Poco has recently announced the Poco F4 5G, the company’s next-generation F series smartphone. It’s not a straight successor to last year’s gaming-focused Poco F3 GT, but it’s more of a luxury product in the mid-range category. The F line has always been about providing flagship-grade performance at extremely low pricing; however, rather than focusing only on specifications, the F4 5G strives to strike a balance between strong specifications and a luxury design.
Pricing competitiveness has unquestionably intensified. It doesn’t help that many smartphones seem to have identical specs. Of course, there are some distinctions. It might be the camera arrangement or the charging pace. The most recent addition to this class is the Poco F4 5G, which, to be honest, seemed lackluster at first sight. There is no single ‘wow’ aspect that makes the Poco F4 stand out in a sea of sameness. But this isn’t always a terrible thing.
What will you see here?
Poco F4 5G – Price & Availability
So far, two F4 phones have been released. To begin, the ordinary F4 is offered in four variants, with somewhat differing specifications accessible in India vs Europe. 6GB + 128GB for £379/€399 And 8GB + 256GB for £429/€449. It’s even cheaper shortly after debut, in the classic Poco way. From June 27 to July 2, both variants of the smartphone will be discounted by £100/€50.
This has a lot going for it: a simple design with a velvety touch on the back, a large 6.67-inch AMOLED display, and the dependable Snapdragon 870 teamed with some innovative cooling methods. POCO has made a price decrease here, but will it be able to topple the iQOO Neo 6 as the category favorite?
Design
It’s not a surprise! Poco phones typically have a “previously witnessed” design from Redmi smartphones. And the Poco F4 is really just a repackaged Redmi K40s. The basic design with a glass matte has already been seen on various phones. However, the double-staged camera module with triple-camera lenses breathes new life into a sea of vertical & diagonal camera placement options. Despite its 195g weight, it is comfortable to use for extended periods of time.
The green color is subdued and matte, and the Poco marking is subtle. The rear glass gives it a luxury appearance, despite the fact that the side frame is plastic. The main drawback is that smudges easily accumulate on the back. Poco chose a triple camera configuration, so the camera module isn’t overly large. The fingerprint scanner is built into the right power button. It unlocks the smartphone properly and promptly.
The POCO F4 5G is a large phone, so using it with one hand may be difficult for some. Although the weight balance is excellent, the phone is a little hefty to handle, which may be an issue for certain purchasers. It is, however, not so large that it would induce weariness in the long term.
Ports & IR Blaster
The top of the phone includes a loudspeaker grille, mic hole, and an IR blaster, the right has volume rockers and a lock button within an integrated fingerprint reader, as well as the bottom, has another loudspeaker grille, a USB Type-C connector, and a dual SIM slot. This phone does not have a microSD card slot.
Display
The face of the POCO F4 5G is lit up by a 6.67-inch AMOLED screen with FHD+ resolution. It boasts a refresh rate of 120Hz and a touch sampling rate of 360Hz. All of this adds up to a strikingly smooth and accurate display. Scrolling through your feed, playing games, texting, and even multitasking in a multi-window view is enjoyable. It’s truly catchy and conveys a positive impression of performance. The display also has MEMC, which artificially adds frames to lower-frame-rate material to provide an even smoother experience. You also receive complete DCI-P3 color gamut support, which is great for picture editing. For the price, this is a terrific panel. Users can choose between 60 & 120 Hz refresh rates, although the screen’s refresh rate is locked at 60 Hz by default.
It also includes HDR10+ certification and, for the first ever in POCO device, Dolby Vision as well as Atmos compatibility. Watching videos, movies, and TV episodes on the POCO F4 5G’s display will be really sharp and saturated. The display automatically uses Dolby Vision, and you will be able to watch 2160p HDR films on YouTube.
The display’s sunlight readability is an issue, as it isn’t as brilliant as the iQOO Neo 6’s. Shooting with the camera app in bright sunshine is tough because you can’t see what’s going on in the viewfinder adequately.
Specs & Performance
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 CPU used in the iQOO Neo 6 5G is also found in the Poco F4 5G. Whether it’s for regular duties like browsing the internet, skimming through social media, accepting calls, or for a heavier activity like gaming, the Poco F4 works admirably. Even after an hour of gaming with high-end graphics titles like COD: Mobile & Asphalt 9, the phone ran well. Although heavy usage may cause the gadget to become warm, this has no long-term effect on performance.
The phone is available in two RAM and storage configurations: one with 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM & 128GB of UFS 3.1 inbuilt storage, and the other with 12GB RAM and 256GB ROM. You receive rapid read and write speeds as well as extremely fast program loading times thanks to the recent generation of storage & RAM.
Software
The POCO F4 5G is powered by MIUI 13.0.2, which is based on Android 12. By default, it uses the POCO Launcher 3 skin, which is enjoyable. The firm has also revealed the fourth generation of the launcher, which has some new features, but it is still in the works. The launcher distinguishes itself from the competition by allowing for extensive customization and an organized app drawer. Despite the company’s promises to the contrary, bloat problems persisted in our unit.
The pre-installed applications generate superfluous alerts, but the ability to silence them works to your advantage. The Poco F4’s dual sound output is one of its strongest features, providing clear and booming sounds even at maximum volume.
Unfortunately, Poco did not include a 3.5mm audio jack, but for music lovers, Poco includes a USB Type-C to 3.5mm converter in the box! It’s rather amazing to see such goodies considering many smartphone makers nowadays don’t even include a charging adaptor!
Cameras
The camera arrangement of the Poco F4 is 64MP+8MP+2MP. If you only look at the specifications, nothing here sticks out. Numerous smartphones have a similar setup. However, the Poco F4 has a decent camera performance. It captures details quite well, and the colors are extremely true for photographs taken in bright outdoor environments. Skin tones are also correct. It also features a 20-megapixel selfie sensor.
If you enjoy experimenting with camera capabilities, the Poco F4 will provide you with some DSLR-like results! It primarily includes a 64MP camera with OIS, as well as a standard arrangement of an 8MP wide-angle camera as well as a 2MP macro lens. The primary camera captures stunning images while keeping high details, sharpness, and controlled contrast across the frame. Though the color saturation appears to be enhanced, the results will not look unnatural.
Night Mode
The primary camera took night photographs nicely, with rich details, while some images came out a little warm. The post-processing wizardry also kept noise levels under control. Portraits taken were a little too artificial at times, and the person wasn’t always completely separated from the surroundings.
10x Digital Zoom
It has a 10x digital zoom, however, it only works up to 2x zoom. The noise in the photographs is now plainly noticeable. It is far preferable to use your primary camera and trim the image properly. The wide-angle camera performs admirably while preserving colors; nonetheless, the photographs may lack detail.
Battery Life
After becoming accustomed to smartphones with 5000mAh batteries, heavy phone users may struggle with its 4500mAh battery, which will barely last a day on a full charge.
The Poco F4 may last one complete day with routine chores like accepting calls, listening to music, and moderate usage of social media, as well as an hour of gaming. Poco also provides 67W rapid charging, which can charge it from 0% to 100% in 40 minutes. You can receive up to 50% battery charge in just 15 minutes of rapid charging. The charger is included in the box.
Conclusion
The POCO F4 5G is a potential all-in-one device with strong hardware and cameras. It doesn’t try too tough with its design and offers a sophisticated operating system, but with some bloatware and spammy alerts. Sure, charging speeds should have been better. However, the rest of the package is competitive.
The iQoo Neo 6, which also is based on the same chip, is another competitor. There’s also the Samsung Galaxy M53, Realme 9 Pro+, and Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge, all of which are in a similar pricing bracket and have somewhat different specs. So, yeah, there is a huge list of ‘alternatives’.
The Poco F4 5G is a ‘value-for-money’ offering, with its main selling features being its performance and camera. Sure, there’s no 120W fast-charging or 108MP camera. However, this does the job without most of those fancy extras. If you want a smartphone with decent performance and a luxury appearance, choose the Poco F4 5G.
