Typically, when it comes to high-performance phones at a reasonable price, the camera is one of the obvious compromises. The Poco F9 Pro, at least on paper, doesn’t make these compromises. The main camera has a 200-megapixel sensor with f/1.7 aperture, OIS, and 2x built-in zoom. This is paired with an 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera and a 50-megapixel telephoto lens with 2.5x optical zoom. On the front, there is a 32-megapixel selfie camera. Compared to the Poco F8 Pro, this is a massive improvement in the resolution of the main sensor – from 50 megapixels to 200. That said, the F8 Pro also had a 50 megapixel 2.5x telephoto lens.
In good lighting, the main camera is up to par. Daylight shots show excellent detail and robust dynamic range, with highlights and shadows handled well by the HDR processing. Colors are slightly saturated, in typical Xiaomi fashion, but not to the point of appearing artificial. The 2x zoom built into the sensor is handy: it’s similar to Apple’s “optical quality” zoom in that it avoids digital zoom by cropping into the middle of that huge sensor to deliver sharp photos at mid-zoom.
Low-light performance is acceptable but not incredible. The large sensor and OIS keep most night photos reasonably clean, and Night mode brightens scenes effectively. But in very dark environments, noise seeps in and the noise reduction becomes aggressive enough to introduce noticeable softness. It’s a good low-light camera for the price, but there are better ones.
There are clear strengths and weaknesses when it comes to the other cameras, however. The telephoto lens is the strength. The 50-megapixel sensor and 2.5x optical zoom produce detailed photos at mid-range. Detail is strong, and while it disappears when digital zoom is present, it’s no more than other phones in this price range. You can zoom past 2.5x to around 10x before the issues are really noticeable.
The 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera is the weak link. It’s fine for landscape and casual group photos in daylight, but softness and edge distortion become evident at night, and the low resolution limits how much you can crop. Compared to the higher-resolution ultra-wide cameras in flagships from Apple, Google and Samsung, it’s clearly outclassed. Given that the main and telephoto cameras are equally good, the ultra-wide makes Poco seem like it has visibly turned a corner.
The broader point, however, is that while there are some camera-related shortcuts, it could be worse. Much of the hardware is ambitious – the 200-megapixel main camera is particularly good. Shot-to-shot consistency in lighting conditions isn’t quite comparable to some other phones, and the software sometimes makes strange choices in tricky scenes. If camera output is your top priority, consumer flagships always win. If it’s second or third on your list, the F9 Pro is more than good enough.
