Poco C75 5G hands-on review

Software

The Poco C75 5G runs on the first generation Xiaomi HyperOS on top of Android 14. The company promises two major Android updates and four years of security updates. But one of those major Android updates would just be spent on getting Android 15, something you really should have had from the get-go, so realistically, you are just getting one additional Android update.

As with MIUI before, the Poco version of HyperOS only has minor differences compared to what you find on Xiaomi devices. The launcher is different but not dramatically different, and the notifications center has the old MIUI design. The rest of it is more or less identical to what we have seen before and you can read more about it in our dedicated HyperOS review.

Poco HyperOS

As is typical for Xiaomi/Poco devices in India, and especially for low-end devices, the Poco C75 5G comes chock full of bloatware. We counted 16 pre-installed third-party apps on top of the Xiaomi and Google apps. The good thing is that all of them can be removed, which should help reclaim some space since there isn't much to begin with.

Pre-installed apps

Similarly, the Poco C75 5G can also show ads within first-party Xiaomi apps. These can be disabled, but the user is expected to go within each of these apps and hunt down the option by themselves, which can sometimes be convoluted. For some reason, our Poco C75 5G review unit didn't display any ads to us during this review, even though the option for them was enabled, but that likely won't be the case for retail units.

Performance

The Poco C75 5G runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 4s Gen 2 chipset with 4GB LPDDR4x memory and 64GB of UFS 2.2. This is the only variant offered in India, although other markets may have a 128GB version as well.

A note on the 5G connectivity before getting into the performance. While the device claims 5G support, it is only for 5G SA networks, which means just Jio 5G in India. If you are on a 5G NSA network like Airtel, the device will only work on 4G until Airtel decides to upgrade its network to SA.

Now, onto the performance. With a modest chipset and just 4GB of memory onboard, the Poco C75 5G was never meant to set the benchmark charts ablaze. As for usable performance for everyday tasks, the Poco C75 5G mostly delivers.

Performance is undeniably sluggish at times, especially after switching the phone on, as it takes a few minutes to get its bearings and finish all the background activities. App launches can also be jittery, not helped by the fact that some of them refuse to run at anything beyond 60Hz. Multitasking is largely non-existent; you work on the app you currently have open and then move on to the next without any expectations of returning since it will not be in the state you left.

So is the C75 5G usable for daily use? For the most part, yes. If you are someone buying their first smartphone or upgrading from an older, even slower phone, then you will likely not have an issue getting things done, especially if the things happen to mostly be calls and messages. Younger users will likely not have a good time if they expect to install and run several apps and games, as the device is simply not built for that usage. You are better off spending more on the phone with at least 8GB of memory.