Having the latest chipset will cost a lot more: Poco gets real about the pressure of rising memory costs as it launches the F9 Ultra with an unchanged chipset

Date:
Tue, 01 Sep 2026 15:11:08 +0000

Description:
In a briefing for the Poco F9 Ultra, Xiaomi sub-brand Poco explained why its new flagship phone doesnt come with a chipset upgrade.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Poco has officially launched
the Poco F9 Ultra and F9 Pro, two performance-focused phones that deliver all-round upgrades in display, imaging, and battery life.

Notably, the Xiaomi sub-brand doesnt actually name-drop performance in that list of F9 Series improvements, no doubt because the F9 Ultra, specifically, arrives with the same Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset as its predecessor,
the Poco F8 Ultra . Poco flagships have historically launched with the latest Snapdragon chipsets, so this years F Series marks something of a strategy shift for the Chinese company and Poco hasnt been shy about disclosing the reasons for this change. Latest Videos From TechRadar Watch full video here:

In short, Poco has decided against equipping the F9 Ultra with Qualcomms new (and as-yet-unannounced) flagship chipset because 1) rising RAM prices have increased the cost of doing so, and 2) it believes the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 remains powerful enough to deliver the level of performance Poco users
expect. And I wholeheartedly agree with this take.

Heres Pocos full comment on why the F9 Ultra has an unchanged chipset, which was given in a press conference for the F9 Series by the companys Senior Product Manager, Kang Lou, and Global PR lead, Olivia Jiang: You may like
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KL: Id like to explain this. The overall situation is that rising memory costs are putting a lot of pressure on all of us [in] the smartphone
industry. Poco is not escaping [these costs]. From our end, we believe performance is not always about chasing the latest chipset of course, thats important but operationally speaking, having the latest chipset will cost [us] a lot more on the latest phone. We believe performance is a combination of everything: a powerful chipset, a powerful cooling system; the gaming experience is important too gaming is a proving ground for us, to prove that overall performance is great.

OJ: For Poco, its not just about any single factor or any chipset roadmaps. Our product timing isnt something we see as fixed; we continually evolve our launch plans based on whats best for our users. We dont make launch decisions based on the next generation of hardware, and we deliver [products] when we believe they are ready to deliver the performance our users expect. The Poco F9 Ultra remains highly competitive, and the price is competitive, too. So were confident that this generation will deliver the flagship experience that users need. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up
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Despite shipping with an unchanged chipset, the Poco F9 Ultra does cost more than its predecessor it starts at $799 / 899, where the F8 Ultra launched
for $729 / 749 but Poco evidently believes this price remains competitive given the other upgrades on offer. The Poco F9 Ultra (left) and Poco F9 Pro (right) on a yellow background feature Bose-tuned audio (Image credit: Poco / Future) The F9 Ultra ships with the brands new display-focused VisionBoost D8 chip, which facilitates a max display refresh rate of 185Hz for gaming at
the time of writing, more than 20 titles can make use of this enhanced frame rate, including Call of Duty : Mobile and PUBG Mobile . Elsewhere, the phone gets a hefty 8,050mAh battery (vs 6,500mAh in the F8 Ultra) and a predecessor-beating 200MP wide camera.

Its worth remembering, too, that the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 is the same chipset that powers the flagship Xiaomi 17 Ultra , OnePlus 15 , and many more of the best Android phones in 2026. We also described the Poco F8 Ultras performance as immense in our review; youd have to be running NASA-level simulations on your phone to be left wanting for more power than the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 already provides.

From our end, we believe performance is not always about chasing the latest chipset Kang Lou, Poco Global As Poco acknowledges, equipping phones with the latest chipset is important when performance is compromised by using a weaker chipset, but thats just not the case with the F9 Ultra. Were very much in diminishing returns territory when it comes to mobile chipsets, and if Poco had decided to equip the the F9 Ultra with Qualcomms next chipset and charged even more for the phone as a result, it may as well have been called the Xiaomi 18 Ultra, which is expected to use this chipset, and cost
significantly more than the F9 Ultra.

Of course, it remains to be seen whether those aforementioned display, battery, and camera upgrades justify the F9 Ultras $70 / 150 price hike were currently reviewing the phone, and will give our verdict on its value for money proposition soon. In any case, at least where the chipset is concerned, Im certain that Poco has made the right call. Today's best Poco deals 429 399 View 399 View 699 View Show more We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds.



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/phones/poco-phones/having-the-latest-chipset-will-co st-a-lot-more-poco-gets-real-about-the-pressure-of-rising-memory-costs-as-it-l aunches-the-f9-ultra-with-an-unchanged-chipset


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