POCO Coming Back With a Bang With the F8 Pro: Ex-flagship SoC on a Semi-flagship

It’s been a while since Xiaomi brought one of its most value-for-money phones to Nepal. The last time we saw a POCO device land here was all the way back in 2023, and fans have been waiting ever since. Now, that’s about to change with the launch of the POCO F8 Pro.

But POCO isn’t stopping there. Alongside the F8 Pro, Xiaomi is also introducing the X7 Pro and bringing back the fan-favourite F7. With multiple new devices in the lineup, excitement is high, but there’s one big question on everyone’s mind: Is the F8 Pro actually worth it, especially if there’s a marginal price hike?

What is the price of the POCO F8 Pro in Nepal?

In the UK, where the phone has officially launched, the POCO F8 Pro is priced at £550 for the base variant and £600 for the higher storage option. When converted directly, that puts the price at a little over Rs. 93,000 for the base model and slightly above Rs. 1,00,000 for the higher memory variant.

However, the final price the phone will arrive at here in Nepal could be drastically different. Once you factor in taxes, import duties, and distributor margins, the number can climb pretty quickly. And let’s not forget the ongoing AI boom, which has significantly driven up RAM and storage prices worldwide.

Taking all that into account, we’d be lucky if the POCO F8 Pro price in Nepal lands around Rs. 99,999 for the 12GB/256GB variant and Rs. 1,09,999 for the 12GB/512GB variant. But until the phone gets its official launch in Nepal, all of this remains pure speculation.

As I mentioned earlier, it’s been quite a while since we last saw a POCO phone in the Nepali market. In fact, the last POCO F-series device officially launched here was all the way back in 2021, and that was the POCO F3 GT.

A lot has changed since then. Battery capacities have jumped significantly, telephoto lenses have become far more common, and processors have gotten insanely powerful compared to what we had just a few years ago.

And that’s exactly the case with the POCO F8 Pro. Even when you compare it to the previous generation, the POCO F7 Pro, the upgrades look genuinely impressive, making this feel like a proper generational jump, not just a minor refresh.

Alright, enough yapping, let’s get started with the actual overview.

POCO F8 Pro Overview

With a 6.59-inch display, the POCO F8 Pro isn’t the biggest phone on the block, but it’s far from compact either. It sits right in that sweet middle ground, making it comfortable to use one-handed without feeling bulky.

Compared to last year’s F7 Pro, the phone has actually gone slightly smaller. POCO has also ditched the circular camera module and switched to a more iPhone-like camera plateau. Other than that, the overall design remains familiar: a flat body, aluminium frame, and a glass back.

Up front, you’re greeted by a 6.59-inch AMOLED panel. The bezels here are impressively thin, just 1.5mm on the sides, with the bottom chin measuring 1.68mm. On paper, that sounds uneven, but in real-world use, the display looks almost perfectly symmetrical.

This is a 1.5K resolution panel with a 120Hz refresh rate, and POCO has pushed brightness even further this year. High Brightness Mode is now 200 nits brighter, topping out at 2,000 nits, while peak brightness goes all the way up to 3,500 nits, making outdoor visibility a non-issue.

Audio is another pleasant surprise. The stereo speakers support Dolby Atmos and are tuned by BOSE, which is not something you usually see at this price point.

Powering the POCO F8 Pro is last year’s flagship chipset, the Snapdragon 8 Elite (also known as 8 Elite Gen 4). The base variant comes with 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 256GB of UFS 4.1 storage, while those who need more space can opt for a 512GB version.

Cameras are where POCO has made one of its biggest upgrades. The F8 Pro now gets a 50MP telephoto lens with 2.5x optical zoom. For a phone in this price segment, having a dedicated telephoto lens is a very welcome addition. The rest of the setup remains unchanged, with a 50MP main sensor and an 8MP ultra-wide camera.

Battery life also sees a modest bump. The phone now packs a 6,210mAh battery, 210mAh larger than last year, paired with blazing-fast 100W charging. And according to Xiaomi, it charges from 0-100% in 37 minutes, and it even supports 22.5W reverse charging. Lastly, out of the box, it runs the latest Android 16 with HyperOS 3 layered on top.

ALSO READ: Samsung Galaxy S25 Price in Nepal (December 2025 Updated)

The POCO F8 Pro delivers solid specs across the board. From the display to the processor, everything feels dialed in, and at this price point, it goes head-to-head with Samsung’s flagship base model—the Galaxy S25.

And when you look purely at the spec sheet, the F8 Pro actually comes out on top in most areas. It runs the same flagship processor, offers a better telephoto camera, packs a much larger battery, and supports significantly faster charging. These are areas where Samsung typically cuts corners on its base models.

Even if the POCO F8 Pro launches in Nepal at a slightly higher price than its UK pricing, it still looks like a very compelling deal.

What are your thoughts on the POCO F8 Pro? Let us know in the comments below!