POCO M8 5G Launch in India Signals a Shift Away from the M Series’ Budget Roots: Price, Specifications, Offers

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-Carlsen Martin

Updated: Thursday, January 8, 2026, 15:12 [IST]

The POCO M8 5G has officially been unveiled in India as the most expensive smartphone in the brand’s M series to date. While the POCO M8 5G gets several notable upgrades over its predecessor, these upgrades come at a major price hike. But let’s dive into these upgrades before looking at pricing.

POCO M8 5G Specifications

The POCO M8 5G is powered by the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 chipset paired with up to 8GB of LPDDR4x RAM and up to 256GB of UFS 2.2 storage. POCO claims that the device can achieve an overall AnTuTu score of 825K+ points. The POCO M8 5G also packs a 5,520mAh silicon carbon battery with 45W wired fast charging support and 18W reverse charging.

On the software side, the POCO M8 5G runs Android 15 with the HyperOS 2.0 skin. POCO does pledge four years of Android OS updates, but its track record raises questions about how timely those updates will actually be. However, the six years of regular security patches is reassuring.

Software updates, coupled with the promise of five years of strong battery health and military-grade certification (SGS MIL-STD-810), underline its long-term reliability credentials. The POCO M8 5G sports a 6.77-inch FHD+ 3D curved AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. The screen can achieve a peak brightness of 3200 nits. POCO states the Poco M8 5G screen shows up to 68.7 billion colours and supports Wet Touch 2.0.

Poco says the Poco M8 5G achieved more than 8,25,000 points on the AnTuTu benchmark, indicating strong mid-range performance. The phone carries IP65 + IP66 ratings for dust and water resistance. It measures 164×75.42×7.35 and weighs about 178g, giving it a relatively slim and light profile.

The Poco M8 5G features a dual rear camera module. It includes a 50-megapixel primary camera along with a 2-megapixel Light Fusion 400 sensor. On the front, a 20-megapixel camera handles selfies and video calls. The device can also capture videos at up to 4K resolution and includes an in-display fingerprint sensor. Connectivity options include 5G, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.1, Wi-Fi 5 and a USB Type-C port.

Poco M8 5G Price and Availability in India

The Poco M8 5G price in India begins at Rs. 18,999 for the 6GB RAM and 128GB storage model. The 8GB RAM with 128GB storage variant is listed at Rs. 19,999, while the 8GB RAM and 256GB storage option costs Rs. 21,999. Early buyers can pay Rs. 15,999 during the initial 12-hour window.

The Poco M8 5G will be available in India from January 13 via Flipkart. Customers can avail an instant discount of ₹2,000 using ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, or SBI credit and debit cards. In addition, those purchasing the phone within the first 12 hours will receive an extra instant discount of ₹1,000.

The POCO M8 5G is offered in three shades: Carbon Black, Glacial Blue, and Frost Silver. In summary, the POCO M8 5G packs solid upgrades in performance, display, and durability, but its steep pricing represents a noticeable departure from the M series’ value-first appeal, making the introductory offer the most attractive way to buy it.