Even with a price hike, the Poco F9 Ultra is still an alternative Android I can recommend

It was once known primarily as a wallet-friendly Xiaomi smartphone sub-brand, but Poco’s 2025 gamble to get in on the flagship game seems to have paid off: after two Ultra-badged heroes in the space of twelve months while it finessed the formula, the firm has found its groove with the F9 Ultra.

This year’s effort builds on everything that made the Poco F8 Ultra such a strong alternative to top-tier handsets costing north of four figures, with an even bigger battery, higher pixel count camera, and an even more impactful 2.1 speaker system that has pretty much every other smartphone beaten for sound.

In fact, with OnePlus now out of the picture in the US and Europe, could it inherit the “flagship killer” title? Possibly in the former, where early bird pricing means you can snap one up for $729 – and even once that deal ends, $799 is still very tempting for what’s on offer. Things aren’t so rosy in the UK and Europe, with an £899/€830 launch offer and £1199/€1100 retail price – though limited launch offers do make it more palatable at the time of writing.

However, after living with one for a few weeks, I’m convinced there’s a place for a leftfield choice with tons of power and tempting camera specs – even if the price has jumped a bit between generations.

What the Poco F9 Ultra gets right

There’s really no missing the huge speaker grille built into that rear camera island, is there? Prominent “Sound by Bose” branding gives a clue as to its potency, but it’s only when you play a tune that the Poco F9 Ultra shows its biggest strength. Stereo speakers and a dedicated “subwoofer” deliver a crisper, more balanced sound than any of the flagship phones I had to hand during testing, including the Pixel 11 Pro XL. It gets mighty loud too – and even lights up now. A ring of LEDs can flash in time to your tunes. I just hope owners can restrain themselves from cranking things up while on the bus.

Design-wise it’s not a big departure from the outgoing handset, with flat sides, a flat polycarbonate rear that shrugs off fingerprints and a device-spanning camera bump that’ll make iPhone owners do a double-take. I’m in two minds about my review unit’s Dark Cherry colour – it’s distinctive, but I get the feeling Poco only picked it because Apple is rumoured to be doing something similar for the iPhone 18. I’d prefer something unique. Still, the phone feels well built, has IP68 dust and water resistance, a speedy ultrasonic under-display fingerprint sensor and face unlocking that can skip Android’s lock screen – though not let you into your banking apps.

The F9 Ultra steps up Poco’s photography game with a 200MP main snapper, along with a 50MP ultrawide and 50MP telephoto good for 5x optical zoom, plus a 32MP front selfie cam. It’s a rather capable combination, packing in plenty of detail and letting you get considerably closer to your subject without having to rely on sensor cropping or digital zoom – unlike many sub-flagship rivals that stick to 3x magnification.

I really liked the clarity on show from 5x shots, and thought there was very little quality drop-off when pushing to 10x. These stand up to scrutiny in ways rivals that make do with smaller zooms simply can’t match through processing alone.

Naturally it’s a performance powerhouse, with Qualcomm’s most powerful chipset and either 12GB or 16GB of RAM. Benchmark scores rub shoulders with rivals costing considerably more, while the cooling system maintains that oomph for long gaming sessions. There’s even an Ultimate mode that’ll push it even harder for shorter bursts, but it felt like overkill to me. Even in the regular mode, Android always feels smooth and responsive.

Everyday usability is helped by the big and wonderfully bright display. At 6.9in it’s a proper palm-stretcher and can hit a huge 4500 nits peak brightness in a 25% screen area, which is more than enough to give HDR visuals serious kick. Poco reckons it’ll hit a ridiculous 10,000 nits in a 1% display area, but I don’t have the kit to verify that claim – just the first-hand experience of excellent outdoor visibility on sunny days. A 185Hz refresh rate is promised, but seemingly only in certain games. For the most part my go-to titles maxed out at 120Hz. Which was still silky smooth, mind.

I also loved being able to get comfortably through a second day of light use before having to plug in. The 8050mAh battery is massive, easily coping with a more demanding day of gaming, photography and benchmarking; by the time the sun had set I still had over 40% remaining. While not the absolute biggest I’ve seen recently, it has the latest Galaxy and Pixel flagships comfortably beaten. That’s true for charging speeds too: 100W wired and 50W wireless are properly rapid, even if the latter needs a specific charging pad.

What lets the Poco F9 Ultra down

As I’ve come to expect from Poco phones, the F9 Ultra arrives running parent company Xiaomi’s HyperOS 3 skin – but on top of the older Android 16, rather than the newer version 17 seen on the latest Pixels and Samsung Galaxys. You aren’t missing out on many features, admittedly, and Poco will bring the phone up to speed later down the line, but it’s still a shame not to be instantly up to date when you take it out of the box. I’m glad to see that Poco has resisted the urge to stuff the OS full of bloatware and preinstalled apps, though. There are just a few, which are easily removed during your initial setup.

While the cameras excel when it comes to clarity, they’re not the last word in exposure or dynamic range. Rivals do a better job of balancing areas of strong sunshine with ones in shadow, across all three lenses. I could also see where finer details, like foliage and brickwork, had been oversharpened. Algorithms are quick to step in when you push further than 10x, too; at extreme digital zoom levels photos take on oil painting vibes. You might not notice when sharing to social media, but they don’t stand up to closer scrutiny.

The ultrawide lens is now the weak link, despite having a matching pixel count to the telephoto. It’s really not much to write home about at night, needing a steadier hand than mine to avoid blurry shots and even then relying heavily on processing to deliver usable shots.

Should you buy the Poco F9 Ultra in 2026?

Do you want a capable, high-end all-rounder phone – but don’t fancy paying flagship cash? The Poco F9 Ultra is a genuine alternative to the usual names, with no shortage of performance, excellent battery life and a sharp-looking screen. It’s also got one of the best speakers you’ll find on any phone.

I don’t think the updated main camera sensor has made the biggest difference to photography, with Poco’s image processing still being a little behind the class best – but it remains a strong mid-range performer. The firm still needs to do a bit of catching up to rivals on long-term software support too.

The elephant in the room is the F8 Ultra, which can still be found online – and for less than the F9 Ultra’s asking price. With few upgrades that feel truly significant in daily use, bargain hunters may want to reach for the older model while they still can. Once stock has dried up, though, the F9 Ultra will be an obvious sub-flagship for anyone wanting to take the path less travelled.

Poco F9 Ultra technical specifications