Poco launches the F9 Ultra and F9 Pro with 185Hz displays and 200MP cameras

Poco has just launched the F9 Ultra and F9 Pro. The F9 Ultra is the global version of the Redmi K100 Pro Max, and the F9 Pro is the global version of the Redmi K100 Pro, both of which arrived in China in August.

Poco launched the F8 series on 26 November 2025, and the F9 series has arrived on 1 September 2026, roughly three months earlier in the annual cycle. Qualcomm typically introduces its next flagship silicon at its Snapdragon Summit later in September, so the F9 series lands just ahead of that announcement and misses the next generation entirely.

Both phones therefore run the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, the same chip that powered the F8 Ultra last November. Poco’s reasoning, as explained to me, is that keeping the existing platform helped hold prices down during the ongoing memory shortage.

The F9 Pro at least benefits from that decision. Where last year’s F8 Pro used the older Snapdragon 8 Elite, this year’s Pro runs the same 8 Elite Gen 5 as the Ultra, closing a gap that existed across the previous generation.

Battery capacity is where the global models differ most from their Chinese siblings. The F9 Ultra ships with an 8,050mAh cell against the K100 Pro Max’s 9,070mAh, a reduction of 1,020mAh or around 11%. The F9 Pro gets 6,330mAh against the K100 Pro’s 8,580mAh, which is 2,250mAh less, or just over a quarter of the capacity removed. Poco still describes the Ultra as delivering two-day battery life and the Pro as all-day, both based on its own internal lab testing.

A Xiaomi representative told us the smaller cells come down to meeting global standards and that the reduction was necessary for the company to ship the devices worldwide. No further detail was given on which specific standards or markets drive the figure.

Global buyers also lose the charger as neither model includes a power adapter in the box, despite both supporting 100W wired charging.

On performance, Poco quotes an AnTuTu score of 4,165,108 for the F9 Ultra from its own labs, describing it as the highest the company has recorded on a Poco phone.

Both phones pair the main chip with a dedicated VisionBoost D8 graphics chipset, which drives the headline gaming claim of up to 185FPS. That figure comes with conditions. Poco says it applies to selected games under internal test conditions, with native support across more than 20 titles and five additional games reaching it through Smart frame rate upscaling. Real-world frame rates will vary with the title, graphics settings, thermals and network conditions.

The displays run at 185Hz on both models, using what Poco calls HyperRGB AMOLED panels with a full RGB subpixel structure. The F9 Ultra features a 6.9-inch screen, and the F9 Pro a 6.59-inch one. Both are built on the new M11 luminescent material, with quoted peaks of 4,500 nits in general use and 10,000 nits for HDR content, and both carry TÜV Rheinland Quadruple Eye Care certification under Xiaomi Vision Care.

The audio comes from Poco’s ongoing partnership with Bose. The F9 Ultra runs dual 1115D stereo speakers alongside a 1620 independent subwoofer for a 2.1-channel setup, while the F9 Pro uses dual 1115F speakers with a sealed cavity design and no subwoofer. Two tuning profiles ship on both.

A Game audio mode that raises footstep volume for directional awareness arrives via OTA from September on selected titles. Charging covers 100W wired and 50W wireless across the lineup, plus 27W wired and 22.5W wireless reverse charging. Wireless chargers are sold separately.

The camera system leads with Poco’s first 200MP main sensor with OIS on both models, paired with a 32MP front camera. The F9 Ultra adds a 5x periscope telephoto with 10x lossless zoom and 20x AI Ultra Zoom. The F9 Pro instead uses a 50MP 2.5x floating telephoto that focuses from as close as 10cm. Notably, the press release does not mention an ultra-wide camera on either phone, though both Redmi models carry one.

Price and availability

The F9 Ultra comes in Dark Cherry and Black. It starts at $799 or €1,099 for 12GB/256GB, rising to $949 or €1,199 for 16GB/512GB and $1,199 or €1,399 for 16GB/1TB. Early bird pricing cuts those to $729, $799 and $1,059 respectively, or €829, €899 and €1,199.

The F9 Pro comes in White, Aurora Green and Black, with the Aurora Green version carrying a glow-in-the-dark back panel that charges under sunlight or indoor light and can be drawn on with a laser pointer sold separately. It starts at $699 or €899 for 12GB/256GB and $769 or €999 for 12GB/512GB, with early bird pricing of $649 and $699, or €739 and €799.