The Poco M7 5G was launched in India last month as the latest entry-level smartphone from Xiaomi’s performance-focused subsidiary. The handset is priced under the Rs. 10,000 mark, and it features an octa-core Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 SoC, 128GB of built-in storage, a 50-megapixel rear camera, and runs on Android 14. It will compete with similarly priced smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy F06 5G, Redmi A4 and Redmi 14C 5G from Xiaomi, Infinix Hot 50 5G, Tecno Spark 30C, and Lava Blaze 3 5G.
The base model of the Poco M7 5G is priced at Rs. 9,999, while the 8GB variant costs Rs. 10,999. Poco sells the smartphone in three colourways. But is this the best budget smartphone you can buy today? Read our Poco M7 5G review to find out.
Poco M7 5G Design: Hard to Spot the Differences
- Dimensions – 171.9×77.8×8.2 mm
- Weight – 205.4g
- Colours – Mint Green, Ocean Blue (Featured in this review), Satin Black
The Poco M7 5G has a 6.88-inch display and a considerably big phone. The lower half of the handset’s rear panel has a matte finish, while the upper portion (which also houses the 50-megapixel rear camera) has a smooth finish. The rear panel and the raised camera island are made of plastic, and the latter glitter when held at various angles.
Poco M7 5G has half-matte and half glossy rear design
If you’ve looked at the Redmi A4 from last year or the Redmi 14C 5G, the new Poco M7 5G should feel very familiar. All three phones have the same display size and dimensions, while the Poco M7 5G and the Redmi 14C 5G both weigh 204.5g. At a glance, the only way to identify Poco’s handset among these three models is to look for the half-matte, half-glossy design on the rear panel.
On the front, the Poco M7 5G sports an LCD screen with thick bezels at the top, left and right edges, and an even thicker chin. A waterdrop-style notch at the top houses the selfie camera, and the front of the smartphone is identical to the aforementioned Redmi phones.
The edges of the Poco handset are made of plastic, and there’s a volume rocker and power button on the right side, a USB Type-C port at the bottom, and a 3.5mm audio jack on the top edge. The review unit we received did not include a screen protector or a cover. You get a 33W power adapter, a USB Type-A to USB Type-C cable, and a SIM ejector tool.
Poco M7 5G Software: Older Android Version, Preinstalled Apps
- Software – HyperOS
- Version – Android 14
- Latest security patch – January 1, 2025
The Poco M7 5G runs on Android 14, with Xiaomi’s HyperOS skin on top. It’s a little disappointing to see it ship with this version six months after Google released Android 15. The company says that the Poco M7 5G will receive two Android OS updates (which means its last major update will be Android 16) and four years of security updates.
The Poco M7 5G comes with a handful of preinstalled apps (Tap to expand)
The HyperOS skin seems to be optimised to run on the Poco M7 5G, and switching to the previous app and back feels smooth. The unit we received had 6GB of RAM, with a memory extension feature turned off by default.
Like other smartphones in this price segment, the Poco M7 5G includes a few preinstalled apps and games. These include Spotify, Snapchat, LinkedIn, WPS Office, Facebook, Word Scenery: Crossword, Jewels Blast, Tile Fun, and a couple of bubble shooter games.
They are located in folders called “More apps” and “Games” that also prompt you to install apps like Junglee Rummy, Ludo Supreme, MPL, and Dream11. These apps can be uninstalled, and the folders disappear after their contents are emptied. You will also need to disable advertisements on various system applications to prevent full-screen ads from showing up while opening these apps.
Poco M7 5G Performance: Good Value for Money
- Processor – Snapdragon 4 Gen 2
- Memory – Up to 8GB LPDDR4x
- Storage – 128GB UFS 2.2
There’s a 4nm Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 chip inside the Poco M7 5G — the same processor powers the Redmi 14C, and it comprises two Cortex-A78 cores (2.2GHz) and six Cortex-A55 cores (1.95GHz), along with an Adreno 613 GPU. The chipset is slightly more capable than the Snapdragon 4s Gen 2 SoC on the Redmi A4, and it can handle popular apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter).
The Poco M7 5G delivers performance on par with similarly priced smartphones (Tap to expand)
Games like Temple Run 2 and Asphalt Legends Unite run on the default settings without any issues. I also ran Battlegrounds Mobile India (BGMI), which ran fine on Smooth settings with the Ultra framerate option. The phone doesn’t have a gyroscope, so you’ll need to make adjustments while moving your character around in the game.
We also ran benchmark tests to see how the Poco M7 5G performs against rivals like the Redmi A4 5G, Moto G35, and the more expensive HMD Fusion, which also features the same chipset.
| Benchmarks | Poco M7 5G | Motorola G35 | HMD Fusion | Redmi A4 5G |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geekbench Single | 923 | 1,012 | 937 | 839 |
| Geekbench Multi | 2,195 | 2,403 | 2,245 | 1919 |
| PCMark Work 3.0 | 8,030 | 13,920 | 8,503 | 8,782 |
| AnTuTu v10 | 4,33,660 | 4,94,364 | 4,48,378 | 3,87,157 |
| GFXB T-rex | 57 | 70 | 70 | 55 |
| GFXB Manhattan 3.1 | 36 | 33 | 37 | 28 |
| GFXB Car Chase | 16 | 18 | 17 | 15 |
| 3DM Slingshot Extreme OpenGL | Failed to run | 2,590 | 1,775 | 1,560 |
| 3DM Slingshot | Failed to run | 3,379 | 2,712 | 2,409 |
| 3DM Wild Life | 668 | Not supported | 673 | 647 |
| 3DM Wild Life Unlimited | 666 | Not supported | 669 | Failed to run |
The 6.88-inch HD+ (720×1640 pixels) IPS LCD screen on the Poco M7 5G has a 120Hz refresh rate. While there’s an automatic mode that switches between 60Hz and 120Hz, you can also select one of the two manually. I enabled the Standard colour scheme in the display settings, which offered improved colour accuracy.
The display on the Poco M7 5G is bright enough for most outdoor scenarios
Poco says that the handset’s display has a peak brightness of 450nits (and 600nits in high brightness mode). The screen gets bright enough while outdoors during the day, except if you’re using the phone when it’s extremely sunny outside.
Poco M7 5G Cameras: Decent Daytime Photos
- Main camera – 50-megapixel (f/1.8), PDAF, up to 1080p/ 30fps video
- Selfie camera – 8-megapixel
A 50-megapixel primary camera on the Poco M7 5G with phase detection autofocus (PDAF) and an f/1.8 aperture. This camera delivers bright and sharp photos during the day, and colours are reproduced accurately. Images captured with the rear camera have a lot of detail, even when you zoom in.
Top to bottom: Samples from primary rear camera, 2x zoom, Portrait (Tap to expand)
The primary camera has a 2x in-sensor crop option, which allows you to zoom in on subjects that are further away. When there’s enough natural light, this mode can deliver decent photos of subjects that are slightly further away.
While shooting images with the Poco M7 5G, I noticed that the camera app is quick to capture images in the default mode. Unlike some other budget phones that take a moment to capture each shot, the Poco M7 5G saved each image as soon as I tapped the shutter button.
If you’re shooting images in low light scenarios, I recommend using the default photo mode (wherever possible) unless your subject is perfectly still or your surroundings are very dark. Images of animals and other moving subjects taken with the default mode have more detail (and more noise), but it’s preferable to the softening on images captured when Night mode is enabled.
Low light samples (Tap to expand)
The default camera app has two other modes — 50MP and Portrait. The former captures very detailed images and takes a moment to save before the camera is ready to take another shot. However, if you want to capture images with a lot of detail and don’t mind the extra storage required by these photos, I recommend using the 50-megapixel mode.
Without support for image stabilisation, the Poco M7 5G captures shaky videos during the day and night when using the rear camera or the front-facing camera. If you have a handheld gimbal, you might be able to mitigate this. You can record up to 1080p at 30fps using the rear camera and the selfie shooter.
Poco M7 5G Battery: A Day and a Half on One Charge
- Battery Capacity – 5,160mAh
- Wired Charging – 18W (USB Type-C)
The combination of the 5,160mAh battery and the efficient Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 SoC on the Poco M7 5G is enough to deliver over a day and a half of battery life. This included a mix of calls and texting (with WhatsApp in companion device mode), some light gaming, browsing Instagram and X, and streaming videos on YouTube.
Poco M7 5G doesn’t ship with a case in the box
On our HD video battery loop test, the Poco M7 5G lasted for 23 hours and 10 minutes. Keep in mind that this is a synthetic test, so that the real world will vary based on actual usage. The phone ships with a 33W charger, but the handset can only be charged at 18W. It took around 1 hour and 50 minutes for a full charge.
Poco M7 5G: Final Thoughts
At Rs. 9,999, the Poco M7 5G is one of the most value-for-money offerings currently available in India. It offers support for 5G connectivity and has a familiar-looking design, and offers decent camera performance during the day. Battery life and charging speeds are also on par with other similarly priced smartphones.
It’s disappointing to see the Poco M7 5G launch with Android 14 when Android 15 has been out for several months when its biggest rival — the Samsung Galaxy F06 5G — ships with the latest version and is slated to receive four Android OS version upgrades. Other alternatives to the Poco M7 5G include the Redmi A4 (Review), Redmi 14C 5G, and the Moto G35 (Review).
