A leaked Poco X8 carries a rumored 8,340 mAh battery, a 63% jump over the 5,110 mAh cell inside the Poco X7, according to a reference tucked inside Xiaomi’s HyperOS code. The discovery surfaced days after Xiaomi launched the Redmi Note 17 Pro in China, the phone the new Poco is expected to borrow its hardware from.
That rumored battery would also outsize the 6,500 mAh cell inside the already-released Poco X8 Pro, Poco’s own pricier model. The processor swap behind the bigger number tells a much smaller story.
Xiaomi’s Code Points to a Resurrected Poco X8
Tipster Kacper Skrzypek spotted a new Poco handset referenced inside Xiaomi’s HyperOS code, a sign the company is preparing to ship a phone many assumed had been dropped. Notebookcheck first reported the find, noting that Xiaomi intends to release the Poco X8, which was previously said to have been scrapped.
Skrzypek posted the code reference on X, adding that the phone will keep the 50 MP main camera and 2 MP auxiliary lens combination already found on the Redmi Note 17 Pro.
Xiaomi launched the Redmi Note 17 and Redmi Note 17 Pro in China this month, priced from CNY 1,299 (about $191) and CNY 1,599 (about $236). Both phones remain exclusive to China for now, exactly the gap Poco has filled before by rebadging Redmi hardware for markets abroad.
The Battery Math Behind a 63% Jump
Skrzypek says the global version of the Redmi Note 17 Pro 5G will ship with an 8,340 mAh battery. Xiaomi has a habit of carrying those cells straight over to Poco phones, the same way the Redmi Note 14 Pro 5G’s battery reappeared inside the Poco X7.
Poco’s own listing puts that X7 battery at 5,110 mAh. Swap in an 8,340 mAh cell and the increase works out to 63%, matching the figure Notebookcheck arrived at independently.
Line up every battery Poco has shipped in the X series since January 2025, and the trend looks less like a routine spec bump and more like an arms race.
| Model | Launch | Chipset | Battery (global rating) | Change vs Poco X7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poco X7 | January 2025 | Dimensity 7300 Ultra | 5,110 mAh | Baseline |
| Poco X8 Pro | March 17, 2026 | Dimensity 8500 Ultra | 6,500 mAh | +27% |
| Poco X8 Pro Max | March 17, 2026 | Dimensity 9500s | 8,500 mAh | +66% |
| Poco X8 (leaked) | Unconfirmed | Snapdragon 6s Gen 4 (rumored) | About 8,340 mAh (rumored) | About +63% (rumored) |
Read the bottom row against the third one closely: the leaked non-Pro model would out-battery Xiaomi’s own 6,500 mAh Pro model by roughly 1,840 mAh, landing just 160 mAh short of the flagship Pro Max.
Bigger Than Its Own Pro Sibling
Poco has spent two generations training buyers to expect the Pro badge to mean more of everything. A base model that beats the Pro’s own battery number breaks the hierarchy Poco built for itself.
Poco already has a version of this hierarchy problem on sale in India, where the X8 Pro Max ships with an Iron Man-themed variant alongside its standard 8,500 mAh model. That phone sits at the top of the lineup on price as well as battery, the order buyers actually expect.
Case in point: it has one of the biggest batteries you’ll find in a smartphone.
TechRadar reached that conclusion after testing the Pro Max through a two-day battery cycle. A leaked X8 landing 160 mAh behind that same cell, while selling underneath the Pro tier on price, would put Poco’s cheapest X-series phone within a rounding error of its most expensive one.
Why the Chip Swap Barely Moves the Needle
Notebookcheck, which benchmarks phones in its own lab, said switching from the Dimensity 7300 Ultra to the Snapdragon 6s Gen 4 will yield marginal performance gains at best. That verdict sits at odds with what buyers got from the Pro and Pro Max upgrades.
The Snapdragon 6s Gen 4 already powers the Redmi Note 17 Pro, where reviewers describe it as tuned for daily efficiency rather than gaming muscle. In China, that same chip sits behind a noticeably bigger cell. Fonearena’s breakdown of the launch shows the Redmi Note 17 Pro shipping with a 9,000mAh battery at home, compared with the 8,340 mAh figure Skrzypek attributes to the global variant.
That 660 mAh gap tracks a pattern Poco buyers have watched play out before. Chinese battery cells routinely shrink once a phone crosses into markets that cap lithium content for air freight, and the X8 Pro’s own China counterpart, the Redmi Turbo 5, lost battery capacity the same way on its trip overseas.
Killed, Then Revived
Notebookcheck’s report carries a detail that complicates the timeline further. The Poco X8 was previously said to have been scrapped, and neither Xiaomi nor Poco has explained why, or confirmed in public that the phone is definitely coming back.
What we know:
- Camera: a 50 MP main sensor paired with a 2 MP auxiliary lens, matching the Redmi Note 17 Pro.
- Battery: roughly 8,340 mAh, carried over from the global Redmi Note 17 Pro 5G.
- Chipset: a switch from the Dimensity 7300 Ultra to the Snapdragon 6s Gen 4.
- Source: a HyperOS code reference spotted by tipster Kacper Skrzypek.
What’s unconfirmed:
- Release date: no window has surfaced from Xiaomi or Poco.
- Pricing: untouched by any leak so far.
- Name: whether Xiaomi keeps calling it the X8 given the Pro and Pro Max already used that number first.
- Design: no renders exist yet for this specific model.
Everything above traces back to a string of code and one tipster’s post, which is how most Poco leaks start before Xiaomi confirms anything on its own.
Xiaomi’s Battery-Porting Playbook, One Generation at a Time
- January 2025: Poco launches the X7 with a 5,110 mAh battery carried over from the Redmi Note 14 Pro 5G, alongside the Dimensity 7300 Ultra chipset.
- March 17, 2026: Poco unveils the X8 Pro and X8 Pro Max globally, rebadged versions of the Redmi Turbo 5 and Turbo 5 Max with 6,500 mAh and 8,500 mAh batteries.
- July 2026: Xiaomi launches the Redmi Note 17 and Redmi Note 17 Pro in China, the latter carrying a 9,000 mAh cell.
- July 16, 2026: Notebookcheck reports Skrzypek’s HyperOS find, pointing to a base Poco X8 built around the Redmi Note 17 Pro’s hardware.
The habit isn’t limited to Poco’s budget phones. Xiaomi’s 17 Max prioritizes battery life over Ultra-tier prestige at the top of its own range, treating cell size as a selling point rather than an afterthought.
Poco’s X7 went through the same drip of leaks before it existed either. Its design leaked weeks ahead of a January 9 launch, alongside early confirmation of the Dimensity 8400 Ultra chip that ended up inside the Pro variant.
When Could the Poco X8 Launch Globally?
No release window exists yet for the Poco X8. If Poco repeats the gap it left between the Redmi Turbo 5’s China debut and the global X8 Pro launch, a worldwide reveal could land two to three months after the Redmi Note 17 Pro’s mid-July China release, putting a rough window somewhere around September or October 2026.
Gizmochina’s report at the time tipped the global reveal for March 17, roughly two months after the Redmi Turbo 5 and Turbo 5 Max debuted in China. Applying the same gap to a Redmi Note 17 Pro launched in July points to a global Poco X8 sometime before the year is out, though neither Xiaomi nor Poco has confirmed anything.
Pricing offers even less to go on. The Poco X7 launched at £249 in the UK and €299 (about $342) in the Eurozone back in January 2025, and it’s still selling for $319 on Amazon today. Until Xiaomi or Poco says otherwise, the only solid number attached to this phone is the one buried in its code: 8,340 mAh, inside a device that a few months ago wasn’t supposed to exist at all.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Poco X8 officially confirmed?
No. The only evidence so far is a reference inside Xiaomi’s HyperOS code, spotted by tipster Kacper Skrzypek and reported by Notebookcheck. Code strings can change or get scrapped before a phone ships, so nothing here is locked in until Xiaomi or Poco says so directly.
Will the Poco X8’s battery really beat the Poco X8 Pro’s?
Based on current leaks, yes. The rumored 8,340 mAh cell would top the Pro model’s 6,500 mAh battery by a wide margin and come within 160 mAh of the 8,500 mAh Pro Max, even though the base model is expected to sell for less than either.
What processor will the Poco X8 use?
Leaks point to the Snapdragon 6s Gen 4, replacing the Dimensity 7300 Ultra found in the Poco X7. The same chip powers the Redmi Note 17 Pro, where it scores around 500,000 points on AnTuTu V11, enough for daily use but well short of the Dimensity 8500 Ultra and 9500s chips inside the Pro and Pro Max.
When might the Poco X8 launch outside China?
There’s no confirmed date. Poco left roughly a two-month gap between the Redmi Turbo 5’s China launch and the global X8 Pro reveal last year, and applying that pattern to the Redmi Note 17 Pro’s July China debut points toward a launch later in 2026.
Is the Poco X7 still worth buying while the X8 is in limbo?
It’s still on sale, currently listed around $319 on Amazon, close to its original €299 Eurozone launch price. Buyers who need a phone now get a proven 5,110 mAh battery and Dimensity 7300 Ultra chip rather than a wait for unconfirmed hardware.
Why was the Poco X8 rumored to be scrapped in the first place?
Notebookcheck’s report doesn’t give a reason, only that Xiaomi had previously signaled the plain X8 wouldn’t happen before this HyperOS code reference surfaced. Poco had already released the X8 Pro and X8 Pro Max in March, which may have made a third, cheaper model seem redundant until the Redmi Note 17 Pro gave it new hardware to borrow.
