Deals: Poco F7 arrives, Pixel 9a, Nothing Phone (3a) Pro, Realme GT 7 on sale
The Poco F7 launched this week, but there are plenty of phones near its price range that should be considered before committing to a purchase. We will also have a quick look at the two other F7 models.
The Poco F7 is one of the first phones with the new Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 and offers great performance for the price. The large 6.83” OLED display is great and the 6,500mAh battery lasts a long while (and is quick to charge at 90W to boot). Despite being the vanilla model of a value-oriented series, the F7 has a premium build with an aluminum frame and an IP68 rating.
The Poco F7 Pro is €150 more, but its Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 is only marginally faster. Its display is smaller (6.67” vs. 6.83”) and sharper (1440p+ vs. 1280p+). The battery is smaller too at 6,000mAh, which can be felt in the Active Use score, which ended up 1 hour lower. The Pro model has a bigger sensor in the main camera (1/1.55” vs. 1/1.95”) and it supports 8K video recording (only on the main cam, though, the ultra-wide doesn’t even have autofocus).
The Google Pixel 9a is pricier than the F7, despite having less memory. Worse, the Tensor G4 chipset is in a class below the Snapdragons. Whether you prefer the Google Android skin or the Poco one is up to you. The Pixel is pretty efficient, but not enough to make up for its small 5,100mAh battery. And the charging is quite slow (23W vs. 90W). Wireless charging is available, even if at only 7.5W. The Pixel also has an aluminum frame and an IP68 rating.
You can get the Nothing Phone (3a) Pro for less than the F7. The Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 can’t even match the Pixel 9a’s performance, but Nothing spent its budget on the cameras instead of on the chipset. The 50MP main has a relatively large 1/1.56” sensor and there is a 50MP 3x/70mm telephoto lens – quite rare in this price range! There’s also an 8MP ultra-wide on the back and a 50MP selfie camera on the front.
Moving closer to flagship territory we find the Poco F7 Ultra. It is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite and a 5,300mAh battery with 120W wired and 50W wireless charging. The 6.67” 1440p+ OLED display is a 12-bit panel. The phone is equipped with a 50MP main camera (1/1.55”), 50MP telephoto (2.5x/60mm) and 32MP ultra-wide, plus a 32MP selfie camera.
The Realme GT 7 is a bit cheaper and is based on the Dimensity 9400e. It comes close to the Snapdragon 8 Elite, though lags behind in single-core CPU and ray tracing GPU tests. The 6.78” 1264p+ 10-bit display has fewer pixels and colors, but it is an LTPO panel. The camera system is similar with a 50MP main (1/1.56”), 50MP telephoto (2x), 8MP ultra-wide and 32MP selfie. The Realme has a huge 7,000mAh battery with fast 120W wired-only charging. It is rated IP69, but only has a plastic frame (the F7 Ultra is rated IP68 and has an aluminum frame).
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