Is the Poco F9 Ultra’s 200MP camera worthy of a €1099 phone? You be the judge.

Earlier this week, Xiaomi announced the Poco F9 Ultra, the latest entry in its lineup of phones that started as “flagship killers”; devices with specs similar to top-of-the-line models, but with substantially lower price tags. It’s the first in its series to include a 200MP main camera and let you shoot at that resolution, but it also starts at €1099, which is less flagship killer and more just… regular flagship. While it might’ve been easy to forgive lackluster cameras on the 2020 F2 Pro given its €499 price tag, and perhaps even with its predecessor, the €830 F8 Ultra, the F9 Ultra is now in the realms of phones like the Pixel 11 Pro and the standard iPhone 17.

So how does it stack up? Well, what you want out of your phone’s photos will depend a lot on your preferences; what kind of colors you like, what lens options you want, etc. The Poco F9 Ultra offers three: a 0.7x ultra-wide, a standard wide that’s around 24mm equiv. (though you can configure it to add a little digital crop by default if you prefer 28 or 35mm equiv.), and a 5x telephoto zoom. It also has center crop modes for the main and telephoto cameras to provide “2x” and “10x” options, though these only use a quarter of the sensor, so you’re giving up quite a bit when it comes to image quality.

We’ll let you take a look through our sample gallery to see if the pictures the phone produces match your tastes and expectations for a phone at this price point.. We’ve made sure to use all three of its cameras, both in their standard 12.5MP outputs, as well as their 50MP modes (and 200MP mode for the main 24mm equiv. module), and to shoot in a variety of conditions, from sunny days to low light situations. Once you’re done looking, I’ll suggest comparing it against our recent Pixel 11 Pro gallery as a benchmark.

Of course, if you want my opinion, I’m happy to give it. Overall, I think it’s fine, but it’s probably not the phone I’d choose if its performance as a camera were important to me. Foundationally, I find its mix of cameras to be a bit… odd. A 24mm equiv. is perfect for a main camera, but the ultrawide option only going out to 17mm equiv. leaves it still feeling a bit cramped; I think there’s a reason most phones go with 0.5x rather than 0.7x.

Likewise, while a “5x” 120mm equiv. has become relatively standard – it’s close to what Apple and Google use for their telephoto options – I’ve always found it a bit of an unhappy medium; too tight for most casual shooting situations, while not providing as much reach as the “10x,” ~220mm equiv. options included on some other Android phones. I’d probably prefer something closer to 80mm equiv., or, if I’m dreaming, 50mm equiv. with a fourth camera for longer zoom (though even at €1100, that’s probably asking for too much).

Can a sunset photo be too saturated? I’d say yes.
Poco F9 Ultra | Ultrawide Camera | 12.5MP mode | F2.8 | ISO 100 | 1/100 secMitchell Clark

As for the software side of things, I’ve found it tends to overexpose things a bit much for my tastes. And while I find the colors to be more saturated than I like, I’m more annoyed by the fact that they change quite noticeably when you switch between cameras. The 200MP mode definitely provides more detail than the default 12.5MP mode when there’s plenty of light, but I think it also highlights that the lens isn’t the sharpest once you start getting to the edges.

I have fewer complaints from a usability standpoint. My personal phone is an iPhone 15 Pro and Xiaomi has clearly taken… inspiration from Apple when designing its camera app, so I found it very easy to navigate. The Poco offers several more options, though, including a Pro mode that gives you manual exposure and focus control, which can be useful in those situations where you just can’t get the phone to do what you want (though I thankfully found that I could typically get something I was happy with just using exposure compensation). It also has a frankly ludicrous number of face-tuning options for selfies, if you’re into that kind of thing; I tried taking one with all the sliders, which include options like “slender,” “head size”, “big eyes,” “hairline” and “teeth” set all the way to max and the results were, well… See for yourself.

Left: selfie mode, set to “Original”. Right: selfie mode, all beautify sliders set to maximum.

Ultimately, though, if you’re looking to purchase this phone, it’s up to you whether you’re happy with the photos for the price Xiaomi is asking. Hopefully the sample gallery below will help you decide.

Sample gallery

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