{"id":11715,"date":"2026-09-06T05:03:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-06T03:03:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brokenmount.com\/bm\/2026\/09\/06\/is-the-poco-f9-ultras-200mp-camera-worthy-of-a-e1099-phone-you-be-the-judge\/"},"modified":"2026-09-06T05:03:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-06T03:03:15","slug":"is-the-poco-f9-ultras-200mp-camera-worthy-of-a-e1099-phone-you-be-the-judge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brokenmount.com\/bm\/2026\/09\/06\/is-the-poco-f9-ultras-200mp-camera-worthy-of-a-e1099-phone-you-be-the-judge\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the Poco F9 Ultra\u2019s 200MP camera worthy of a \u20ac1099 phone? You be the judge."},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tWe\u2019ve added more shots to our sample gallery, including some Raws, ultra-wide, low-light and portrait mode examples.<\/p>\n

\"AMitchell Clark<\/span><\/figure>\n<\/section>\n
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Earlier this week, Xiaomi announced the Poco F9 Ultra<\/a>, the latest entry in its lineup of phones that started as \u201cflagship killers\u201d; devices with specs similar to top-of-the-line models, but with substantially lower price tags. It\u2019s the first in its series to include a 200MP main camera and let you shoot at that resolution, but it also starts at \u20ac1099, which is less flagship killer and more just\u2026 regular flagship. While it might\u2019ve been easy to forgive lackluster cameras on the 2020 F2 Pro given its \u20ac499 price tag, and perhaps even with its predecessor, the \u20ac830 F8 Ultra, the F9 Ultra is now in the realms of phones like the Pixel 11 Pro and the standard iPhone 17.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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So how does it stack up? Well, what you want out of your phone\u2019s 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\u2019s 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 \u201c2x\u201d and \u201c10x\u201d options, though these only use a quarter of the sensor, so you\u2019re giving up quite a bit when it comes to image quality.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll 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\u2019ve 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\u2019re done looking, I\u2019ll suggest comparing it against our recent Pixel 11 Pro gallery as a benchmark<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Click to jump to the gallery<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Of course, if you want my opinion, I\u2019m happy to give it. Overall, I think it\u2019s fine, but it\u2019s probably not the phone I\u2019d choose if its performance as a camera were important to me. Foundationally, I find its mix of cameras to be a bit\u2026 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\u2019s a reason most phones go with 0.5x rather than 0.7x. <\/p>\n

Likewise, while a \u201c5x\u201d 120mm equiv. has become relatively standard \u2013 it\u2019s close to what Apple and Google use for their telephoto options \u2013 I\u2019ve always found it a bit of an unhappy medium; too tight for most casual shooting situations, while not providing as much reach as the \u201c10x,\u201d ~220mm equiv. options included on some other Android phones. I\u2019d probably prefer something closer to 80mm equiv., or, if I\u2019m dreaming, 50mm equiv. with a fourth camera for longer zoom (though even at \u20ac1100, that\u2019s probably asking for too much).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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Can a sunset photo be too saturated? I\u2019d say yes.
Poco F9 Ultra | Ultrawide Camera | 12.5MP mode | F2.8 | ISO 100 | 1\/100 sec<\/figcaption>Mitchell Clark<\/span><\/figure>\n

As for the software side of things, I\u2019ve 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\u2019m 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\u2019s plenty of light, but I think it also highlights that the lens isn\u2019t the sharpest once you start getting to the edges.<\/p>\n

I have fewer complaints from a usability standpoint. My personal phone is an iPhone 15 Pro and Xiaomi has clearly taken\u2026 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\u2019t 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\u2019re into that kind of thing; I tried taking one with all the sliders, which include options like \u201cslender,\u201d \u201chead size\u201d, \u201cbig eyes,\u201d \u201chairline\u201d and \u201cteeth\u201d set all the way to max and the results were, well\u2026 See for yourself.<\/p>\n

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Left: selfie mode, set to \u201cOriginal\u201d. Right: selfie mode, all beautify sliders set to maximum.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ultimately, though, if you\u2019re looking to purchase this phone, it\u2019s up to you whether you\u2019re happy with the photos for the price Xiaomi is asking. Hopefully the sample gallery below will help you decide.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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Sample gallery<\/h2>\n

Please do not reproduce any of these images on a website or any newsletter\/magazine without prior permission (see our copyright page<\/a>). We make the originals available for private users to download to their own machines for personal examination or printing; we do so in good faith, so please don\u2019t abuse it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Loading gallery\u2026<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

About the Author: <\/span>Mitchell started taking pictures at 10 and hasn\u2019t stopped since. It\u2019s been a wide-ranging adventure, spanning a wide variety of genres and locales, and occasionally dipping into fascinations with video and filmmaking. They honed their technical knowledge doing documentation, programing and QA, writing for The Verge, and just generally messing around on the computer to see what breaks.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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