a Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra has a max brightness of 2600 nits.

　　Another tempting upgrade is to the battery, which is a whopping 8050mAh, and the ability to charge at up to 100W (wired, using compatible charge) and 50W (wireless, using compatible charger).

　　Other specifications of note include a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor – the latest flagship processor, and speakers manufactured by Bose.

　　Design and Handling With its 6.9-inch screen, this is a bit of a beast. If you like large phones, that’s of course a bonus. I find phones of this size to be a too much to handle, but I won’t deny that they really make your photos and videos shine.

　　I’ve been using the “Dark Cherry” colour way for the phone, which is like a purpley-red colour, which is nicely muted and understated. It’s widely rumoured that the iPhone 18 Pro will be using a similar colour, so I suppose it’s no surprise to see it coming out first somewhere else.

　　Most of the screen’s real estate is taken up by the display, with nicely thin bezels and a hole-punch cutout for the selfie camera. The most impressive thing about the display however is the brightness. With up to 10,000 nits available you’ll never struggle to see this thing. It also has a refresh rate up to 185Hz, which is not something I personally worry about, but for gamers and so on, it could be particularly appealing.

　　There are buttons on the side of the phone for powering on/off and controlling the volume. Either can be set to quickly launch the camera from the lock screen with a rapid double press, which is useful.

　　The screen uses Corning Gorilla Glass 7i, so it should withstand some rough and tumble. The phone itself is also IP68 water and dust resistance. It’s also got “Wet Touch display” which if anyone who has tried to use a phone in the rain or after doing the washing up will attest to is a very useful function – basically it won’t get confused by water drops on it.

　　All of the cameras are found on an “island” on the back of the phone. They’re arranged in a square configuration, with the Bose speaker next to them – this is the same as the Poco F9 Ultra.

　　Native camera app There’s lots of useful shooting options available in the native app. The default setting is “Photo” which works very well for most shooting scenarios. You can use this to access the three lenses, plus additional points in between. Hold down the 10x setting and you can zoom all the way up to 100x, digitally of course.

　　Night mode should automatically activate when low light is detected, but there isn’t an automatic macro mode that you find on most modern phones. Instead, there’s a “Super Macro” option which you can get to by swiping down from the top of the screen.

　　A range of other options can be found in the native camera app, including switching on digital filters (including some film simulations), altering resolution, aspect ratio and adjusting exposure compensation.

　　Otherwise, there’s all the usual options you find on smartphones these days. This includes a Portrait mode for shallow depth of field effects, a 200MP mode for shooting high-resolution images, and a Pro mode where you can take control of settings such as shutter speed, plus shoot in raw format.

　　There’s a range of editing options you can access, including basic/simple options such as cropping, all the way up to more advanced or extensive options such erasing elements of the shot, or replacing skies and so on. It’s worth having a play around to see what it can produce.

　　Image Quality You can get some great images from the Poco F9 Ultra. It’s certainly a good competitor for much more expensive devices on the market, and while not perfect for most it should prove to be more than adequate.

　　The best results come from the 1x lens, where the 200MP sensor produces lots of detail. The colours are also nice and vibrant, while exposures are balanced. If you’re shooting in very bold / bright conditions, you might find that colours go a little bit vivid or unrealistic. You can tone this down by shooting in one of the different filters, if you don’t like it.

　　You also get good results from the ultrawide lens, especially in good light. The 5x lens is a little less sharp, but it’s still pretty good when viewed on a normal phone screen. Digital zoom options are usable at 10x, and even 30x at a push, but beyond this things get very fuzzy – as usual, the 100x maximum option is really just a marketing gimmick. Speaking of, should you include the moon in your frame and you start to zoom in, the “SuperMoon” shooting mode should activate, and you’ll find that it magically becomes a lot clearer – AI trickery at its finest.

　　Portrait mode produces some nice shallow depth of field effects, with a nice bokeh effect in the background.

　　The selfie camera produces some good results, and you can choose to switch on the Portrait mode too.

　　Although there’s no automatic macro mode, the Super Macro option is a great performer, producing nicely detailed results. The performance is very similar to the flagship Xiaomi 17 Ultra, only its found in a much cheaper device – which is great to see.

　　In low light, the 1x lens produces some reasonable results, but the ultrawide struggles somewhat. If it’s very dark, the 5x telephoto won’t even engage, instead a crop from the 1x lens will be used – and you’ll find that the results are pretty smudgy and lacking in detail. If low light shooting is something you think you might do a lot of, you might want to investigate other options.

　　Value for Money With a starting price of $899/£899, the Poco F9 Ultra represents great value for money, considering what you get and comparing it to other flagship models on the market.

　　It’s considerably cheaper than the equivalent iPhone 17 Pro or the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra. It’s also cheaper than the equivalent model from its parent brand, the Xiaomi 17 Ultra.

　　For your money, you get a very bright, clear screen, 3x high resolution lenses, and a range of other useful features. Image quality has some quirks, but generally you’re getting an awful lot here for your cash.

　　Now the downside of going for a less well-known brand such as this is that it’s unlikely to hold its value as well as a rival is likely to. A Samsung or an iPhone you should have no problem selling when the time comes to upgrade, but you might struggle to do the same with a Poco.

　　Verdict There’s an awful lot to like about the Poco F9 Ultra, especially at the sub $900 price point.

　　You get three well-performing high-resolution lenses, an excellent screen, fantastic battery life and a host of other useful features.

　　Indeed, there’s very little that I have to complain about here. I’d perhaps like to see an automatic macro mode, and I’d probably prefer to have a slightly better performance in low light, but if either of those subjects aren’t something you do all that often, it’s probably not a total deal breaker.

　　If you’re somebody that doesn’t mind stepping away from the bigger / main brands then you could find you’ve got a fantastic bargain here – it’s certainly worth considering if you don’t want to spend a fortune.

　　Related reading:

　　The best budget camera phones in 2026: save big money on fantastic smartphone shooters I review iPhones for a living – these are the best iPhones for photography Xiaomi 17 Ultra Review: Simply the best smartphone for photography Do you want to win some great prizes for your photography? Enter your photos in our International Amateur Photographer of the Year competition. Free entry for photographers aged 13-21.

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