Tech Review: Xiaomi Pocophone F1

There are a lot of flagship devices being launched during the 3rd or 4th quarter of the year. We see Samsung, Apple, Huawei and other companies launch their flagships ranging from $500-$1,500.00 (with the arrival of the new iPhone XS Max). However, there was also another phone that made waves of hype in the smart phone market, and this is Xiaomi's Pocophone F1. 

I purchased my Poco F1 from Lazada for PHP 19,990 for the 128GB variant and I have been using it for one week now. The phone has impressed me in so many ways, from it's speed to the battery life. I have charged and used this phone for forty-six (46) hours before recharging the built in 4000mah battery with a type-C Adaptor. I am using it moderately- video streaming on YouTube using Wifi, but with my Data turned on in the background. I was also surfing and using my Social Media application during this time. The fast charging feature is also what it promised- it can charge fast, plugging the device for an hour to one hour thirty can bring the battery back to 100% from 15%. The phone also maintains it's temperature, thanks to the liquid cooling system that the phone has. 

Pocophone F1 sports a dual camera, both 12mp and 5mp at the back and a 20mp selfie camera on the front. The main camera uses a Sony IMX363 sensor and has two dual LED Flash. The camera software is easy to operate and also has AI to give better picture-taking experience. The 12mp shooter has an aperture of f/1.9 and the 5mp depth sensor lens has an aperture of f/2.0. The front camera also has an aperture of f/2.0. Both front and back cameras have portrait mode, which like in a lot of flagship phones gives you the liberty to blur the background. 

The phone's camera is excellent under good lighting and the AI automatically detects the type of subject you want to take a picture of- from food, plants or trees, people, etc. and automatically adjusts the brightness, sharpness, saturation, etc. Though there is a little struggle in low-light conditions, the Poco F1 is still able to get good photos. The phone is also able to record up to 4k videos which are sharp and vivid, however, the phone lacks digital image stabilization. 

The Pocophone F1 also runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 with 6gb of RAM, similar to what is also found in Samsung's latest flagship Note 9. It uses Xiaomi's own MIUI which is a modified Android 8.1 Oreo. It's an Octacore phone with Adreno 630, which makes gaming and normal use a very good experience. It has a 6.18 IPS LCD Screen and has a pixel density of 403. The phone also has a dual stereo speaker, but the front-facing earpiece speaker is not as loud as the speakers found at the bottom of the phone. 

The phone is very snappy and has no lags. It's fingerprint scanner at the back of the phone was instantaneous and would unlock the phone in a snap. The screen is not that bright under direct sunlight, but I don't really have any issues with it. I have tried calling on this phone and the audio is crisp and clear. I also tried using the loudspeaker on this phone by running Spotify and the sound is amazing.

The Pocophone F1 comes in three colors- Graphite Black, Steel Blue and Rosso Red. It also has 64, 128 and 256 GB variants, but I only found 64 and 128GB on Lazada. The price varies but ranges from PHP 18,000PHP 19,000.00 for the 64GB variant and PHP 21,000- PHP 23,000.00 for the 128GB variant. Sadly, the 256GB/8GB RAM Kevlar coated variant is not yet available in the country. 

VERDICT: 

Pocophone F1 is a very affordable phone with a monster interior. Its hardware rivals those found in top of the line flagship phones at 1/3 of their prices. Though there are some things that a tech-savvy user might nitpick, overall, this is a very powerful and durable device (even though it's made of plastic). If you just want to have a very fast phone for your daily grind or some gaming, with above average camera and video recording capabilities, then I would really recommend this phone. I have been using this for a week now and I think, this one will stick with me for a long time. Xiaomi was very generous when they created this power phone as it really live up to it's tagline #masterofspeed.

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