Poco F4 review

Design, build, handling

The Poco F4 has the same build as the F3 but comes in a slightly different shape and with a redesigned camera island. Like many modern smartphones, the Poco F4 comes with flat glass panels and a flat frame.

The front glass piece that's keeping the screen safe is a Gorilla Glass 5 sheet, just like on the Poco F3. It's flat except for the 2.5D finish around the edge.

The back of the Poco F4 is also made of glass, flat as well, though it's not one of the special properties like Gorilla or Panda Glass. The rear glass has an all-glossy finish and is a smudge magnet, naturally. Fortunately, it's quite easy to clean with a single wipe of your shirt, or even your palm.

The Night Black model we have for this review is quite stylish and enjoyable. Its surface is mirror-like, though it refracts and reflects light from around the camera, and that makes for a cool yet subtle effect. Surprisingly, the smudges on the back are not that evident.

Poco F3 • Poco F4

The camera setup here looks completely different from the Poco F3's, but it's not exactly new - the Redmi K40s has the exact same shape in China.

Finally, let's look around the frame. It's made of plastic with a matte finish and is not prone to fingerprints. Even if it is flat, the Poco F4 cannot stand on its own.

The Poco F4 is IP53-rated for dust and light splash resistance - one of the most basic ingress protection levels a phone can get, but more than nothing, and we do appreciate it. Most Xiaomi-made phones are IP53-rated, so we are glad that this protection did not vanish because of the global crisis.

And now, let's take a closer look at this new Poco F4.

The front is home to the 6.67-inch AMOLED panel with one of the smallest perforations we've seen to date. It's an E4 AMOLED screen of extended 1080p resolution, 120Hz refresh, 360Hz touch response, and it supports HDR10+. New to this display is the Dolby Vision support, which should offer an even more immersive HDR streaming experience.

The screen bezels are reasonably thin, and we have no complaints here.

There is no fingerprint scanner under the display, the F4 has its on the power key, just like it was the case on the Poco F3.

Above the screen, you may notice this incredibly thin outlet. It hides a speaker that also doubles as an earpiece. Just like on other Xiaomi-made phones, this speaker actually has two outlets - one front-facing and one at the top of the phone. If you mute the top one, you will lower the sound quality, but not the loudness.

The back is all glass, and the two-step camera setup is the only feature of interest here. The island juts out of the back and the first level houses a single LED flash (let not the three holes fool you, there is just the one LED underneath). On the second level, you will find the stabilized 64MP primary, the 8MP ultrawide and the 2MP macro cameras.

The plastic frame is completely bare on the left.

The right side is where you'd notice the volume and power/lock keys. The surface of the lock key incorporates the always-on fingerprint scanner. If you get too many failed attempts due to touching it accidentally, just change its trigger from Touch to Press, and your issues will be solved.

The top of the Poco F4 houses the IR blaster, one of the microphones, and you can see the outlet for the top speaker.

The other, louder speaker is at the bottom next to the USB-C port. The primary microphone is also around, as well as the dual-SIM tray.

The Poco F4 measures 163.2 x 76 x 7.7 mm and weighs 195g - about the same as the Poco F3. It looks a bit thicker because of the flat sides, though.

The Poco F4 is of a solid build, and we liked its design and execution. It is simple yet good-looking, and the IP53 rating is appreciated. The F4 offers a secure-enough grip when operated naked - the matt frame helps, while the glossy back turned out to be not as slippery as it looks. Of course, if you feel like you are going to drop it any second now, the bundled case will help a lot.