Pocophone F1 by Xiaomi review

22 August 2018
Xiaomi's announcements have been relatively predictable so far, but the introduction of a new Poco sub-brand was a surprising move. It sounds like a marketing experiment - deliver flagship specs at cutthroat prices. Sound familiar? Well, it does remind of how OnePlus came to be, but we're not sure the new Pocophone F1 is headed in the same direction. Poco is still just a brand, and not a separate company and they stand on the shoulders of Xiaomi's logistics and after sales support network.

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  • anomi
  • IW@
  • 08 Sep 2018

Marco M, 07 Sep 2018You seem to be caught up in this mindset where cheap is cra... moremy personal preference is that if its ugly then its cheap. simple.

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    • berserker
    • Dks
    • 07 Sep 2018

    poco f1 has major camera issue in base model that i have . it takes blurry pitchers by rear facing camera anyone else facing this issue

      anomi, 07 Sep 2018well you cant as well generalize samsung devices on that "s... moreI am not generalizing Samsung on behalf of the drop of my galaxy s6 edge.my main complaint with samsung is,they are not maintaining the OEM parts for their phones or TV's,so they can't replace them when there is a problem.I had to forego my phone,within six months of purchase because,Samsung was unable to replace my phone screen.Same problem with my very expensive top end Samsung TV,which cost me 2.5 lakh rupees at the time of purchase.The mother board of that TV was damaged and Samsung didn't replace it,because they don't have the mother board available,rather they offered me cash for buying back that TV with depreciation.I said no,thank you,i will keep that TV and will try elsewhere for that mother board,but I couldn't find the replacement.I am fed up with this and decided,I am never going to buy any Samsung product in the future.

      By the way,xiaomi is not a cheap brand,its a VFM brand,it is using Snaprdragon processors and Adreno GPU's and corning gorilla glass on their phones,if that is cheap,then what is high end in your opinion?

        anomi, 07 Sep 2018its very much okay for me to judge xiaomi based from my exp... moreYou seem to be caught up in this mindset where cheap is crap and expensive is good. Which very often is far from the truth.

        In example you can get expesive designer leather hand bags that are faux leather, and affordable leather hand bag in geniune leather for 1/3 of the cost just as an example. In wristwatches it can be even more amusing to see just how low quality wristwatches get premium pricing due to name. Over $1000 for a watch with mineral glass, unknown movement and unkown metal, when one can get titanium watches with sapphire crystal.

        The Pocophone isn't cheap because of what it has, but what it doesn't have. Such as high profit margin, NFC, wireless chargin, Aluminium/glass body nor a high end camera as well as it's cell radio (network support) is limited for US users. Granted I'd rather say they are still quite unfortunte with their cell networks in the US after so many years, but I think it is improving.

        Corning has many generations of Gorilla glass, but their difference is small. They are still prone to scratches (from rocks/sand etc) and cracks from falls. No matter which phone they are a part of, and regardless of the devices retail price.

        I've dropped my phones countless times over the years, sometimes at high speed as well so I've seen them fly away from me along the ground. None have them has broken their screens, but I have cracked many tempered glass screen protectors. Rather them than the phone's screen. It's a very cheap insurance. Others may prefer folding covers, but to me that adds too much bulk and impracticality.

        However, for some phones it's not always easy to get a tempered glass screen protector that looks and feels as if it is the phones screen, but that's something worth finding out before purchase.

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          • anomi
          • IW@
          • 07 Sep 2018

          Marco M, 07 Sep 2018Oh the hypocrisy. It's not okay for someone to judge a s... moreits very much okay for me to judge xiaomi based from my experience. after all it's my personal experience same with how the one who had a broken samsung judged the phone from his personal experience(what you said is somehow what i meant to reply to that guy, though your sentence composition is clearer than mine). up until xiaomi somehow discloses the bill of materials for that cheap of a phone, i will always judge on how substandard the components are used, save for the processor and image sensor. for now, me and my friends ceased using that phone. we value quality over price anyways.

            anomi, 07 Sep 2018well you cant as well generalize samsung devices on that "s... moreOh the hypocrisy.

            It's not okay for someone to judge a samsung based on the screen beaking from a drop, but it is okay for you to judge Xiaomi/poco for exactly the same?

            The screens are gorilla glass btw. They can all break, no matter which device they are on and height is not the only relevant part in a drop. It's how they land and what they land on that decides if it breaks or not. One grain of sand on a otherwise clean floor is enough to cause a crack or not when the front/edge hits the ground. Hence screen protectors are still adviseable to use, and for the best comfort tempered glass screen protector with oleophobic coating, not plastic stuff with high friction.

            One thing I can mention here is that the edge screens on galaxy devices are more prone to cracking than flat screen devices, simply due to their curved screen being more exposed to the surface they land on when landing on their sides and front.

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              • anomi
              • IW@
              • 07 Sep 2018

              Rahul chowdary, 06 Sep 2018Breaking of phone,depends on your luck.I dropped my redmi n... morewell you cant as well generalize samsung devices on that "single drop then crack of yours". but yeah, i ain't getting ant xiaomi devices after my pocophone shattered. lost my interest with that cheap brand.

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                • Rahul chowdary
                • Tfe
                • 06 Sep 2018

                anomi, 04 Sep 2018seriously can you read? this is what i'm replying from --- ... moreBreaking of phone,depends on your luck.I dropped my redmi note 4 atleast 5 times,till now,not even a scratch on that phone.previously,I dropped my Galaxy s6 edge,on the first drop the screen cracked and the phone became useless,moreover Samsung couldn't replace the screen and offered me,buyback for the phone.Can you imagine that? This all happened within six months of launching s6 edge,they couldn't replace the screen.I gave the phone to the company and got the cheque for the device,I stopped buying any Samsung devices after that.So,You can't really generalize based on a single drop test.

                  Best budget phone of 2018, period

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                    • vasra
                    • nmN
                    • 06 Sep 2018

                    Where are the GFax 3.0/3.1 on-screen benchmarks? Sustained gaming.

                    I would think this info would be important to many potential buyers of this phone.

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                      • Abdillah Fahmi
                      • tDU
                      • 06 Sep 2018

                      seriusly the pocophone have infrared blaster or no ?

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                        • happee
                        • IW@
                        • 06 Sep 2018

                        exotic, 06 Sep 2018Guys I need an honest opinion. I am gonna buy a new smtpne.... moreyes. most phones years ago have plastic build quality, so this one is cheap. but it doesnt change the idea that is phone came from substandard materials and components. so no go for me. eww.

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                          • VicMK
                          • PTF
                          • 06 Sep 2018

                          Pocophone is like a Tata with a Ferrari engine but you can't use all of the engine's power due to the car's chasis limitations.

                          A very good SoC but none of the hardwares to take advantage of its capabilities. For example, the screen. Even if you play a game with its highest settings, you can't really see the difference due to the screen limitation.

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                            • exotic
                            • pug
                            • 06 Sep 2018

                            Guys I need an honest opinion. I am gonna buy a new smtpne. I was thinking about poco. But, Is pocophones camera GOOD? I know its missing OIS but I dont play games from my phone so I need a good processor and as better as possible cam..
                            If not, any other suggestions?
                            (about the design and the build I wanted to add that few years ago all smrtpnes were made of plastic and all new phones have cases and glass protector. So what if its cheap?)

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                              • anomi
                              • IW@
                              • 04 Sep 2018

                              C0rD, 04 Sep 2018I think he meant at $300 no one can beat them in SOC, Camer... moreseriously can you read? this is what i'm replying from --- "anybody can tell me poco f1 is safe in all camera, processor, battery backup, front screen as like?"---

                              i did say its fast. coz of the processor. i recently own one. but he asked about if its safe in front screen, and basing on my own experience, i think its not, seeing as it broke easily when it fell from a not so high height.

                                Anonymous, 04 Sep 2018Which one is best honor play or Poco f1? please tell me guys....I guess that depend on your needs, but broadly speaking Poco is the best.
                                GSMArena states, on their Honor Play review, that Poco is an overall better device, unless you absolutely need the Play's metal body - then again, if you put a case on them the metal body won't really matter much.
                                For me it's a no brainer - since the Play isn't compatible with my country's LTE bands, Poco wins.

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                                  • CoRD
                                  • QCM
                                  • 04 Sep 2018

                                  Anonymous, 30 Aug 2018What is not clear? 8/256 GB version isn't listed on glo... moreWell It is offered here, Im not sure where you are looking at.

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                                    • C0rD
                                    • QCM
                                    • 04 Sep 2018

                                    Rohardy, 03 Sep 2018Seriously? Even this phone doesnt passed a basic thing like... moreIt does not need to, The phone is not meant for Western Market.

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                                      • C0rD
                                      • QCM
                                      • 04 Sep 2018

                                      Komentathor, 01 Sep 2018It listed have IR blaster, but i cant find it on top phone pic..NO IR blaster for remote, It has IR Camera for face unlock

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                                        • C0rD
                                        • QCM
                                        • 04 Sep 2018

                                        Anonymous, 04 Sep 2018Which one is best honor play or Poco f1? please tell me guys....Generally Poco overall

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