At P37,000, POCO F7 Ultra is currently most affordable Snapdragon 8 Elite phone

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Early bird price starts at P35,000, valid for purchases from March 27 to April 3

SINGAPORE – Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite is currently the best chipset on the market for an Android phone, having been seen in the Samsung S25, OnePlus 13, Xiaomi 15, the ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro, and HONOR Magic7 Pro among others. 

On Thursday, March 27, Chinese brand POCO fielded another entry in the 8 Elite market with the launch of its F7 Ultra flagship. The standout thing here? The Xiaomi sub-brand is offering the cheapest Snapdragon 8 Elite-equipped phone so far, launching the F7 Ultra at P37,000 (and with an early bird rate from March 27 to April 3 at P35,000). The global launch was held in Singapore.

Coming with this year’s best possible Android chipset with that price should certainly turn some heads. By comparison, the cheapest Samsung S25 is P52,000; the XIaomi 15 starts at P46,000; the OnePlus 13 starts at P55,000; and the ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro sits at P63,000. 

The HONOR Magic7 Pro, while it has been previewed to Philippine media, doesn’t have a price yet locally. Converting from its Chinese price tag, the 7 Pro sits at about P45,000 for the base model. A realme GT7 Pro also comes with the Snapdragon 8 Elite, which is expected to have a competitive, affordable price too in comparison directly with POCO’s F7 Ultras, but it hasn’t been announced for the Philippine market yet. 

So at P37,000, the F7 Ultra is P9,000 cheaper than the next cheapest Snapdragon 8 Elite phone, the Xiaomi 15. 

With some hands-on time with the device, the build of the phone feels sturdy with a metal frame, and is a good-looking device with its textured matte back finish, with the top-third of the phone with the camera array showing a different kind of finish. It features a triple camera setup too, with POCO claiming flagship-level improvements for its ultrawide and telephoto shooters. 

The F7 Ultra is the first “Ultra” tier device from the series. Last year’s range-topping F6 Pro had a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, which is a notch lower than the the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset that 2024 flagships were equipped with. With the Ultra’s Snapdragon 8 Elite, the phone heats up the competition with the pricing it offers. Expect a more in-depth look as we get more hands-on time with the phone. 

The P35,000 model comes with 12GB RAM and 256GB of storage. The 16GB + 256GB variant is priced at P40,000 (and P38,000 for its early bird rate). The POCO F7 Pro meanwhile will carry the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, last year’s flagship chipset, and starts at P28,000 (12GB RAM + 256GB storage). The 12GB RAM + 512GB storage variant is priced at P30,000. Early bird rates for the Pro are P25,000 and P26,000 respectively. – Rappler.com