Review Verdict: POCO sets the benchmark for the performance king in the midrange segment this 2025 with the X7 Pro. The Dimensity 8400 proves to be a powerful chip that can rival flagship processors, and the X7 Pro gets a nice main camera upgrade to top it all off.
Pros:
- Excellent gaming performance
- Improved main camera performance
- 4K60 Video Recording on a midrange phone
Cons:
- Charger not included (for the Iron Man Edition)
- Battery Life could be better
- HyperOS is laden with ads
POCO is kicking off 2025 strong with the arrival of the X7 series in the Philippines, and the X7 Pro intends to maintain POCO’s reputation of offering solid, flagship performance at a midrange price point. We got our hands on the X7 Pro for a few weeks and used it extensively during the holidays. Does the X7 Pro live up to the reputation of its predecessor?
POCO X7 Pro Review Philippines: Unboxing and Packaging Contents
We got our hands on the Iron Man Limited Edition version, which has a special Iron Man box that has a slide-out drawer for a personalized Iron Man-themed USB-C cable with a Tony Stark-signed cable tie, a skeleton case with a subtle gold accent and Tony Stark’s signature on the side, and documentation.
You also get a special card profiling Iron Man’s armor, a SIM ejector tool that’s shaped like an Arc Reactor, and a specially designed X7 Pro. Aside from an exquisite back panel design, you also get an exclusive Iron Man theme that includes custom icons, lockscreen wallpaper, and clock icon for the home screen.
POCO X7 Pro Review Philippines: Design
Since we got our hands on the Limited Edition version, this X7 Pro has a tonal red colorway for the back panel with a debossed image of Iron Man’s headpiece in the center and the Avengers logo at the bottom. This is an official collaboration between Marvel and POCO, and we’re happy that Xiaomi is making some of its much-coveted collabs available to more countries like the Philippines.
You get textured plastic for the frame sides, with the power button having a red color to go along with the Iron Man theme. The button and port layout remain the same, so you still get the SIM card tray at the bottom, stereo speakers, and an IR blaster on top. You do get an IP68 rating on the X7 Pro, making it resistant against accidental drops in a pool of water.
POCO X7 Pro Review Philippines: Display and Speakers
The X7 Pro uses an upgraded 6.67-inch 120hz LTPS AMOLED panel that has a higher peak brightness of 3200nits and Gorilla Glass 7i protection. You still get the same 1.5k resolution, though we noticed that colors appear more vibrant on the X7 Pro compared to its predecessor. Despite the slightly better display, you don’t get support for HDR content on Netflix–though you still get Widevine L1 certification.
While the display is roughly the same, the X7 Pro’s stereo speakers have improved tuning, with audio sounding better on them compared to our experience with the X6 Pro.
POCO X7 Pro Review Philippines: Cameras
You only get two cameras in the back, with the main shooter being a 50-megapixel IMX882 sensor with OIS. The ultra-wide camera remains the same 8-megapixel shooter we’ve seen on several POCO phones.
The IMX882 is a tried-and-tested sensor on midrange phones, and it boasts a cleaner 2x digital zoom output compared to the 64-megapixel shooter in the X6 Pro. The digital zoom performance is more evident when you’re shooting in low light.
Outside of digital zoom, the LYT600 is a consistent performer when it comes to photography. Photos appear detailed and color-accurate, and low-light performance is excellent. The X7 Pro does not prioritize camera performance, but we give props to POCO for equipping it with a capable main shooter.
We can’t say the same for the ultrawide camera since it’s the same sensor used on several POCO phones in the past. Overall performance is roughly the same as with the X6 Pro despite using a newer processor, which indicates that POCO has maximized the aging sensor used for the ultrawide camera.
When it comes to video recording, the X7 Pro steps up its game by supporting 4K video recording at 60FPS while taking advantage of the OIS on the main camera. You can also shoot with both OIS and EIS enabled at Full HD resolution at 60FPS, making the X7 Pro a step up compared to its predecessors when it comes to content creation capabilities.
POCO X7 Pro Review Philippines: Internals and Battery
The X7 Pro debuts the Dimensity 8400, and our review unit comes with 12GB LPDDR5X RAM and 512GB UFS 4.0 storage. While we couldn’t run our full suite of benchmark tools, the results we got in Geekbench show that the Dimensity 8400 can go head-to-head with the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3, outperforming it in multi core scores. It’s so potent, that Genshin Impact defaults to high graphics upon installation–something you’d never expect to see on a midrange phone.
The X7 Pro sold in the Philippines comes with a 6000mAh battery that supports 90w charging. While we got a rather low 12 hours and 35 minutes in PCMark’s battery benchmark, POCO tweaked the X7 Pro’s power management for gaming.
To prove that, we played the entire Chapter V Archon Quest in Genshin Impact with graphics set to highest, 60FPS enabled, and POCO’s visual enhancements also enabled. From 100%, we were able to use the X7 Pro for 4 hours of straight gaming (the new quest took 3 hours to finish) with our battery at around 12% remaining and with the phone still comfortable to use.
Charging the X7 Pro from 12% to 100% takes around 45 minutes with a 90w charger, but do note that POCO does not include a charger out of the box for the Iron Man Edition–you’ll have to purchase one separately. What’s strange is that you do get a 90w charger if you buy the regular X7 Pro.
The X7 Pro is among the first to have Android 15-based HyperOS 2.0 out of the box. While there’s the usual annoying preinstalled bloatware, one of the notable changes includes the addition of AI features like AI Image Expansion and AI Erase Pro. We’ve seen these features on the Xiaomi 14T Pro, and it’s nice to see them on midrange devices like the POCO X7 Pro. What annoyed us, however, are the ads–with some of them hard to disable.
POCO X7 Pro Review Philippines: Wrap-Up and Conclusions
Just like last year’s X6 Pro, POCO is set to maintain its performance king reputation this 2025 with the X7 Pro. Beyond performance gains, POCO adds better value to the X7 Pro with a upgraded main camera. There’s still room for improvement–HyperOS still has its fair share of optimization issues, and we hope POCO addresses them in future updates to maximize its large 6000mAh battery for day-to-day use.
POCO X7 Pro Review Philippines: Price
The POCO X7 Pro has an official price of Php 22,999 for the 12GB/512GB Iron Man Edition and is exclusive to Shopee. The regular X7 Pro, on the other hand, is exclusive to Lazada and starts at Php 16,999 for the 8GB/256GB variant.
