I have been utilizing the Poco F6 for over a month now, and this is my detailed tackle how the gadget has fared in real-world utilization. So, with out additional ado, let’s dive proper in and discover out whether or not the brand new Poco F6 is value your hard-earned cash.
Poco F6 unboxing and design:
Contained in the Poco F6’s black and yellow cardboard field, you will see that the gadget itself, a Kind A to Kind C USB cable, a charging brick, some paperwork, a SIM ejector instrument and a black plastic case. There’s additionally a pre-applied plastic coating on the display screen to guard the gadget from scratches.
The Poco F6 is obtainable in two colourways: Titanium and Black. I acquired the latter, and when it comes to design, the telephone is nothing to brag about. It comes with a plain polycarbonate again with a barely shiny end, which provides the gadget a minimalist look. The plastic again signifies that the Poco F6 is vulnerable to fingerprints and smudges, however the black color makes them tougher to note.
There are two coin-shaped cutouts on the again for the first and ultra-wide-angle cameras, adopted by the flash and the Poco branding within the prime right-hand nook. The round digital camera layouts imply that the Poco F6 does are likely to wobble when positioned on a flat floor, however this drawback turns into barely manageable when utilizing the bundled case.
Additionally Learn | Infinix GT 20 Professional Overview: A gaming telephone that does not break the financial institution
On the entrance is a flat AMOLED panel with a small round cut-out that homes the selfie digital camera. The amount keys and energy button are properly stacked on the telephone’s proper aspect, whereas the opposite aspect is totally empty.
Weighing simply 179g, the Poco F6 feels fairly light-weight and comfy to grip. I had no issues taking lengthy telephone calls or carrying the gadget in my pocket for lengthy durations of time. Talking of calls, the Poco F6 comes with the MIUI dialer pre-installed, so you will not hear the ‘this name is now being recorded’ while you activate the recording choice.
The Poco F6 has an IP64 ranking, which suggests it’s totally protected against mud and may stand up to gentle splashes or little rain, however not full immersion underneath water. When it comes to connectivity, the telephone has an IR blaster (no 3.5mm jack, sadly), a USB 2.0 port, assist for 15 5G bands, Bluetooth model 5.4, Wi-Fi 6 and NFC.
Show and software program:
The F6 boasts a vibrant 6.67-inch 1.5K AMOLED panel with a 120Hz refresh fee and a peak brightness of 2400 nits (1200 nits international brightness). It is a sharp and punchy display screen, and mixed with the stereo speaker setup, it makes for a nice binge-watching expertise. I additionally had no issues utilizing the telephone outside in harsh lighting circumstances.
On the software program aspect, the Poco F6 runs the brand new HyperOS based mostly on Android 14. Xiaomi’s new HyperOS feels lighter and has quite a few good options, however it additionally has its drawbacks. Aside from the Xiaomi and Google apps, the F6 comes with not less than 19 bloatware apps, together with Fb, Amazon, Spotify, Snapchat, Rummy Circle, Dream11 and Bubble Shooter. There are additionally advertisements everywhere in the interface, together with the beginning web page (proper subsequent to the house web page), the app drawer search and inside the built-in Xiaomi apps like Music and File Supervisor.
When it comes to new options, the Poco F6 comes with assist for contactless gestures, permitting you to reply calls, change tracks, regulate quantity, and play and pause content material utilizing hand gestures. Nonetheless, these gestures are solely supported on Netflix and the Xiaomi Music app for now.
What’s actually fascinating are the brand new AI options that Poco has added to the usual digital camera app. There’s a new AI eraser, which makes it straightforward to take away these undesirable folks or objects. For instance, after clicking on an image, customers can merely choose the ‘Take away folks’ choice within the eraser and the telephone will instantly recognise all of the folks within the image and provide you with a one-tap choice to take away them.
There are additionally a number of different helpful AI options, together with Bokeh (adjusting the quantity of background blur after the image is taken), Sky (adjusting and even altering the color of the sky) and Stickers (including totally different stickers to an image). Nonetheless, I observed that these AI options do not work with out an web connection, which is odd for the reason that Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 does provide on-device AI capabilities.
Poco has promised three years of OS updates and 4 years of safety patches with the Poco F6, which suggests the telephone ought to get updates till not less than Android 17.
Efficiency and battery:
The mix of the most recent Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset, Xiaomi’s new HyperOS, LPDDR5x RAM and UFS 4.0 means the Poco F6 can deal with nearly something you throw at it with ease. The most recent storage and RAM requirements additionally end in blazing-fast switch speeds and diminished app launch occasions.
For years, MIUI customers have suffered from Xiaomi’s aggressive RAM administration, which meant that apps and video games would continuously reload despite the fact that they had been within the apps tray. Nonetheless, with the HyperOS implementation, Xiaomi/Poco appears to have taken care of this drawback. Apps now keep in reminiscence for longer durations with out having to be reloaded for some time.
Talking of benchmarks, the Poco F6 scored 14,02,779 on Antutu. On Geekbench 6, it had a single-core rating of 1,882 and a multi-core rating of 1,882. Whereas these scores are fairly spectacular and justify the Poco F6’s ‘flagship killer’ moniker, I observed that the telephone acquired extraordinarily scorching whereas operating the benchmarks and through charging.
Unusually sufficient, Poco’s Iceloop cooling know-how appears to kick in throughout gaming periods, because the Poco F6 managed to maintain the thermals at bay throughout prolonged gaming periods at most graphics settings.
The Poco F6 comes with a 5,000mAh battery that helps 90W quick charging, which takes the telephone from 0-100 in round 35-40 minutes. The battery life is not the perfect on this phase, however it ought to nonetheless final most customers a full day with medium utilization, though energy customers might have to plug it in not less than as soon as.
I do really feel that Poco missed a trick right here by not packing the F6 with a bigger 5,500 mAh battery, which is turning into the norm within the ₹30,000-40,000 value phase.
Digital camera:
The Poco F6 includes a 50MP Sony IMX 882 major sensor with 2x in-sensor zoom and as much as 10x digital zoom. It additionally has an 8MP ultra-wide angle lens with a 119-degree discipline of view.
Daylight photographs are good, with pictures exhibiting correct color recognition, glorious element, sharpness and dynamic vary. Even in low gentle, the Poco F6 largely holds its personal, though I did discover that evening photographs are likely to have barely brighter colors and there may be additionally a noticeable improve in noise ranges.
Fortunately, there is not a lot of a color shift while you change to the 8MP ultra-wide-angle lens, however there’s a vital lack of element in comparison with the first sensor, which is comprehensible given the low megapixel rely. The 20-megapixel selfie shooter is fairly respectable for the worth and takes some handsome photographs, with pictures which might be nearer to the pure pores and skin tones.
The first sensor can shoot video at as much as 4K 60fps, whereas stabilisation kicks in at 1080p 30fps. The ultra-wide-angle lens, nevertheless, is proscribed to 1080p 30fps and the selfie digital camera is able to 1080p 60fps video.
General, the Poco F6’s cameras might not impress pictures lovers, however they need to do the job for many common customers. I’ve additionally included a Google Drive hyperlink with the RAW pictures from the Poco F6 to assist the reader make up their very own thoughts in regards to the cameras on this gadget
Value and Verdict:
The Poco F6 begins at a value of ₹29,999 for the 8GB RAM/256GB storage variant, however with financial institution reductions, you may most likely get the telephone for round ₹27,000. So must you purchase the F6 at that value? Properly, it is a sure and a no. The Poco F6 is undoubtedly essentially the most highly effective handset within the ₹30,000 value vary. The addition of LPDDR5x RAM and UFS 4.0 storage additionally units it other than its friends, making certain blazing-fast switch speeds and a clean person expertise. Nonetheless, the overheating points when operating benchmarks and charging the gadget make me somewhat sceptical about its long-term efficiency.
In case you can reside with a number of pre-installed apps and advertisements inside the interface, HyperOS is without doubt one of the most feature-rich customized skins in the marketplace proper now. The brand new AI options inside the digital camera app are notably fascinating and assist to drastically enhance the image-editing course of. Xiaomi appears to have toned down its aggressive RAM administration technique and HyperOS now permits apps to run within the background for lengthy durations of time.
All in all, I feel the Poco F6 is particularly designed for energy customers who need flagship-level efficiency with out breaking the financial institution. Whereas mediocre digital camera efficiency and an absence of IP68 safety imply it will not substitute your flagship gadget simply but, the Poco F6 actually units the benchmark for performance-focused units underneath ₹30,000.
3.6 Crore Indians visited in a single day selecting us as India’s undisputed platform for Basic Election Outcomes. Discover the most recent updates right here!
Obtain The Mint Information App to get Every day Market Updates & Reside Enterprise Information.
Extra
Much less
Printed: 20 Jun 2024, 10:53 PM IST