Poco F3: First Impression and Initial Review

Poco, a brand of Xiaomi, has given us some Flagship level phones with a very affordable price.  It started with the release of Pocofone F1 (which I also bought and used) and most recently, the release of Poco F3 last March 27th, 2021. 

The Poco brand do not shy away in putting top of the line processors and specs in their phones. In the new Poco F3, it comes with the latest Snapgragon 870 5G (7nm), an Adreno 650 GPU, 6.67-inch AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate, HDR10+, 1300 nits (peak) brightness. It also has Gorilla Glass 5 on both front and back. There are two versions that you can choose from - a 6GB RAM with 128 GB of storage and one with 8GB RAM and of 256GB Storage. This phone is also equipped with two front firing DOLBY speakers,  triple camera set-up at the back, with a depth-sensor and a 20mp selfie cam. 

I ordered my Poco F3 during the pre-order launch at Lazada, who exclusively sell it with the early bird discount. The Phone costs for Php 17,990 for the 6/128gb, and Php 20,990 for the 8GB/256GB variant. I purchased the Arctic white, with two other color options available - Night Black and Deep Ocean Blue.

The phone looked really sleek with a semi glossy back and a plastic frame. It also shipped with a free screen protector and a transparent plastic case. Transferring the apps from my Red Magic 3S to the new Poco F3 was seamless too using Google to copy the old phone's content to the new one. Icons are also smooth to the eyes, and with the 120hz refresh rate, you would rarely feel a lag in the UI. It comes with a fast charging brick that is able to charge the phone's 4520mah battery quickly using Quick Charge 3+. The phone uses MiUI 12 based on Android 11 as its OS. 

Camera: 

The Poco F3 triple camera set-up is okay, especially if you give it enough light to work on. We have a 48mp main shooter, 8mp ultrawide lens and a 5mp macro lens. Using it under favorable conditions (better light), the camera can give you outstanding pictures and videos. Though you will observe some struggles under lowlight conditions and when you're moving as this phone doesn't have OIS. 

  Main Camera: 

0.6 Ultrawide: 

x2 Zoom: 

Macro Lens: 

20MP Selfie Camera: 

Gaming: 

With gaming, I used Poco F3 for Mobile Legends on very high settings, with no issues. The game is smooth and the heating is tolerable, thanks to the built-in cooling system. However, I also saw some reviewers experiencing some overheating in their heavier games. I probably need to try it with graphics heavy game.

What I think could have been better: 

Though Poco F3 is a very good phone given its very affordable price, there are a few things that needed improvement. 

The first one was the pre-installed apps present on the phone. When I first set the phone up, I noticed a lot of applications present on the phone. Some of them are games, or other utility apps that I do not really need. Though, you can uninstall them, it will require some effort to go through all of them and remove them from the phone. 

They could have put a bigger battery. Compared to the phone that was also launched together with the F3, it could have at least come with a 5000mah battery. In the few days that I was using the phone - playing games, YouTube viewing and social media apps use, it can stay on for a full day before it would require you to charge it again. However, comparing it to the more affordable Poco X3 Pro (5160 mah battery), the F3 should have at least reached the 5Kmah level. 

Though you will get a USB-C to 3.5mm headphone jack converted, I would have preferred a dedicated headphone jack built-in on the phone. This would let me use a wired headphone, watching videos or listening to music while the phone is charging. Though, I often use a JBL wireless headphones and an AirPods Pro, I would appreciate my Poco F3 to have a headphone jack. 

Despite of the features I personally want for the Poco F3 to have, I do not have any complains on how the phone looks and performs overall. It has a very good processor, amazing screen with an equally amazing refresh rate, very good DOLBY speakers, responsive fingerprint sensors and most importantly, a very affordable price for its specs. 

Now, do I recommend this phone to friends? I definitely do. This is one of those mid-range priced phones with a flagship level specs that we need for our daily use. Comparing its price vs value, Poco F3 is definitely a flagship killer.