Poco F5 review: Is this the best gaming phone on a budget or what!

Poco F5 is the newest entrant into the Indian premium smartphone area, however what makes this smartphone distinctive is its aggressive pricing given the specs. Known for its disruptive choices, Poco has as soon as once more made a splash, however does it dwell as much as the expectations and extra importantly the competitors. Though the phone appears to be like good on paper, the foremost query is that if it lives as much as the expectations in actual world.

Before we bounce to the evaluate, here is a fast take a look at the Poco F5 key specs:

1. Display: 6.67-inch FHD+ AMOLED panel with 120Hz refresh price
2. CPU: Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 octa-core SOC
3. RAM: 8/12GB RAM
4. Storage: 256GB storage
5. Camera: 64MP + 8MP (ultrawide) + 2MP (macro) ; 16MP front-facing digital camera
6. Battery: 5000mAh with 67W wired charging
7. OS: Android 13 with MIUI 14
8. Dimensions: 163mm x 75mm x 9mm
9. Weight: 204g
10. Colours: Carbon Black, Electric Blue, Snowstorm White

Price: Rs 29,999 / Rs 33,999

Poco despatched us the F5 unit for evaluate functions. The mannequin we examined packs 12GB RAM and 256GB storage and ran Android 13-based MIUI 14. Of the three out there colors, Poco F5 we obtained was Carbon Black.

Design and show

Poco F5 is designed to impress, a minimum of by the method of appears to be like. Taking it contemporary out of the field provides a sense of premium-ness, full with its flat sides and carbon-fibre end again, floating digital camera lenses and a flat edge-to-edge show.

Poco F5 feels good in hand, solely for its form-factor and weight distribution. It feels mild and matches snuggly in the hand. The fingerprint scanner is on the proper, built-in into the energy button, making it simpler to unlock with out having to awkwardly stretch out the thumb. The sensor additionally labored completely each time and right away. The quantity controls are positioned simply above, simply reachable in panorama mode whereas gaming or watching films.

At the backside, you will discover the speaker, USB Type-C port and the SIM card tray. Surprisingly, Poco additionally packed a 3.5mm hack and one other speaker on the prime alongside the IR blaster.

Everything in the Poco F5 is well-thought-out. But it loses on the really feel issue, as the use of plastic is tough to disregard. The plastic body in addition to the again is simply ample plastic to go unnoticed. But the Carbon Black appears to be like higher than the different two, by with the ability to conceal the plastic end a minimum of visually.

Coming to the show, there’s a 6.67-inch AMOLED panel with Full HD decision and max refresh price of 120Hz. The show can get actually vivid, appropriate for outside use with out having to dam the display together with your hand. Media streamers would love the HDR10 certification along with the Dolby Vision Netflix certification, which implies you get a lot of content material in that crisp movement. The show is wealthy and vibrant, appropriate for each streaming in addition to video games, each of which we loved completely.

All in all, the design is nice, and so is the show. If solely the really feel of the phone matched the appears to be like, we might have an all-around winner.

Camera

Poco F5 has a triple digital camera setup, nevertheless it’s not the phone’s best function. Sure, given the ultimate lighting situations, the phone can carry out, however difficult conditions are laborious to regulate for the F5. Let’s take the foremost 64MP digital camera as an illustration. It works so effectively in the daylight, capturing good quantity of particulars and depth. The colors and dynamic vary are additionally respectable. But as the solar goes down, the high quality takes a dip. The foremost sensor nonetheless tries to dwell as much as some expectations, however a half-an-inch sensor can solely carry out a lot in low-light situations.

Then there are ultra-wide and macro sensors accompanying the foremost one. The macro is unusable in low mild, and even with good mild, the result’s simply common. The ultra-wide can nonetheless be of use in daylight. But you don’t get desired ends in low mild. In portraits, the foremost sensor provides a good depth to the images, and does that even in ambient lighting.

The selfies are first rate. The depth impact is sweet in portrait selfies and takes a little bit of a saturated tone in comparison with non-portrait. Shooting towards a lit-up background could make the picture a bit hazy, dropping out on some important particulars.

Overall, we might rely primarily on the foremost sensor. The ultra-wide does come in useful and the portraits are good. The night time mode does little to assist and the relaxation may use enchancment.

Camera samples:

Performance

Pocowent with Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 chip for the F5. This is the first phone to run this model of Snapdragon chipset and it delivers. The 4nm structure is constructed utilizing the similar 1+3+4 core mannequin, much like the SD 8+ Gen 1 chip. In the actual world, the phone can deal with its graphics fairly effectively, even in demanding conditions.

The warmth dissipation can be remarkably good, due to the vapour chamber cooling. This is probably the solely time we did not remorse the plastic building. Even with prolonged gaming classes, the phone solely did get heat, and never unbearably sizzling. We had been on a Free Fire marathon on this one.

As a lot as the F5 caters to avid gamers, common customers also can get the most out of the phone. Day-to-day actions are dealt with effectively, with no problems with lags, freezing apps or sudden shutdowns. The software program, which is MIUI 14, comes with its common abundance of bloatware. Though most of it’s deletable, Poco went all out on this entrance. But the software program itself provides a lot of room for customisation and a few nifty options, similar to growing the RAM area just about. The app icons are acquainted to those that use Xiaomi or different MIUI-powered telephones. If you are coming from Samsung or higher but, an iPhone, the wrestle of discovering apps so simple as Notes is a activity. But there’s a search bar inside the menu so that you can shortly convey up any app you need, which is a saver. Another benefit of the software program is that it will get two years of main OS updates and three years of safety updates.

One of the points we confronted with the F5 was associated to connectivity. It paired simply with Bluetooth gadgets, however Wi-Fi was inconsistent. Even although a Wi-Fi community was saved, it would not robotically join when in vary. There had been no points with mobile connectivity and each 4G and 5G labored simply effective.

Battery

Holding the phone feels mild, nevertheless it packs a 5,000mAh battery. We’d simply make it via the day. On a busy day with heavy utilization, the phone was left with nearly sufficient to place it again on cost. On days we might bask in gaming, the phone could be put to cost early. If your each day utilization revolves round calls, IMs, emails and web searching, the phone can simply final a entire day and nonetheless have a quarter of it left.

But that is not the best half. The phone comes with 67W quick charging assist and an adaptor in the field. The phone might be charged to full in beneath one hour, however in the event you want an prompt recharge, give it quarter-hour and you will get 45 % cost.

On the battery entrance, Poco F5 has an edge.

Motherboard worries and guarantee

Pocois providing a one-year further guarantee for its F5 smartphone, which is a complete of two years. In addition, there’s a 6-month guarantee for equipment that include the phone. Poco has additionally addressed some motherboard points a few of its earlier fashions had confronted, inflicting severe concern amongst prospects, Poco tells us that the F5 will not have any such points. The prolonged guarantee is reassuring.

Verdict

Poco F5 is priced competitively, which is a sturdy USP for the phone. But then, the phone additionally delivers on many fronts. It has a fashionable design, which appeals to the youth. It is a gaming-centric phone on a budget, which additionally gives a sturdy battery. The show is superb for the value. Except for the cameras, we discover the phone compelling general. The plastic building feels a bit off, nevertheless it makes up for it with good warmth dissipation.

On prime of all of it, the phone comes with two years guarantee and has some nifty tidbits similar to 3.5mm jack (one other gamer’s favorite who would not need to put money into wi-fi earpieces), good stereos, Dolby Atmos and the likes of it.

Poco F5 has many issues going its method and has few disadvantages for a phone in its value class.