Poco M6 5G hands-on review

Camera

The Poco M6 is a dual-camera phone on paper although realistically it's just a single usable camera. You get a 50MP f1.8 wide camera for all your photography needs, with the secondary camera being just a depth sensor for portrait mode. On the front is a 5MP fixed-focus camera. Oddly enough, the cheaper Poco C65 gets a macro camera as well as an 8MP front camera, although it's difficult to say how valuable those are without testing.

The camera application is pretty basic but you can't expect much at this price range. You get basic features such as HDR processing, filters, portrait mode, and night mode. There is no pro mode and no way to save images in RAW.

Camera app

When it comes to image quality, the Poco M6 is understandably mediocre. The level of detail is reasonable but there is some oversharpening noticeable in some shots. Color reproduction is decent under the noon sun but as the day goes on and the light gets warmer the images take on an unpleasant magenta tone that's quite pervasive. Dynamic range is unremarkable, with either slightly overblown highlights or underexposed shadows in every shot.

Daylight samples

The 2x zoom button in the app produces some reasonable results as long as you don't look too closely. The quality of these images is on par with using the 50MP mode and then cropping in manually, which is to say not very good but usable.

2x samples

In low light conditions, the images get soft with a somewhat painterly look.

Lowlight samples

The phone is capable of recording video in up to 1080p resolution at 30fps. Unfortunately, there is absolutely no image stabilization of any kind so unless the phone is manually stabilized, the video has a lot of shake. Those captured while walking or generally in motion are especially unusable.

Conclusion

The Poco M6 is a decent budget phone for the price. The large display is certainly a hallmark of the device and makes it quite suitable for content consumption. However, the advertised 90Hz refresh rate is rarely available. The phone also charges fairly slowly by modern standards and the software is full of annoyances. Still, if you are willing to put some time into cleaning up the software, this can be a good option for undemanding users who just need a large display.