Xiaomi
has finally launched the brand new Poco F1 smartphone in India
The Poco F1 is essentially the Xiaomi Mi 3 in spirit, with a
little bit of the Mi 4i thrown in.
The Poco F1 is the first Xiaomi phone in India to come with
an iPhone X-style notch and much like it is in other Android phones with notch,
you can also disable it if you're not particularly a fan. Notch aside, the Poco
F1 comes with a good screen.
Xiaomi has announced a new sub-brand: Poco and Poco F1 is
the mobile from this new stable. Poco F1 has all the tick marks of a flagship
phone, at least in terms of specifications. This smartphone runs on the Android
v8.1 (Oreo) operating system and Octa-core (2.8 GHz, Quad core, Kryo 385 1.8
GHz, Quad core, Kryo 385) Qualcomm
Snapdragon 845 SoC, up to 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage, it is
pitted against the OnePlus 6. The POCO F1 also features a 12MP+5MP dual rear
camera and a 20MP front facing sensor. Packed with a great processor and an
excellent configuration, Xiaomi Poco F1 is a premium smartphone in India having
all the tick marks for a myriad of advanced specifications it comprises of.
The phone also comes with Face Unlock which is supposed to
work in completely dark environments as well. So far, this is an accurate claim
as I have found in my early testing.
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| image Poco india |
Poco F1 is playing in the Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 price band
and even the top of the line Kevlar Armoured edition costs Rs 29,999. It also
helps that the Poco F1 comes in three variants: 6GB RAM and 64GB storage, 6GB
RAM and 128GB storage and finally 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. The storage can be
expanded via a microSD card. Moreover, the device will be available in other
colours like Graphite Black, Steel Blue, and Rosso Red to cater to the gadget
enthusiasts.
The phone features a 5.99-inch full HD+ display with a 1080
x 2248 pixels resolution. The screen has a 19:9 aspect ratio, and includes a
notch. That notch even houses an infrared face-unlock feature. he display is
protected by Corning Gorilla Glass. The notch houses the camera, proximity
sensors and also the IR sensor for face recognition. The IPS LCD display takes
your visual experience to the next level. So, now you can watch videos and play
games on this display with an aspect ratio 18.7:9. When it comes to the battery
it is less than any other smartphone in India, Poco F1 has Li-Polymer battery
of 4000 mAh that can provide up to 30 Hours (2G) of talk time.
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| Image Poco India |
Poco F1 is all about speed and performance. It has the
latest Snapdragon 845 with Adreno 630 GPU. It comes with a combination of 6 GB
or 8 GB RAM and 64 GB or 128 or 256 GB of UFS 2.1 internal memory
configurations. To manage the heat in the mobile, it has a liquid cooling
mechanism running internally. Sealing the package is the LiquidCooling
technology that claims to keep CPU temperatures low even during intense gaming
sessions.
It is also important to note that the POCO F1 runs on a
custom UI called POCO Launcher, which is based off of Xiaomi’s MIUI launcher.
At its launch, POCO’s Product Head promised that the launcher will be available
for public download on the Play Store on August 29. However, one of POCO’s
employees posted a beta version of the launcher on the MIUI Forum site, making
it available to all devices running MIUI. Though it is a sub-brand of Xiaomi,
Poco smartly gets all the MIUI goodness. I am happy that it did not go on the
Stock Android route. It runs on Android 8.1 out of the box and Android P is
coming soon (Q4 2018). It has all the features of MIUI like second space,
scrolling screenshot, quick-ball, themes and customization, dual apps, etc…
The Poco F1 features a wonderful dual camera configuration
with 12MP primary sensor and a 5-MP depth sensor with a dual-LED flash. There
is a fingerprint scanner available below the camera module. The primary sensor
comes with dual-pixel autofocus. The front-facing camera, on the other hand, is
a 20 MP camera with a f/2.0 aperture. At the front Poco F1 has a 20-megapixel
sensor for amazing selfies and video calls with much clarity. Also, the device
has an infrared camera and emitter for face recognition. Its camera ensures
sharp images with bright colours even in low-light conditions.
Shots ON POCO
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| image Poco India |
Connectivity options include Bluetooth and Wi-Fi of course,
and there is a USB Type C port. A fingerprint sensor is mounted on the rear. A
4000mAh battery should easily last a day with heavy-duty usage, and this comes
with a 5V/2A charger and Qualcomm’s QuickCharge3.0. Its a dual SIM phone with
size Nani in slot 1 and Nano (hybrid) in slot 2 that supports 4G bands in both
the slots. Connectivity is one of the most important factors when it comes to
mobiles, this device is inclusive of Wi-Fi 802.11, a/ac/b/g/n, MIMO, v5.0
Bluetooth, A-GPS, and Glonass.
From xda developers, According to him, the price could range
from 420 Euros for the 6GB RAM/64GB storage model to 460 Euros for the 6GB
RAM/128GB storage model. Converting those prices gives us $478 or Rs 33,500 and
$523 or Rs 36,700. It could even be cheaper, as Roland Quandt states that he
saw a price less than 390 Euros. Poco F1 will also be launched along with a
bunch of official accessories. There will be an ultra slim hard case for Poco
F1 at Rs 399. A Kevlar finish case will cost Rs 799. Poco official skins will
cost Rs 299.
