Xiaomi Poco F1 Review | Is it really the beast?

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Xiaomi released the Poco F1 basically targeting the Indian market. It is a superb value-for-money device with high end specifications for a $300 price tag. Although, it is not a perfect device as there is none, there are some tradeoffs done by Xiaomi to keep down the price. Let’s take a deep look at the device in our in-depth review.

What’s Good?

Performance-With Snapdragon 845 and 6GB RAM even the base model rivals some of the high end flagships like the OnePlus 6. It can easily handle games like PUBG, Asphalt 9 without breaking a sweat. Also, the liquid cooling, the Pcoc F1 doesn't heat up a lot which means extended gaming sessions without any issue.

Battery Life- Inside Poco F1, there is a 4000 mAh battery which is larger compared to even the high end flagships like the Note 9. Also, the phone comes with Quick charge technology so charging time isn’t gonna be an issue.

Expandable Storage- Unlike most of other flagships, Poco F1 supports expandable storage so you will no longer have to settle with the limited onboard storage.

Face Unlock-  It comes with face unlock and uses an infrared sensor to work even in the no-light situations, a feature which is rarely available in budget smartphones.

Value for Money- With high end specs at intensively low price tag makes the device a superb value for money.

What’s Bad?

No IP rating- Poco F1 doesn’t have an IP rating which means it is neither dust and water resistant, hence, using the device in rain or near a swimming pool can be lethal for the device.

No Wireless Charging- There is no support for wireless charging on this device, so if you are in the wireless charging ecosystem, t can be a deal breaker for you.

Average Build- Poco F1 doesn’t have a metallic of glass body, instead it has a polycarbonate body which doesn’t feel as premium as the other two materials.

Average Speakers- The speakers on the device sound decent only. Also, there are no stereo speakers on this device.

Design and Build Quality

Xiaomi took the market by surprise with the price of the Poco F1. So many features at such a low price seems pretty unbelievable? Well Yeah, it might look like a perfect device on the spec sheet but there are a couple of adjustments done to keep the price down. For starters, instead of using some common materials for the body like metal or glass, Xiaomi has gone for the polycarbonate body.

Although it feels a little cheap but its not gonna break easily like a glass body or catch fingerprint marks. The phone also feels a bit heavy at 180 grams but the thickness of 8.8 mm makes it comfortable to use and hold. Poco F1 comes in four color options including Rosso Red, Graphite Black, Steel Blue, Armored Kevlar Edition.

From the front Poco F1 resembles many devices with a notch. There are no physical keys on the front. The notch on the top houses an ear piece, front camera, infrared sensor, proximity and ambient sensor. Moving to the right, you can find the volume keys along with the power key which is slightly textured. On the left, there is the hybrid SIM slot and nothing else. There is a 3.5mm audio jack on the top and USB Type C charging port along with speaker and microphone at the bottom. There is a dual camera setup on the back along with a Fingerprint scanner and a flash at the back of the device.

Overall, Poco F1 might have a polycarbonate body but the build quality is quite solid and the device is comfortable to use.

Display with a Notch

Similar to many other modern smartphones, Poco F1 also houses a notch. However, the notch isn’t too big like the iPhone X. It sports a 6.18 inch 18.7:9 IPS LCD display which has a resolution of 1080 x 2246 and the pixel density of 403 PPI. Xiaomi uses Corning Gorilla Glass for the protection against scratches.  

Yeah, the display is sharp with Full HD+ resolution and the viewing angles are great too but the color tones lacks the punch. Sunlight visibility is decent too, however, colors appears to be a little undersaturated. Although, this can be fixed with a software update but what cannot be fixed is the absence of Widevine L1. This means the device won’t be able to play videos in HD quality on Netflix, Hulu, BBC, Amazon Prime etc. Beside that, POco F1 can be HD videos on Youtube or any other service which doesn’t require Widevine L1.

Superb Performance and Skinned Software

Poco F1 comes with the latest Snapdragon 845 which makes it a total beast. It is rare to see a budget smartphone having such a superb performance that it can rival even the top end flaships. Xiaomi made a smart choice by using the high end SoC to attract power hungry users looking for an affordable device. Even the high end games like PUBG, Modern COmbat 5, Injustice etc have no issues running on this device.

Poco F1 comes in a total of three variants 128GB/8GB, 64GB/6GB, and 128GB/6GB, hence giving a lot of choice to the users to decide which storage and RAM verison suits their needs.

Multitasking in not an issue with this device as even the base variant comes with 6GB RAM which is plenty and higher as compared to the costly flagships. Also, memory expansion is available up to 256GB and requires the second SIM Slot

Poco F1 runs on the latest Android Oreo out of the box which is covered by the Xiaomi’s MIUI 9.6 skin. There are a couple of improvements like the addition of app drawer but at the end it’s a typical MIUI. It may not be anywhere near stock Android, but it makes up for it by it customization features.

Decent Camera

Poco F1 comes with a dual camera setup which comprises a 12 Megapixel primary sensor and an 8 Megapixel depth sensor for portrait images. The app is the typical MIUI camera app which has features like PDAF, HDR, Panorama, Portrait mode etc.

While the camera specs looks good on paper, the real world performance is just around average. Images which are captured outdoors turn out to be detailed and crisp but the overall image appears to be a little on the soft side. Indoors, the quality of the camera degrades and the images captured contains a decent amount of noise.Portrait shots are close to the Mi A1 which means they are good with minor edge detection issue from which even the high end phone suffers. The primary camera can record 4K videos @ 30fps with Electronic image stabilization.

The fron notch houses the 20 Megapixel selfie camera which captures great selfies with high details but still the camera suffers in indoors or low lighting conditions. The front camera is capable of recording 1080p videos @ 30fps

Amazing Battery

One of the main selling point of the Poco F1 is gonna be the battery life. With 4000 mAh non-removable battery under the hood, the device delivers an amazing battery life of 1.5 to 2 days depending upon the usage. For light users who doesn’t play heavy games, the battery can last more than 1.5 days. Hence, the average screen-on-time of the Poco F1 is somewhere around 5-6 hours.

Also, the device supports the Quick charge 3.0 tech  which means short recharging sessions and longer gaming sessions. The quick charge adapter also comes inside the box which is impressive for the price.

Connectivity and Features

Poco F1 supports Dual SIM and Dual Standby with LTE on both the SIM slot. Also, it uses an hybrid SIM slot which means the second slot can either be used for a memory card or a SIM. It comes with all the basic connectivity features like Bluetooth v5.0, WiFi, and A-GPS. Although, there is no NFC on this device which can be a deal breaker for users who regularly use Android Pay services. Also, there is no IR emitter on this device which is unusual for a Xiaomi device.

The device comes with a typical number of sensor including accelerometer, Infrared face recognition, fingerprint, gyroscope, proximity sensor, barometer, and compass. Fingerprint sensor on the Poco F1 is located on the back just below the camera module. It works really fast and is one of the most reliable scanners we tried on a budget smartphone. Also, there is an Infrared Face Unlock option which is able to unlock the device by scanning the face even in the dark situations. It is much secure than the normal facial recognition which can be seen on many budget or premium smartphones.

The speaker on the Poco F1 is just average. I doesn’t get too loud and the audio lacks the punch, one of the trade off to keep the price low. However, there is a audio jack on top which can be used to connect external speakers with the device.

Verdict

Poco F1 is a brilliant device when it comes to value-for-money. For just $300, it easily outperforms its competitions and stands between the high end flaships in terms of performance. In terms of design it may not be the best build device but it surely feels solid in hands. It comes with a Full HD display with a notch which is the latest display tech in the market right now. The battery life is great and the support for Quick charge makes charging the device hassle free.

There are some tradeoffs like no IP rating, no NFC, no wireless charging etc but as a general device for daily usage, Poco F1 is a steal deal for anyone looking for a powerful device within the budget category.

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