Content

1. Contents of delivery
2. TECH SPECS
3. Positioning
4. Design, dimensions, controls
5. Display
6. Battery
7. Memory, chipset, performance
8. Communication capabilities
9. Камеры
10. Software
11. Competitors
12. Impressions, results

Contents of delivery

• Smartphone
• Charger 33W, 11V / 3A
• USB Type-C cable
• Adapter from Type-C to 3.5 mm
• Silicone Case
• SIM card tray eject tool
• Protective film (already glued on)
• Documentation

Positioning

Poco smartphones have already made a splash in our market. The manufacturer sees the target audience as those users who are not used to compromises and want versatility from the device, regardless of scenarios, be it games, photography, chatting in instant messengers or watching videos. There are similarities with Xiaomi, from which Poco received independence not so long ago.

And now – a new presentation and new devices. To consolidate the success of Poco X3 NFC, an updated smartphone is called upon, which has received the same design, a more powerful processor and a Pro box instead of NFC. But the place of the flagship F2 Pro is taken by the hero of today’s review, the powerful and stylish Poco F3, significantly different from its predecessor both externally and internally. This review is a close acquaintance with the new product and an attempt to assess its prospects in the market.

Design, dimensions, controls

Those who closely follow Xiaomi’s novelties will recognize the Redmi K40 in the hero of the material. The devices are identical, both outside and inside. The rebranding of the smartphone, available only in China, for global markets gave two significant changes: Poco F3 received a bright blue version with a textured back panel hidden under the glass, and also lost the version with 12 GB of RAM.

Upon first acquaintance, the smartphone immediately declares its flagship ambitions. For its diagonal, it is quite compact, thin body (7.8 mm) is protected from both sides by Gorilla Glass 5, the frame is made of metal, there is IP53 protection, everything is as it should be. The tactile sensation leaves a positive impression, as does the visual component. The black version of the smartphone was tested, the combination of color with a mirror effect gives a cool effect of a chrome surface.

But there is a downside: Poco F3 is very easily soiled, the back of the gadget is instantly covered with prints and dirt, as well as dust. The official package includes a cover, which pleases me. The glass is durable, during a week of testing it did not collect any scratches or clues, from the experience of using a smartphone with such glass on the back, we can say that, in the absence of critical drops, Gorilla Glass 5 shows decent protection results after two years. On the other hand, the Poco X3 Pro has the sixth generation of this glass, but only on the front.

The front panel is notable except for a small cutout for the front camera, according to the manufacturer, it received a diameter of 2,76 mm. This decision does not cause much negativity, but it is unlikely to reassure those who have long wanted to see cameras under the display or are looking for a replacement for devices with an outgoing camera, the same Mi 9T or Poco F2 Pro.

On the back, it is worth noting the camera unit, visually similar to the solution in Mi 11. Its thickness is less than many solutions on the market, but when typing on a flat-lying smartphone, it still sways, albeit a little. Between the two large lenses is a mesh of the microphone system used to record sound when shooting video and the “audio zoom” function: it allows you to increase the volume when zooming in the viewfinder to the sound source. Next to it is an ultra-wide-angle camera, a little to the right is a flash.

Controls are concentrated on the right edge: there is a dual volume key and a power button, it is also a fingerprint scanner. The buttons are thin, with a quiet tactile response when pressed, there is no cutout for the fingerprint scanner, everything looks organic. Of course, it’s strange that the sensor is not in the screen, apparently, the side location is more popular with users.

Above and below there are slots for a loud and powerful speaker system, they swing efficiently, they do not wheeze at maximum volume. An IR transmitter is hidden in one of the holes for the speaker. At the bottom, next to the Type-C connector, there is a slot for two SIM cards; you cannot put a memory card. For those who need more space, a 256 GB version is provided, and it was tested, a little over 225 GB is available to the user.

Display

In contrast to slightly older smartphones, the Poco F3 screen looks very, very good. It uses an E4 AMOLED matrix made by Samsung, and the wow effect of using such a screen is almost guaranteed. There is wide coverage in colors, and honest black, and brightness at peak up to 1300 nits, and 120 Hz refresh rate at a sampling rate of the sensor layer of 360 Hz, the eye is happy, and that’s all. From the factory, the screen is protected by an average quality film, a good oleophobic coating is found on the screen.

In everyday use, the display evokes extremely positive emotions both in normal work scenarios and in games, we will return to them in the section on performance. It does not fail under the sun, especially if you set auto brightness, automatic color temperature adjustment is also available. The dark theme on AMOLED looks luxurious, the software has an option to hide the cutout, in general, subjectively, I’m very pleased with the matrix.

Like many modern devices, the geometry of the screen does not allow you to comfortably use it with one hand; for this, a special software mode is available with three options for the diagonals of the display active zone. During testing, the 120 Hz mode was used, there is no intermediate setting between it and 60 Hz, an interesting fact.

Battery

With all these wonders of the display, the capacity of the 4520 mAh battery looks at least modest, especially if you recall the experience of communicating with gaming smartphones, in which, with similar characteristics, 6000 mAh batteries are installed. In fact, Poco F3 showed a good level of system optimization, in ordinary scenarios with several messengers, synchronization of three mailboxes and average brightness, it turns out to reach one and a half days from a single charge with 4-5 hours of screen on average per day. The first couple of days there was a strange discharge of 7-9% at night without a network, but then the situation improved.

Fast charging 33W charges the smartphone in just under 50 minutes, which is pretty fast, the same Oppo Reno5 shows the same figures when charging 50W. In games, the smartphone will “live” for about 10 hours, depending on the specific game and brightness settings. Frankly, the point with autonomy raised my doubts, but in reality everything turned out bearable.

Memory, chipset, performance

The Poco F3 has received the so far exotic Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 processor, which first appeared in the Motorola Edge S at the end of January. Apparently, a smartphone from Poco will be the first device with such a processor in Russia, at least this assumption can be made in isolation from the information about the official start of sales. Noteworthy is the frequency of the Cortex-A77 core, so far, even in the X1 core, the frequency is lower.

At its core, the chip is an overclocked version of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865, hence support for screens up to 144 Hz with all the other processor talents. Needless to say, the same PUBG on the phone supports 4K-quality textures and ultra-frequency graphics. Of course, you can’t jump above 30 fps in this mode, and the CPU heats up at an average of 64 degrees, at a high frequency and “maximum” graphics the system is more comfortable. For the rest of the games, there are no barriers, except that for very hardcore fighters it would still be better to provide a version with 12 GB of RAM.

In terms of memory speed, everything is also good here, LPDDR5 and UFS 3.1 do not make you doubt the speed of the system. The heat of the case under load is felt next to the camera. Throttling tests show not very promising results, there is an opinion that such things will be closed by updates, the phone has just gone on sale. Despite this, in AnTuTu v9 Poco F3 came close to the mark of 700 points.

Summing up, the performance is at a height, there are certain concerns about throttling, the system controls and withstands heating. Mobile gaming fans should definitely take a closer look.

Communication capabilities

As for wireless communications, there is complete order here, there is a stable working NFC, and an IR transmitter, GPS starts up quickly. For those willing to wait, there is also 5G support. So far, only Wi-Fi 6 is available for such users for fast internet.

The manufacturer offers to neutralize the absence of a 3.5 mm jack with a loud and excellent sounding stereo system, it has passed Dolby Atmos and Hi-Res certification. If the wired headphones are closer, then for this case there is an adapter with Type-C in the box.

Камеры

The main camera system is represented by a modest set of three modules, telephoto and optical stabilization were not delivered, but there is an interesting tele-macro lens, in good lighting you can take excellent shots when approaching the subject.

The main module for 48 megapixels is the Sony IMX582 Exmor RS, we could see it in the Samsung Galaxy A51, it is also used in the Redmi Note 10. That is, for the middle segment this is a viable option without claims for flagship results. With good lighting, you can get good quality footage both on the main and on the front camera. HDR works adequately and does not differ in strange tricks, similar impressions and from the AI ​​mode, the plot is determined correctly, only the difference with it and without it is not always noticeable.

At dusk or in low light it is a little more difficult, I liked the work of the night mode, gently smooths out the noise.

The ultra-wide-angle camera can also be praised, for its 8 megapixels it produces nice pictures with preserved building geometry and perspective. At the same time, the color rendition practically does not differ from the main lens.

Poco F3 in the right hands will become a tool for obtaining beautiful photos and videos, in the settings there are many settings, filters and modes, there is something to play with.

Software

The smartphone out of the box runs on Android 11, the shell is still the same, MIUI 12 for POCO. It is distinguished from the standard MIUI by the launcher itself and the logic of building the application menu, the rest of the interface is very similar. There are a number of pre-installed applications, there are also ads in applications, according to impressions, it is gradually being minimized, which pleases.

Geeks will appreciate the traditional flexibility of settings, if you want, you can customize almost everything, from the navigation method to the AlwaysOn Display analog. The interface is pleasant to use, especially if the system logic is already familiar.

Competitors

The official cost of Poco F3 has not yet been announced, so we will start from 350 euros for the basic version (6/128), when we convert it we get 31 rubles. First of all, for this money it will be extremely difficult to find a competitor in terms of display quality. If you look for a competitor in terms of performance in the category up to 500 rubles, then the closest pursuer will not be the newest Realme X40 Superzoom with its Qualcomm Snapdragon 000+ chip. On the side of this smartphone, 3 GB of RAM and a cool set of cameras, the display also has a refresh rate of 855 Hz, but here it is quite an average IPS.

Left to right: Realme X3 Superzoom, Samsung Galaxy A72, Poco X3 Pro, Poco F3. A source

Poco X3 Pro can compete with it, its processor is slightly slower, but the battery is larger, there is a headphone jack and the ability to put in a memory card, and the price, judging by the official presentation, will be significantly lower.

The Samsung Galaxy A72 can also become a competitor in terms of the overall set of characteristics. Yes, it does not have such a display and such performance as glass on the back, but the main module has a resolution of 64 megapixels, there is optical stabilization, and the protection level is IP67. The processor is noticeably weaker, the refresh rate is 90 Hz.

Impressions, results

Even if Poco F3 is not an original development of Poco and slightly stands out from the current lineup, in fact it proved to be a very curious device, in which there is practically nothing to complain about: the performance is actually flagship, the design is decent, the display is excellent, everything is balanced and at the level. Someone will justly nod at the cameras and will be right, the characteristics do not boggle the imagination, the quality of the shooting is good, but the photo flags have nothing to worry about.

All this is true exactly until the official launch in Russia, when prices become known and some of the comparison points may become irrelevant. In any case, the Poco F3 has collected a number of cool characteristics that set it apart from the competition, because there is no one among those who would surpass it on all fronts. Personally, I was curious to look at the approach to smartphones for the Chinese market, the experience turned out to be useful for expanding my horizons. Does it apply to our realities? Leave your opinion in the comments.

The author thanks the POCO Store for providing the POCO F3 smartphone for review.

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