Last month, Poco expanded its M8 lineup of midrange smartphones with 2 new offerings – M8x and M8 Power (our review here). The latter earns its ‘Power’ moniker with its massive 8,000mAh battery pack. However, when you look at the spec sheet, you’ll notice that the M8x, which is more economical by Rs 2,000, isn’t lagging too far behind with its 7,900mAh unit. Furthermore, it gets the Snapdragon 4 Gen 5 SoC at its core, which is slightly more powerful than the Snapdragon 4 Gen 4 chipset found under the hood of the M8 Power. There are some trade-offs to be made as well – the most important one being the lack of an AMOLED display. We used the smartphone for a week to find out if it’s worth the Rs 22,999 price tag. Here is our review of the Poco M8x 5G.
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In This Article
Poco M8x 5G Review: Design and Display
Box Contents
- Smartphone
- 45W power adapter
- USB-A to USB-C cable
- Clear plastic cover
- SIM ejector
- Quick start guide
The vegan leather back lends the Poco M8x a distinct personality. Its soft texture has an excellent in-hand feel. The deep green shade of the panel is interesting without being gaudy. The golden shade of the camera island and rails complements it quite nicely. The unique style of this smartphone is its strongest asset, more so in a segment where every device largely looks the same. There are 2 more colour shades on offer (Blue and Green), but they don’t get the vegan leather treatment on their back panels.
The plastic rails have a golden finish that goes nicely with the deep green back. The right edge houses the volume rocker and the side button. The hybrid SIM tray (with microSD support), primary microphone, USB-C port, and primary speaker grille. The 3.5mm headphone jack and the secondary speaker grille are positioned up top. The smartphone is rated IP64 for dust and water resistance. It can survive light water splashes, but anything more excessive can damage its internal components.
While the rear section of the M8x gets full marks for style, its front fascia doesn’t exactly fill us with enthusiasm. For starters, instead of an AMOLED display, it makes do with a 6.9-inch LCD panel. This display gets bright enough to maintain legibility in indoor conditions, but struggles under harsh sunlight outdoors. The touch response is fine. You get a 120Hz refresh rate, so scrolling issues are not a thing on this device. However, the thick bezel at the bottom of the screen feels a bit dated.
The viewing experience is also limited by the 720 x 1,600p LCD panel. The visuals don’t ‘pop’ like their AMOLED counterparts. The black areas feel more greyish instead of true black. As a result, the contrast lacks punch. Having said that, you can stream movies and TV shows across platforms like Netflix, JioHotstar, and Prime Video, and still have an enjoyable time. The dual-speaker setup produces a loud audio output, but it sounds a bit tinny.
Poco M8x 5G Review: Performance and Cameras
The M8x is the first smartphone in India to be powered by the Snapdragon 4 Gen 5 chipset. It comes with 128GB of internal UFS 2.2 storage, which can be expanded to 1TB using an external microSD card. There are 2 LPDDR4X RAM options on offer:
- 4GB: Rs 20,999
- 6GB: Rs 22,999
We used the 6GB RAM variant for this review. Here’s how the device performed on common benchmark tests.
- AnTuTu 3D Lite: 685,419
- Geekbench 7: 717 (single-core) | 1,146 (multi-core)
The M8x handles everyday tasks like calling, instant messaging, emailing, social media browsing, and media streaming with ease. The overall performance felt a bit sluggish, but you can chalk it up to an average processor and limited RAM. This doesn’t mean that the smartphone throws massive jitters every time you overwhelm it with multiple tasks. It is still reliable as a daily driver, but you need to get used to slight delays while opening apps and switching among them.
The gaming performance is fine if you limit yourself to low graphics and frame rate. We played titles like BGMI and Call of Duty Mobile on this device and were happy with consistent, lag-free gameplay. You are bound to run into the odd frame drop every now and then, but that’s an issue that’s present in every midrange device in today’s market. The 12,439mm² graphite cooling layer does a decent job of managing the phone’s internal temperature. We noticed the first signs of warmth along the back panel after crossing the 15-minute mark.
Software duties on the Poco M8x are handled by Xiaomi’s Android 16-based HyperOS 3 skin. The phone ships with a few bloatware apps, but they can be completely removed. Poco has promised 4 major OS updates and 6 years of security patches for this phone, which is pretty impressive for this segment.
HyperOS 3 shines when it comes to customisations. You can choose from 3 different lock screen styles, each with its different set of wallpapers, clock faces, and fonts. If that doesn’t float your boat, you can dive into third-party themes right from settings.
When it comes to AI features, the photo editor in the native Gallery app lets you beautify your images and get rid of unwanted objects. You also get Google’s Gemini Assistant and Circle to Search. However, Xiaomi’s AI Writing and Translation tools are noticeably absent.
The massive 7,900mAh battery pack is the reason why the Poco M8x weighs 232g and is 8.8mm thick. In our opinion, having extra battery is always worth the bulkiness. Poco says that this phone can last up to 3 days on a full charge. But that’s only if you’re very conservative with your usage. Regular users who rack up to 6 hours of screen time in a day will be able to get 1.5-2 days of battery life, depending on their usage. The 45W power adapter takes a little under 2 hours to fully charge the phone from a 1% battery level.
The rear camera island houses a 50MP main camera. The 8MP front-facing camera is nestled inside a punch-hole cutout on the display. The 50MP primary shooter captures good pictures in outdoor daylight conditions. They pack a good amount of detail while showcasing natural colours. The contrast is fine, but the dynamic range could have been sharper. In limited lighting conditions, the smartphone hands over the reins to Night Mode, but the final results still appear dim and grainy.
Portraits taken by the M8x are well-focused, but there’s practically no background blur in them. This isn’t a deal breaker, as you won’t find any device in this price bracket that captures DSLR-like portraits. The 8MP front-facing camera takes clear selfies without overcorrecting the skin tone and texture. Both cameras can record 1,080p videos at 30fps.
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Verdict
We would recommend the Poco M8x to users who prioritise the style and aesthetics of their device above everything else. The Green Leather colour variant of this phone is one of the most stylish devices in its category. The golden rails and camera island offer a nice contrast to the primary colour. When most smartphones teeter on being gaudy, the M8x quietly sets itself apart with its tasteful looks.
The styling isn’t the only thing to talk about here. The Snapdragon 4 Gen 5 chipset, while not a powerful beast, is reliable when it comes to routine, everyday tasks. The same can be said about the 50MP main camera, which is reliable when taking shots in outdoor daylight conditions. The 7,900mAh battery pack is what grounds this device, allowing it to last up to 2 days on a full charge. The promise of 4 OS updates and 6 years of security patches from Poco is the icing on the cake.
Pros
- Great looks
- 2-day battery life
- 4 major OS updates
Cons
- No AMOLED display
- Main camera can’t record 4K videos
