XIAOMI POCO F1

THE XIAOMI POCO F1 128GB MOBILE FEATURES A 6.18" (15.7 CM) DISPLAY WITH A SCREEN RESOLUTION OF 1080 X 2246 PIXELS AND RUNS ON ANDROID V8.1 (OREO) OPERATING SYSTEM. THE DEVICE IS POWERED BY OCTA CORE (2.8 GHZ, QUAD CORE, KRYO 385 + 1.8 GHZ, QUAD CORE, KRYO 385) PROCESSOR PAIRED WITH 6 GB OF RAM. AS FAR AS THE BATTERY IS CONCERNED IT HAS 4000 MAH. OVER THAT, AS FAR AS THE REAR CAMERA IS CONCERNED THIS MOBILE HAS A 12 MP CAMERA EXMOR-RS CMOS SENSOR SUPPORTING A RESOLUTION OF 4000 X 3000 PIXELS AND THE FRONT SNAPPER IS POWERED BY A EXMOR-RS CMOS SENSOR. OTHER SENSORS INCLUDE LIGHT SENSOR, PROXIMITY SENSOR, ACCELEROMETER, COMPASS, GYROSCOPE. SO, DOES IT HAVE A FINGERPRINT SENSOR? YES, IT DOES. FOR GRAPHICAL PERFORMANCE THAT CAN MAKE GAMES RUN SMOOTHLY, THIS PHONE HAS GOT A ADRENO 630 GPU. ON BOARD STORAGE IS AT 128 GB WITH THE OPTION TO EXPAND THE MEMORY BY YES UP TO 256 GB. DESIGN IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTORS WHEN IT COMES TO MOBILES. THIS PHONE IS 8.8 MM SLIM AND WEIGHS 182 GRAMS.

XIAOMI HAS BEEN ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING SMARTPHONE MANUFACTURERS IN INDIA OVER THE PAST 18 MONTHS, BECOMING THE BIGGEST SMARTPHONE BRAND IN THE PROCESS. IT MANAGED TO CAPTURE A LARGE CHUNK OF THE MARKET WITH ITS REDMI SERIES BY OFFERING POWERFUL HARDWARE AT AFFORDABLE PRICES. WHILE THE LOWER END OF THE MARKET WELCOMED XIAOMI SMARTPHONES,  PREMIUM XIAOMI PHONES HAVEN'T DONE WELL IN INDIA, AND THE CHINESE MANUFACTURER HASN'T LAUNCHED A FLAGSHIP PHONE IN THE COUNTRY ). XIAOMI SAYS THAT THE NEW POCO SUB-BRAND LETS IT START WITH A CLEAN SLATE, WITHOUT BEING BURDENED BY THE EXPECTATIONS THAT PEOPLE HAVE BASED ON ITS OTHER PRODUCTS.

WITH ASUS AND ONEPLUS MAKING WAVES IN THE SUB-RS.40,000 MARKET, XIAOMI DOESN’T WANT TO BE LEFT FAR BEHIND. THE F1 IS THE FIRST PRODUCT FROM POCO, AND SPORTS POWERFUL SPECIFICATIONS INCLUDING THE QUALCOMM SNAPDRAGON 845 PROCESSOR ALONG WITH A BIG 4000MAH BATTERY. BUT THE MOST INTERESTING BIT ABOUT THE POCO F1 IS THE PRICING. WITH PRICES STARTING AT RS. 20,999, THE F1 IS BY FAR THE MOST AFFORDABLE SMARTPHONE RUNNING THE FLAGSHIP QUALCOMM PROCESSOR. HAS XIAOMI CUT CORNERS TO MEET THIS PRICE?

XIAOMI POCO F1 DESIGN

THE POCO F1 SPORTS A 6.18-INCH FULL-HD+ DISPLAY WITH AN 18.7:9 ASPECT RATIO. IT HAS 2.5D CURVED CORNING GORILLA GLASS 3 FOR PROTECTION. JUST LIKE OTHER RECENTLY LAUNCHED SMARTPHONES, THE POCO F1 HAS A NOTCH AT THE TOP OF THE DISPLAY, BUT IT’S BIGGER THAN THE ONES ON THE ONEPLUS 6 (REVIEW) AND THE LG G7+ THINQ (REVIEW), PRIMARILY BECAUSE IT HOUSES AN INFRARED CAMERA, INFRARED EMITTER, 20-MEGAPIXEL SELFIE CAMERA, AND THE EARPIECE. ALSO, THE BORDERS AROUND THE DISPLAY ARE SLIGHTLY THICKER THAN ON THOSE PHONES. THE BOTTOM CHIN IS THICK AND HOUSES A TINY WHITE NOTIFICATION LED, WHICH ALSO LIGHTS UP WHEN A CABLE IS PLUGGED IN.

THE BUTTONS ON THE POCO F1 ARE PLACED ON THE RIGHT. THE POWER BUTTON IS EASY TO REACH BUT THE VOLUME CONTROLS ARE PLACED A LITTLE TOO HIGH, NEEDING A BIT OF A SHUFFLE TO REACH THEM. AT THE BACK, THIS PHONE HAS A VERTICALLY POSITIONED DUAL CAMERA SETUP ALONG WITH A DUAL-LED FLASH. BELOW THE CAMERA MODULE IS THE FINGERPRINT SCANNER. THE POSITIONING IS PERFECT, AND EITHER OF YOUR INDEX FINGERS WILL REST ON IT NATURALLY WHEN YOU HOLD THE POCO F1.

ANOTHER THING WE FOUND HARD TO IGNORE ABOUT XIAOMI'S POCO F1 WAS THE FACT THAT THE DISPLAY DOESN'T QUITE LOOK TO BE SITTING FLUSH WITH THE BODY OF THE PHONE. WE'VE BEEN SPOILT BY UNIBODY PHONES AT EVEN MORE AFFORDABLE PRICE POINTS, AND IT SEEMS THIS IS ONE OF THE AREAS WHERE XIAOMI HAS DECIDED TO KEEP THE COSTS IN CHECK. 

THE BACK IS MADE OUT OF POLYCARBONATE FOR THE REGULAR VARIANTS OF THIS SMARTPHONE. WE HAD THE ARMOURED EDITION FOR REVIEW, WHICH HAS A KEVLAR BACK. XIAOMI SAYS THAT IT HAS USED REAL KEVLAR, AND YOU CAN FEEL THE WEAVE WHEN YOU RUN YOUR FINGERS OVER IT. WE HAVEN’T USED THE OTHER VARIANTS WITH THE POLYCARBONATE BACK OTHER THAN THE BRIEF TIME THAT WE SPENT WITH THEM BEFORE LAUNCH, AND IT'S SAFE TO SAY THEY DON'T LOOK AS SLICK AS THE COMPETITION.

XIAOMI HAS RETAINED THE 3.5MM HEADPHONE JACK, AND IT’S POSITIONED ON THE TOP ALONG WITH THE SECONDARY MICROPHONE. THE POCO F1 DOES NOT HAVE AN IR EMITTER, COMMONLY SEEN ON XIAOMI SMARTPHONES. AT THE BOTTOM, IT HAS A USB TYPE-C PORT AND TWO GRILLES ON EITHER SIDE, OF WHICH ONLY THE RIGHT ONE HOUSES A LOUDSPEAKER. THE PHONE WEIGHS 182G AND YOU WILL NOTICE THE WEIGHT WHEN YOU HOLD IT. THIS IS MAINLY DOWN TO THE 4000MAH BATTERY. XIAOMI SHIPS A QUALCOMM QUICK CHARGE 3 CERTIFIED CHARGER IN THE BOX TO TOP IT UP QUICKLY.

XIAOMI POCO F1 SPECIFICATIONS, SOFTWARE, AND FEATURES

THE POCO F1 SPORTS A POWERFUL QUALCOMM SNAPDRAGON 845 PROCESSOR WITH FOUR CORES CLOCKED AT 2.8GHZ AND THE OTHER FOUR CLOCKED AT 1.8GHZ. XIAOMI HAS DESIGNED A COOLING SYSTEM CALLED ‘LIQUIDCOOL’ FOR THIS PHONE, USING A COPPER CHAMBER WITH VAPOUR IN IT TO DISSIPATE HEAT. THERE ARE THREE RAM AND STORAGE VARIANTS: 6GB RAM WITH 64GB STORAGE, 6GB RAM WITH 128GB STORAGE, AND 8GB RAM WITH 256GB OF STORAGE, WITH THE ARMOURED EDITION WE REVIEWED ONLY AVAILABLE IN THE LATTER CONFIGURATION. THE POCO F1 HAS A HYBRID DUAL-SIM TRAY THAT LETS YOU EXPAND STORAGE IF YOU WISH TO.

XIAOMI HAS OPTED FOR LPDDR4X FOR RAM AND UFS2.1 FOR STORAGE,.IN TERMS OF CONNECTIVITY, THE POCO F1 HAS BLUETOOTH 5 AND DUAL-BAND WIFI 802.11 B/G/N/AC. THE POCO F1 IS A HYBRID DUAL-SIM DEVICE. IT HAS SUPPORT FOR 4G AND VOLTE ON BOTH SIMS, WHICH LETS BOTH SIMS BE ON A 4G NETWORK. XIAOMI HAS SAID THAT THE POCO F1 ALSO SUPPORTS 4G+ THAT WILL LETS IT LATCH ONTO THE 800MHZ AND 2300MHZ BANDS SIMULTANEOUSLY.

THE DUAL CAMERA SETUP CONSISTS OF A 12-MEGAPIXEL PRIMARY CAMERA WITH AN F/1.9 APERTURE, 1.4-MICRON PIXELS, AND DUAL-PIXEL AUTOFOCUS. THE SECONDARY CAMERA IS A 5-MEGAPIXEL DEPTH SENSOR WITH AN F/2.0 APERTURE AND 1.12-MICRON PIXELS. AT THE FRONT, THIS PHONE HAS A 20-MEGAPIXEL SELFIE SHOOTER.

IN TERMS OF SOFTWARE, THE POCO F1 SHIPS WITH THE FAMILIAR MIUI, BUT WITH A NEW POCO THEME. THE PHONE CURRENTLY RUNS MIUI 9.6 ON TOP OF  THE POCO F1 GETS AN APP LAUNCHER RIGHT OUT OF THE BOX, SOMETHING THAT IS MISSING ON MIUI-POWERED XIAOMI DEVICES. THE POCO LAUNCHER HAS TABS THAT LET YOU SORT APPS BASED ON THEIR TYPE, BUT THERE IS NO WAY TO CUSTOMISE THIS. XIAOMI HAS ALSO ADDED A SORT BY COLOUR OPTION THAT LETS YOU GROUP APPS TOGETHER BASED ON THEIR ICON COLOUR. WE USED THIS FEATURE AND FOUND IT TO BE USEFUL WHEN SEARCHING FOR AN APP QUICKLY. THERE ARE ALSO A FEW OTHER CUSTOMISATIONS TO THE NOTIFICATION SHADE.

THE POCO F1 SUPPORTS THEMES, WHICH LETS YOU CHANGE THE WAY THE PHONE LOOKS, RIGHT DOWN TO THE ICON PACK. THE SETTINGS APP IS UNCHANGED FROM WHAT WE’VE SEEN WITH MIUI BEFORE, AND JUST LIKE WITH OTHER XIAOMI PHONES, WE SOMETIMES HAD TO USE THE SEARCH FUNCTION TO GET TO THE SETTING WE WERE LOOKING FOR. YOU ALSO GET OTHER MIUI FEATURES INCLUDING DUAL APPS WHICH LETS YOU RUN TWO INSTANCES OF SUPPORTED APPS SUCH AS WHATSAPP, AND SECOND SPACE WHICH LETS YOU CREATE A SEPARATE USER PROFILE.

THE POCO F1 HAS A FACE UNLOCK FEATURE THAT USES THE INFRARED CAMERA AND EMITTER TO SCAN YOUR FACE. WE FOUND THIS FEATURE TO BE VERY HANDY AS IT WAS QUICK TO UNLOCK THE PHONE. EVEN IN LOW LIGHT WHERE ONLY THE THE POCO F1 MANAGED TO SUCCEED. THE FINGERPRINT SCANNER IS ALSO QUICK, SOMETHING YOU CAN FALL BACK ON IF FACE RECOGNITION FAILS.

XIAOMI POCO F1 PERFORMANCE, BATTERY LIFE, AND CAMERAS

WE HAVE NOW USED QUITE A FEW PHONES WITH THE QUALCOMM SNAPDRAGON 845 PROCESSOR AND WE KNOW HOW WELL IT PERFORMS. THE POCO F1 DELIVERS THE SAME EXPERIENCE. IT IS FAST AND WE NEVER SAW ANY LAG OR STUTTER. XIAOMI HAS ALSO DIALLED DOWN THE MIUI ANIMATIONS WHICH MAKES IT FEEL SNAPPY. WE DID NOT EXPERIENCE APPS GETTING KILLED IN THE BACKGROUND, AND OUR REVIEW UNIT (WHICH HAS 8GB OF RAM) HAD CLOSE TO 4GB RAM FREE AT ALL TIMES. EVEN THE BASE VARIANT HAS 6GB OF RAM WHICH SHOULD DELIVER GOOD PERFORMANCE. THE DISPLAY ON THE POCO F1 HAS GOOD VIEWING ANGLES AND A VIVID OUTPUT. XIAOMI USES THE EARPIECE WITH THE SPEAKER ON THE BOTTOM FOR A STEREO-LIKE EFFECT.

THE POCO F1 SCORED 2,65,305 IN ANTUTU, AS WELL AS 2,454 AND 9,048 IN THE SINGLE-CORE AND MULTI-CORE TESTS IN GEEKBENCH 4. THESE SCORES ARE SIMILAR TO WHAT THE ONEPLUS 6 AND THE ACHIEVED WITH IDENTICAL HARDWARE. THE POCO F1 ALSO SCORED 62,889 IN 3DMARK ICE STORM UNLIMITED AND 55FPS IN GFXBENCH MANHATTAN 3.1.

TO PUT THE LIQUID COOLING SYSTEM TO THE TEST, WE RAN ANTUTU FIVE TIMES BACK TO BACK, AND WE SAW THAT THE SCORE DID NOT DROP BELOW 2,50,000. WE PLAYED PUBG  AND THE POCO F1 DIDN’T BREAK A SWEAT. AFTER WE PLAYED OUR THIRD CONSECUTIVE MATCH IN PUBG, THE PHONE GOT WARM TO THE TOUCH. WHAT WAS ALSO INTERESTING WAS THE BATTERY DRAIN. WE NOTED A 6-7 PERCENT BATTERY LEVEL DROP ON AVERAGE PER ROUND WHICH IS MORE THAN ACCEPTABLE. IF YOU GAME QUITE OFTEN, YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO SQUEEZE IN QUITE A FEW ROUNDS BEFORE NEEDING TO PLUG THE PHONE INTO A CHARGER.

IN OUR HD VIDEO LOOP TEST, THE POCO F1 WENT ON FOR 17 HOURS AND 5 MINUTES. WITH OUR HEAVY USAGE CONSISTING OF PLAYING CLOSE TO AN HOUR OF PUBG, AN HOUR OF GPS NAVIGATION, AN ACTIVE WHATSAPP ACCOUNT, AND A FEW CALLS, WE ENDED A DAY WITH 25 PERCENT LEFT IN THE TANK. IF YOU AREN’T A HEAVY USER, WE RECKON THIS PHONE COULD LAST YOU TWO WORKING DAYS. WHEN IT FINALLY NEEDS A RECHARGE, THE SUPPLIED FAST CHARGER IS CAPABLE OF CHARGING THE PHONE UP TO 35 PERCENT IN 30 MINUTES, AND 74 PERCENT IN AN HOUR. IT TAKES CLOSE TO TWO HOURS TO TOP THE PHONE UP COMPLETELY.

XIAOMI HAS USED THE SAME PRIMARY SENSOR FOR THE POCO F1 AS THE MI 8, . NATURALLY, WE WERE INTERESTED TO SEE HOW THE SAME SENSOR PERFORMS ON THIS PHONE. THE CAMERA APP ON THE POCO F1 IS SIMILAR TO WHAT WE HAVE SEEN ON MOST OTHER XIAOMI DEVICES. APART FROM THE REGULAR PHOTO AND VIDEO MODES, IT HAS SHORT VIDEO, PORTRAIT, SQUARE, PANORAMA, AND MANUAL MODES. THE MANUAL MODE GIVES YOU CONTROL OVER WHITE BALANCE, FOCUS, SHUTTER SPEED AND ISO. AI MODE IS ENABLED BY DEFAULT AND HELPS THE CAMERA IN SCENE DETECTION. IT IS FAIRLY QUICK TO DETERMINE WHAT THE CAMERA IS POINTED TOWARDS. THERE IS A TOGGLE FOR HDR AND AN OPTION TO SELECT FILTERS BEFORE YOU TAKE A SHOT.

IN OUR TESTING, THE POCO F1 MANAGED TO LOCK FOCUS AND METER LIGHT QUICKLY. PHOTOS TAKEN IN DAYLIGHT HAD GOOD DETAIL, AND OBJECTS AT A DISTANCE WERE STILL RECOGNISABLE. WHEN SHOOTING AGAINST THE LIGHT, THE PHONE SWITCHED HDR ON AUTOMATICALLY AND MANAGED TO CAPTURE DETAILS QUITE WELL. MACROS WERE SHARP AND HAD GOOD DETAIL, AND THE PHONE COULD FOCUS ON TINY OBJECTS WITHOUT NEEDING MULTIPLE TAPS. LOW LIGHT CAMERA PERFORMANCE WAS JUST AVERAGE. TO COMPENSATE FOR LOW LIGHT, THE POCO F1 DROPS ITS SHUTTER SPEED AND AI SWITCHES THE CAMERA TO NIGHT MODE. THE RESULTANT IMAGES APPEARED GOOD ON THE PHONE’S SCREEN, BUT ZOOM IN AND YOU WILL NOTICE A LOSS IN DETAILS. NOISE WAS KEPT UNDER CONTROL BUT THE EDGES IN THESE PHOTOS WEREN’T WELL DEFINED.

THE SELFIE CAMERA DID A DECENT JOB AS WELL BUT MISSED OUT ON A FEW DETAILS. IN FAVOURABLE LIGHT, IT MANAGED TO CAPTURE GOOD DETAIL AND THE PORTRAIT MODE PRODUCED A GOOD BOKEH EFFECT. YOU ALSO GET BEAUTIFICATION OPTIONS TO SMOOTHEN FACES. IN LOW LIGHT, THE SELFIE CAMERA USES 4-IN-1 PIXEL BINNING TO CAPTURE A USABLE SHOT AT THE COST OF RESOLUTION.

VIDEO RECORDING ON THE POCO F1 MAXES OUT AT 4K FOR THE REAR CAMERA AND 1080P FOR THE SELFIE SHOOTER. WHEN RECORDING IN 4K, WE OBSERVED THAT THE PHONE STOPPED ITSELF AFTER 8 MINUTES. THE ONEPLUS 6, ON THE OTHER HAND, HAS A 10-MINUTE CAP FOR VIDEO RECORDING. THE 4K FOOTAGE WE SHOT APPEARED A LITTLE SATURATED AND WASN’T STABILISED, SO YOU’LL NEED A STEADY HAND. FULL-HD FOOTAGE, ON THE OTHER HAND, WAS STABILISED WELL. SLOW-MO VIDEO RECORDING IS ALSO AVAILABLE AND YOU CAN SHOOT AT UP TO 240FPS AT 1080P.

VERDICT
WITH THE SMARTPHONE MARKET BUZZING WITH SO MANY LAUNCHES, XIAOMI HAS MANAGED TO MAKE A MARK BY PRICING THE POCO F1 AGGRESSIVELY. IT HAS ALL THE ELEMENTS OF A XIAOMI PHONE: A POWERFUL PROCESSOR, MIUI, AND A LOW PRICE. IN THE COMPANY’S ASSAULT ON THE ONEPLUS 6 (REVIEW), MANY MID-RANGE SMARTPHONES WITH FAR LOWER SPECIFICATIONS HAVE BEEN TAKEN DOWN. THE 6GB RAM/ 64GB STORAGE VARIANT OF THE POCO F1 IS PRICED AT RS. 20,999, THE 6GB RAM/ 128GB STORAGE VARIANT IS PRICED AT RS. 23,999, AND THE 8GB RAM/ 256GB STORAGE IS PRICED AT RS. 28,999. THE ARMOURED EDITION, WHICH WE HAD FOR REVIEW, IS PRICED AT RS. 29,999 AND ALSO HAS 8GB OF RAM WITH 256GB OF STORAGE. XIAOMI HAS HIT THE BALL RIGHT OUT OF THE PARK WITH THE PRICING OF THE POCO F1, AND IT’LL BE INTERESTING TO SEE WHETHER ANY MANUFACTURER IS INTERESTED IN A PRICE WAR.

THE QUALCOMM SNAPDRAGON 845 IS UNHEARD OF AT THESE PRICES, BUT THE POCO F1 ALSO OFFERS EXCELLENT BATTERY LIFE, SOMETHING PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ASKING FOR. THE ARMOURED EDITION USES KEVLAR WHICH FEELS DIFFERENT FROM THE MATERIALS WE ALREADY HAVE IN THE MARKET, THOUGH YOU MAY FIND THE BUILD QUALITY OF THE OTHER VARIANTS A BIT UNDERWHELMING. ALL THESE FACTORS MAKE IT AN EASY PHONE TO RECOMMEND, THOUGH WE WOULD STILL LIKE XIAOMI TO TWEAK THE CAMERA ON THE POCO F1 FOR BETTER LOW-LIGHT PERFORMANCE. AVAILABILITY COULD BE AN ISSUE WITH THE POCO F1, AS XIAOMI IS ONCE AGAIN RELYING ON FLASH SALES, AND THERE’S SURE TO BE ENORMOUS DEMAND. IF YOU DO MANAGE TO GET YOUR HANDS ON ONE OF THESE PHONES, GO FOR IT BECAUSE THIS IS THE BEST VALUE YOU’LL GET FOR YOUR MONEY.

WHAT ARE THE DRAWBACKS OF THE XIAOMI POCOPHONE F1?

I THINK POCO F1 BRINGS MORE POSITIVES THAN DRAWBACKS FOR THE COST ITS SOLD FOR. ITS UPTO YOU TO DECIDE IF THE DRAWBACKS ARE REAL WORLD PROBLEMS FOR YOU.

THE MAJOR DRAWBACKS OF POCO F1 ARE,

1.    PLASTIC BUILD QUALITY- FEELS CHEAP

2.    BIG NOTCH AND CHIN- NOT SO GOOD LOOKING

3.    MIUI - SOME MIGHT LIKE IT SOME MIGHT PREFER STOCK ANDROID. BUT ATLEAST NOW IT HAS FEW BUGS.

4.    GORILLA GLASS 3 - LESS DURABILITY

5.    LOW LIGHT CAMERA PERFORMANCE

6.    THE MOST IMPORTANT- STOCK & AVAILABILITY

IS ONEPLUS 6 BETTER THAN MI POCO F1?

ONEPLUS HAS STAYED TRUE TO ITS WORD OF BEING THE FLAGSHIP KILLER AS ONEPLUS 6 HAS BECOME THE NO. 1 PREMIUM SMARTPHONE ALL BECAUSE OF ITS UNMATCHED PERFORMANCE AND FEATURES AT THIS PRICE. WITH THE LAUNCH OF POCO F1 THE COMPARISONS HAS STARTED..

DESIGN

THE ONEPLUS 6 HAS AN OPTIC AMOLED DISPLAY WHEREAS THE POCO F1 HAS A FULL LCD DISPLAY. OPTIC AMOLED IS DEFINITELY THE BETTER OPTION. THE ONEPLUS 6 COMES WITH CORNING GORILLA GLASS 5 WHEREAS THE POCO F1 HAS CORNING GORILLA GLASS 3.

OP 6 LOOKS AND FEELS VERY PREMIUM WITH THE GLASS BODY FINISH AND THE NOTCH DISPLAY. POCO F1 HAS A POLYCARBONATE BACK PANEL WHICH I THINK DOESN'T STAND A CHANCE IN FRONT OF OP 6.

PERFORMANCE

BOTH THE PHONES ARE PACKED WITH A POWERFUL CHIPSET IN QUALCOMM SNAPDRAGON 845 WITH 6/8 GB RAM OPTIONS WHICH IS MORE THAN SUFFICIENT FOR ALL TYPES OF USAGE REQUIREMENTS. HOWEVER I WANT TO BRING YOUR ATTENTION TO THE OS OF ONEPLUS WHICH IS OXYGEN AND THE MIUI WHICH IS THE OPERATING SYSTEM OF POCO F1. THE OXYGEN OS IS I THINK MUCH BETTER IN TERMS OF USAGE AND BRINGING OUT OPTIMIZING UPDATES THAN THE MIUI.

CAMERA

THE OP 6 COMES WITH A SONY 16+20 MP REAR CAMERA AND 16 MP FRONT CAMERA AND THE POCO F1 COMES WITH 5+ 12 MP REAR CAMERA AND A 20 MP FRONT CAMERA. THE OP 6 HAS BOTH EIS AND OIS STABILIZATION WHEREAS THE POCO F1 HAS EIS STABILIZATION. ALL IN ALL THE MAJOR DIFFERENCE IS IN THE APERTURE WHICH IMPROVES THE PICTURE QUALITY OF ONEPLUS 6 IN LOW AND ARTIFICIAL LIGHT.

BATTERY

THE POCO F1 HAS A 4000 MAH BATTERY WHEREAS THE ONE PLUS 6 HAS A 3300 MAH BATTERY SO IT IS SUFFICIENT AND THE DASH CHARGING PROVIDED BY ONEPLUS IS REALLY VERY GOOD AND CHARGES THE PHONE IN 70–80 MINS FROM 0 TO 100 % THE POCO F1 HAS QUALCOMM QUICK CHARGE 3.0 WHICH IS ALSO VERY GOOD AND CHARGES THE PHONE IN APPROXIMATELY TWO HOURS.

FINALLY IF WE KEEP THE PRICE TAG ASIDE, THE ONEPLUS 6 IS DEFINITELY THE BETTER PHONE IN ALMOST ALL ASPECTS SO GO FOR IT AND NEVER SETTLE.

SHOULD I BUY THE XIAOMI POCO F1 OR WAIT FOR A 5G PHONE?

F YOU LIVE OUTSIDE INDIA AND YOUR COUNTRY IS PLANNING TO LAUNCH 5G ANYTIME BETWEEN THE END OF 2018 TO EARLY 2020, THEN YOU CAN WAIT SOMETIME MORE AND GET A PREMIUM 5G SUPPORTED SMARTPHONE.

IF YOU LIVE IN INDIA OR ANY OTHER COUNTRY THAT'S GOING TO DELAY 5G LAUNCH, THEN YOU CAN GO FOR THIS PHONE.

SINCE POCO F1 IS MADE SPECIALLY FOR INDIA, I WOULD SAY THAT IF YOU HAVE THE MONEY IN YOUR ACCOUNT, YOU CAN BUY IT NOW WITHOUT REGRETS.

INDIA HAS PUSHED BACK ITS 5G ROLLOUT TO 2022^[1].

NOW IS 2018, THERE'S STILL 4 MORE YEARS TO GO. N

THE RESULTS ABOVE ARE TAKEN FROM AN ACTUAL SPEED TEST. 4G+ ON POCO F1 IS GOING TO GIVE 3 TIMES FASTER DATA TRANSFER RATE THAN NORMAL 4G.

SNAPDRAGON 845 HAS X20 LTE MODEM THAT SUPPORTS CATEGORY 18 LTE THAT CAN PROVIDE SPEEDS UP TO 1.2 GBIT/S WITH 5X20MHZ CARRIER AGGREGATION. LTE | QUALCOMM. HOWEVER, POCO F1 HAS REDUCED IT'S CAPACITY TO CAT.16 LTE (1024 MBIT/S) WITH 4XCA. XIAOMI POCOPHONE F1.

STILL IT'S GOOD BECAUSE INDIAN OPERATORS CURRENTLY DON'T SUPPORT MORE THAN 3XCA AND NONE SUPPORT GIGABIT LTE YET. WHILE JIO SUPPORTS BAND 3+5+40 3XCA, AIRTEL SUPPORTS BAND 3+8+40 3XCA. SO THE SPEEDS IN GOOD NETWORK CONDITIONS CAN GO WELL ABOVE 100 MBIT/S, WHICH IS ALSO GOOD ENOUGH FOR LIVE STREAMING WITHOUT BUFFERING.

(THOUGH XIAOMI HASN'T SPECIFIED WHICH LTE BANDS ARE GONNA AGGREGATE; SINCE IT'S MADE TO SUPPORT 4G+ IN INDIA AND SUPPORTS 4XCA, I ASSUME THAT THE AGGREGATED LTE BANDS ARE 3+5+8+40. IF NEEDED IN THE FUTURE, WE CAN COMBINE MORE BANDS BY UNLOCKING THE BOOTLOADER, ROOTING AND USING QXDM & QPST SOFTWARES TO CHANGE NV VALUES. I DID THE SAME FOR MI A1 TO ENABLE 4G+.)

SO IT'S NOT WORTH WAITING 4 MORE YEARS FOR 5G TO COME TO YOUR CITY. IT'S ALSO POSSIBLE THAT JIO AND AIRTEL MAY UPGRADE THEIR NETWORK TO SUPPORT GIGABIT LTE WHICH POCO F1 IS CAPABLE OF.

SNAPDRAGON 845 POWERED MOBILES CAN EASILY LAST 2-3 YEARS WITH HEAVY USAGE.

POCO F1 ALSO SUPPORTS PROJECT TREBLE AND IS GOING TO GET ANDROID PIE BEFORE THE END OF THIS YEAR, EVEN THOUGH IT RUNS ON MIUI.

SINCE THIS A FLAGSHIP-BUDGET PHONE, A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE GONNA BUY IT. THIS ALSO MEANS THAT THERE WILL BE ACTIVE CUSTOM ROM DEVELOPMENTS FOR THIS DEVICE. IT MIGHT EVEN GET AOSP BASED ANDROID Q AND R ROMS IN THE FUTURE EVEN IF XIAOMI DOESN'T ROLL OUT.

THIS PHONE HAS 8GB RAM, 256GB INTERNAL STORAGE AND SUPPORTS MICROSD CARD UP TO 256GB AS WELL. SO WE CAN HAVE 0.5TB OF STORAGE. IT'S VERY MUCH LIKE A MINI PC.

SO, WE CAN SAY THAT THIS PHONE IS FUTURE-PROOF.

AT ₹29K IF ONE IS GETTING A FLAGSHIP PHONE, THEN ONE MUST GO FOR IT.

I THINK YOU SHOULD BUY THIS PHONE IF YOU LIVE ANYWHERE ON THIS PLANET. 5G IS PROBABLY GOING TO BE LAUNCHED IN 2020, WHICH IS FAR AWAY.

XIAOMI RECENTLY CREATED A NEW POCO SUB-BRAND AND RELEASED THE FIRST PHONE OF THIS LINE-UP.

DESIGN

THE BUILD QUALITY OF THE PHONE POCO F1 IS ROCK SOLID, WITH THEPOLYCARBONATEBACK. THE PHONE IS VERY STURDY, WELL BUILT AND HAS A PREMIUM FEEL TO IT, AS MOST OF THE SMARTPHONES OF CURRENT TIMES DO. THE PHONE FEELS COMFORTABLE TO HOLD WITH THE SINGLE HAND BECAUSE OF THE CURVED CORNERS AND GRIPPING TEXTURE. THE PHONE IS AVAILABLE IN 3 COLOURS NAMELY GRAPHITE BLACK, ROSSO RED, STEEL BLUE AND ONE SPECIAL ARMOURED EDITION MADE FROM KEVLAR. THE ARMOURED EDITION IS ONLY AVAILABLE WITH 8 GB RAM AND 256 GB STORAGE OPTIONS.

THE PHONE COMES WITH THE NOTCHED DESIGN INSPIRED BY IPHONE X LIKE MANY OTHER SMARTPHONES, WITH A QUITE WIDER NOTCH. THE REASON FOR WIDER NOTCH IS THE PLACEMENT OF AN IR SENSOR ALONG WITH BASIC MICROPHONE AND FRONT CAMERA. THE IR SENSOR CAN BE USED FOR FACE DETECTION WHILE UNLOCKING THE PHONE. ON THE BACK OF THE PHONE, THERE IS ONE DUAL CAMERA SETUP WITH DUAL-LED FLASH AND A FINGERPRINT SENSOR.

ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE PHONE POCO F1, THERE ARE LOCK BUTTON AND VOLUME UP-DOWN BUTTONS. AND THERE IS A HYBRID SIM TRAY ON THE LEFT SIDE, WITH 3.5MM HEADPHONE JACK AND SECONDARY MICROPHONE ON THE TOP. THE IMPORTANT POINT THAT MUST BE NOTED IS THE ABSENCE OF IR-BLASTER, WHICH HAS BECOME A XIAOMI ESSENTIAL THING. ON THE BOTTOM, THERE IS SPEAKER SETUP AND TYPE-C USB PORT WITH A PRIMARY MICROPHONE.

DISPLAY

THE SCREEN IS A 6.18-INCH FHD+ IPS LCD PANEL WITH RESOLUTION2246×1080 AND 18.7:9 ASPECT RATIO. THE PIXEL DENSITY IS 403 PPI WITH 1500:1 CONTRAST RATIO. THE SCREEN IS MADE USING GORILLA GLASS 3.

PROCESSOR

POCO F1 IS POWERED BY QUALCOMM’S SNAPDRAGON 845 CLOCKED AT 2.8 GHZ, WHICH IS FOUND RARELY IN THIS PRICE RANGE. ALSO, THERE IS DEDICATED GRAPHICS PROCESSOR ADRENO 630 CLOCKED AT 710 MHZ IN THE SMARTPHONE. XIAOMI HAS USED LIQUID COOLING TECHNOLOGY IN THE SMARTPHONE POCO F1TO DISSIPATE HEAT DURING HEAVY TASKS LIKE PROLONGED GAMING. THE SPECIFICATIONS ARE TOP CLASS AND UNDOUBTEDLY PERFORMANCE CENTRED, AS FAR AS THE PROCESSOR IS CONCERNED.

CAMERA

THE REAR CAMERA IS A DUAL CAMERA SETUP CONTAINING THE PRIMARY SENSOR OF 12 MP, WITH F/1.9 APERTURE AND 1.4 ΜM LARGE PIXEL AND THE SECONDARY SENSOR OF 5 MP, WITH F/2.0 APERTURE AND 1.12 ΜM LARGE PIXEL SIZE. THE REAR CAMERA ON THIS PHONE IS ABSOLUTELY QUICK TO FOCUS ON OBJECTS WHILE CLICKING PICTURES, THANKS TO ITS DUAL PIXEL AUTOFOCUS. THE CLICKED PICTURES ARE FULL OF DETAILING UNDER DAYLIGHT AND ARTIFICIAL LIGHTING CONDITIONS. IN LOW LIGHTING CONDITIONS, THE PHONE STRUGGLES A BIT WITH SHARPNESS IN THE PICTURES, BUT THE PICTURES APPEAR TO BE CLEAR.

THE FRONT CAMERA IS A 20 MP SHOOTER, WHICH CAN BE USED TO CAPTURE IMAGES IN PORTRAIT MODE. ALSO, THERE IS A BUILT-IN AI BEAUTIFY MODE, WHICH CAN BE USED TO SMOOTHEN THE SKIN WHILE CLICKING PICTURES, THEREBY ENHANCING LOOKS.

BATTERY

THE BATTERY BACKUP ON THIS PHONE CAN LAST A DAY WITH MODERATE USAGE WITH THE 4000 MAH BATTERY. THE PHONE ALSO SUPPORTS QUALCOMM’S QUICK CHARGE 3.0, WHICH REDUCES THE BATTERY RECHARGING TIME.

ARE YOU GOING TO BUY THE XIAOMI POCOPHONE F1?

AS A CONSUMER,

·         WHO DOESN’T WANT TO BURN A HOLE IN HIS POCKET(90% OF THE INDIAN POPULATION)

·         WHO WANTS A GREAT VALUE FOR MONEY

·         WHO WANTS TO USE HIS PHONE WITHOUT RECEIVING CALLS FROM HIS FRIEND TO RETURN HIS MONEY BACK.

IS THE POCO F1 AVAILABLE IN OFFLINE XIAOMI STORES?

NO, POCO F1 IS NOT AVAILABLE OFFLINE. YOU WILL HAVE TO BUY THIS PHONE ONLINE ONLY IN FLASH SALES IF YOU GET LUCKY.

WHAT ARE THE REASONS NOT TO BUY A POCO F1 (THE FIRST PHONE FROM THE NEW XIAOMI BRAND)?

ALTHOUGH POCO F1 IS STEAL DEAL FOR THE FEATURES IT OFFERS AT 20K MIDRANGE SEGMENT BUT SINCE YOU’VE ASKED FOR THE CONS, SO HERE IT GOES.

1.    BUILD QUALITY - POCO F1 IS BUILT FROM POLYCARBONATE, WHICH IS PLASTIC (A SOLID ONE ) WITH A FANCY NAME, EVEN THOUGH THE PHONE IS STURDY, HAS LITTLE FLEX, BUT ALMOST EVERY OTHER HAVE THAT, BUT IT FEELS CHEAP COMPARED TO SMARTPHONES WITH ALUMINUM/METAL OR GLASS BUILD SINCE MOST PEOPLE PREFER SMARTPHONE WITH METAL OR GLASS BACK AS IT GIVES THE PREMIUM IN HAND FEEL, SO POCO POLYCARBONATE BACK FEELS CHEAP, EVEN THE ARMORED EDITION DOESN'T FEEL PREMIUM EVEN THOUGH IT IS MADE WITH PREMIUM MATERIAL KELVER.

2.    DISPLAY - F1 HAS AN IPS LCD PANEL, WHICH IS BRIGHT ( 500 NITS ) ON PAR WITH AMOLED SCREEN AND EASILY USABLE UNDER DIRECT SUNLIGHT BUT IT FEELS DULL AGAINST THE AMOLED DISPLAY USED IN THE LIKES OF 1+ 6 OR ASUS ZENFONE 5Z, AS AMELOD DISPLAY SHOWS BLACK MORE BLACK ( WHICH SAVES BATTERY) AND PUNCHY COLOURS SO THE DISPLAY LOOKS MORE VIBRANT COMPARED TO IPS LCD WHICH SHOWS MORE OF NATURAL COLORS.

3.    CAMERAS - F1 HAS THE SAME CAMERA MODULE PRESENT ON MI 8 OR MI MIX 2S, WHICH CLICKS GOOD PICTURES, COLORS LOOK GOOD OVERALL PICTURE QUALITY (EVEN THOUGH SOMETIMES AI OVER DO IT) BUT THAT'S DEPENDS UPON THE SUBJECT, BUT WHERE THE POCO F1 IS BEHIND IS ITS LOW LIGHT PICTURES, WITH NO OIS (OPTICAL IMAGE STABILIZATION) AND THE SENSOR NOT BIG ENOUGH TO GET MORE LIGHT IT NEEDED (SO PICTURES DON'T LOOK AS GOOD AS THEY LOOK ON OTHER DEVICES) EX - 5Z OR ONE PLUS.

4.    VIDEOS - THE SMARTPHONE SHOOTS GOOD VIDEO UP TO 1080 WITH THE HELP OF EIS (ELECTRONIC IMAGE STABILIZATION) FOR SMOOTH ( STUTTER-FREE VIDEO CLIP ) BUT WHERE IT REALLY LACKS IS 4K VIDEO, STUTTERY VIDEOS AS THERE'S NO OIS (OPTICAL IMAGE STABILIZATION) EVEN THOUGH IT HAS EIS BUT IT DOESN'T HELP IT, COMPARED TO OTHER SMARTPHONES WHICH HAVE BOTH OIS AND EIS.

5.    SOFTWARE - THIS IS PREFERENCE BASED AS PEOPLE WHO LIKE STOCK ANDROIDWON'T TAKE IT IN CONSIDERATION EVEN THOUGH THE MIUI FOR POCO GIVES CLEAN UI AND AN APP DRAWER BUT AT CORE, IT IS STILL MIUI SO SOME PEOPLE WON'T PREFER THAT (EVEN WITH CLEAN UI AND APP DRAWER)

6.    NOTCH - POCO F1 HAS A HUGE NOTCH, SO FOR SOME IT MIGHT NOT BE GOOD, ALTHOUGH PERSONALLY, I THINK IT IS NOT THAT MUCH OF A DEAL SINCE IT JUSTIFIES AS IT HOUSES MANY THINGS, CAMERA, SENSORS, FACE UNLOCKING SENSOR WHICH IS MORE SECURE, (ALTHOUGH NOT AS SECURE AS FACE ID), BUT BETTER NOTCH IMPLEMENTATION THAN OTHER SMARTPHONES WHICH IS ONLY USING IT FOR THE CAMERA, (CAN HIDE THAT HUGE NOTCH AS WELL) THAT BEING SAID DESIGN WISE IT DOESN'T LOOK GOOD.

SO OVERALL POCO F1 EVEN WITH SOME COST-CUTTING OFFERS GREAT VALUE FOR MONEY RIGHT NOW IN THE MARKET (CHEAPEST PHONE WITH FLAGSHIP PROCESSOR) WHICH ITSELF IS A STEAL DEAL.

WHAT IS THE OS OF THE XIAOMI POCOPHONE F1?

OS OF POCOPHONE F1 IS ANDROID OREO. OVER WHICH MIUI 9.6 SKIN WITH ADDITIONAL POCO CUSTOMIZATIONS.