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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I wonder how the rest of the industry will respond?
I feel like Asus might put heavy discounts on their Zenfone 5z, it seems their mission is to defeat Xiaomi (Max Pro M1 vs Redmi Note 5 Pro)
Surely Huawei and other brands will make a competitor, but props to Xiaomi for starting a new trend!

    • ?
    • Anonymous
    • LEi
    • 24 Aug 2018

    xXENDER FREAKXx, 22 Aug 2018Bruh Sony and SAMSUNG don't even come close to HUAWEI and X... moreAgree!

      • y
      • yo
      • svt
      • 24 Aug 2018

      Nokiax, 24 Aug 2018I love xiaomi what's offering unbelievable. But I really... moreIn Poland its 'why'

        In the spec sheet it is mentioned 1080p@240fps and in the review it is mentioned it can do only just 1080p/30fps ?? any clarifications fellas ?

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • j5y
          • 24 Aug 2018

          Anonymous, 24 Aug 2018Please, I rock the iPhone 7 since 10 months ago. After usin... moreiOS 11 and flawlessly don't go hand in hand unfortunately. Btw how was a Telugu character that crashed you phone last time?

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • j5y
            • 24 Aug 2018

            Anonymous, 24 Aug 2018"After reviewing this little phone, I think GSMa team don't... moreColor reproduction can also be very accurate if that's your thing. Going for the 'Standard contrast' mode you'd be getting an average DeltaE of 0.9 (when compared against the sRGB color space) and the most accurate whites of all modes. Out of the box, the Pocophone is in 'Automatic contrast' mode with Default selected in the Default/Warm/Cool setting. That gives an average DeltaE of 5.0 - decent - but with an added punch in all blue hues.
            Display is rated great by gsma themselves, did you actually read the review in first place? Besides comparing 845 with 636? Are you high?

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              • hamp91
              • nTm
              • 24 Aug 2018

              In Polish "po co" translates to "for what", so whole name Pocophone makes you ask youself why do you need such device, not the best name for a luxury brand :)

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • Kg@
                • 24 Aug 2018

                hi gsmarena, where can i download wallpaper from page 4?

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                  • Anonymous
                  • 80$
                  • 24 Aug 2018

                  Xhxhyy, 24 Aug 2018After reviewing this little phone, I think GSMa team don't ... more"After reviewing this little phone, I think GSMa team don't even think about Zenfone series."
                  Nice, you really know that,
                  and all the things with a healthy market,
                  but wait . . .

                  The same quality of display you can get in a Zenfone Max Pro M1 much-much cheaper . . .

                  Your boni, a midranger is allways better balanced as a phone with a much to higher clocked SoC.
                  You will also get much better battery life
                  and what's the most important thing in a smartphone, also for gaming.
                  and no heating issue with SDM636 in gaming as well.

                  I think this overhyped Poco is only in benchmarks better,
                  has nothing to do with a phone in well balanced package.

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • pXb
                    • 24 Aug 2018

                    Anonymous, 24 Aug 2018Please, I rock the iPhone 7 since 10 months ago. After usin... moreYou mean a device where I can't even play lossless audio? Oh, the quality.

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                      • Dan
                      • 2Wn
                      • 24 Aug 2018

                      suman0, 23 Aug 2018Not wrong?! Some OEM selling you sd450 at that price. Or 28nm MediaTek crap (Q Stylus+)

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                        • Dan
                        • 2Wn
                        • 24 Aug 2018

                        Harry1991, 22 Aug 2018This phone basically took out Honor Play , Mi A2, OnePlus 6... moreAnd every mid ranger from non-Chinese brands

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                          • Essen
                          • EP%
                          • 24 Aug 2018

                          Revolutionary. What I love most is the fact that it's hardy, durable, no-nonsense plastic. If it were upto me, I wouldn't have bothered with the notch nor the face recognition system. Perhaps, they could have had just the 64gb variant with a plastic and kevlar option and support 512gb SD cards? Would have also gone for a smaller screen keeping width under 70mm to allow one-handed use. And design a SIM/SD card tray that doesn't need an ejector pin. But these quibbes apart, the specs and the price makes every phone between 14 and 40k (INR) obsolete. It's going to be very difficult to come across news of new phone launches and not say, "But there's the F1". Here's hoping the Poco arm can sustain decent quality and long term software support for the F1 and bring back practical solutions like removable batteries and one-hand friendly footprint in the future. Keep up this good work with price and specs, Xiaomi. And more importantly, keep up with this abstinence from pointless, premium, fragile features. After years of ridiculously-priced flagships built with fragile materials, we all hope this phone with a funny name will put forth better, honest and sustainable products from the smartphone industry.

                            Anonymous, 23 Aug 2018Korean cars are waaay ahead of German nonsense in the most ... moreInteresting view, but if we all only cared about reliability the only cars for sale would be Japanese (and some Korean maybe). The majority of us still seem to care what the neighbour sees...
                            That's why I find these Chinese phones so interesting; the manufacturers apply exactly the same logic that Japanese car makers used when they started selling in the USA in the 1960's - offer a car that is essentially a copy of an existing (American) design, but more reliable and with an AM/FM radio as standard!
                            I don't mind changing my current phone (Nokia 8 Sircocco - yes I'm nostalgic) for any Chinese phone as long as it works after 6 months like new (in software sense, how you treat your phone physically is personal).
                            NB - there is of course a big difference between cars and phones, a phone is written off after 1 year and a car can still resell, which is exactly why a German car is still attractive as it will have a strong resale value second hand. Even when the Korean car is more reliable!

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                              • Raghu
                              • Fvc
                              • 24 Aug 2018

                              Harry1991, 22 Aug 2018This phone basically took out Honor Play , Mi A2, OnePlus 6... moreProvided you get your hands on one via flash sales. What Xiaomi would do is start proclaiming that "X amount of phones sold in y seconds". Who is going to really verify what 'X' is? . Remember the infamous invite system of "OnePlus One". So people are going to get frustrated after some flash sales and would buy the other models.

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                                • Raghu
                                • Fvc
                                • 24 Aug 2018

                                Imo, 23 Aug 2018Guys, There is a tough decision, please help: Mi8 or Poco... moreGo for Mi 8 if camera and AMOLED panel is a priority

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                                  • Raghu
                                  • Fvc
                                  • 24 Aug 2018

                                  BrendonF, 23 Aug 2018Don't worry Mi will sell millions of them in a few months. ... moreXiaomi with its flash sales model is surely not going to sell millions . They are trying to establish a sub brand and hence the next iteration will definitely be more expensive. They have not tasted success at phones priced above 20k and hence this strategy.

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                                    • dangerman
                                    • CRq
                                    • 24 Aug 2018

                                    Pointing out Cons for this powerful /overall good package mobile is too much guys !!! one cant complain at this price . The is best bang for buck !!! Period

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                                      • Anonymous
                                      • MwH
                                      • 24 Aug 2018

                                      MobileMan, 23 Aug 2018Yeah , keep laughing as he has the same chipset as your Sam... morePlease, I rock the iPhone 7 since 10 months ago. After using android flagships and even Windows Phone flaghips over the past 9 years, this is my first iPhone and it's a massive difference in quality, performance, user interface, user experience, everything works without absolutely any issue. Those who are cheap (i.e. listen to illegally downloaded music and movies instead of buying them from music and video online stores; use cracked apps instead of paying developers for them) will prefer android because it allows them to go illegal, and they will never know how a true quality device feels like - one where everything works flawlessly but where multimedia and apps need to be paid for.

                                        They should have made the battery removable considering that it has plastic build and back cover. Nice offering by the way. It still more durable than glass back phone.

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