POCO F1: An Economic Flagship's Comprehensive review
Poco F1, the only affordable smartphone till date with Snapdragon 845
Poco, the sub-brand from the popular mobile manufacture Xiaomi introduced their first offspring the F1 on August 2018. This product got international attention because of the flagship level specs that it offered at a affordable price range.
The POCO sub-brand is managed by Xiaomi's Lead Product Manager Jai Mani,
who has been crucial to Xiaomi's growth in India. They are clearly trying to attract the young crowd, especially the gaming crowd by offering flagship level specs and performance. The main marketing tactics the sub-brand focuses on is the speed and affordability of this economic flagship.
The sub-brand Poco is not trying to hide the fact that its owned by Xiaomi, it is rather embracing this fact. Even on the back of the phone it says 'Poco by Xiaomi'. It is clear that it is with the resources of Xiaomi, one of the biggest mobile manufactures of India that such flagship level specs were offered at a affordable price range.
Review
I have been using the Poco F1 for a considerable amount of time and I can clearly say that it is the best value for money smartphone out in the market. I have made this my daily driver. Poco F1 out of the box comes with Android Oreo but I received the Android Pie update within two days.
Pros-
Poco F1 comes in four variants, 6gb ram 64gb storage priced at ₹20,999, 6gb ram 128gb storage priced at ₹23,999, 8gb ram 256gb storage ₹28,999 and the Armored edition with Kevlar back with 8gb ram 256gb storage priced at ₹29,999. The color options available are Black, Blur, Red and Kevlar.
When it comes to design even though Poco F1 lacks the premium feel because of the Polt-carbonate back, but it increases durability. It also helps in keeping production costs low which allowed them to deliver such an great product and a budget price tag.
Poco F1 comes with hybrid sim slot with secondary sim tray that doubles as a SD card slot. It also come with a 3.5mm headphone Jack and a USB-C charging port. On the top there is a notch which houses the front camera, IR sensors for secured facial recognition and an earpiece that helps to deliver somewhat of a dual speaker experience. The phone also comes with a liquid cooling mechanism that helps to keep the phone temperature low even after hours of gaming.
The notch is somewhat big and the phone also has a large chin at the bottom. The side borders are pretty narrow. The notch and the chin will grow on you after some time. Also for those who hate the notch there is a option in the menu to hide it.
The phone comes with a 6.18 inch FHD+ display with a resolution of 2248 x 1080 and 19:9 aspect ratio. The display also comes with Gorilla glass 3 that helps in durability.
Software and Performance
The phone out of the box comes with MIUI 9 on top of Android Oreo. But you will receive the MIUI 10 update instantly and Android Pie update in the next few days.
I would have preferred Stock Android or Android One instead of MIUI, but MIUI has its own pros. Unlike other Xiaomi smartphones, Poco F1 has its own version of MIUI with the Poco launcher. The Poco Launcher comes with a App Drawer which is pretty cool and this also has Group icons by color option.
Poco F1 also has a full screen mode which switches the navigation button for gestures. The gestures are pretty good and easy and fun to use. Most of the apps support the full screen mode and embraces the notch, so that the notch doesn't interfere the user experience.
Even though MIUI have some bugs the Poco team is fixing it with frequent software updates. Once you have received the MIUI 10.3.4.0 update almost all the bugs are fixed.
Game Turbo Mode
Poco F1 also features a Game Turbo Mode, which makes the gaming experience more fun. With this Xiaomi tries to provide the user with a smooth and enhanced gaming experience. Game Turbo adds a overlay on the top which can be viewed by dragging from the corners that has a verity of options like clearing memory, screenshot, connectivity options and much more.
Game Turbo mode also provides the option to open apps like Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter etc which playing the game. The apps open in a floating window which can be scaled to our liking and we can use these apps without having to pause or exit the game.
The Game Turbo mode also has a Do not Disturb (DND) mode that helps us to have a immersive experience and this DND mode can be customized to our liking.
Gaming
Poco F1 can also be considered as a budget gaming phone because of its hardware and specs. The Snapdragon 845 and the 6gb or 8gb ram provides the user with enough power and specs to play any high end games with ease. The liquid cooling system also helps the user by keeping the phone temperature low even after constant hours of gaming. The Game turbo mode also makes this experience more enhanced.
Every high end games like Pubg, Asphalt 9, Mortal Combat 5, Injustice 2 can be played in their most high settings with any lag or heating. The gaming experience is smooth for every graphic intensive titles.
Camera
Poco F1 comes with a 12mp + 5mp dual rear camera with f/1.9 and f/2.0 aperture respectively. Even though this camera's are not at the flagship level they are good for a ₹20,000 smartphone. The front camera is a 20mp camera and both front and back camera's come with a pretty awesome portrait mode.
The stock camera application comes with some cool features build into it. Poco F1 can record 4k at 60fps and 30fps. The sad thing is that video stabilization is only available for 1080p recording. The sound quality is great and the stabilization available for the video is good.
The camera can also record slow-motion videos at 960fps or super slow-motion (similar to that in galaxy S9) which is pretty dope for a phone of this price range. The phone also features google lens integration and a Night Mode. The Night mode is not up to the google pixel level but is good.
Google Camera can also be installed in Poco F1, with helps to take the Poco F1's camera to another level. I recommend every Poco F1 user should install Google Camera on their phone to get the most out of its camera.
Click here to learn How to install Google Camera application on your Poco F1.
So In conclusion Poco F1 is a great value for money smartphone out in the market right now. A true flagship killer that offers incredible performance at a breath taking price range.
Pros-
- Best Value for Money smartphone
- Great build quality
- Flagship level specs
- Best in class performance
- Outstanding Battery life
- Fast charging
- Game Turbo Mode
- IR face unlock
- Not the best camera (above average)
- Not water resistance
- Poly-carbonate body (not really a problem, but when compared..)
Poco F1 comes in four variants, 6gb ram 64gb storage priced at ₹20,999, 6gb ram 128gb storage priced at ₹23,999, 8gb ram 256gb storage ₹28,999 and the Armored edition with Kevlar back with 8gb ram 256gb storage priced at ₹29,999. The color options available are Black, Blur, Red and Kevlar.
When it comes to design even though Poco F1 lacks the premium feel because of the Polt-carbonate back, but it increases durability. It also helps in keeping production costs low which allowed them to deliver such an great product and a budget price tag.
Poco F1 comes with hybrid sim slot with secondary sim tray that doubles as a SD card slot. It also come with a 3.5mm headphone Jack and a USB-C charging port. On the top there is a notch which houses the front camera, IR sensors for secured facial recognition and an earpiece that helps to deliver somewhat of a dual speaker experience. The phone also comes with a liquid cooling mechanism that helps to keep the phone temperature low even after hours of gaming.
The notch is somewhat big and the phone also has a large chin at the bottom. The side borders are pretty narrow. The notch and the chin will grow on you after some time. Also for those who hate the notch there is a option in the menu to hide it.
The phone comes with a 6.18 inch FHD+ display with a resolution of 2248 x 1080 and 19:9 aspect ratio. The display also comes with Gorilla glass 3 that helps in durability.
Software and Performance
The phone out of the box comes with MIUI 9 on top of Android Oreo. But you will receive the MIUI 10 update instantly and Android Pie update in the next few days.
I would have preferred Stock Android or Android One instead of MIUI, but MIUI has its own pros. Unlike other Xiaomi smartphones, Poco F1 has its own version of MIUI with the Poco launcher. The Poco Launcher comes with a App Drawer which is pretty cool and this also has Group icons by color option.
Poco F1 also has a full screen mode which switches the navigation button for gestures. The gestures are pretty good and easy and fun to use. Most of the apps support the full screen mode and embraces the notch, so that the notch doesn't interfere the user experience.
Even though MIUI have some bugs the Poco team is fixing it with frequent software updates. Once you have received the MIUI 10.3.4.0 update almost all the bugs are fixed.
 |
| App Drawer |
 |
| Group icons by color |
Game Turbo Mode
Poco F1 also features a Game Turbo Mode, which makes the gaming experience more fun. With this Xiaomi tries to provide the user with a smooth and enhanced gaming experience. Game Turbo adds a overlay on the top which can be viewed by dragging from the corners that has a verity of options like clearing memory, screenshot, connectivity options and much more.
Game Turbo mode also provides the option to open apps like Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter etc which playing the game. The apps open in a floating window which can be scaled to our liking and we can use these apps without having to pause or exit the game.
The Game Turbo mode also has a Do not Disturb (DND) mode that helps us to have a immersive experience and this DND mode can be customized to our liking.
 |
| Game Turbo Menu showing CPU, GPU usage and FPS |
 |
| Using Whatsapp while playing games |
Gaming
Poco F1 can also be considered as a budget gaming phone because of its hardware and specs. The Snapdragon 845 and the 6gb or 8gb ram provides the user with enough power and specs to play any high end games with ease. The liquid cooling system also helps the user by keeping the phone temperature low even after constant hours of gaming. The Game turbo mode also makes this experience more enhanced.
Every high end games like Pubg, Asphalt 9, Mortal Combat 5, Injustice 2 can be played in their most high settings with any lag or heating. The gaming experience is smooth for every graphic intensive titles.
Camera
Poco F1 comes with a 12mp + 5mp dual rear camera with f/1.9 and f/2.0 aperture respectively. Even though this camera's are not at the flagship level they are good for a ₹20,000 smartphone. The front camera is a 20mp camera and both front and back camera's come with a pretty awesome portrait mode.
The stock camera application comes with some cool features build into it. Poco F1 can record 4k at 60fps and 30fps. The sad thing is that video stabilization is only available for 1080p recording. The sound quality is great and the stabilization available for the video is good.
The camera can also record slow-motion videos at 960fps or super slow-motion (similar to that in galaxy S9) which is pretty dope for a phone of this price range. The phone also features google lens integration and a Night Mode. The Night mode is not up to the google pixel level but is good.
Google Camera can also be installed in Poco F1, with helps to take the Poco F1's camera to another level. I recommend every Poco F1 user should install Google Camera on their phone to get the most out of its camera.
Click here to learn How to install Google Camera application on your Poco F1.
So In conclusion Poco F1 is a great value for money smartphone out in the market right now. A true flagship killer that offers incredible performance at a breath taking price range.
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