POCO is back with another budget-friendly 5G smartphone—the POCO M7 5G. I have been using this phone for a while now, testing everything from its performance, camera, battery life, and software experience. In this detailed review, I will tell you everything you need to know before deciding if this phone is worth your money.
You can also watch our detailed POCO M7 5G Review video.
POCO M7 5G Review
Just like every POCO phone, this one comes in the signature yellow box. On the back, you will see some key specifications, giving an idea of what to expect. Here’s a list of things you get inside the retail box.
- POCO M7 5G
- USB-A to USB-C Cable
- 33W adapter
- SIM Ejector PIN
- User Manual
Now, let’s talk about the phone.
At first glance, the POCO M7 5G looks very familiar, and if you have seen the Redmi 14C 5G, you will know exactly what I mean. The two phones share the same design, dimensions, and even internal specs, with POCO branding being the main difference.
The flat-edge design makes it look modern and premium, despite its plastic construction. The back has a matte finish, which does a good job of resisting fingerprints and smudges. The phone is a bit on the heavier side at 204 grams, but the weight is well-distributed, making it comfortable to hold. However, users with smaller hands might find it slightly wide for one-handed operation.
One important feature is that the POCO M7 5G is IP52-rated. So, the phone has basic dust and splash resistance. This doesn’t make the phone fully waterproof, but it can handle light rain or accidental splashes without any issues. However, I still recommend keeping it away from water to be safe.
On the back, there’s a large circular camera module that houses a dual-camera setup with an LED flash. While it looks similar to other POCO and Redmi phones in this segment, it’s more about style than functionality, as we’ll see when we get to the camera performance.
At the front, the phone has a 6.88-inch display with a U-shaped notch for the selfie camera. The bezels are noticeable, especially at the bottom, but considering this is an affordable phone, it’s not surprising. The phone comes with an HD+ display, which is standard in this price range. While a Full HD+ panel would offer extra sharpness, the overall clarity remains good for daily use. The screen does a good job for everyday tasks like social media, web browsing, and watching YouTube videos. It has a 120Hz refresh rate, which makes scrolling, animations, and UI interactions feel smooth and responsive. In terms of brightness, the panel goes up to 600 nits, which is good enough for indoor and shaded outdoor use. However, under direct sunlight, visibility can be a challenge.
Color reproduction is decent, with reasonably vibrant tones, but it leans slightly toward cooler tones by default. You can adjust the color temperature in the display settings if you prefer a warmer look. Viewing angles are acceptable, but at extreme angles, you might notice some color shifting and a slight drop in brightness, which is common in LCD panels in this segment.
The phone also comes with TÜV Rheinland certification, which helps reduce blue light exposure, making it easier on the eyes during long hours of use.
The right side of the phone has the volume rockers and the power button, which feels clicky and tactile. The left side has a SIM card tray, which supports two SIM cards and a microSD card for storage expansion. At the bottom, we have a USB-C charging port, a microphone, and a speaker grille. The phone also has a 3.5mm headphone jack at the top, which is great for those who still prefer wired earphones.
One feature missing here is the IR blaster, which is usually found on POCO and Redmi phones. If you were hoping to use this phone as a remote control for your TV or other appliances, unfortunately, that’s not an option on the POCO M7 5G.
The POCO M7 5G has a single bottom-firing speaker. It does the job for casual media consumption, but it’s not the loudest or the richest in quality. If you are watching videos or playing games, using wired or wireless earphones will give you a better experience.
Now, let’s talk about performance. The POCO M7 5G is powered by the Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 chipset, a 4nm processor designed for efficiency and power management. It delivers good performance for daily tasks like browsing, using social media, and multitasking, with no major lag. The AnTuTu benchmark score is around 450,000, which is decent for a budget 5G phone.
The phone comes with 6GB of LPDDR4X RAM, along with an additional 6GB of virtual RAM expansion, which helps with multitasking. It also has 128GB UFS 2.2 storage, even in the base model, which makes it interesting. You can also expand the storage up to 1TB.
For gaming, I tested BGMI, Call of Duty Mobile, and Asphalt 9. BGMI runs at Smooth + Ultra (40fps), but during intense fights, there are frame drops. Call of Duty Mobile runs at Medium graphics with High frame rate, which is playable but not super smooth. Casual games like Subway Surfers and Clash Royale run fine with no issues.
Moving on to the software, the phone runs HyperOS 1, based on Android 14. POCO promises two major Android updates and four years of security patches, which is a decent software commitment for a budget device. There are some pre-installed apps, but the good thing is that most of them can be uninstalled. UI is user-friendly and operates smoothly. A few noteworthy features include Game Turbo for performance and Reading Mode, which can adjust the display to black and white.
The POCO M7 5G features a 50MP primary camera with a Sony IMX852 sensor paired with a 2MP depth sensor. The camera app is also feature-rich. It has a dedicated mode to capture 50MP photos. The app also has Google Lens integration. You also get camera effects and beauty mode.
The camera performance is decent in daylight, capturing sharp and detailed photos with good colors. The dynamic range is decent, but in high-contrast scenes, highlights can sometimes get blown out. The 2MP depth sensor is there to assist with portrait mode, but the edge detection isn’t always perfect. In low light, the camera struggles, producing soft images with noticeable noise. Night Mode helps bring in more light, but the shutter speed is slow, making it hard to get sharp shots unless you have steady hands.
The 8MP front camera is decent for selfies in well-lit environments. Selfies capture decent skin tones, and the software-based beauty mode smoothens out skin textures, but details remain sharp if beauty filters are turned off. However, the camera softens facial details in indoor lighting. Without proper lighting, selfies become noticeably noisy, and the sharpness reduces.
For video recording, the phone records up to 1080p at 30fps, but there’s no OIS or EIS, so stability is a weak point. The video quality is decent in good lighting, but low-light footage is noisy and lacks detail. The front camera can also record similar quality video.
If you are planning to record casual videos for social media, the POCO M7 5G’s camera gets the job done in good lighting. In case you need a better quality video recording, you might want to consider a phone with better stabilization.
In terms of connectivity, the phone supports dual SIM 5G with SA/NSA network support, ensuring reliable 5G speeds. Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.1 provide stable wireless connections. The side-mounted fingerprint sensor is quick and reliable, unlocking the phone instantly. One interesting addition is the FM radio feature, which works only when you plug in a wired headphone, as it acts as an antenna.
Now, let’s talk about battery life. The POCO M7 5G packs a 5160mAh battery, which easily lasts a full day with moderate use. However, the charging speed is disappointing. Even though a 33W charger is included in the box, the phone only supports 18W charging. It takes 13 minutes to charge from 0 to 15%, 40 minutes to reach 40%, and around 120 minutes to charge from 0 to 100%.
So, should you buy the POCO M7 5G?
The phone has a smooth 120Hz display, decent performance, and solid battery life, making it a good budget 5G option. However, the cameras struggle in low light, and the lack of Full HD+ resolution and slow charging might be dealbreakers for some.
If you want a budget 5G phone with expandable storage, a headphone jack, and long battery life, the POCO M7 5G is a solid choice. But if better cameras, an AMOLED display, or faster charging are important to you, you might want to look at other options.
What do you think about the POCO M7 5G? Let me know in the comments!
