Xiaomi Pocophone F1 Specifications Price Availability. Xiaomi sub-brand Poco or Pocophone as it will be called globally launched its first phone, aka the Poco F1, in India on Wednesday at a starting price of Rs 20,999. The Poco F1 which is globally launching in India brings high-end specs at mainstream prices.
The Poco F1, to begin with, is the most affordable phone in India to pack a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor. It is the most affordable phone in India to come with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage, in addition to cramming liquid cooling that you normally associate with more expensive gaming phones. It is also the most affordable phone in India to ship with a Kevlar back.
Clearly, the Xiaomi Poco F1 is all about the specs. The phone, in fact, checks every possible top-tier feature box and then some more. And yet it costs so little, especially when you consider everything that it brings along. If the strategy sounds familiar to you, well, you’re not the only one. No prizes for guessing that the Poco F1 has been designed from scratch to take on the OnePlus 6.
Xiaomi Poco F1: Specs and features
The Poco F1 comes with a 6.18-inch FHD+ IPS LCD display with a 1080×2246 pixel resolution and 18.7:9 aspect ratio. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor with up to 8GB RAM and up to 256GB storage. The Poco F1 will come in three versions: 6GB RAM and 64GB storage, 6GB RAM and 128GB storage, and 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. All the versions support expandable storage.
ROM
The dual-SIM Poco F1 runs Android 8.1 Oreo-based MIUI 9.6 software with a customized Poco launcher. The biggest positive of this new launcher is that it gives users access to a Google Pixel-like app drawer, and also Poco says that phones like the Poco F1 have a chance of being updated faster than Xiaomi phones that run simply MIUI.
Camera
On the optics front, the Poco F1 comes with a dual camera system on the rear consisting of one 12MP sensor with f/1.9 aperture and another 5MP sensor for depth sensing. The dual camera system supports AI-backed features like scene recognition. On the front, the Poco F1 comes with a 20MP camera with support for portrait selfies.
Battery
The Poco F1 is backed by a massive 4,000mAh battery and supports Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0. The phone charges via USB Type-C.There’s a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner onboard the Poco F1 and also the phone supports IR-based face unlock which means that ideally, it should work in the dark. It does, and also it works in harsh light to an extent. But it can be a little inconsistent when conditions are not ideal. The fingerprint scanner is very fast and accurate though.
Speed
Poco goes so far as to say that the Poco F1 is master of speed but it isn’t calling it a gaming phone like the Honor Play. Having said that, the Poco F1 has every ingredient in the book to qualify as a high-end gaming phone including dedicated liquid cooling. The Poco F1 is surely not perfect, but at its low price, chances are many wouldn’t even notice some of its compromises.
Overall Features
The biggest compromise that those who like to nit-pick would likely call out for is the use of plastic in its construction. The Poco F1 isn’t carved out of glass or metal like many other flagship phones but it’s made entirely out of plastic. Xiaomi or rather Poco says there’s a reason behind it. All of a sudden there’s a barrage of all-glass (and metal) phones in the market but glass also makes these phones susceptible to wear and tear. This is something that sort of forces buyers into buying cases, but then that negates the whole purpose of owning such a pretty phone. The Poco F1 is seemingly designed to take on everyday wear and tear. It is designed keeping durability and ergonomics in mind.
The Poco F1 is also not exactly a looker if you take into account other affordable flagship phones like the Asus ZenFone 5Z or the OnePlus 6. Speaking of which, the Poco F1 also features a notch up-top much like the aforementioned phones. You can also hide the notch much like any of these phones. But unlike the Asus ZenFone 5Z or the OnePlus 6, the Poco F1 has chunkier bezels all around the screen which does offset the whole purpose of having a notch in the first place. So that’s that. Also, the Poco F1 ships with Gorilla Glass 3 protection which isn’t technically the latest and greatest from Corning.
Xiaomi Poco F1: Price and availability
The Poco F1 has been launched in India at a starting price of Rs 20,999. This is for the base 6GB RAM and 64GB storage version. There’s also a 6GB RAM and 128GB storage version that will sell for Rs 23,999, alongside a top-tier version with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage that will sell for Rs 28,999.
All of these versions will be available in black, blue and red. Lastly, Poco also has a special armored edition of the Poco F1 that will ship with a Kevlar back, 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. The armored edition of the Poco F1 will sell for Rs 29,999. The Xiaomi Poco F1 will be available for buying exclusively from Flipkart and Mi.com/in from August 29. Poco, in addition, will also be selling custom skins for the Poco F1 starting from Rs 299.
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