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Phone Arena
a day ago
- Phone Arena
Fork ahead: the Xiaomi 16 Ultra might have another, super-premium edition
Is the smartphone world sick already of Pro, Pro Max, Ultra and such pompous monikers? Probably not, since there might be two versions of the Xiaomi 16 Ultra – and no, this isn't a China-exclusive and a global variant of the same phone. The Xiaomi 15 Ultra. | Image by PhoneArena The latest rumor draws light on an upcoming Xiaomi phone, listed as P1S on the GSMA certification database – a global registry used to verify mobile device model numbers, network compatibility, and regulatory approvals before products are launched or sold internationally. You know, strictly administrative stuff (at the end of the day, it's useful, since it does provide us with information like this very rumor).So, the listed Xiaomi P1S device sports both global (25128PNA1G) and Chinese (25128PNA1C) versions. This points to the possibility of a more advanced or specialized variant, aimed at higher-end than that, the P1S is expected to run on Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite 2 chipset, consistent with the rest of the Xiaomi 16 series. Additional features may include refined camera technology, exclusive design elements, and improved thermal performance. The China-exclusive version of the P1S will most likely feature Xiaomi's proprietary XRING O1 processor, which the company has previously indicated would remain exclusive to domestic devices. The Xiaomi 15 Ultra. | Image by PhoneArena Could it be that the new model will be referred to as the Xiaomi 16 Pro Max? Personally, I doubt it – that's too close to the naming convention of Apple and the iPhone. The final naming remains uncertain; it might be the Xiaomi 16 Ultra Max or Xiaomi 16S Ultra, it would be less surprising if it's something down that line. The presence of separate global and Chinese identifiers further supports the likelihood of an international speculation within the industry suggests the P1S may feature notable upgrades over the standard Ultra, such as improvements in camera hardware, a larger battery, or the use of distinct materials. These enhancements would position it as a premium option within the series, likely intended for advanced users or professionals. Now, camera-focused flagships are my weakness, hence, the Xiaomi 16 Ultra is one of the phones that I keep an eye out for – even if its premiere is nowhere near at the present moment. Usually, the vanilla Xiaomi flagship (like the Xiaomi 15) is unveiled in the fall, while the Ultra model materializes at a point in Q1 of the following year. Such was the case with the Xiaomi 15 Ultra – its China-exclusive version arrived at the end of February 2025, while the model for global markets was unveiled on March 2 at the usual MWC (Mobile World Congress) held annually in Barcelona. The Xiaomi 15 Ultra. | Image by PhoneArena So, a better camera on the Xiaomi P1S device? I'm drooling over that idea, but if I have to be realistic about it, I doubt it (until further leaks corroborate it). The Ultra will undoubtedly pack top-shelf camera hardware, so maybe the mysterious P1S flagship could rely on extra premium materials? Or, indeed, an even larger battery. Previous rumors whisper that the vanilla Xiaomi 16 – mind you, a "compact" flagship, not a plus-sized model – could squeeze in a mind-blowing 6,800mAh battery with 100W fast charging support. How much bigger than that could the P1S go? In theory, there's plenty of room and silicon-carbon batteries – the very technology that's been widely adopted by Far East brands like Xiaomi and other Samsung, Apple rivals – could hit 9,000mAh capacity. The future is bright, ladies and gentlemen! Secure your connection now at a bargain price! We may earn a commission if you make a purchase Check Out The Offer
Phone Arena
a day ago
- Phone Arena
Even if the AirPods Pro 3 come out this year, Apple's earbuds sales are unlikely to continue growing
Following years and years of rapid growth, the global wireless earbuds market has reportedly reached its "maturity" phase, which means the sales numbers of many top vendors are likely to hit a stagnation point in 2025. That includes the industry's biggest name of them all, which is expected (by some insiders) to release a highly anticipated AirPods Pro 3 product at some point this year. But even if that will end up happening (which is by no means a guarantee right now), the undoubtedly high price tag of Apple's next super-premium earbuds is likely to make it difficult for the company to boost its overall shipment figures compared to 2024. Instead, Counterpoint Research analysts believe Apple's market share could drop from 22 percent last year to 21 percent at the end of this year on the back of a weirdly specific 0.4 percent decline in global volumes. 21 percent, of course, will still be enough to keep all other vendors at bay, starting with Xiaomi and Samsung. That's a teeny-tiny projected decline for Apple and a pretty impressive jump for Xiaomi. | Image Credit - Counterpoint Research Xiaomi, mind you, is expected to enjoy the largest year-on-year growth in TWS (true wireless stereo) sales among the world's top five vendors, which should help the Chinese tech giant consolidate its silver medal position in this market and expand its lead over bronze medalist boAt. That's an Indian brand very few consumers outside its homeland are likely to be familiar with, which has known incredible domestic growth over the last couple of years thanks primarily to ultra-affordable models. But as the company's "core audience" of first-time users has been "primarily captured", boAt's numbers are projected to start shrinking this year, thus increasing Samsung and JBL's hopes of cracking the global podium soon enough. Both Samsung and JBL are likely to boost their 2025 volumes compared to 2024's figures, although it kind of feels like the ever-expanding Galaxy Buds portfolio should be performing a little better. All in all, Counterpoint expects around 3 percent more wireless earbuds to be sold worldwide this year compared to the last, which sounds like the textbook definition of marginal growth. Interestingly, Apple could drive a bigger jump for the industry on the whole in 2027 if the "standard" AirPods get an upgrade and a "new ANC-equipped version" also comes out by the end of next year. That seems unlikely to me, but then again, I'm not an analyst, market researcher, pundit, or insider. Secure your connection now at a bargain price! We may earn a commission if you make a purchase Check Out The Offer
GSM Arena
5 days ago
- GSM Arena
Poco F7 vs Poco F7 Pro
The Poco F7 Series is here, and as usual, Xiaomi has released not one, but two near-flagship killers - the Poco F7 and the Poco F7 Pro. Both phones promise top-tier performance, premium features, and competitive pricing, staying true to Poco's legacy of delivering exceptional value. But while the regular F7 lands with a bigger battery and slightly larger display, the Pro model brings a sharper screen, superior cameras, and a more powerful chipset to the table. With just €100 between them, it's a tough choice - so which one offers the better deal? The Poco F7 arrives with a single flagship-grade memory option - 12 GB RAM paired with either 256 GB or 512 GB of UFS 4.1 storage, offering a smooth experience and plenty of space for apps, media, and games. In the EU, the 12+256 GB configuration is priced at €449.99, while the 12+512 GB jumps to €499.99, with a similar launch price bracket in India under INR 35,000 (~US $399/449). The Poco F7 Pro offers again 12 GB RAM combined with either 256 GB or 512 GB of UFS 4.1 internal storage. Pricing is set higher, with the global launch starting around US $499 (≈€499) for the 12+256 GB version and US $549 for 12+512 GB. Table of Contents: Design Display Battery Life Charging Speaker Test Performance Cameras Verdict For starters, you can compare the complete specs sheets or directly continue with our editor's assessment in the following text. Size comparison Xiaomi Poco F7 5G Xiaomi Poco F7 Pro There's a modest size difference between the Poco F7 and the Poco F7 Pro. The regular F7 is slightly taller, wider, and heavier than the Pro, likely due to its larger battery and screen. Still, both phones remain comfortably within the slim and lightweight category for large-screen devices. The differences in hand are noticeable but not drastic - if you value a more compact feel, the Pro has the advantage here. Both phones have the same design language, and both have IP68 ingress protection. For materials, the front of both phones is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus. The back of the F7 Pro is made of glass, while the regular F7 uses high-quality plastic, giving the Pro a slightly more premium feel. The middle frame is plastic on both models, though it's finished nicely to resemble aluminum. Connectivity is also identical for the most part. Both phones support dual SIM functionality, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.4, and have USB-C ports. However, the Poco F7 supports DisplayPort video output over USB-C, which is missing on the F7 Pro for some reason. Speaker setup is identical too, with both phones offering stereo speakers tuned for Dolby Atmos. They're using a hybrid stereo arrangement with a shared earpiece and bottom-firing secondary speaker. The setup delivers loud and balanced sound. And both phones also feature a quality haptic motor. Button placement is standard and consistent between the two phones - volume rocker and power key are located on the right side, while the left side remains clean. Both phones use an under-display optical fingerprint reader, so there is no difference there. It's worth noting that both models have an IR blaster, which is located near the camera island on the back instead of its usual location on the top frame. Display comparison Xiaomi Poco F7 5G Xiaomi Poco F7 Pro Both phones feature high-quality AMOLED panels with 120Hz refresh rates and Dolby Vision video support. The Poco F7's is a larger 6.83-inch display with a 2772 x 1280px resolution, while the F7 Pro opts for a slightly smaller 6.67-inch display but with a higher 3200 x 1440px resolution. So in terms of sharpness, the Pro clearly wins with its 526ppi density. Max screen brightness is comparable - 1525 nits on the F7 and 1478 nits on the Pro - so both are excellent in sunlight. It really comes down to whether you value more screen estate or extra pixel sharpness. The bezels around the screens are symmetrical and minimal on both phones. Battery life The Poco F7 has the larger battery of the two, at 6500 mAh, compared to the F7 Pro's 6000 mAh. However, that extra capacity doesn't pay off as the F7 Pro delivers longer or equal battery life performance across all of our tests except gaming, which is the only test in which the F7 takes the win. Charging speed Xiaomi Poco F7 5G 6500 mAh Xiaomi Poco F7 Pro 6000 mAh Charging is equally impressive on both devices, with 90W wired charging supported out of the box. The Poco F7 Pro had a slight advantage in our charging speed test, reaching a full charge in just 34 minutes compared to the F7's 39 minutes. The Pro also manages to hit 53% in 15 minutes versus 50% on the F7. The differences are small and likely come down to battery size, but if we're splitting hairs, the Pro edges it. Speaker test Both phones offer stereo speaker setups and support for Dolby Atmos. In our loudness tests, they scored nearly identically, delivering powerful and well-balanced sound. The Poco F7 has slightly deeper bass presence, while the F7 Pro provides a cleaner midrange. There's not a huge difference, but audio enthusiasts might prefer the Pro's more refined tuning, whereas casual users will be happy with either. Performance The Poco F7 and Poco F7 Pro both aim for flagship-class speed, but they diverge significantly in processing power. The Poco F7 is equipped with the brand-new Snapdragon 8s Gen 4, built on a 4nm process with an all-big-core CPU architecture and peak clock speeds around 3.2 GHz. Despite trailing behind the full Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 inside the Pro, it punches well above its mid-range price, delivering robust performance in everyday tasks and light gaming. The F7 Pro's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, however, edges ahead with a stronger GPU, and superior sustained performance under intensive workloads. Xiaomi Poco F7 5G Xiaomi Poco F7 Pro Memory-wise, both phones ship with 12 GB of LPDDR5X RAM, ensuring smooth multitasking and future-proof headroom. Storage configurations are generous, offering 256 GB or 512 GB of UFS 4.1 memory. Benchmark performance In synthetic benchmarks, the two phones are almost neck and neck in the compound AnTuTu test and even in the Geekbench CPU test. But the GPU-heavy 3DMark Wild Life test reveals a significant gap in performance - 4,795 vs. 3,953. In short, the two phones perform around the same and deliver more than enough speed for most users. However, the F7 Pro is the better performer in graphics-heavy scenarios like games. This, however, clearly comes at the expense of battery efficiency, as the F7 was able to last longer in our game battery test. Camera comparison Although both Poco F7 models deploy a 50 MP main camera with optical image stabilization and phase-detect autofocus, they actually use different sensors. The ultrawide cameras are identical on both phones: an 8 MP camera with a 15 mm lens focal length (read: not terribly wide). Neither camera supports autofocus, which is typical for a budget ultrawide sensor like this one. Selfies are captured by a 20 MP front camera (OmniVision OV20B, f/2.2) on both phones. There's no autofocus here either. Front-facing video is limited to 1080p. Speaking of video, both phones are capable of recording up to 4K at 60fps from the main camera. Ultrawide video remains capped at 1080p and lacks stabilization. Image quality In daylight, the Poco F7 Pro's main camera produces ever so slightly crisper photos. The F7 Pro also has better dynamic range with highlights coming out better preserved. The ultrawide cameras have quite a different output, despite using the same camera hardware. The Poco F7 appears to take less processed ultrawide photos, but we prefer the more sharpened look of the F7 Pro. As for the 2x shots, the ones by the vanilla F7, look decidedly better with superior sharpness and contrast than the Poco F7 Pro. Poco F7: 0.6x • 1x • 2x Poco F7 Pro: 0.6x • 1x • 2x In low-light photography, the two trade blows again. The F7 Pro's ultrawide camera really outshone the F7's with much sharper photos. But when it comes to the main cam, we'd give the nod to the Poco F7 this time around for its sharper output - a difference, which is visible upon closer examination. The F7's advantage continues at 2x zoom, too. Poco F7: 0.6x • 1x • 2x Poco F7 Pro: 0.6x • 1x • 2x Both the Poco F7 and F7 Pro are equipped with the same 20MP front-facing camera, and as expected, selfie image quality is quite similar, but we did spot slightly better highlight retention by the F7 Pro. Poco F7 selfie Poco F7 Pro selfie Video quality Both phones can record up to 4K at 60fps from the main camera, but stabilization and image clarity are better on the F7 Pro. The Pro's footage exhibits better detail, more natural colors, and better dynamic range. The same holds true in low light as well. The F7 isn't far behind, but the Pro model offers slightly better video quality across the board. Below we have a few framegrabs from the videos taken by the two phones at each focal length, so it's easier to compare to one another. Poco F7: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 1x low light Poco F7 Pro: 0.6x • 1x • 2x • 1x low light Verdict The Poco F7 and Poco F7 Pro are both compelling offerings, delivering flagship-grade hardware at midrange prices. Each phone focuses on different priorities, which makes choosing between them a matter of preference and use case rather than a clear-cut winner. The Poco F7 stands out between the two with its larger 6.83-inch display and lower price tag. It manages excellent performance thanks to the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chipset and offers very good main camera performance with some great 2x digital zoom shots. The Poco F7 Pro, on the other hand, offers a more refined overall experience. It's also a bit lighter and more compact, and has a glass back instead of a plastic one. Its higher-resolution QHD+ AMOLED display is crisper, its Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 delivers slightly better performance, and its cameras are slightly more dependable with better HDR processing and better ultrawide performance at night. Video quality is also superior across all cameras. Ultimately, both phones are a great choice and rely on the same formula to provide a great user experience. The Poco F7 Pro is slightly more refined, and it's worth the extra cash if you value the stuff it does better. For everyone else, the F7 delivers some great value that's hard to beat. The larger display. The longer gaming battery life. The better 2x zoom shots. The identical user experience. The lower price. The slightly lighter and more compact body. The higher-res display. The slightly better chipset performance. The better camera HDR (highlight retention). The better ultrawide in low light. The superior video quality.
