Pocophone F1 long-term review
- m
- miki
- m2m
- 30 Jan 2019
Disappointing as this phone seems to have hard coded filter that prevent adult apps from working when on mobile internet connection.
wasted my money on this phone will save up for Oneplus 6
- s
- s-pen pusher
- PMT
- 28 Jan 2019
i had mine delivered two days ago. this is actually an emergency replacement for my razer phone, which developed screen issue. immediately upon turning it on the first time i had the prompt to download the pie update, so i am on the latest miui and android version. i am from the philippines and am using globe telecom. mine is the global version and so far i have not experienced any of the issues being mentioned here, especially the screen bleeding which should be apparent straight away. the phone is blazingly fast as promised. lte support for my local network is superb. i have terminated my subscription with netflix several months ago so the inability to stream hd in the service doesn't bother me. i also am not into mobile photography as i have a mirrorless camera if i feel being visually creative, but so far the photos i took with the phone are pretty much of good quality. people are complaining about the 960fps slo-mo and night mode not being good, but i find those okay. the plastic build (non-kevlar) also does not bother me that much as i always slap on a case to my phones anyways. fingerprint and face authentication works always flawlessly, except for that time when i tried setting up "second space" wherein the fingerprint scanner kept failing; then again i never needed "second space" so i just deleted it and the reliability of the scanner came right back. i honestly don't like miui so i replaced the launcher right away with nova prime as well as some of the in-built apps with google-made equivalents. i got rid of the navigation buttons and, yes, miui's implementation of gesture navigation is indeed better than aosp pie. people were complaining about heating, well it is no better than my razer phone- these have heat pipes to conduct the heat away from the soc and into the body so this is pretty much given. my benchmark for speed is with the use of my djing apps, and i can say yes, the phone is indeed pretty fast in everything i have thrown at it so far and even in prolonged gaming. the battery gives me anything from 7-8 hours of on screen time. i felt i'm spoilt by the phone with the price i got it for- US$207.
now, the cons. screen resolution is not good enough for me having been used to quad-hd phones the last 4 years. it's not that i hold the screen right up to my face, but i have a very good vision and i can distinguish the pixels of the screen especially when in dark environments. then again this maybe subjective for others, as i have mentioned, i may have just gotten used to quad-hd screens and this may go away in the next few weeks or so. no os-wide dark mode to match my "dark personality". the miui settings is a mess. the absence of notification icons on the top of the screen is quite jarring- i mean for things as simple as checking if "do not disturb" is on i have to pull down then expand the notification shade or press on the volume button (don't even speak of checking if your alarm is on). another thing that may be subjective is the screen refresh rate- coming from the razer phone to this there simply is no comparison on smoothness of motion on the former. the same thing with the speakers, it is no match as well with the razer phone; well the unequal loudness and consitency of the bottom-firing and call speakers combo just ruins the whole concept of stereo sound, although i would admit the dynamics of the bottom speaker are okay. there are also owners complaining of low volume on headphones (wired or bluetooth) and i can attest to it. i mean my wife has a redmi s2 as her secondary phone and that was as much as twice louder on headphones than this. my bluetooth headset and our hifi system at home all support ldac and bluetooth 5.0, which this phone is capable of, but it pales in comparison with the redmi s2 in music output quality even if the s2's spotify music quality for both streaming and offline is set to "high" while i had this to "very high". i mentioned above that i have no complaints about the phone's cameras, well it is true except this is for post processing- whenever ai is turned on the pictures shot with the main camera turns up unnaturally saturated compared to what you see on the viewfinder and even if you set saturation in the camera settings to "normal". good thing is that you can turn off ai. the plastic back feels really cheap compared to even the first three iphones, but that is easily resolved by a good case.
despite those cons i have listed, the phone is pretty much a steal. it is understandable that xiaomi would cut corners to achieve its pricepoint, but you don't feel scrimped too much at all- i would say this is the true "flagship killer" now than the other brand that started this monicker.
- S
- Smoose
- FMY
- 24 Jan 2019
I have the Global version of this phone which would be the one that works in Europe, and the face recognition works, and has worked, since it came out of the box.
- l
- lordmilad
- gLx
- 24 Jan 2019
best
- ?
- Anonymous
- 3EJ
- 24 Jan 2019
"...yet Xiaomi not only does vertical scrolling but also lays two apps side by side. ..."
Amazing that on on the reviews of xiaomi phones you praise this 2 column mode yet here it's called a disadvantage?
"..the faux stereo speakers aren't very loud even on the loudest possible setting..."
That's weird. The "regular" review says:
"And the Pocophone turned out plenty loud in our testing, securing a spot in the Excellent bracket. It performs great for music and the sound output is rich and clean, even at maximum volume."
What is it?
is it plenty loud or too quiet? Or did one of you gotten a broken phone?
- ?
- Anonymous
- 3EJ
- 24 Jan 2019
Poco F1 user, 21 Jan 2019I have Poco F1 and the "No notification icons in the status... morebut this is the only phone that've seen (in stores) that has (automatic) call-recording build in.
Someone mentioned the Mi 8 but that one has no micro-SD-slot, no audio-jack and a smaller battery.
Why can't those bloody manufacturers make one god-damn complete high-end phone instead of all that compromised crap. For a higher price I not only want an IR-blaster, SD-card-slot and audio-jack... but a GOLD-PLATED audio-jack!
- s
- s-pen pusher
- PMT
- 24 Jan 2019
i ordered the pocophone f1 last week but cancelled it because i was able to fix my razer phone; also because i was considering the meizu 16th instead of this- more premium build, no notch, under display fingerprint reader, amoled, same soc, and almost the same pricepoint. although there was an issue with availability and supported lte bands of the 16th, it was my first choice for replacement as my razer phone began developing a screen issue. i just decided on the f1 because the 16th was not available in the philippines. i eventually fixed the issue on the razer phone my own but i am pretty sure my fix was temporary and it could go back. so, 3 days ago i was in the process of reordering the f1 with a local online shop, when the 16th showed up in the suggested alternatives right below the chekout section. it was available in my country now! yes, it was $56 more and has lackluster battery, but then all those pluses i have mentioned above is worth more than the $56 difference with the f1! i held the f1 in the cart and began reading and watching reviews of both phones, still i am leaning towards the 16th. yesterday i went to the app of the said online shop to order the meizu 16th, and on the splash page a flash sale of the f1 was ongoing with only 30 minutes remaining and 21 units left. imagine my dilemma then as the flash sale price for the f1 was slashed from the regular $377 to $264, and with a coupon code i have for a previous order i could get it for just $207! with flash sales, orders cannot be cancelled! aaaahhh! the 4000mah battery and vapor cooling chamber must be worth it. i am expecting delivery tomorrow.
- ?
- Anonymous
- ijq
- 23 Jan 2019
Glycocalyx, 21 Jan 2019Is this phone still worth buying mid 2019? I'm a student lo... moreii am a student too, maybe a different country compare to yours but i am using the phone and i would say that it is worth it unless you are waiting for another budget phone
- J
- Jeff
- gvx
- 21 Jan 2019
With a little more you can get a MI8 with amazing camera and screen...nowadays you can get a MI8 +20/30% above Poco...so I'd say it's totally worth to add that up!
- G
- Glycocalyx
- vgN
- 21 Jan 2019
Is this phone still worth buying mid 2019? I'm a student looking for a decent phone..
- m
- michal
- xYp
- 21 Jan 2019
Recommend looking for youtube of pictures with google cam night sight pictures. They get waay better - like compare black color to readable pretty picture. The cam app just installs without a problem, so they say. It gets fake 960fps video also. With this the phone camera gets a lot better performance eliminating in my opinion biggest flaw comparing to other flagships.
- YUKI93
- IWc
- 21 Jan 2019
I kind of actually like this phone , but I dunno... should I pay mid-range price for high-end phone with material compromises or pay real money for a phone with real innovation and long term reliability? 🤔
- P
- Poco F1 user
- 835
- 21 Jan 2019
I have Poco F1 and the "No notification icons in the status" is catastrophic for me. I bought this phone because of GSMArena first review and now I do regret this buying.
For me it's a bad phone with a lot of bug. Good hardware but catastrophic software. I would NOT recommand this phone.
- p
- pop
- XNt
- 21 Jan 2019
Anonymous, 20 Jan 2019Bottomline is, my Asus ROG phone and Mate 20 Pro is better ... morereally not getting point how you are comparing $300 phone to $900.doesn't even make any sense.
- T
- TechJunkie
- GXm
- 20 Jan 2019
Maria, 19 Jan 2019I almost fall in love with Poco F1. Since there is no NFC o... moreDear friend,
NFC isn't such a big deal in most of the Asian countries, that's why its absence didn't stop us from making Poco F1 a daily driver. But since Xiaomi was planning a global release, presence of NFC would have further boosted their sales.
- K
- Karthik
- D0d
- 20 Jan 2019
I had never seen this type of phone... Ultimate system process, camera, user friendly
- D
- Diamon
- tx4
- 20 Jan 2019
Still better than samsuck overpriced phone.
- ?
- Anonymous
- vx6
- 20 Jan 2019
Bottomline is, my Asus ROG phone and Mate 20 Pro is better than the Pocophone F1.
- N
- Nebula
- Nu7
- 19 Jan 2019
Marco M, 16 Jan 2019Yes, there most certainly is ground for denying that silly ... moreCouldn't agree more
- ?
- Anonymous
- vry
- 19 Jan 2019
Usage case sounds like how a midrange phone owner uses his.
Crippled.