Budget powerhouse dominates Android rivals with its performance

With its MediaTek Dimensity 8500 Ultra, the Poco X8 Pro continues the dominance of its predecessor in the budget mid-range segment. The chipset handles everyday tasks effortlessly and delivers top-tier results for this price point, even in demanding applications. In Geekbench benchmarks, the Poco X8 Pro leaves its competitors in this price bracket behind.

In our review, the comparison devices—a Motorola Edge 70 Fusion and a Samsung Galaxy A36—trail the Xiaomi phone by about 50 percent in the multi-core score. In AI tests, the gap is nearly 100 percent – you can read the exact figures once the review is live (stay tuned!).

The Mali-G720 MP8 GPU is also particularly noteworthy, providing a boost in graphics performance with an additional core compared to the previous generation. In the GFXBench 4K test, the Poco X8 Pro achieves nearly 30 fps, while other representatives of the affordable mid-range, such as the Motorola Edge 70 Fusion or Galaxy A36, fail at the 10 fps mark.

The Xiaomi phone’s speakers are excellent for the price range

But Xiaomi isn't just making a statement with the SoC of its mid-range phone. The speakers of the Poco X8 Pro also demonstrate real quality for a mid-range smartphone. Only 5 percent of all devices tested in this class performed better than the Xiaomi phone in our tests.

Compared to a Motorola Edge 70 Fusion, the stereo speakers of the Poco X8 Pro deliver a balanced sound with linear mids and highs, along with surprisingly present bass. For those seeking a powerful audio package including Auracast support, the Poco X8 Pro is a very attractive alternative in the mid-range.