Poco F9 Ultra: Flagship Power at $500 Less

Poco's new F9 Ultra packs the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and a 185Hz AMOLED screen, starting at $799—undercutting the Galaxy S26 Ultra by $500.

Ever wanted flagship-level gaming without dropping $1,300? Poco might have your answer with the F9 Ultra.

Starting at $799 for 12GB RAM and 256GB storage, the Poco F9 Ultra goes up to $949 for 16GB/512GB and $1,199 for 16GB/1TB. That's $500 less than the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra at the base level, and $600 less if you go for the 1TB model. For that price, you're getting the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset—the same one found in the RedMagic 11 Pro and Galaxy S26 Ultra. It's not the overclocked "Leading Version" in the pricier RedMagic 11S Pro, but it's still as fast as most flagships from the last year.

The 6.9-inch AMOLED display runs at a blistering 185Hz refresh rate with Dolby Vision and HDR10+ support. It's Samsung's M11 panel, which promises better efficiency and up to 10,000 nits peak brightness—though in reality, you'll see around 2,000 to 2,500 nits in high brightness mode. Colors are vibrant and detailed, and while it's not quite as bold as the RedMagic 11 Pro, it offers a more natural tone that works well for all kinds of content.

Audio is a standout feature: a 2.1 speaker setup with two stereo speakers and a Bose subwoofer on the back. That extra bass adds serious punch to movies, music, and games—you might not even need earbuds.

Design-wise, the F9 Ultra looks premium with soft rounded corners, a bold grape color, and a camera bump reminiscent of an iPhone 18 Pro Max. It has a flat aluminum frame and a soft-touch glass-fiber polymer back. At 235g, it's a bit hefty—heavier than the Galaxy S26 Ultra (214g) but lighter than the iPhone 18 Pro Max (239g). It uses Corning Gorilla Glass 7i instead of the more advanced Armor 2 on the S26 Ultra, so you lose some anti-glare, but durability is still solid.

Under the hood, you get up to 16GB RAM and 1TB storage, a massive 8050mAh battery, IP68 water resistance, and HyperOS 3 based on Android 16. Cameras include a 200MP main, 50MP ultrawide, 50MP telephoto, and a 32MP front shooter—so you're not sacrificing photography for gaming.

If you want a gaming phone without the aggressive "gamer" aesthetic, the Poco F9 Ultra is a compelling alternative. Will you be picking one up?