The price segment Poco M7 Pro 5G comes in is among the most competitive and it doesn’t have the highest profit margins. It’s, in fact, a hit-or-miss segment, meaning if you don’t get that one or two features right, chances of selling the phone diminish.

In the design department, Poco has tried to do a few things differently. There is a nice pattern on the rear panel and the camera module will appeal to many people, though it comes across as somewhat big to me. No company can go out of the way with design in this category, so it’s good to see Poco not making any compromises.

Colours are on the brighter side to make photographs shine on social media

Even though 3.5 mm port has become a rare sighting, it’s there on the phone. Also present is an IR Blaster. The hybrid SIM card slot accepts either one SIM and a micro SD card or two SIMs. In the protection department, there is Gorilla Glass 5.

Poco has gone with a flat 6.67-inch FHD+ flat AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate and it boasts 2100 nits of peak brightness. Again bringing in the pricing bit into play, this is a very good display for the category. Even colour reproduction is up to scratch. It’s good enough for streaming services, especially when you consider the stereo speakers.

Let’s talk about performance

The processor in this phone is MediaTek Dimensity 7025 Ultra and the base variant has 6GB RAM (LPDDR4X) and 128GB storage (UFS 2.2). You can also opt for 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. On top of that, you get a 5110 mAh battery and a 45W charger in the box.

Even if you play games for hours, there is reasonable stability and even though you won’t get the best gaming experience, the company never meant this to be a gaming champ. Thermals don’t go all over the place while gaming.

On the software side, there is HyperOS and it’s based on Android 14 but you will get two years of major software updates and four years of security updates. Had the phone come with Android 15, it would have been a bonus. There are some preinstalled apps but these can be deleted. Of course, why put them in the first place? Also possible is call recording, a feature many people want on their phones.

Even under uneven lighting, the main camera performs well

Poco has made this a 5G phone and you get all the important bands, making connectivity smooth. There is also Bluetooth 5.3. What you don’t get is NFC support.

How about the camera? Under Rs 15,000 it’s difficult to get a good set of cameras. Even though there is no ultra-wide mode, the primary sensor is 50MP LYT 600 with OIS. Forget the 2MP depth camera but the main camera is quite good. There is a good degree of clarity, even the dynamic range is acceptable. The 20MP selfie camera is above average, producing respectable skin tones. Don’t expect too much when taking photos at night but given the segment we are dealing with... this is among the best.

There is a lot of bloatware on the phone

Make the call

There are some drawbacks, like the absence of an ultra-wide snapper and having Android 14 out of the box. Yet, the phone comes across as a balanced deal. Scoring bonus points are IP64 rating and FM radio support.

At a glance

Device: Poco M7 Pro 5G

Price: Upwards of ₹13,999 (visit Flipkart for deals)

High notes

Good 5G connectivity

Battery life is good and so is camera performance

Acceptable thermal cooling

Muffled notes

Android 14 out of the box