Poco M5s review

Design, build quality, handling

The Poco M5s looks rather familiar, but that's just fine. The Redmi and Poco phones have been good-looking for quite a while, and there is only so much you can tweak on a smartphone design. This affordable M5s uses flat glass to keep the screen safe, a thin plastic frame and a slightly curved matte plastic for a rear panel.

One of the best treats on the M5s is its IP53 rating for dust and light splash resistance. While not completely waterproofed, the Poco M5s is not entirely unprotected from the elements either. We saw rubber insulation around the SIM and microSD tray, and we guess other openings have similar protection.

The OLED screen, one of the M5s key features, is protected by a Gorilla Glass 3 sheet. It's the popular choice among Xiaomi's low midrange class. The M5s had no factory-applied screen protector, unlike its Redmi counterparts, though there is one inside the box.

The frame is plastic and glossy, a bit slippery. It is thin around the left and right side of the M5s and thicker and flat on the top and bottom. Our unit has a silver frame, which is a huge fingerprint magnet.

Then there is the back, which is the same as on the Redmi phones of similar build but has this black blot expansion next to the camera that contains the POCO logo. The back panel has a matt finish and feels quite nice in hand. Smudges are not visible, and the grip is not terrible.

And now, let's take a closer look at the Poco M5s.

The front is home to the 6.43-inch OLED panel. It has reasonably thin bezels and a small perforation for the 13MP selfie camera. The screen refresh rate maxes out at 60Hz, which is a bit disappointing, but Poco is promising up to 1,100 nits of peak brightness and possibly - HDR10 support.

There is a barely noticeable grille above the screen, which is one of the outlets for the directional speaker that also doubles as an earpiece. The outer outlet is at the top of the M5s, together with the IR blaster and one of the mics.

The back is where you can see the quad-camera within a dedicated glass island that's jutting out of the back, but not as much as on other phones. Here you will find the 64MP primary, the 8MP ultrawide, the 2MP macro and the 2MP depth cameras. Around are the LED flash and some kind of sensor next to it.

The back is really cool and feels like frosted glass, even if it's a plastic piece. And while we are not fans of large POCO logos, we can't but acknowledge this one actually sits well with the camera and gives the M5s a little bit of personality.

The Poco M5s offers a tri-card tray on its left side, which can take two nano-SIM cards and a microSD one.

There is an always-on fingerprint sensor on the Power/lock key, conveniently placed on the left side of the phone, just below the volume control. The sensor can be triggered either in touch or on press. You can choose its behavior from within the fingerprint settings.

The Poco M5s features a stereo speaker setup. We already discussed the top speaker with its two sound outlets. The other one is at the bottom of the phone and is louder. Also at the bottom, you can notice the USB-C port, the 3.5mm audio jack, and the primacy microphone.

The Poco M5s measures 160.5 x 74.5 x 8.3 mm and weighs 179g - a reasonable seize and weight considering 2022's standards.

Overall, we found the Poco M5s to be quite comfortable when handled - it has a good shape and size, and despite the glossy frame, the grip is secure enough, and there is no urgent need for a case. Of course, the M5s does arrive with a bundled case, so if there is a need for that - it's already there with you; no need for shopping.

We also appreciate the splash resistance and the Gorilla Glass 3 protection. The M5s has a solid build, and we had no issues with it.