GSMArena Team, 10 September 2026

Poco F9 Pro review

6. Alternatives, pros and cons, verdict

Competition

The Poco F9 Pro's MSRP is quite steep - €900/$800, but the Early Bird promotion is still active in some regions, bringing it down to €740 and $650, respectively. And since you can already find prices around €750 at third-party retailers, you can reasonably expect the phone to settle down below €700 in the coming weeks or months. That's why we picked mostly alternatives in that ballpark.

Starting with the Honor 600 Pro and the Xiaomi 17T Pro, both devices outshine the Poco F9 Pro in the camera department with a more versatile setup and generally better photo and video capabilities. The F9 Pro, on the other hand, has a slightly more powerful SoC. Perhaps the 17T Pro is the best pick among all three, as it offers the largest battery and it's the cheapest.

Xiaomi 17T Pro • Honor 600 Pro

The Motorola Edge 70 Pro is also a nice alternative with arguably better camera experience, primarily because of the better ultrawide camera and longer zoom. It also has comparable battery life and charging speed, but falls short when it comes to performance. The F9 Pro remains your safest bet if you are looking for the best possible performance at the given price.

Motorola Edge 70 Pro • Samsung Galaxy S26 • Xiaomi Poco F8 Pro

Interestingly, the Poco F9 Pro has the Galaxy S26 as its direct competitor as well. In fact, the Galaxy is currently, and it's probably a good choice if you are looking for something more premium and compact. It has a marginally more powerful Exynos 2600 chipset and better camera performance, too. But despite being a true flagship phone, the F9 Pro is still the better choice if battery life and charging speed are on your priority list.

Finally, there are still some Poco F8 Pro units left on the shelves, if you are willing to make a few compromises. You still get a flagship chipset from 2025, roughly the same camera experience and faster charging. As long as you are willing to miss out on F9 Pro's improved battery life and better main sensor you can end up saving €200 or so.

Verdict

All in all, the Poco F9 Pro is a great all-rounder with some small drawbacks in the camera department. Sure, you can easily find better camera phones around the same price, but the Poco offers flagship-level performance, battery life, display quality and charging.

Our main gripes are the overly inflated launch price and the dated 8MP ultrawide camera. Perhaps a longer zoom wouldn't have hurt either, considering how close the main 200MP camera's 2x crops get to the telephoto's quality.

Pros

Excellent build and feel.
Bright, feature-packed OLED display.
Great battery life, fast wireless charging added.
Nice-sounding stereo speakers.
Excellent price/performance ratio.

Cons

Major price hike compared to the previous generation.
Ultrawide camera is underwhelming; the 2.5x zoom camera feels obsolete at times.
The 185Hz refresh rate is a gimmick - only available in certain games.