Poco X8 Pro Max Review: It Just Won’t Quit
Jin Soh
The Poco brand has always built its identity around one proposition: flagship-level performance at a price that makes you do a double take. As one of the earlier adopters of the ‘flagship killer’ model, Poco helped define a segment that has since become crowded with competitors all making the same promise. The question now is whether the brand still has something distinct to offer in a market that has largely caught up.
The X8 Pro Max might be Poco’s answer to that question, sitting at the top of the newly launched X8 series. Compared to the standard X8 Pro, the Max steps up with a more powerful processor and a considerably larger 8,500mAh battery, that’s 2,000mAh more than its sibling.
What Is It?
The Poco X8 Pro Max is the first phone to ship with the Dimensity 9500s processor, paired with 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM. The display is a 6.83-inch 1.5K AMOLED panel, and the phone carries IP66, IP68 and IP69K dust and water resistance ratings. The main camera is a 50MP sensor accompanied by an 8MP ultrawide lens, and charging is handled by 100W HyperCharge over the 8,500mAh silicon-carbon battery.
In the box you get the phone, a black silicone case, a USB-C to USB-A cable and a 100W charging brick.
The Good Stuff
Day to day, the Dimensity 9500s keeps things moving without breaking a sweat. Scrolling, streaming and jumping between apps all feel snappy, with no hesitation worth noting in normal use.
Gaming performance is where the X8 Pro Max flexes more deliberately. The WildBoost Optimization suite brings along Smart Frame Rate, 1.5K Super Resolution, 24x super resolution touch and Game HDR, collectively enabling smoother gameplay beyond native frame limits.
PUBG Mobile runs at its highest settings with a stable frame rate throughout. Where Winds Meet pushes the hardware a bit harder at its highest overclocked settings, with some frame drops appearing, though pulling back on crowd density and lighting resolves most of that. Genshin Impact runs on High at 30fps without issue, though Highest settings introduce stuttering. Hitting 60fps requires a custom mix of medium and high settings, and while gameplay stays smooth even during combat, the phone does noticeably heat up after extended sessions.
The battery, however, is the real centrepiece. With about 10 hours of screen-on time across a mix of gaming and video streaming, the X8 Pro Max sits in a different category from most smartphones on the market. Reaching for a power bank becomes a habit you simply stop doing. I found myself having to make a deliberate effort to run the battery down just to properly test the charging for this review. Safe to say, Poco’s claim of 2-day battery life is more than achievable.
Speaking of charging, with the 100W HyperCharge adapter included in the box, the phone fully tops up from 0 – 100% in roughly less than an hour. If you’re worried about battery degradation over time with fast charging as I am, Poco claims the phone retains over 80% of its capacity even after 1,600 charge cycles, which is equivalent to about six years of regular use.
The Not-So-Good Stuff
That heat during gaming is worth flagging more directly. Performance is admirable, as mentioned, but the phone gets warm quickly under sustained load, which is something to be aware of during longer sessions. Installing the included case to the phone does mitigate the issue a touch since you’re not in direct contact with the back of the phone but it’s at the cost of aesthetics.
Camera performance is competent rather than exceptional. Images lean toward crushed blacks that produce a contrasty look, which some will find punchy and others will find overdone. Colours run more saturated than real life and there is visible over-sharpening in the processing. Low-light performance is more flattering, with the processing favouring shadow detail in a way that keeps darker areas controlled and less noisy than phones that simply push exposure up across the board.
Software remains the familiar story with Xiaomi’s HyperOS: bloatware comes pre-installed and occasional pop-up advertisements make an unwelcome appearance. Aside from uninstalling said apps, nothing much can be done until HyperOS receives an overhaul in the future.
Is It Worth It?
If you regularly carry a power bank because your phone cannot make it through a demanding day, the Poco X8 Pro Max makes a compelling case for itself. Gamers will find the performance genuinely satisfying, and the battery life is in a class of its own at this price point.
The Poco X8 Pro Max retails at RM1,999 for the 12GB and 256GB model and RM2,199 for the 512GB variant. A launch promotion currently brings those prices down to RM1,699 and RM1,799 respectively.
The price-to-performance ratio here shows Poco is a step closer to being back on form. The days of the flagship killer may be behind us, but the X8 Pro Max still carries the philosophy of a phone that punches above its weight.