Touted to be the “Champion of performance“, Xiaomi’s new mobile brand Poco has officially unveiled its first android smartphone – Poco F1. With a slogan saying “Master of Speed“, the mobile pack’s top-of-the-line hardware with up to 8GB of RAM, optimized for gaming, bigger battery capacity, 4G+ support, dual camera and much more.
Poco F1 is a beast considering its specification and Xiaomi has gone for an aggressive pricing strategy for the phone. The base variant of Poco F1 with 6GB RAM and 64GB of storage is priced at Rs 20,999. That’s right, more than 10K to 15K difference from its nearest competition, which includes OnePlus 6 and Asus Zenfone 5Z. The 6GB RAM and 128GB storage combination of the phone gets a price tag of Rs 23,999. Whereas the top-end model with 8GB RAM and 256GB of storage gets a price tag of Rs 28,999.
That makes the Poco F1 the most affordable flagship with Snapdragon 845 processor in India. The mobile will be a Flipkart exclusive (also available on Mi India store) and the first sale will happen on 29th August 2018 at sharp 12 PM. There would be a slew of launch day offers, which includes flat Rs 1000 discount when you use HDFC credit or debit card. Reliance Jio will offer Rs 8000 worth of instant benefits and up to 6TB high-speed data for the phone.
Poco F1 Design, Build & Performance
Xiaomi Poco F1 unlike other brands premium smartphones which mostly is glass-backed and where you always end up putting a protective case, comes with hard-coated polycarbonate unibody. It’s tough, sturdy and most importantly comfortable to hold on to. It will come in three colour options, Rosso Red, Graphite Black and Blue. There is also a premium Armoured Edition of the phone which uses Kevlar Aramid Fiber that’s scratch and wear resistant.
The Poco F1 flaunts a 6.18-inch FHD+ (2246 by 1080) display with an 18.7:9 aspect ratio encased in tough 2.5D curved Corning Gorilla Glass. It has 500nits brightness capacity, which results in an ultra-bright and vivid display. However, the gorgeous screen has a notch at the top. This part equips the IR lens and infrared lighting which helps in face unlock even in the dark. If you’re against the notch design, then the mobile comes with an option to hide the notch via software.
Snapdragon 845 with AIE 845
Under the hood, the mobile is powered by 2.8GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor paired with up to 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and Adreno 630 GPU. With an AnTuTu score of nearly 300,00, the company says Poco F1 is one of the fastest smartphones. The mobile features LiquidCool Technology that the company claims to be 300 per cent faster to dissipate heat than competition flagships. Thus, it makes your phone cooler even during intense gaming section of PUBG. It also helps to keep your phone from overheating and slowing down.
You get more than adequate internal storage with Xiaomi Poco F1. The base variant comes with 64GB of storage and goes all way up to 256GB of UFS2.1 internal storage. As the phone is equipped with a hybrid slot, you could even expand the storage up to 256GB via microSD card or choose to have two SIM.
Xiaomi Poco F1 runs on Android 8.1 Oreo-based MIUI. The special MIUI for POCO comes with three different components. A POCO launcher which has a clean UI with a new app drawer, tighter privacy controls and automatic apps grouping. The turbocharged engine component offers faster app startup, faster foreground app and faster-swiping experience. Actually, it comes more than 20 deep system optimization for a smooth experience. Finally, the faster update component helps in the regular and fast, system and software update. The company guarantees Android 9 Pie upgrade for the phone by Q4 2018. Showing more love to the developer community, Xiaomi will open source the Kernel sources of MIUI.
AI dual camera
Coming to photography, the Xiaomi Poco F1 boasts a dual rear camera and a single front selfie camera. The AI dual rear camera unit combines a 12-megapixel primary lens featuring Sony IMX 363 sensor, f/1.9 and dual pixel autofocus. While the 5-megapixel secondary camera features a Samsung sensor and f/2.0 aperture, which helps in capturing depth information. The camera also features real-time AI photography, that can intelligently distinguish across 206 scenes (across 25 categories) and then automatically adjust camera settings like exposure, saturation etc. Interestingly, there is also India specific scenes AI optimizations. There is a single-tone flash accompanying the rear camera.
For selfie addicts, the Poco F1 brings a 20-megapixel front camera unit. It also features AI scene detection, which can intelligently recognize up to 10 scenes and automatically optimizes the selfie’s background in real-time. There is also an AI Beautify 4.0 and AI portrait mode options.
For video recording, the Poco F1 can shoot 4K videos at 30 fps. You could also shoot full HD 1080p Slow motion videos at 240fps.
Connectivity and Extras
Xiaomi Poco F1 is one of the first smartphones in India to feature 4G+ support. It can combine different spectrums for faster network performance, and better coverage particularly indoors. According to the company, the 4G+ can offer up to 257 per cent faster data throughput over normal 4G phones. The phone also supports dual VoLTE along with 3G and 2G network support. Other connectivity options include Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, 2.4G WiFi, 5G WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0 and Infrared sensor.
The Poco F1 is stuffing in all the ports you need. This includes the popular USB type-C charging port and most importantly the 3.5mm headphone audio port. More love to audiophiles, the mobile sports Dirac HD Sound and dual smart PA. The phone has dual bottom firing speaker units.
Other than the secure face unlock feature we talked about earlier, the Poco F1 also comes with a fingerprint sensor at the back. Finally, fuelling the mobile is a 4000mAh battery that can easily last for more than a day on intense usage. According to the company, a full charge of the phone can offer up to 30 hours of calling or 146 hours of audio playback. It also supports Quick Charge 3.0 for rapid charging of your battery.
Accessories and Support
In the retail box, the Xiaomi Poco F1 will come with a free super soft case, if you feel it needs a cover. The company has also launched an Ultra-slim case priced at Rs 399 and an Armoured case priced at Rs 799. There is also officials skins from the company which is been priced at Rs 299.
Xiaomi Poco F1 will be a Made in India smartphone part of the Make in India initiative. The phone will be supported by 1000+ Xiaomi service centres across the country