Poco F9 Pro Debuts $700 Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 V Series Phone

Q: Does a secret downgraded chip mean Poco's latest flagship is actually a mid-range phone in disguise?

No. The Poco F9 Pro is better understood as a lower-cost flagship, not a mid-range phone in disguise. The “secret” part is mostly about Qualcomm’s quiet branding, not a dramatic downgrade. The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 V Series keeps the same Oryon CPU, Hexagon NPU, modem and overall platform as the full Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5. The cut is mainly to graphics: the Adreno 840 GPU drops from three slices to two, and graphics memory falls from 18MB to 12MB. That makes it a binned, cheaper flagship chip, not a mid-tier processor. Real-world evidence points the same way. Reports and early tests suggest the F9 Pro remains fast in daily use and smooth in games, with benchmark scores still around 4.1 million on AnTuTu versus roughly 4.5 million for the standard chip. That gap matters mostly for sustained, maximum-settings gaming, where the F9 Ultra should hold an edge. The rest of the hardware is firmly flagship-class: a 6.59-inch high-refresh AMOLED display, 200MP main camera with OIS, telephoto lens, wireless charging, IP68 protection, large 6,330mAh battery, and fast 100W wired charging. Those are not typical mid-range specs. What Poco has done is trim back the parts that most affect peak gaming and media experience. The F9 Pro also loses the Ultra’s rear subwoofer and more advanced camera extras. So the better description is “value flagship” or “flagship-lite” — a premium phone with targeted compromises, not a disguised mid-ranger.

3 articles · Updated · Android Police · Sep 1

$700 Poco F9 Pro is among the first phones to use Qualcomm’s quietly launched Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 V Series, a cost-cutting variant aimed at preserving everyday flagship performance.
The V Series keeps the same Oryon CPU and modem as the standard chip but trims the Adreno 840 GPU to a two-slice design and cuts dedicated HPM memory to 12MB from 18MB.
Gaming tests suggest little difference in lighter titles, though long sessions in demanding games at maximum settings may lag behind the F9 Ultra and other phones using the full Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.
The F9 Pro also drops the F9 Ultra’s rear subwoofer, retaining Bose-tuned stereo speakers that sound strong but lack the Ultra’s added depth, while offering a 6.59-inch display, 200MP camera and 6,330mAh battery.
Poco prices the phone at $700 for 12GB/256GB and $769 for 12GB/512GB, positioning the chip change as the main lever to deliver lower-cost flagship hardware in Europe, the UK and other markets.