Two long-anticipated POCO phones, the POCO X3 Pro and POCO F3 made their debut yesterday. In classic POCO fashion, the two phones are premium value devices — POCO F3 is the new flagship, and the X3 Pro is a sequel to the budget X3.
POCO F3
If you haven’t been following the story, the POCO F3 is a rebranded Redmi K40, down to the design. The phone has the Snapdragon 870 — an overclocked variant of last year’s Snapdragon 865+ — at its heart. It’s a 5G chip, built on a modern 7nm process with its big cores clocked at 3.2GHz.
It’s joined by 128GB/256GB of blazing-fast UFS 3.1 storage and 6GB/8GB of next-gen LPDDR5 memory. The setup draws power from a 4520 mAh battery that fast charges over 33W — a full charge is promised in just 52 minutes. To manage heat dissipation in this performance-beast, POCO has also integrated a multi-layered cooling system.
The internal hardware is only one side of the coin; for the optimum gaming experience, the visuals are just as important. The POCO F3 delivers on that front too. Its 6.67” AMOLED screen can refresh up to 120 frames every second while sampling for touches at an ultra-responsive 360Hz. The screen is rounded off with 1300 nits of peak brightness. Plus, better contrast is ensured with HDR10+ support.
POCO F3’s camera system is tame by comparison. The triple-camera on the back features a 48MP f/1.8 lens, an 8MP ultra-wide camera, and a 5MP macro camera. Selfies are taken with a 20MP camera.
The build also includes an IR blaster, Gorilla Glass 5, a side-facing fingerprint reader, NFC, dual speakers, and flagship-grade haptics. POCO F3 comes in black, white, and blue colors, starting from €349 (~ Rs. 64,000.)
POCO X3 Pro
The X3 Pro is a premium edition of last year’s X3. The two phones share their build and design (not to mention many of their features), but the X3 Pro runs on the more powerful 4G Snapdragon 860.
You get the same high-end UFS 3.1 storage, available in 128GB and 256GB options. Depending on the variant, 8GB/6GB of memory covers multi-tasking.
It’s all hooked up to a 5160 mAh battery with 33W fast charging. The same cooling technology as the F3 is employed in the POCO X3 for effective heat management.
Taking another page out of the POCO F3’s playbook, the X3 Pro screen also offers a smooth 120Hz refresh rate and a high 240Hz touch sampling rate. Except we’re looking at a 1080P IPS LCD, also toughened with Gorilla Glass 6.
The camera system on the X3 Pro features a 48MP f/1.8 lens, an 8MP ultra-wide camera, and a pair of 2MP portrait and macro sensors. Out on the front, nestled inside a hole-punch, POCO X3 Pro has a 20MP selfie camera.
You also get the assortment of flagship-grade features in this mid-range POCO: IP53 rating against dust and water, NFC, dual speakers for surround sound, and an improved vibration motor. The base variant of the X3 Pro starts from €249 (~ Rs. 46,000.)