POCO F8 is Dead: Meet the New Flagship Killer, the POCO X8 Pro Max!

Big, surprising news from POCO has totally changed everything about the much-anticipated POCO F8 launch. The phone millions of users were waiting for—the famous "flagship killer" POCO F8—now looks like it is canceled.

We know this because of a shocking leak. The device, which has the model number 2602BPC18G, has officially appeared in the GSMA IMEI database. But it is not called the F8. It is listed as the POCO X8 Pro Max.

This leak tells us a few things:

We already knew the POCO X8 Pro and even its "Iron Man" special edition were coming. But this is the real story.

The device that was known in all the tech circles as the POCO F8 (model number 2602BPC18G) has been officially renamed in the IMEI database to the POCO X8 Pro Max. This name change strongly suggests that POCO is ditching the old POCO F8 name. They are moving to a much stronger naming strategy. This means they are grouping their absolute top-tier performance devices under the X series brand instead of the F series.

The good news is that the new POCO X8 Pro Max will be announced in India, too. The model numbers are confirmed for global and Indian regions:

The phone, which was the expected POCO F8, is known inside the HyperOS codes by the codename "dash". Its internal model number is "P10U". This device is absolutely expected to take on POCO's legacy of high performance. It will now be the highest-end, top model of the whole POCO X series.

Without a doubt, the most important part of this entire leak is the name change itself. This is the first time ever that POCO will use the "Pro Max" suffix on one of its phones. This is not a new idea for Xiaomi's overall group, though. You may remember:

Now, POCO is joining this trend. The brand is clearly trying to send a message to buyers: this phone is the "biggest and strongest". They are setting up their flagship killer device as the X8 Pro Max.

When we hear "Pro Max," we immediately think of Apple. This is going to start a lot of online discussions. People will say that "POCO is copying Apple's name." However, let's look at the other side. There was a lot of criticism a while back that Apple was borrowing the design style of the POCO X5 Pro for its own phones.

So, instead of arguing about who copied whom, we should focus on the impact this fighting has on the entire tech industry. Android companies borrow features from iOS, and Apple constantly borrows ideas and designs from the Android world. Having similar naming strategies is just a natural part of this competition. The important thing is that these brands are pushing each other to make more and more ambitious models. That is always a benefit for you, the user, who gets better devices.

Good news: if you were waiting for the POCO F8, you should not be sad. The phone is not canceled. Only the name has changed! POCO is getting ready to dominate the market with the POCO X8 Pro, the POCO X8 Pro Iron Man Edition, and the new big boss: the POCO X8 Pro Max.