Poco M7 5G Review: Familiar Territory

The Poco M7 5G by Xiaomi just entered India, crashing the under-Rs. 10,000 party! This budget beast packs a Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 with 128GB storage and a 50MP camera on the fresh Android 14. Let the clash begin with competitors such as Samsung Galaxy F06 5G and Xiaomi’s own Redmi A4 & 14C 5G and further competitors from Infinix, Tecno, and Lava. Is this the new royalty in cheaper 5G?

Starting at a very tempting price of Rs.9,999, the supercharged 8GB model goes for just Rs. 10,999. Pick from an array of three striking colors. But does this wallet-friendly 5G brute really earn its crown? Let’s plunge into this in-depth Poco M7 5G review to get at the truth.

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 is almost buoyant for its size, boasting a knuckle-display of 6.88 inches that commands perfect attention in being viewed. Design-wise, it tells a story of two textures: below the waist, a matte finish aids in holding; the upper back, on the other hand, is finished with gloss, making it appropriate for glories on its 50MP camera. The rear panel and camera bump, made of plastic, throw glitters playfully across the lights.

Poco M7 5G has half-matte and half glossy rear design

The Poco M7 5G is vastly making brave claims of déjà vu if you have at least edged a look at last year’s Redmi A4 or the recent Redmi 14C 5G. Same screen size and same dimensions: it’s a phone you have seen before. The two phones even share identical weight at 204.5 grams! Very little in terms of differences will have you distinguishing the Poco in a lineup-the one difference is perhaps the loud dual-textured back: half-matte on one side and half-glossy on the other, which really helps to differentiate it from its doppelgangers.

What is particular about the display of the Poco M7 5G is just that its setup is an LCD with thick bezels on three sides. Both the size of the bezels and especially the chin seem unjustifiably large. A waterdrop notch sits on top, like a single drop of a tear falling from the camera, housing the front camera. Looking at the device from the front, it is tricky to tell it apart from its Redmi cousins.

A plastic frame holds all the essentials around the Poco. On the right lies the familiar volume rocker/power button combo. USB Type-C sits near the bottom edge, while the more and more uncommon headphone jack remains above – a true delight for headphone users. Our review sample somehow came naked, with no screen protector nor case. Thank the heavens over being compensated with a 33W power brick, USB-A to USB-C cable, and the all-perennial SIM ejector tool from Poco.

Poco M7 5G Software: Older Android Version, Preinstalled Apps

• Software – HyperOS
• Version – Android 14
• Latest security patch – January 1, 2025

The very Poco M7 5G brings Android 14 under Xiaomi’s banner of HyperOS. While fluid, it really is half a year late to the party since Android 15 had already been inaugurated half a year earlier-if we’re talking about jumping onto a new bandwagon. On the plus side, there shall be two major Android updates promised by Poco, bringing us forward to Android 16, accompanied by a strong security patch schedule that will last another four years. Consider it a guaranteed software peace of mind for the foreseeable future.

The Poco M7 5G comes with a handful of preinstalled apps (Tap to expand)

Going by the user’s experience, HyperOS meshes very well with the Poco M7 5G. App switching feels silky smooth. Our test sample, which is equipped with 6GB of RAM (memory extension disabled initially), purrs even when pushed.

Stretching the name to 7GB of RAM, and much like many of its competitors, M7 5G comes loaded with a bunch of pre-installed apps and games. Consider it a digital concoction that contains everything from Spotify and Snapchat to LinkedIn, WPS Office, and Facebook. If you are in the mood for a game, feel free to enjoy crosswords with Word Scenery, match sparkling gems with Jewels Blast, test your tile skills in Tile Fun, or cause popping frenzy with a variety of bubble shooter games installed for you.

Gaze into the shadowy recesses of your phone, and you will discern “More apps” and “Games” folders, almost calling for the installation of Junglee Rummy, Ludo Supreme, MPL, and Dream11. Free your phone-the cursed guests will disappear once you uninstall them. But the battle’s not over! Now, brace for full-screen ad bombardments within the system apps. A preemptive strike to disable them from settings will save your screen from insanity.

Poco M7 5G Performance: Good Value for Money

• Processor – Snapdragon 4 Gen 2
• Memory – Up to 8GB LPDDR4x
• Storage – 128GB UFS 2.2

The Poco M7 5G gave a new finish to a secret weapon: the 4nm SnapDragon 4 Gen 2. This engine is also seen in the Redmi 14C, which produces a processor of all-round power in a balance between performance and efficiency. So what happens when there are two Cortex-A78 performance cores running at 2.2GHz with six Cortex-A55 cores up to 1.95GHz? Graphics-wise, an Adreno 613 bathes your visuals in smoothness. With such an engine on the inside, the performance is anything but sluggish and is better than the Snapdragon 4s Gen 2 variant inside the Redmi A4. Your everyday essentials, such as WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and even the platform formerly known as Twitter (X), run without an issue. This phone is ready for your digital life.

The Poco M7 5G delivers performance on par with similarly priced smartphones (Tap to expand)

Temple Run 2 and Asphalt Unite? Well, nailed it on the default settings! BGMI? A nice smooth run at Ultra frame rate. The only drawback? There’s no gyroscope. The old-school thumb-steering is all you got. Get set to adapt!

But how does the Poco M6 5G hold when tested against competition? We tested it against heavy hitters like the Redmi A4 5G and the Moto G35 and even the surprisingly powerful HMD Fusion – having thesamechipset but certainly demanding a much higher price. The benchmark results? Let’s just say things got interesting.

The brightness is just right on the AMOLED screen of Poco M6 5G. The IPS LCD panel with 720×1640 pixels just adds to the colors, but the true beauty lies in its super smooth 120Hz refresh rate. Flicking between the battery saver mode of 60Hz and slick 120Hz can be done automatically or with a touchbasically switching the option on and off. In the color settings, I went for ‘Standard’, and every change in color became deeper and felt much more real away from the usual change in colors.

The display on the Poco M7 5G is bright enough for most outdoor scenarios

With 450 nits of brightness, the display is really bright-increased to 600 nits in high brightness mode. The brightness of the display is sufficient for most of the outdoor visibility challenges where direct sunlight can still cause some issues to visibility.

Poco M7 5G Cameras: Decent Daytime Photos

• Main camera – 50-megapixel (f/1.8), PDAF, up to 1080p/ 30fps video
• Selfie camera – 8-megapixel

With a 50MP primary camera featuring PDAF and a bright f/1.8 aperture, the Poco M7 5G is truly a performer. During the day, shots come out vibrant and very crisp, brimming with real-life colors. Zoom all the way, and you shall be awed-a camera that can capture details you never thought imaginable. Take a look at these samples!

Top to bottom: Samples from primary rear camera, 2x zoom, Portrait (Tap to expand)

Bring out the best details when you need to take a shot from a farther location. It has a clever 2x in-sensor crop. Punching in for a tighter shot does capture subjects reasonably well in good light if they are at a distance, really bringing them closer.

The Poco M7 5G packs great camera speed. Any lagtime? Press the shutter button, and there goes your image. Other budget phones feel like running in an uphill race, and the precious moment is lost forever-dieiface. The M7 5G is pure instant gratification for photographers on the go.

Ditch the Night Mode… Sometimes.

Is the elusive low-light photograph freaking you out? Do resist pressing the button for instant Night Mode. Unhappily moving subjects like pets and kids or the photographer’s shaky hands should be recorded in regular photo mode. You will get a bit more noise but will salvage sharper details destroyed by Night Mode’s smoothing. Engage Night Mode when your scene is genuinely pitch-dark or your subject is literally cast in stone.

Low light samples (Tap to expand)

Flaunt the detail courtesy of the hidden 50MP mode on your phone. Prepare to capture images full of breathtaking clarity for situations where every pixel counts. Beware: capturing the finer details takes a little while longer, and super-resolution photogallery needs a lot of storage space. But if detail is all that good to you, and you don’t mind a little digital muscle, then get into this 50MP mode; it’s sure to blow your mind.

The Poco M7 5G just offers an unstable recording experience. Should you wish to capture unstable footage, by day, or let it be by night, with the rear or the front camera, it is best to assure your evil hand of wobbles never sets in. More expectedly, wobble would be present unless you had a very steady hand or a gimbal-like counterpart. The camera lets you shoot up to 1080p at 30fps both on the rear and front, reducing the visual fidelity of your cherished moments.

Poco M7 5G Battery: A Day and a Half on One Charge

• Battery Capacity – 5,160mAh
• Wired Charging – 18W (USB Type-C)

Poco M7 5G laughs at the very idea of battery anxiety. The charging 5,160mAh battery with its power-friendly Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 sips can last one day and a half. Imagine: Making a couple of calls, chasing WhatsApp chats (companion mode as well!), little gaming, scrolling hours and hours through Instagram and X rabbit holes, and watching YouTube content, all whilst never once noticing the heartbeat of battery percentage. This is more than power; this is emancipation.

Poco M7 5G doesn’t ship with a case in the box

This phone is making it a sore battering in endurance while it sings the battery language. It gave a very good performance of 23 hours 10 minutes in our HD loop video test. In reality, though, you might have a different number since it depends on the usage. Now, what about that charger? It includes a fast 33W charger but charges the phone only at 18W. Charging from 0 to 100% took about 1 hour 50 minutes.

Poco M7 5G: Final Thoughts

The very affordable price of the Poco M7 5G, at a mere Rs. 9,999, is just the way to bring in people to the 5G revolution. The design is ‘easy to love,’ being as comfortable as shaking hands with an old friend. However, if you need a camera for nighttime shots, then look elsewhere as the M7 5G performs fairly well in daylight with acceptable photo clarity. Battery life will not abandon you, and charging speeds are predictably fast, keeping in line with the budget competition.

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On the M7 5G, all was punctual except for the arrival of Android 14 while Android 15 was all the rage. Ouch. Meanwhile, the Samsung Galaxy F06 5G entered with the latest in the market and moves to promise four major Android updates-a knockout blow to the M7 5G. If you are feeling disappointed, consider these also: Redmi A4, Redmi 14C 5G, Moto G35. Maybe a rethink of the phone upgrades is in order.

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