Poco X3 NFC long-term review

Design, build quality, handling

The Poco X3 has a design language that we'll just call interesting, for lack of a better word. The back of the phone is definitely not understated in any way, with the huge logo plastered onto it and the oddly shaped camera island. This definitely isn't a phone for those who are fans of designs on the quieter end of the spectrum. Then again, we've seen even louder screaming backs from some of Poco's competitors lately, pairing big letters with sparkly colorways. At least when it comes to colors, the X3 is a reasonably pedestrian offering - you get your pick from Cobalt Blue and Shadow Gray - the latter being the hue our review unit is adorned with.

We think it's a love it or hate it design, and only you know which camp you're in. All of this applies only to the back, of course, as the front looks basically like that of any other smartphone, with the screen occupying most of it and a small centered hole-punch cutout for the selfie camera. This reviewer isn't a fan of the back's design, but here's the thing you might want to ask yourself: how many times do you actually look at your handset's rear end? Especially if you have a case on. We're willing to wager a bet that, for most people, it's not very often.

The phone comes with a bundled case in the box, as do all Xiaomi and Xiaomi sub-brand devices usually. This case, while not feeling as sturdy as the one that the Mi 10T Pro got, is still better than your average cheap jelly affair, but it does have one 'feature' that may or may not drive you crazy. For some reason, there's a flap that goes into the USB-C charging port. We'd think this has something to do with further splash proofing the phone, but then the 3.5mm headphone jack remains exposed, so that doesn't make much sense.

Whatever the reason for its existence, it did manage to constantly annoy this reviewer when plugging in at night, because that otherwise simple operation becomes incredibly fiddly thanks to that fidgety flap. If we were buying this handset and intending on using the bundled case (and we don't see why not), then we'd definitely cut off the flap and live a happy life without it.

The camera island isn't the nicest looking around to our eyes, and the fact that the included case's cutout is circular means you have some space above and beyond the island where dust will be collected on a regular basis. We're not sure what prompted this particular design decision, but it's not great.

The Poco X3 is a plastic phone, as are most of its competitors at this price point, and that's... fine. Sure, the top-of-the-line Redmi Notes have glass on the back (while retaining a plastic frame), and people seem to think that would feel "more premium", but honestly, while there is a difference in feel between the materials, it's tiny. Considering that most people seem to put their phone in a case anyway - you'd probably be touching the case material, regardless of what the phone is actually made of.

This is a chunky monkey for sure, with its 215g of weight and 9.4mm thickness (which grows even more where the camera island is). That makes it very easy to tell whether you have it in your pocket or not. Seriously, you will never be confused.

Despite its heft, handling has been great for this reviewer, but the usual caveat for most phones these days applies: if you have small hands, you will probably find that you need to use both of them to safely operate the X3.

The glossy finish back does collect a ton of fingerprints very quickly, but that makes the device less slippery than it would've been with a matte finish, so it's as they say - you win some, you lose some. The plastic frame is also glossy, and while the screen element does sit 'on top of the frame (as happens with all affordable devices nowadays), the transition is smooth, there are no jagged edges or anything like that.

The feeling of heft may actually be to some people's liking, those who find "heavier" suggests "more premium" or something like that. Sure, the phone could have been lighter, but we didn't find its weight to be an issue in day-to-day use. We're pretty much used to such numbers from a lot of flagship devices, and the feeling you get in handling is different but doesn't differ as much as the price.

Speakers, biometrics, vibration motor

The Poco X3 has dual speakers, with one bottom-firing unit and the earpiece pulling double duty as the other channel. They aren't the loudest or the best sounding speakers we've ever heard, not by a long shot, but they get the job done much better than if we only had one of them to rely on. Consuming media on the phone is fine unless you're in a loud environment, where even at the maximum level, you'll still need to bring the phone closer to your ears to hear what's going on. That said, this is perfectly passable for the price point, don't worry about it.

The fingerprint scanner is built into the power button, as has become a tradition for Xiaomi's LCD screened devices, and the capacitive sensor is decent enough. While some reviewers have issues with under-display readers, preferring such a side-mounted solution, this particular reviewer constantly runs into issues with the latter.

Without knowing exactly what the issue is, we're assuming it has to do with how narrow that button is, and thus how little surface area of your finger it can capture. Regardless of the cause, we found that the reader worked from the first try only about 75% of the time. That's not a great track record, but your own mileage may vary.

Compared to the Mi 10T Pro that we recently long-term reviewed, which also has such a fingerprint sensor, the Poco X3's felt slightly less reliable. And before you ask - yes, we took extra care when enrolling the fingerprint to touch upon all parts of the finger.

As usual for Xiaomi devices, you can pick between unlocking with a touch of the sensor or a press. We went for the latter because it just feels more natural as it blends into the pressing the power button to wake the screen action. It also removes any accidental unlocks when taking the phone out of a pocket, for example, while inadvertently touching the sensor.

Biometrics settings

Face unlocking is present too, although its utility is severely undermined by the presence of the fingerprint reader built into the power button. To use face unlock, you can either double-tap the screen for it to wake up and trigger the mechanism, or press the power button - but in that case, the fingerprint unlocking would be at work too. There are no additional sensors for face identification aside from the selfie camera, so the security isn't great either. That said, face unlock doesn't work when you have your eyes closed. Although there is no specific setting for this, we checked.

The vibration motor is perfectly adequate for the Poco X3's price point, while not being near the top in our personal preference list. We've definitely seen (or rather - felt) worse, and it gets the job done nicely, aided by the gentle vibrations splattered across MIUI when you interact with the screen. That said, unlike what we get in more expensive models running MIUI 12, here you can't adjust the intensity of the haptic vibrations, it's just a binary on/off switch.