A new phone aims to solve the problem of weak audio quality often found in iPhones and Galaxy devices.

While many are playing it safe, one company is giving the smartphone a fresh feature: a dedicated subwoofer! If you think your phone's audio is weak and lacks bass, there is a fix.

Introducing the Poco F8 Ultra, the first phone with a built-in subwoofer. What are its features, how good is the sound, are there drawbacks, and do you need it? I'll try to answer these questions here.

Simply put, a subwoofer is a speaker that produces low frequencies. It is often separate from the main speaker because creating bass sounds requires a unique design.

Speakers make sound by vibrating at a frequency and moving air. A large membrane is needed to create low-frequency bass. Larger speakers are better at making bass sounds, as you likely know from your home stereo.

The speakers in today's smartphones are small compared to even a basic Bluetooth speaker or headphones. Size limitations are hard to overcome without making the phone large.

We often dislike the tinny sound of most smartphones, usually due to a lack of bass. Many companies have tried to fix this through software, emulation, and speaker designs.

But Poco took a different approach and partnered with Bose to put a subwoofer in a smartphone.

The Poco F8 Ultra subwoofer: What is it, and how does it function?

The Poco F8 Ultra has a triple-speaker setup. It has two 1115F speakers at the top and bottom, and a subwoofer on the rear, by the camera.

I call it a "so-called" subwoofer because it's a bigger speaker, like those in tablets. It's the 1620, with the number indicating the speaker's size in millimeters. It is 16 by 20mm, which is large for a smartphone speaker.

Poco assigns all bass frequencies to this larger speaker, creating a 2.1 system in a phone: two stereo speakers and a subwoofer. It uses a larger speaker instead of innovative materials or design.

The phone sounds great! Having a speaker dedicated to bass frequencies makes a big difference. The Poco F8 Ultra sounds like a small Bluetooth speaker. The 1620 speaker's thump is clear, and the soundstage is wider than on a regular phone.

Florence and the Machine's "Remain Nameless" sounds great on the Poco but different on the iPhone 17 Pro Max. Some frequencies are simply missing on the iPhone.

The same is true for Kosheen's "Empty Skies," a bass-heavy song, though the subwoofer also works in other genres. I tried low-fi jazz (Morphine's "The Saddest Song"), pop (Billy Eilish's "Bury a Friend"), and heavy metal (Iron Maiden, Judas Priest).

Will iPhones and Galaxies get subwoofers next?

The Poco F8 Ultra is an audio powerhouse, but there are a few issues.

The biggest is battery life. Subwoofers need much power to generate low frequencies. This isn't a problem when plugged in, but it matters on a smartphone.

Our battery test shows this. The Poco F8 Ultra scored less than half of the F8 Pro, which lacks a subwoofer, in the YouTube test using max volume.

The Poco F8 Ultra has a large 6,500 mAh battery, which helps, but the situation would be worse on a phone with a smaller battery, like an iPhone or Galaxy under 5,000 mAh.

The other issue is how we use phones. Most people use headphones to listen to audio. Playing audio out loud at full volume is rare.

Many earbuds are available that offer better sound and privacy than a phone with a subwoofer. Most people would bring a Bluetooth speaker to beach parties, so there are limited uses for a smartphone with strong bass and audio.

What's the conclusion? Do you need a phone with a subwoofer?

The answer is probably no. While the Bose system may become a gimmick, the Poco F8 Ultra is unique and brings excitement to smartphones.

The F8 Ultra is a good flagship, even without the subwoofer, and you should check it out if you can. But it probably won't replace Bluetooth speakers or headphones.