Poco X5 review

Introduction

The Poco X5 5G is here - yet another specific offering in an already sprawling lineup of specific offerings. Between display types, camera hardware and chipset capabilities, there's a reasonably priced Poco for everyone - now even more so.

The X5, in particular, does insist on next-gen connectivity - as stated in its official name and on its box. In that sense, it's a notch above the M5 and M5s that are capped at LTE. But the Snapdragon 695 trades off ultimate performance and 4K recording for that 5G - the M5s does have 4K. The X5 Pro, on the other hand, gets the Snapdragon 778 for a noticeable performance upgrade (at an extra cost, obviously).

The 6.67-inch AMOLED display with 120Hz capability is one of the key selling points - going by the specs, it matches the one on the Pro in all aspects but maximum brightness while being superior to the screens on the M series in one way or another.

The camera system is in a similar middle-ground position. The Poco X5 gets a regular camera and an ultrawide (so better than the UW-less M5), but that main camera isn't quite as high-specced as the M5s' or the X5 Pro's.

Xiaomi Poco X5 specs at a glance:

• Body: 165.9x76.2x8.0mm, 188g; glass front (Gorilla Glass 3), plastic frame, plastic back; IP53, dust and splash resistant.
• Display: 6.67" AMOLED, 120Hz, 1200 nits (peak), 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 395ppi.
• Chipset: Qualcomm SM6375 Snapdragon 695 5G (6 nm): Octa-core (2x2.2 GHz Kryo 660 Gold & 6x1.7 GHz Kryo 660 Silver); Adreno 619.
• Memory: 128GB 6GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM; UFS 2.2; microSDXC (uses shared SIM slot).
• OS/Software: Android 12, MIUI 13.
• Rear camera: Wide (main): 48 MP, f/1.8, PDAF; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.2; Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4.
• Front camera: 13 MP, f/2.5, (wide).
• Video capture: Rear camera: 1080p@30fps; Front camera: 1080p@30fps.
• Battery: 5000mAh; 33W wired.
• Misc: Fingerprint reader (side-mounted); infrared port; 3.5mm jack; NFC.

Another 'middle option' can be found if you pull out the card tray - the X5 has a shared cutout for the microSD and the second SIM, while the M5 and M5s have dedicated memory slots, and the X5 Pro has none. A moderately unpleasant blemish in the spec sheet is the single speaker - a rarity on Xiaomi phones as of late and one of few areas where the X5 is closest to the M5.

In a way, all that differentiation makes sense - the X5 is sort of a new model, as there wasn't a vanilla X4 last year, so it needs to carve out a niche for itself. There's also a handful of Redmi Note 12s that have this or that bit different, and the global vanilla 12 is arguably closest to this here Poco (other chipset, possibly brighter display). Whether such granular segmentation is indeed necessary is a question that we can't answer, but we'll at least try to establish just how good the Poco X5 itself is.

Poco X5 unboxing

The X5 arrives in the usual Poco cardboard packaging - a black lid with yellow lettering covers a yellow box.

Inside, the contents aren't out of the ordinary either. You get a complete set of accessories to get started - a 33W charger and a USB-A-to-C cable, plus a basic clear case for protection.