POCO F8 Ultra After 3 Months: ❌ I Was WRONG

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So 3 months ago, I told you that I couldn’t recommend this phone, POCO F8 Ultra, to everyone and that was after 1 month of use. And that was a bold statement for a phone that was priced at RM3,199.

So the question is, have 3 months changed my mind and will it change yours? Well, yes and no. So watch first and buy smart.

Note: Before we dive in, if you have not watched my 1 month review of the POCO F8 Ultra, do check it out because I’m not going to repeat everything I said over there, but it’s going to be purely based on my 3 months of use, what held up and what did not, and whether or not this phone has earned its price tag over time.

Design

Let’s start with the design and build quality because this is one of the biggest surprises for me over the 3 months. I was expecting the Denim Blue to start collecting dirt, grime, and you know how some phones just look terrible when it comes to this kind of a unique finish where there was even a comment in our previous video about how this did not age very well.

Well, after 3 months of daily handling, guess what? It did not happen because 3 months in, this phone still looks very clean. The Denim Blue held up very well and still looks great.

And the grippy feel that I talked about in my one month review still feels very nice and is still very comfortable. Definitely one of the best feeling phones to hold daily.

And I’m still very appreciative of the fact that it doesn’t wobble when you type it on a surface, which does sound like a small thing until you realize how many phones get this wrong. So 3 months later, I still really appreciate this.

Display

Display-wise, it is still as good as it was on day one. Flat, clean, and sharp. However, quality-wise, I still feel like the previous F series did look a little better, but it is one of the best flat screen experiences on a smartphone right now.

And my other gripe from before about the outdoor brightness, yeah, that is still the same because it can feel a little dimmer than what I want it to be sometimes. But of course, you can manually bump it up when you need to.

So, yeah, nothing has changed when it comes to the display, and nothing has gotten worse either.

But when it comes to the screen protector situation, in my one month review, I mentioned that the stock screen protector was getting a lot of scratches very easily and it was emotionally painful every time I saw it.

And when I eventually removed it, here’s good news because there’s no micro scratches, no marks, nothing. So the 3 months of using this daily without the screen protector was totally fine.

So, if you just bought this phone and you find that the screen protector that comes inside of the phone feels a little dull or maybe gets a lot of scratches very easily, you can safely remove it because yes, the POCO Shield Glass is not only tough but also resists scratches as well.

Battery

Next, let me talk about the battery because I need to be real with you. You know that heart attack situation from my one month review where I mentioned about the 2% to 10% battery draining away super fast is like watching my hopes of Liverpool winning any trophies under Arne Slot. Yeah, gone. Just gone.

So yeah, that particular problem is still there. And despite all the software updates that have come through over 3 months, the battery life did not improve.

But it doesn’t mean that it was bad because you can still get close to 6 and 1/2 hours of screen on time with heavy use, which was fine for a phone within this price range.

But the way it starts draining at the top end is still giving me a little mini panic every single time.

But here’s something that has changed on what I felt about the phone 1 month ago and 3 months in, which is the fact that this has 50W of wireless charging as this has been my primary way of charging the phone, which was fast, convenient, and so much satisfying to use than plugging in a cable every single night.

Oh, and my initial complaint about the drop from 120W to 100W wired charging on this particular phone. Well, 3 months in, I barely think about it anymore because when your wireless charging is that fast, you stop caring and thinking about the cable.

Camera

I’m going to keep this camera portion tight and very short because my full camera breakdown is in my one month review. But here’s what 3 months have taught me.

First of all, I still feel that 18mm on an ultra wide lens is just too tight for my liking. Tight, tight, tight, tight, tight, tight. Yeah. Because I still feel that calling it an ultra wide lens is a stretch. But the quality is still great.

The main camera also still holds up well all the way till 10x zoom. Beyond that, it’s still not recommended. Same as before, and that has not changed.

But here’s something that actually improved. Remember the color shift that I talked about when switching between different focal lengths? That is gone now because the software update has probably fixed it. Moving between zoom levels now feels a bit more consistent and real. So that is a huge improvement worth talking about.

Then portrait mode for humans is still excellent across all focal lengths. For objects while the age detection has improved but the color accuracy was not as great as it overexposed the red flower a lot.

Then macro mode is the same story where the minimum focus distance issue is still there where for the life of me I do not understand how a macro mode can be this far for you to only get the focus.

So as you can see over here from focusing on a coffee bean to the Sonos speakers and even on a coaster had me taking almost a minute to get it in focus. So I do not understand what kind of macro mode distance this is. It is surely a hardware problem because I don’t think any software updates could fix this.

So, if you really love macro photography, this phone is not for you.

But when it comes to selfies though, it is still really good. So, no complaints over here.

The phone does record up to 8K which I have not used it once ever since I started using the phone because 4K is more than enough for you and for me and the quality was great where it also had great stabilization during the day and the selfie video’s dynamic range was not the best but the stabilization was decent.

Nighttime Photography

Then when it comes to nighttime photography from the ultra wide all the way to the 10x zoom is still solid. So you’ll be set if you stick to those focal lengths because if you go beyond 10x like the 30x , 60x or even the max 100x , it won’t look good at all.

Then the night portrait mode for humans is still decent. Not the best when it comes to objects at night.

Then the nighttime selfie photos were still okay as long as there is light towards you.

But the video recording at night though, there was the horrible and the good. First and foremost, when it comes to the not so good or horrible, was the ultra wide video quality where not only the quality was not good, but the stabilization wasn’t good either.

Then the front camera was totally horrendous, especially if there’s light behind you, where the noise level was so prominent over here.

Then the good thing about the video recording at night was the 4K video quality on the main lens. Even so, for the 2x and even the 5x mode, minus the lens flare, of course.

The main lens stabilization at night was also good and if you have light on your face, the quality does improve when it comes to the stabilization for the front video quality as well.

Gaming

Gaming is still exactly as good as it was on day one. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 handles everything that you throw at it.

Genshin Impact, Wuthering Waves, and even COD Mobile. All running great at the same settings as before.

And I have to say that based on some of the reviews online, there was no drop in performance or even overheating when I was using the phone every single day. So, if gaming is your primary use case for this phone, this is it.

Audio

As for speakers, especially for the unique Bose subwoofer, well, 3 months in and it is still the best thing about this particular phone, full stop.

That combo of the bass subwoofer at the back paired with the stereo speakers is still one of the best audio experiences that you can get on any smartphone at this particular price.

In my one month review, I did a comparison between this and the iPhone and even the Samsung Galaxy flagship as well. And this was still a clear winner and it’s still my go-to for music and videos as well. And yes, still calming my son down during his diaper changes. Some things never changed.

So if you want the closest thing to a Bluetooth speaker on a smartphone, nothing at this particular price point, even if you spend more, comes close to the POCO F8 Ultra.

Software

HyperOS 3 is still HyperOS 3, right? It’s decent, it’s smooth enough, and it gets the job done. But 3 months in, I started feeling a little more that POCO and Xiaomi needs to take a serious look at what other brands are doing with their software because softwares like vivo’s OriginOS 6, Nothing OS, and Samsung’s One UI, those brands are pushing their software experience forward in ways that it actually adds value to your daily use.

And HyperOS still feels like it is playing catch-up. It is not bad but you know for a phone within this particular price point competing against the flagships or even any other smartphone especially for an Android smartphone this software needs to match the hardware ambition and among all the HyperIsland is still the best software feature on the phone but beyond that there is room to grow.

Xiaomi has promised 4 years of OS updates and 6 years of security patches on the phone so there is time to improve but the question is, will they use the time very well?

Verdict

So, 3 months in, here is my honest verdict. In my one month review, I said that I could not recommend this phone to everyone.

But 3 months later, my opinion has improved because not only did the phone almost become perfect, but I understood it better because this phone rewards you if you use it the right way because the speakers are still class leading at this price.

The build quality has held up better than anyone has expected. The wireless charging has changed how I interact with the phone daily and the cameras are still great, although it has its limits. And it’s great to see that the color consistent fix from the software update was real and worth appreciating as well.

But the battery heart attack situation is still there. The macro mode is still a hardware limitation. Then the software as I mentioned has still room to grow. And of course if you need a consistent camera beyond 10x mode if you are a paparazzi, you have to look elsewhere.

But the question is, who is this phone for, after 3 months? Well, if you love great audio, if you game a lot, and if you want a flagship level performance without a flagship pricing.

Speaking of cameras, if you want to know what cameras still impress me a lot, and yes, it’s a flagship phone, check out my in-depth camera review of the vivo X300 Ultra.

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[Watch the full review video on YouTube]

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

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Related:

• POCO F8 Ultra Review: After 1 Month
• POCO F8 Ultra: Why NOW?!