Smartphone Xiaomi Poco F1 - advantages and disadvantages

Xiaomi is one of the fastest growing smartphone companies. The company has managed to capture a large part of the market with the Redmi series, offering powerful devices at affordable prices. And now Xiaomi presents a new product - POCOPHONE F1, we will talk about the characteristics and advantages, as well as the disadvantages of the model below.

ABOUT POCOPHONE

POCOPHONE is a small structure within a big company. Xiaomi claims that the POCOPHONE brand has the freedom and independence to sell the smartphone in countries where the company does not operate.In some countries, the gadget will appear as a sub-brand of Xiaomi, and in others, on the contrary, as a separate brand. This decision was made to solve certain problems. The brand got its name from the word "small" ("POCO"). Of course, this does not mean size, but the manufacturer's strategy, the essence of which is that a long journey begins with small steps. The POCOPHONE division focuses on the latest technology in its smartphone.

This device is meant as an inexpensive flagship. Consider the main characteristics of the device.

Key parameters of Xiaomi POCOPHONE F1

Learn more about this gadget below.

Equipment

Upon delivery of the smartphone, the buyer will find in the box: a charger, a protective cover on the back panel, a cable with a USB Type-C connector, a key to open the slot, and documents.

Design

Back panel

The case is made of plastic (polycarbonate), which is very practical and more reliable than glass back panels. Pleasant to the touch and provides excellent grip. The fingerprint scanner is located under the camera. Its shape is convenient for scanning a print, as it has a recess. The camera consists of two modules (the resolution of one is 12 MP and the other is 5 MP), and there is a flash on the side of it. At the very bottom is the POCOPHONE logo.

The gadget has three colors to choose from: red, blue and black.If the buyer wants a more reliable version of the phone, then the company has provided for this. For this case, the Armored Edition is available with a durable Kevlar cover (only for modification with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of built-in memory).

Display

Screen size 6.18 inches. The display resolution corresponds to 2246 pixels by 1080 pixels and is equipped with a matrix with IPS technology. The highest brightness of the screen is 461 nits, and the lowest is 2.5. Readability is preserved in the sun. On the top of the display is a unibrow, which is equipped with an infrared sensor. The sensor has a backlight, and is needed to carry out the work of recognizing the owner's face. There is also a 20 MP front camera, a sensor that responds to movement and a speaker that is used when talking.

Edge of a smartphone

The lower part consists of buttons located on the screen. Settings allow you to turn them off or swap them for convenience. These buttons, along with gestures, are used for navigation.

The right edge contains two keys responsible for the volume and the power button.

On the left edge, the manufacturer placed a tray for either SIM cards, or for a SIM card and a card for additional memory.

On the top is a headphone jack and a noise canceling microphone.

In the middle of the bottom edge is a USB Type-C connector, and on the sides of it is a microphone and a speaker with a loudspeaker function.

The NFC chip is missing.

Performance

The smartphone is powered by the Snapdragon 845 processor. The performance makes the smartphone suitable for gaming. The power of the processor does not yet guarantee its speed of operation; when overheated, the speed drops.The developers foresaw this turn of events and therefore the temperature of the processor is regulated by the cooling system. She runs on liquid. Even under heavy loads, long-term operation is ensured.

The gadget is controlled by the Android 8.1 Oreo (MIUI 9.6) operating system.

The phone has three versions and they differ in modifications with different memory capacities. The options are shown below.

The battery in the smartphone is quite capacious, its capacity is 4000 mAh. There is a fast charging technology. It provides charging of the smartphone from 0 to 30 percent in 30 minutes.

Even if you use the phone actively, it will live for a day and a half. The battery life of the phone was 26 hours in talk mode, 14 hours in active use of the Internet and 12 hours in video mode.

Sound

The sound comes from two speakers simultaneously, one located on top of the display, and the other on the bottom edge. This arrangement allows you to receive the unit's stereo sound.

The FM radio in the gadget is saved and with the help of wired headphones (used as an antenna) allows you to connect various radio stations.

Camera

The POCOPHONE F1 smartphone has a rear camera, which has two matrices and their resolutions are 12 MP and 5 MP. There is no optical stabilization. The 5 MP camera is involved in creating a trendy blurred background (bokeh effect). To improve images, artificial intelligence is able to recognize the type of scene in the picture. Using gestures (left or right), the shooting mode is selected. Gestures do not work for switching between cameras; a separate button has been created for this purpose.Daylight shots are of good quality, but night shots are blurry and noisy.

Sample pictures:

The resolution of the selfie camera (front) is 20 MP. With this camera it is also possible to create a bokeh effect.

Reviews

Users got a budget option with good power. The company has delivered on its promises. But to solve such a problem, it was necessary to abandon some functions and the appearance suffered a little. According to reviews in Russia, the name POCOPHONE makes many people laugh. The design turned out to be nondescript, the unibrow does not look the best, as it contains sensors that spoil its appearance.

Models with which you can compare the novelty of 2018 from Xiaomi

According to the characteristics, Xiaomi Poco F1 is not far behind the flagships, the main competitors are such flagship models as OnePlus 6, Oppo F7, Xiaomi Mi 8, Honor Play. Let's consider how certain models differ from POCOPHONE.

Pros and cons of flagships versus POCOPHONE

All models are presented in 6/64 GB modification.

One Plus 6

• The presence of an AMOLED screen (consumes less battery power compared to IPS technology);
• The body is made of glass;
• There is optical stabilization.

• The average price is - 42,800 rubles; 230835 tenge;
• Battery capacity 3300 mAh;
• No stereo speakers;
• Front camera resolution - 16 MP;
• There is no radio.

Oppo F7

• The average price is 22,990 rubles; 123993 tenge;
• Front camera resolution 25 MP.

• There is no possibility to play stereo sound;
• There is no fast charging technology;
• Processor MediaTek Helio P60;
• Rear camera resolution 16 MP;
• Battery capacity - 3400 mAh;

Xiaomi Mi8 SE

• The average price is 23,700 rubles; 127684 tenge;
• Glass body;
• There is a metal frame;
• The presence of an AMOLED screen.

• Snapdragon 710 processor;
• There is no infrared sensor required for unlocking by face recognition;
• Battery capacity - 3120 mAh.

Xiaomi Mi 8

• There is a screen with AMOLED technology;
• Dual camera with resolutions - 12 megapixels each. The matrix has a size of 1/2.55 inches. The pixel size is 1.4 microns. Thus, the camera shoots well in low light.

• The average price is 31,490 rubles; 169836 tenge;
• Battery capacity - 3400 mAh;
• There is no headphone jack;
• No radio support;
• There is no possibility to play stereo sound;
• There is no infrared sensor required for unlocking by face recognition.

Honor Play

• The average price is 24,990 rubles; 134779 tenge;
• 6.3-inch bezel-less screen;
• Processor Huawei Kirin 970.

• Fewer features compared to POCOPHONE;
• heated up;
• The rear camera is dual with resolutions - 16 MP and 2 MP, POCOPHONE has better cameras.

Conclusion

Thus, Xiaomi introduced the new product of 2018 to the market - POCOPHONE F1. The device is declared as a budget version of a smartphone with the potential of a flagship.

The characteristics were shown above and based on them, we highlight the advantages and disadvantages of the device.

• Screen with a diagonal of 6.18 inches:
• Performance;
• The presence of a cooling system;
• Sound quality - stereo;
• Smartphone protection is carried out by two types of unlocking (fingerprint and face scan);
• The ability to connect headphones through a 3.5 mm input;
• Autonomous operation of the phone was 26 hours in talk mode, 14 hours with active use of the Internet and 12 hours in video mode;

• The NFC module is not available;
• There is no way to control the equipment.
• The phone is not waterproof;
• Lack of optical stabilization;
• The design is not very attractive.

So what can be said in conclusion? The company coped with the tasks that it stated - it turned out to be an inexpensive, but powerful device.