Poco F6 Pro review

The competition

The Poco F6 Pro starts at $499 for the base 12GB/256GB, $549 for the 12GB/512GB one and goes up to $629 for a 16GB/1TB unit, like the one we have. You can get $50 off on early-bird special from these prices. That's the official pricing, Amazon has the 12GB/256GB base model listed for €500 and 12GB/512GB for €550. That's not horribly cheap in absolute monetary terms, but relative to the market and the excellent flagship specs you are getting, the Poco F6 Pro is actually quite competitive. Let's set our rough budget cap at $600 and see what else you can get for the price.

Starting with camp Samsung, the Galaxy S23 FE has depreciated nicely and fits right within our budget. Similar to the Poco F6 Pro, it is sort of like a flagship on a budget with just a few compromises here and there. However, it has been getting on in age a bit since it came out in October 2023. So, our suggestion is to explore the Galaxy A55 instead. It is a bit cheaper since it is more of an upper midranger, and its Exynos 1480 chipset can't quite keep up with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 inside the Poco F6 Pro. Still, it comes with some excellent features like IP67 ingress protection, Gorilla Glass Victus+, stereo speakers, a microSD slot for storage expansion and an excellent 6.6-inch, 120Hz, HDR10+ Super AMOLED display. And sure, you're not getting a telephoto camera like on the S23 FE, but the setup on the A55 is still very versatile and comparable to that on the Poco. And as a little added bonus, the Galaxy A55 has a bigger battery than the S23 FE and much better battery endurance.

Samsung Galaxy A55 • Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 Pro+ • Xiaomi Poco X6 Pro • Motorola Edge 50 Pro

Xiaomi's own lineup has a few interesting alternatives as well. There is the ever-popular Redmi Note 13 series. Its most popular member seems to currently be the Redmi Note 13 Pro, at least according to our statistics. And you can certainly go that route and save a lot of money. You will have to live with IP54 ingress protection and the relatively unimpressive Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chipset. So, why not spend just a little bit more and get the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ instead with its "full-fat" IP68 rating as well as 120W fast charging, a MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Ultra and a powerful 200MP main camera?

However, both of these Redmi phones are from 2023 and came out originally with Android 13. Hence, you can expect shorter support from them. So you could potentially consider the Poco X6 Pro as a bit of a cost-down alternative to the F6 Pro. You get a very similar device with a powerful Dimensity 8300 Ultra chipset and a great, even if not quite, Poco F6 Pro level display. You will have to settle for slower 67W charging and IP54 ingress protection.

Left: Poco F6 Pro • Right: Poco F6

Finally, the Motorola Edge 50 Pro is in the same rough price ballpark as the Poco F6 Pro (perhaps a bit more expensive). It is, once again, not as powerful as the Poco with its Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chipset, but other than that offers some excellent specs like a 6.7-inch, 144Hz, HDR10+ OLED display, stereo speakers, IP68 ingress protection, 125W charging and wireless charging support, as well as a potent camera setup with an optical 3x telephoto camera and laser AF on the main 50MP snapper. The Moto also has display output through its Type-C port and support for the Ready For platform.

Our verdict

Honestly, it is hard to find any serious faults with the Poco F6 Pro. Sure, we would have loved to see a better ingress protection rating and perhaps expandable storage. Other than that, however, the Poco F6 Pro is an exquisite device all around. It has a premium build, an excellent display, great speakers and awesome charging speed.

The decision to go for last year's premium Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset, in particular, has been well placed. The chip still offers amazing performance. Plus, Xiaomi has done a great job with cooling and sustained performance as well. On top of that, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 offers excellent connectivity and flagship features. It should cost a bit less than the current Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 flagship, and those savings are seemingly passed along to the end user.

The Poco F6 Pro is an excellent device with few compromises and deserves our full-hearted recommendation.

Pros

• Solid retail bundle.
• Premium build quality and no-nonsense design.
• Excellent OLED display with exemplary HDR support and high refresh rate behavior.
• Very fast charging.
• Very good stereo speaker setup.
• The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset offers excellent performance, flagship connectivity, and features.
• Great all-around camera performance.

Cons

• Battery life could be better.
• Ultrawide sensor is a bit dated with mostly unimpressive video capture.