OnePlus One, Nexus 4 and POCOPHONE F1, these were, among others, the The best-regarded “cheap” phones on the Android scene. Smartphones well below the cost of a high-end smartphone, gave us plenty of power and specs that combined beautifully.
However, with the increase in prices of many of these series from well-known manufacturers, we lost value for money and fortunately, an unexpected player has arrived to bring it back: the POCO X3 Pro, which has recovered the most efficient Qualcomm processors. Today, in its seventh iteration, Xiaomi confirms that in 2025 it is still possible to do so: these are its keys.
The POCO X Pro captures the spirit of the POCO F1
When this POCO F4 GT hit the market we already saw the loss of this excellent mobile in terms of quality and price. Xiaomi image
The transition from POCO F1 to the only POCO F2 Pro existing in its generation, reversed in an instant all the attention that the first had obtained. For one reason only, the pricewhich increased by around 200 dollars at launch, leaving the successor to a mobile phone that still enjoys some attention in forums and online communities today in a worse situation.
However, Xiaomi came up with a POCO X3 Pro that followed the path set by the original POCO F1: offering power at a reasonable price. Since then, it has rained a lot, and not at all to everyone's taste. The POCO X4 Pro mounted a more modest Qualcomm SoC, as also happened (to a lesser extent) with its successor, the POCO X5 Pro.
Last year, to our great joy, he found this concentration again Performance first, thanks to an old acquaintance of Xiaomi, not so much for its sub-brand: MediaTek, which has become the lifeline of these cheap phones but powerful in CPU.
We can then say that the last POCO certain concessions as we saw in the rebranding. Although there may not be as many as you think.
The Qualcomm and MediaTek
Opting for chips from Chinese giant MediaTek instead of the reliable and traditional Qualcomm Snapdragon is something we've seen countless times and from different Android manufacturers. Absolutely nothing happens, although some users may think they are worse processors. It's more obvious lately: Power has greatly improved with the arrival of the Dimensity.
In the case of the recently presented POCO X7 Pro, inside we find a MediaTek Dimensity 8400 Ultra, a beast in terms of power. Ok, it doesn't reach the Snapdragon 8 Elite, nor the previous 8 Gen 3, but we are talking about a mobile phone. 369 dollars at its launch.
Even its camera module is more reminiscent of the POCO F series than the POCO X. Image from Xiaomi
Although synthetic tests are not an indicator of the user experience we will have, they are used to compare raw power. In this sense, the Dimensity 8400 Ultra of the new POCO outperforms chips as powerful as the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 of the POCO F5 and is equal to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (the most powerful of late 2022 and early 2023).
The change is more than justifiedespecially if they manage to keep the price competitive. What alternatives were there? Oddly enough, the latest Snapdragon 7 Gen3 is no match for the chosen Dimensity. Either way, we once again have a “cheap” mobile phone with almost high-end power, although we found a few more concessions.
A near high-end at a reasonable price, with asterisks
The POCO X7 Pro is once again a punch on the table from Xiaomi. Of course, as we said, the manufacturer had to reduce certain features. You probably guessed it: cameras. One of the aspects in which it is easier to reduce and at the same time differentiate with higher ranges. For example, the new POCO remained without the 200-megapixel cameras that we saw in the Redmi Note 14.
It's not all about megapixels, and we'll have to analyze them to see if their cameras comply, but the drop in resolution was a necessary reduction. The differentiation between the basic model and the “Pro” which we have talked about several times is another of these concessions: its battery is almost 1,000 mAh less than its big brother, having the same screen.
Likewise, the POCO X7 (just) ends up with memories, both RAM and storage, of older technologies: LPDDR4X and UFS 2.2 compared to LPDDR5X and UFS 4.0 on the POCO X7 Pro Of course, this is still a great option although it will be difficult due to the small price difference.
It seems that Xiaomi wants to return to its old ways, especially at How's it going. After unifying all its brands on a single website, and launching the new POCO Xiaomi had it with the extinct Xiaomi A, but it's another story far removed from that of Android One which took over, we will see if the next generations maintain the attractiveness, or on the contrary return to it. premiumize to the brand.
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