Poco X6 Pro review

Design, build quality, handling

The aren't surprises when it comes to the design of the Poco X6 Pro - the familiar oversized camera rectangle on the back is the icing on a blocky, sharp-edged Poco cake. Admittedly, the Pro has a bit more in the way of shapes than the fully flat X6 - a gentle curve on the rear edges spicing things up a little bit.

Poco X6 Pro (left) next to Poco X6

Unlike the X6's Victus display protection, the X6 Pro has a Gorilla Glass 5 sheet on top of its display - a moderately surprising development. The frame is matte plastic on the Pro like on the vanilla model, and the rear panel is also made of plastic.

The Poco X6 Pro comes in a choice of three colors - black, yellow, and gray. Our review unit is the black colorway, it's glossy and mirror-like, and it's about as bad as it comes in terms of picking up smudges. The yellow option features a leather-like finish so it should be both grippier and way less accomodating to fingerprints. The gray one we haven't seen, but unless Poco has come up with some sort of frosted finish, it's probably as bad as the black one when it comes to keeping it clean.

We already mentioned the camera patch on the back of the X6 Pro, but it's such a signature design cue at this point that it bears repeating. On this black colorway it's not quite as prominent as on the other two options where the black contrasts against the color of the rest of the panel, but it still manages to draw attention thanks to the large camera lenses and the Poco badge.

Much like the X6, the X6 Pro carries an IP54 rating for dust and water protection. Dust aside, the '4' in the rating means it should be covered for heavy splashes from all 360 degrees and the handset should be able to survive a downpour. That said, a lot of the handsets in the class have submersion-grade IP67 or IP68 protection, so the Poco X6 Pro is a bit underequipped.

It's more than properly equipped on the front, where the 6.67-inch OLED takes center stage, but let's not get ahead of ourselves with the numbers. The thin bezels that appear of uniform thickness upon a passing glance, give off a rather premium impression.

Above the display, where the glass meets the frame, there's a chiseled section for the earpiece. The punch-hole selfie camera is centered along the top edge of the screen.

The right side of the phone houses the physical controls - a power button and a volume rocker above it, both clicking nicely. There's nothing on the right side.

Up top, there's another outlet for the top speaker. Also in here is the IR emitter - a staple in Xiaomi phones regardless of lineup, and the top mic.

The bottom is where you'll find the usual stuff - the USB-C port, loudspeaker, and a microphone. The SIM slot can be seen here as well, the dual nano SIM tray protected against dust and water ingress by a red gasket.

What's where on the X6 Pro

There is also an optical fingerprint scanner underneath the display, and it worked without incident in our experience. It could have been placed a little higher, but it's not something you couldn't get used use after a few days or even hours with the Poco.

The X6 Pro measures 160.5x73.4x8.25mm and weighs 186g, if you're getting the regular plastic version - add 0.1mil of thickness and 4g of heft for the vegan leather option. The footprint is noticeably smaller than that of the X5 Pro, while also accommodating the same size display, so that perception of bezel thinness is confirmed by the numbers as well - 2.6mm narrower is a lot narrower, even at this overall size.

It remains a full-size phone, of course, and occupies pockets as such. Handling is mostly good - the curved rear edges improve in-hand feel, while the flat frame offers a lot of gripping area even though it's not particularly grippy per se. The glossy back isn't too slippery, though the vegan leather option will probably offer more secure purchase - not to mention vasly improved smudge resistance.