The Poco X3 Pro was expected to succeed the Poco F1, a favorite of gamers and fans alike. With its Snapdragon 800-series SoC, it did demonstrate its value in games and overall performance, but it wasn’t a standout gadget. The new Poco X4 Pro 5G is the successor to the X3 Pro, although Poco gave it a 600-series 5G SoC rather than a SoC that was as least as powerful as its predecessor. In actuality, the Poco X4 Pro 5G appears to be a Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G with some cosmetic and camera arrangement tweaks. The Poco X4 Pro 5G wants to be more of an all-rounder than a “flagship killer” or performance beast. also you will check our article on Poco X4 Pro 5G review.
Poco X4 Pro 5G review: Design
The Poco X series’ design aesthetic has undergone significant alteration. The Poco X3 Pro and Poco X3 NFC’s bulky and heavy bodies have been replaced by a more svelte but harsher frame. In comparison to the Poco X3 Pro, the Poco X4 Pro is far less of a palm-filler and easier to hold. Additionally, the X4 Pro sports a flat, glass rear panel as opposed to the all-plastic outer casing of the X3. Although the phone’s sides are still made of plastic, the overall design has improved. Overall, compared to earlier models, the Poco X4 Pro 5G is a little more subdued, though it still has more bicep-flexing power than the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G. The extended glass platform known as the “flex” covers a large portion of the phone’s breadth. It doesn’t seem to serve much use other than to give the impression that the camera array is more sophisticated than it actually is. The Honor 50 line features similar gaudy patterns. The glass back of the Poco X4 Pro 5G does have a light-reactive layer underneath the glass that produces light shafts that resemble searchlights aimed into the night sky. Since there are so many fingerprint smudges on the rear glass, the effect is frequently muted rather than garish. The Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G, a relative of this Poco, avoids them with a matte glass finish. A phone in stronger colours like blue and vivid yellow is an option. The latter, which we haven’t really seen, looks fantastic in renders. You could use the included case to calm the back that reacts to light. This emphasizes the large portion of the camera glass and gives the Poco X4 Pro a distinctive appearance both inside and outside of its cover. The Poco X4 Pro excels in audio in other areas. You receive a pair of stereo speakers that are very sturdy and a 3.5mm headphone jack. They are audible and provide adequate lower-frequency output for a phone. On this Poco device, we’ve streamed radio for countless hours, and it does an excellent job. Additionally equipped with an IR blaster, the Poco X4 Pro can be used as a global remote control. The fingerprint scanner is snappy and is located on the side, inside the power button, and the water/dust resistance is a basic but helpful IP53, which is good to tolerate some rain but little more. The SIM tray also has two slots. The second slot can accommodate a microSD card or an additional SIM. The Poco X4 Pro also comes in 256GB and 128GB storage options. We have the 128GB model in our review phone.
Display
The Poco X4 Pro boasts a 6.67-inch AMOLED screen with a maximum refresh rate of 120 Hz and a resolution of 2400×1080. The screen refresh rate can also be changed to 60 Hz for those who want to save some energy. It is not possible to modify the adaptive refresh rate. you will learn our article on Poco X4 Pro 5G review. In our brightness test, the OLED panel performed admirably. The cheap mid-range phone from Xiaomi has a maximum brightness of 713 cd/m2, which is excellent for this price range. This even reaches 1,106 cd/m2 in the centre of the screen in the APL18 measurement, which is more typical of daily use. Consequently, the display is well suited for rendering HDR content, even though Poco does not formally promote this. The Poco X4 Pro cannot avoid flickering because of the OLED panel. The PWM frequency varies between 159 and 479 Hz when the display brightness is less than 68%. At 120 Hz, the amplitude curve becomes more constant and levels off more toward the maximum brightness. The Poco phone is suitable for usage outside. Due to its extreme brightness, ambient light does not pose any issues. Only the highly reflective surface limits sunlight readability. The AMOLED display’s viewing angle stability is excellent. At flat viewing angles, the typical brightness decline is visible, but no colour distortions were found.
Poco X4 Pro 5G review: Software
The operating system is Android 11, but MIUI 13 has been customized for the POCO. This essentially implies that while it adds a few extra tweaks and features, the “stock” Android experience is still largely preserved. Coming from the Pixel line, we value when a phone manufacturer gives us the option to customize the user interface to seem very personal. Live wallpapers, themes, lock screen settings, text colors, and more are all available here. You’ll enjoy this material if you like to experiment without downloading additional programmes. Things can occasionally get odd or feel a little out of place, but we’ve seen that with other Chinese phone manufacturers as well. We haven’t had a lot of time with review units, so we can’t comment on how effectively the brand handles software upgrades. Although we believe the manufacturer won’t offer any firm promises on upgrades, the phones we’ve tested came with the most recent software builds and patches. We believe there is a trade-off or unspoken understanding that you get more hardware for your money and take your chances with the long-term software, similar to what we discover with US-based BLU.
Hardware and performance
The Poco X4 Pro 5G is marketed as a gaming phone, but even with strong performance, that’s a stretch. Depending on the option you choose, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G processor powers the X4 Pro 5G along with either 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage or 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. Although it isn’t exactly a benchmark-breaker, that is still quite impressive for a €299 smartphone. It’s interesting to note that the Poco X4 Pro 5G uses Xiaomi’s Dynamic RAM Expansion technology, which uses storage as additional RAM to increase the RAM to 8GB and 11GB, respectively, as needed. Does that affect the Poco X4 Pro 5G’s general performance in any way? Although it does start to reveal its mid-range nature in particularly media-heavy apps like Facebook where it can occasionally stutter as you browse, and WhatsApp completely froze on multiple occasions, we can attest to great performance with responsive scrolling, quick app switching, and reasonably quick image processing capabilities. With high graphics settings enabled, the Snapdragon 695 can run AAA mobile games like Call of Duty Mobile, though not always at a buttery-smooth 60 frames per second and certainly not at the theoretical 120 frames per second the display can offer. This performance translates well to gaming. The gaming experience is also not improved by any hardware features designed specifically for gaming, such as the magnetic triggers on the Black Shark 4 Pro or the abundance of accessories on the Asus ROG Phone 5. Therefore, despite the fact that it can offer a passable gaming experience, devoted mobile gamers are better suited elsewhere. Our benchmark results, which place the Poco X4 Pro 5G in line with other alluring mid-range options like the OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G, largely support that claim. Aside from performance, the Poco X4 Pro 5G has Bluetooth 5.1, Wi-Fi 5, and, of course, 5G connectivity. Additionally, there are NFC capabilities for payment apps like Google Pay, and the power button has a fingerprint reader for easy unlocking.
Poco X4 Pro 5G review: Camera
Has Xiaomi surrendered the potent processor that has been synonymous with the Poco series for a top-tier camera? Not really, but some of it does seem reasonable on paper. A 108-megapixel primary camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera, and a 2-megapixel zoom are all featured on the Poco X4 Pro 5G. The final two are the standard fare for more expensive entry-level phones. The wide is alright, but a little soft due to its low sensor resolution; additionally, the sensor is tiny, resulting in a low dynamic range in trickier scenes. The macro is a filler camera; despite allowing you to approach your subject up close, its 2-megapixel resolution is unable to capture any pictures that are worth preserving. The 5-megapixel telephoto on the Redmi Note 10 Pro is one of the greatest affordable macro cameras made by Xiaomi. It’s nothing like this at all. The primary camera of the Poco X4 Pro is 108 megapixels, and it makes use of a Samsung HM2 sensor. The Redmi Note 10 Pro 5G, which costs about as much, and the much more expensive Xiaomi 11T Pro both have the same camera. Surely this is good news? The image quality of this camera varies. Compared to some of Xiaomi’s earlier attempts at this pricing, such the Xiaomi 11T Pro, image processing, particularly noise reduction, is noticeably inferior. Close up, where fine detail seems fuzzier than in photos shot with last year’s Redmi Note 10 Pro, makes this clear. The impacts of the Auto HDR option are more pronounced. When there is a lot of light contrast in a scene, when a single-exposure shot will either result in a blown-out sky, a murky-looking foreground, or both, Xiaomi’s Auto HDR is among the best in some phones. To capture some comparison photos, we stepped outside with the Poco X4 Pro, the OnePlus Nord 2 5G, the Poco X3 Pro, and the Xiaomi 11T Pro. Too often, the Poco X4 Pro displayed the most overexposure, with the Poco X3 Pro last year only managing to get away with having a mediocre camera due to its strength. The mid-tone contrast is noticeably better on the OnePlus, and the shadow details are clearer and brighter. The 11T Pro, which uses the same sensor, produces images that are much brighter and punchier overall. Its only drawback is a propensity to oversaturate colors. By switching from Auto HDR to HDR, the Poco X4 Pro’s results will be enhanced. The entire foreground gets significantly brighter, and up close, the images appear cleaner and more detailed. The result is a slight “halo” effect that surrounds high-contrast objects like tree branches that stick out into the sky. Your photos will appear less natural overall, and this HDR mode can be too much in some situations, so leaving it on constantly isn’t the answer.
Battery life
The Poco X4 Pro 5G excels in terms of battery life, even with the refresh rate set to 120Hz. With a 5,000mAh battery at its core, the X4 Pro 5G can easily last two days of moderate use (tweeting, texting, watching TikToks), with the potential to extend that time if you’re a little more frugal than we are. Given that the 120Hz refresh rate is fixed rather than adaptive and is therefore less battery-efficient than some high-end competitors, this accomplishment is all the more remarkable. It also implies that if you continue using the slower 60Hz refresh rate, it might live much longer. It’s reassuring to be able to use your phone for more than a day without having to charge it thanks to its great performance, which also helps eliminate battery worry. In tests, Xiaomi’s 67W turbo charging technology gave it a 59% charge in 15 minutes and a 94% charge in 30 minutes when it needed a top-up, with a full charge taking about 40 minutes. Although it’s not the fastest charging technology available, it stands out in the low-cost market, especially since a 67W USB-C charger is included in the package. There is no additional cost for this convenience of charging! At this price point, it is not particularly surprising that wireless charging is not available. Fast charging technology, in my opinion, is worth more to most users than stand-alone charging anyway!
Price and availability
The Poco X4 Pro’s price in the US and the UK hasn’t been determined as of the time of this review. It costs 299 euros, which translates to about the same amount or slightly less in British pounds, and between $330 and $350 in the United States. The Poco M4 Pro 5G is another step-down model from Xiaomi. It has a different 50MP primary camera, a MediaTek processor, and a slightly less impressive LCD screen. A few months later, in February 2022, the Poco X4 Pro 5G was unveiled. also you can read our article on Poco X4 Pro 5G review.
Conclusion
With only a few flaws, the Poco X4 Pro is a successful mid-range phone. The predecessor’s great performance was forgone in lieu of 5G connectivity, which nevertheless works well with the Xiaomi smartphone. For less than $300, the installed Snapdragon 695 gives very competitive performance rates and has enough graphics capability for high-fidelity gaming. In terms of display, the mid-range series has advanced significantly. In addition to having a significantly higher contrast ratio than the IPS screen on the Poco X3 Pro, the installed 120 Hz OLED panel is also brighter and better illuminated. However, this also raises the Poco X4 Pro’s price (RRP) by US$ 50 over the model it replaces.
