A hidden gem in the mid-range: This Xiaomi POCO smartphone for 300 € offers features you wouldn’t expect

A German editor at Notebookcheck tested the POCO X8 and, in the past few days, published two more articles about it. In the first one, they called it a hidden gem of the mid-range, and in the second they went straight for the best outdoor phone that’s also one of the cheapest. We combined both conclusions with the measured numbers from their review so you can see where the phone stands out and what you need to consider before buying.

A rain-and-mud phone that you can get from France

POCO X8 in the global version with Slovak available is sold on AliExpress by the France Online Store, and at the time of writing it’s the only seller that actually has it in stock. You can choose between the 8 + 256 GB and 12 + 256 GB versions, with the smaller one costing less than 300 €.

The phone ships from a French warehouse with free shipping and VAT is already included, so you won’t pay anything extra upon delivery. According to AliExpress, it should arrive in roughly two weeks.

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POCO X8 Global Version

8 + 256 GB 293,36 €FR warehouse12 + 256 GB 353,53 €FR warehouse

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Buying on AliExpress for the first time? See the guide!

Updated 17. 10. 2026 on 09:11

TIPFast delivery from the French warehouse with no customs duty or VAT.

This product will be delivered to you quickly from a local Spanish warehouse. Shipping from Spain usually takes 7-10 days and is handled by a courier. When it arrives, you don’t pay any extra fees—no customs duty, no VAT.

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Buying on AliExpress for the first time?

This process is done through the AliExpress mobile app, where most people shop. Two things matter: don’t use Buy now and enter the coupon only in the order summary in the Promo code field. After you click Pay now, you can’t add it anymore.

1. Copy the code and click GET THE DISCOUNTIn our article, copy the coupon and click the button GET THE DISCOUNT. The link will take you directly to the product in the AliExpress app.
2. Use Add to cart, not Buy nowOn the product card, scroll down and click Add to cart. Don’t use the Buy now button—this skips the cart, so later you won’t have a place to enter the coupon. Before that, make sure the variant is correct: color, version, and whether it ships from an EU warehouse.
3. Continue to Checkout via the cartA pop-up will appear: Added to cart!—tap Check it out. If it disappeared, open the cart using the icon in the bottom-right corner. In the cart, check the product and quantity, then tap the red Checkout button. Only the items marked with the red circle are included.
4. Fill in your address and card, then look for Promo codeIn the order summary, first enter the delivery address and payment card at the top. Below that, there’s a line Promo code — expand it with the arrow on the right.

   

5. Paste the code and confirm ApplyIn the field Promo code paste the copied code and click the black Apply. The code is case-sensitive and must not contain spaces.

   

6. Check your savings and payIn the section Summary expand the line Saved — you’ll see the applied coupon there as AliExpress coupons/codes. Only when Total is really lower, click Pay now.

   

Apply the discount again in the order summary. After you click Pay now, you can’t add a coupon anymore. If Apply shows an error, the code has either expired, doesn’t apply to your item, or your order doesn’t meet the minimum amount.

Store Coupon also belongs in the same field. — a coupon from the seller itself, which isn’t always available and changes day to day. It can’t be combined with an AliExpress coupon, so try both and go with the one that gives you more. Coins are added automatically.

The first units have already reached customers. The offer currently has three ratings, all with five stars, with shipping from France, and one of the buyers with the 12 GB version says the phone runs completely smoothly.

Almost 30 hours on Wi-Fi, about 40 % longer than the competition

POCO X8’s biggest ace is the battery with a capacity of 8 340 mAh. In the Notebookcheck test, which simulates browsing via Wi-Fi, it lasted 29 hours and 29 minutes, while the predecessor POCO X7 with a 5 110 mAh battery ended after 17.5 hours, and the Nothing Phone (4b) after 22 hours. In reading mode, the editorial team reached 50 hours, and under full load it lasted 5.2 hours.

According to Notebookcheck, the POCO X8 can last up to 40% longer than phones at a similar price, which you’ll appreciate especially on a multi-day hike without a socket. And if the battery does eventually run out, you can charge it with up to 67 W; in the test, the phone charged without any issues from all the chargers the editorial team had in their lab.

Handles rain, mud, and a drop onto granite

The body has IP68 and IP69K rating, so immersion and pressurized hot water won’t hurt it. The test lab TÜV SÜD confirmed resistance at a depth of two meters for 72 hours, and the SGS certificate mentions drops onto granite from heights of up to three meters. The battery was also tested by the manufacturer in the lab at temperatures from minus 40 to plus 75 °C.

At the same time, it doesn’t look like a typical rugged phone you wouldn’t want to take to the office. Notebookcheck praises that in dark gray, orange, and white it looks premium even though the body is made of plastic. The white version has several textures and visible screws under the transparent layer, while the other colors are more understated. With a weight of 223 g, however, the X8 is among the heavier phones.

A display you can read even in direct sunlight

The AMOLED display has a 6.83-inch diagonal, a resolution of 2 772 × 1 280 pixels, and a refresh rate of 120 Hz. With typical content, the editorial team measured around 1 000 nits, and on a small bright area up to 4 009 nits—so you can read everything on it even on the sidewalk without a piece of shade.

The touch sensing has a frequency of 240 Hz, and in games it’s even higher. The display does dim using high-frequency PWM at up to 3 840 Hz, but the editorial team also picked up a component around 125 Hz, which can tire more sensitive people’s eyes during long viewing sessions or even cause headaches.

GPS for hiking is enough; Wi‑Fi is slower

The POCO X8 only has single-band GNSS for navigation, but outdoors it finds your position quickly and with accuracy of around three meters. Compared to the Garmin Venu 2, whose map on the route showed a bit beside the road, the editorial team says it’s definitely good enough for everyday navigation.

The weaker point is Wi‑Fi 5, which in the test transferred about 350 Mbit/s, while the average smartphone in the same test is several times higher. Bluetooth is only available in version 5.1 without LE Audio support, eSIM is missing, and the 256 GB UFS 3.1 memory can’t be expanded with a microSD card. On the other hand, the phone supports a lot of 5G bands and LTE as well, so you can take it abroad without worry.

Where POCO X8 saves money: performance and the camera

For the low price, you’re mainly paying for performance. The Snapdragon 6s Gen 4 according to Notebookcheck isn’t faster than the chip in the previous model, and in Geekbench 7 it scored 883 points for single-core and 2 680 points for all cores. In more demanding tasks or when switching between apps, the phone sometimes lags.

Savings were made on the camera too: on the back, there’s only the main sensor with a resolution of 50 MPx and a depth sensor that can’t take photos by itself, and the wide-angle lens from the predecessor is gone. During the day, the photos are usable, although not always sharp, and bright areas get blown out quickly. In the dark, though, taking photos is almost impossible without additional lighting. The speakers are also weaker—the sound is dominated by treble and lacks fullness.

Updates up to the year 2032

The phone shipped with Android 16 and, according to Xiaomi’s security center, you’ll get patches about once every three months until the year 2032. Xiaomi also promises five new versions of the system up to Android 21, which still isn’t a given in mid-range.

The editorial team criticizes ads in preinstalled apps and, in places, even directly in the system—though they can be disabled in settings. It also notes that the X8 is almost a twin of the Redmi Note 17 Pro 5G: it has more RAM, but it lacks a wide-angle camera and eSIM. If you want all the specs, you’ll find them in our POCO X8 specs article.

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