POCO has officially announced the launch of the F8 series. It’s scheduled to debut globally on November 26th at an event in Bali, Indonesia. The brand has confirmed which phones will launch —POCO F8 Pro and POCO F8 Ultra. The vanilla POCO F8 is expected to debut later. As seen in previous generations, the POCO F8 Pro and Ultra will most likely launch as global versions of the Redmi K90 and K90 Pro Max, which launched in China last month. The official teaser images released also confirm this speculation, as the designs are exactly the same.
The POCO F8 series launch announcement was made on the POCO global X handle. In addition to the launch date reveal, POCO also teased a collaboration with Bose. The POCO F8 series will come with audio tuned by Bose for “impactful bass, detailed sound,” and a “strong sense of rhythm”. With Bose audio, the POCO F8 series is expected to offer premium sound quality. The Redmi K90 series also comes with Bose audio, further adding to the speculation that the POCO F8 series will be based on them.
Two Xiaomi phones were also spotted on Geekbench recently, and are said to be the POCO F8 Pro and Ultra. The Geekbench listing suggests the POCO F8 Pro will be powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset with 12GB of RAM, while the F8 Ultra will get the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 with 16GB of RAM. These specs also corroborate the speculation that the POCO phones will be based on the Redmi K90 series. However, there could be a difference in the battery capacities as the POCO F8 models are said to launch with batteries. We should get more clarity next week when the phones go official.
As for the rest of the specifications, you can expect 50MP triple cameras (Ultra), IP68 ratings for dust and water resistance, a glass back with a metal frame, and a dedicated cooling system. The POCO F8 series could also launch with 100W fast charging and 50W wireless charging, and feature a 3D ultrasonic fingerprint sensor as well.
What’s interesting this time is that POCO is retaining the same design as the Redmi phones in China. Although a rebrand, the POCO F-series stands out with its signature black and yellow design. This time, however, there seems to be no change in terms of design or colour.
POCO’s F8 series is the brand’s flagship lineup, with the Ultra being the premium model, and the Pro as the flagship alternative. However, neither of the phones might arrive in India as their predecessors, the POCO F7 Pro and Ultra, did not launch here. Instead, the vanilla POCO F7 made it to India, so only the POCO F8 could arrive here; however, its launch isn’t expected anytime soon. It’s not clear what POCO’s strategy is this time for the Indian market, and also Xiaomi’s broader plan. At present, Xiaomi offers a flagship lineup and a premium mid-range range with the Note series. However, it doesn’t have one in the price range between Rs 40,000 and Rs 60,000. It did launch the Xiaomi 14 Civi at Rs 42,999 in India last year, but with no successor in sight.
With no official confirmation yet, it’s best to wait before jumping to conclusions. It may not make sense for the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5-powered POCO F8 Ultra to launch in India, since the Xiaomi 17 series is expected to arrive here soon. However, there’s definitely room for a flagship alternative, such as the POCO F8 Pro, featuring the Snapdragon 8 Elite. The Redmi Note 15 series is also expected to launch in India soon, which gives buyers even more reason to hold off on buying a new premium mid-range phone and wait.
