Poco M8X 5G Review: A Battery-First Budget Phone That Comes With Compromises

Poco's M8x 5G is built around one idea - a 7,900mAh battery, packed into a phone priced at Rs. 18,999 for 4GB RAM with 128GB storage and Rs. 20,999 for 6GB with 128GB. It is also the first phone in India with the Snapdragon 4 Gen 5 chip. It goes up against the iQoo Z11 Lite, Realme P4R and OnePlus N6x, which are lighter and sharper. I've used the Leather Green unit for a couple of weeks, and here's what I think.

Poco M8X 5G Review: Design

The Leather Green finish is the best part of the design. It's a vegan leather back on a polycarbonate body, soft to the touch, and it gives grip without needing the bundled case. The blue and black versions use a matte plastic finish, so green is the one with character. The rounded corners avoid digging into the palm.

The cost is weight. The M8x measures 8.8mm thick and weighs 232g, which is noticeable in a pocket and during one-handed use. The bezels and bottom chin are thick, and the phone is wide for small hands. The power button has the fingerprint sensor, and the volume keys sit on the right. The 3.5mm headphone jack and USB-C port are still here, with a second speaker in the earpiece. There's an IP64 rating for dust and splashes, and Gorilla Glass 7i on the front. The box has a 45W charger, a cable, a protective case and a pre-applied screen protector.

Poco M8X 5G Review: Display

The display is a 6.9-inch IPS LCD with a 1,600x720-pixel HD+ resolution, a refresh rate of up to 120Hz and a peak brightness of 825 nits in high-brightness mode. Scrolling and gaming feel smooth, and colours look fine for an LCD. It also has TUV Rheinland certification for low blue light and flicker-free output, which helps with long viewing.

The compromise is sharpness. Stretching 720p across 6.9-inches gives roughly 254 pixels per inch, so small text and subtitles look soft. Black levels are ordinary compared with AMOLED, and direct sunlight makes the screen harder to read. There is no HDR, so streaming apps and YouTube won't play HDR content. Widevine L1 does allow HD streaming. It's a large, fast screen that I'd call good for videos and bad for reading.

Poco M8X 5G Review: Processor

The Poco M8X 5G runs on the Snapdragon 4 Gen 5, a 4nm octa-core chip with two Cortex-A78 cores at up to 2.4GHz and six efficiency cores. It is paired with LPDDR4X memory and UFS 2.2 storage, with virtual RAM that can add up to 6GB. Our unit scored 689 in single-core and 1,083 in multi-core tests on Geekbench 7.1.0, with a GPU score of 609.

Those numbers place it at the entry-level end of the market. On the same Geekbench 7.1 version, the Redmi Note 17 Pro we tested scored 876 and 2,605. That puts the M8X about 21 percent behind in single-core and about 58 percent behind in multi-core. The GPU result carries a Geekbench warning that one or more workloads failed validation and were scored zero, so treat the 609 as indicative, not definitive.

In daily use, the chip handles calls, UPI, messaging, streaming and casual games. Scrolling in social apps can hiccup, and heavy multitasking or demanding 3D games push it, which the multi-core score suggests. The 6GB model is the one to buy, as extra RAM helps an entry-level chip. The cooling setup kept the phone from running hot in our use.

Poco M8X 5G Review: Camera

The M8x has a 50-megapixel main camera with an f/1.8 aperture and phase-detect autofocus, an unnamed auxiliary lens, and an 8-megapixel front camera. There is no optical stabilisation, and video tops out at 1080p at 30fps. Our samples cover daylight, a portrait and a selfie, so we haven't judged low light here.

In the outdoor daylight shot of a courtyard with railway tracks and apartment blocks behind it, colours look natural and slightly muted, not oversaturated. Exposure is balanced, the hazy sky doesn't blow out, and the shaded area under the building keeps usable detail. Large signs and Devanagari lettering on the train are legible. Zoom in and distant buildings go soft and smudgy, so fine detail is the weak point.

The portrait-mode shot against a bright window gets the face right. Skin tones are warm and natural, skin texture is kept without heavy smoothing, and the blur around the hair edges is reasonably clean, though a few flyaway strands blend into the background. The bright window behind is partly washed out, and shine on the forehead is visible.

The regular selfie handles the same window better, keeping the etched pattern in the glass visible while the face is well exposed. Detail on the shirt's lace trim is sharp for an 8-megapixel camera.

Overall, the camera is dependable in good light and natural in colour. Without OIS, steady hands are needed in dim light, and we'd expect low-light results to be weaker.

Poco M8X 5G Review: Battery

The 7,900mAh battery is the reason to buy this phone, and it fits the brief. A day and a half of heavy use is comfortable, and two days with typical use is realistic. Charging runs at up to 45W, a decent speed for the cell size, though a full charge naturally takes longer than on smaller phones. Reverse wired charging at 22.5W lets it charge another phone or an accessory. Poco says the battery keeps 80 percent or more of its capacity after five years.

Poco M8X 5G Review: UI

The M8x ships with HyperOS 3 on Android 16. Software support is the standout - four Android upgrades and six years of security patches, rare under Rs 20,000. The interface is stripped back, with no blur effects and subtler animations to keep it running smoothly on this chip. Features such as HyperIsland, Xiaomi's device-sharing tools and AI editing (AI Erase, AI Expand and AI Sky) are there, along with Gemini. It comes with pre-installed apps and games, but most can be uninstalled. The stereo speakers are loud and a clear step up from the single speakers of rivals. Face unlock is quick but less secure than the fingerprint sensor.

Poco M8X 5G Review: Verdict

The Poco M8x makes one argument and makes it well - a battery that lasts, support that lasts longer and a price that stays under Rs. 21,000. It pays for that with weight, a soft 720p display and a weak low-light camera. If your phone is a tool for calls, maps, payments and videos, and you want it to last for years, this is a smart buy, and the 6GB model is worth the extra Rs. 2,000. If you read a lot on your phone, take photos in low light or want a light phone, buy one of its rivals.

Rating: 3.5/5

Pros

- Excellent battery life with 45W charging and 22.5W reverse charging

- Four OS upgrades and six years of security updates

- Big, smooth 120Hz display and stereo speakers

- Headphone jack and a distinctive Leather Green finish

Cons

- Heavy at 232g and 8.8mm thick

- HD+ resolution looks soft on a 6.9-inch screen

- Weak low-light camera, no OIS and 1080p video

- Entry-level chip struggles with heavy multitasking and demanding games

- 4GB model feels tight on memory

Published on: Tuesday, October 27, 2026, 03:18 PM IST