POCO F5 – The mid-range has a new BEST BUY!!!
Technology can be combined with culinary art, where quality ingredients often contribute to the creation of a starred dish. POCO established brand belonging to the Xiaomi ecosystem, has been churning out delicacies worthy of the best chefs for some time and with the launch of the new F5 series, brings to the table a decidedly succulent and winning dish, namely the new POCO F5 from poco presented on the Italian market and which was immediately appreciated for a truly unbeatable price. So will these ingredients be enough to satiate our technological hunger? Let's find out in our full review.
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(I.e.Xiaomi POCO F5 8/256GB
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unboxing
One thing the company has accustomed us to since its inception is to propose the essential and not give so much weight to sequins that often only serve to confuse. This is why the unboxing experience is not based on form but on substance, proposing a standard hardcover, in double color, yellow and black, inside which we find:
- POCO F5;
- Plastic film (already pre-applied on the display) to protect the front glass;
- Soft transparent TPU cover with antibacterial treatment;
- Pin for removing the SIM tray;
- USB Type-C charging and data transfer cable;
- Wall power supply with European socket, USB-A port and max output at 67W;
- Instruction manual.
CONSTRUCTION AND MATERIALS
Our technological recipe starts from an essential ingredient, i.e. design and materials used which in the specific case of POCO F5 are made of plastic material, where unfortunately it is immediately noticeable that there is no treatment dedicated to resistance against dirt and fingerprints in general, effectively forcing us to use a cover so as not to have to clean the phone at all times with a cloth. Apart from that, the construction is valuable and the back cover has a texture that gives brilliance when hit by the sun's rays. The classic band with the logo disappears POCO resulting less cheap than seen with other devices of the brand, while the three optics stand out accompanied by a dual LED flash, with a thickness that can be leveled precisely through the adoption of the supplied cover.
The use of plastic materials gives a plus to this POCO F5 which in its category is almost a featherweight with its 181 grams of weight and dimensions equal to 161,11 x 74,95 x 7,9 mm thick, which overall offer a certain manageability even for use at a hand, due to clear brick-style lines, which allow an excellent grip without weighing down the grip.
Available in white, black and blue colors, POCO F5 uses an opaque plastic frame on which we can find in the upper part the indispensable IR transmitter, the second microphone and a grid that serves to better convey the sound coming from the ear capsule as this POCO F5 enjoys stereo sound, thus combining the speaker positioned in the lower profile where we can also find the presence of the jack input for wired headphones, USB Type-C input with OTG support but no video output and the main microphone, as well as the tray SIM able to accommodate 2 SIM format but without the possibility of inserting a micro SD to expand the internal memory.
While we are talking directly about the audio quality obtained from the dual speaker of POCO F5, which is one of the best that I have been able to appreciate on the smartphones I tested. Every nuance of the sound spectrum is faithfully reproduced without distorting even at maximum listening volume, which however has a very generous level. From the double speaker, or the lower speaker and ear capsule combo, multimedia contents are particularly appreciated with a certain emphasis on bass and/or in any case for action scenes in which the background sound has a certain leading role, such as in gaming. The quality through earphones is also good, as well as in the ear capsule during voice calls. We also have support for Dolby ATMOS technology but it should be specified that the sound is slightly unbalanced in favor of the lower speaker, as the upper one focuses more on medium / high frequencies.
The left profile is perfectly smooth while on the right the protagonists are the volume rocker and the on / off button which in turn also integrates the fingerprint reader. Finally, the IP53 certification should be noted.
DISPLAY
We continue our recipe by introducing a fundamental ingredient, namely the display that in the POCO F5 is one of the strengths of this smartphone. We have a 6,67-inch FLOW AMOLED panel in Full HD + resolution (2400 x 1080 pixels) protected by a Corning Gorilla Glass 5 glass as well as a plastic film already pre-applied by the company. The design is interrupted only by a central hole in the upper part of the display, in which the selfie camera is inserted which will also allow us to unlock the device via face recognition, a very rapid function in good lighting conditions but also in dark conditions.
FLOW AMOLED technology contributes to the WOW effect, allowing the display frames to be reduced to just 2,22 mm and an occupied surface of 93,4%. Net of this, we have an excellent display that is appreciated for its definition and brightness, with a peak of 1000 nits, allowing it to be readable even in direct sunlight. But the goodness of this ingredient lies in the refresh rate of the panel, equal to 120 Hz with a sampling frequency of the touchscreen which is equal to 240 Hz.
There is also support for HDR10 +, SGS Low Blue Light certification, DRM Widevine L1, recognized on streaming platforms such as Netflix but also on Amazon Prime Video and finally support for Dolby Vision. What is surprising is the color rendering with excellent depth for blacks and whites while the fluidity of 120 Hz is appreciated in many conditions both as regards the contents displayed on the display and in the actual touch. It should be specified that the 120 Hz can be set to a fixed frequency or via the DynamicSwitch function, which automatically adapts the frequency based on the type of content displayed.
The display can also be activated via a double tap or with the gesture of lifting the smartphone, while in the upper part it is possible to appreciate a large ear capsule, which also acts as a second speaker even in hands-free mode. This is accompanied by the brightness and proximity sensors which work very well, the latter of a physical and non-virtual type, therefore no problem in calling and listening to vocal notes. Finally, the picture is completed by the possibility of navigating on the screen through the comfortable gestures and the possibility of adjusting the color temperature and contrast.
HARDWARE AND PERFORMANCE
Our recipe is coming along wonderfully and the time has come to insert the third important ingredient, i.e. the hardware that is hidden under the body of POCO F5. The performance of the device is guaranteed by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 processor, octa-core solution with a maximum clock of 2.91 GHz and a 4nm production process which is accompanied by the Adreno 725 GPU and Liquid Cool 2.0 cooling. When compared in terms of benchmarks, not only the digital ones where the device reaches over 938000 points, the processor used flies POCO F5 with immediate opening of the app and without slowdowns in gaming with frame drops even after two hours of continuous use.
Further vivacity is given by the presence of 8/12 GB of LPDDR5 RAM with expansion of virtual RAM by a further 7 GB and 256 GB of internal memory of the UFS 3.1 type, unfortunately not expandable as already mentioned. All this goodness, allows us to obtain performance far superior to other competing products, even in conditions of high stress, resulting always jerky and very reliable. And the best of itself, this configuration, gives it in the gaming field also assisting itself at the software level of the Game Turbo 3.0 mode. Even the most demanding games, such as Call of Duty Mobile, run smoothly while keeping the frame rate always stable. POCO F5 is a real missile in terms of speed in the application opening and reaction to the required actions, with rather low temperatures in the most agitated phases, therefore zero overheating or thermal throttling phenomena.
CONNECTIVITY
At the level of connectivity, POCO F5 does not miss anything, providing a WiFi 6 module, Bluetooth 5.2, GPS complete with Galileo satellite connection, IR transmitter, 3,5 mm Jack and of course also the NFC module for making mobile payments certified by Google and similar while at the connection level the device relies on a 5G Dual connection, which I personally have not been able to test but in 4g+ I was able to navigate at maximum power going even beyond the thresholds offered by your operator, as well as relying on a stability of the signal for all the movements made during my test period.
SOFTWARE
In this period when competing Chinese smartphones seem to be banned, it is fair to point out that POCO F5 boasts the presence of an Android 13 operating system with security patches updated to April 2023 and customization via the MIUI 14 interface, therefore Google services and all Big G applications are present and functioning.
Unlike Xiaomi smartphones, on this one POCO we have a further customization through the POCO Launcher, but apart from that the whole system is identical to what has already been seen on other smartphones of the Asian brand, always resulting fluid and all the various options present, which are really many, work excellently. Exempt of any kind of bug, but I have to point out two things: the first is the presence out of the box of many bloatware, fortunately all uninstallable with a click while the second point is related to the "castration" of the software in relation to the Always On Display function, which can only be set for 10 seconds unless you disable the MIUI Daemon and battery services, where night charging optimization is absent. Nothing that a software update or two can fix anyway.
AUTONOMY
Let's add a further sprinkling of first fruits to our technological dish, introducing the paragraph relating to the battery and its autonomy. POCO In fact, F5 has a 5000 mAh unit that will take you to the evening without any problems, perhaps even that of the next day. In fact, I managed to total 7 hours of active screen in a rather intense day, a real record and if you really drain the charge of your terminal, you won't have to fear anything, because the 67W fast charging support will allow you to get full power. energy in just 46 minutes. The good thing is that everything is guaranteed by the power supply in the package while wireless charging is absent.
PHOTO AND VIDEO
The last ingredient to compose our recipe sees the photographic sector as the protagonist which basically amazes both in terms of yield and in software. We rely on the rear with 3 different sensors, the main one being represented by a 64 MP lens with f/1.79 aperture which is flanked by an 8 MP (f/2.2) wide-angle lens, with a 120° FOV, over that 1 2 MP (f/2.4) sensor that performs the task of shooting in macro mode.
The shots obtained enjoy a decidedly good color fidelity but what is most surprising is the general definition of the details, even in wide-angle mode, generally the weak point of devices that boast this point of view. Even in evening conditions, the amount of light captured by the sensor allows us to obtain shots of a good quality level, even if in these conditions the use of the wide-angle camera is not recommended, because the photographic noise becomes too marked and much is lost in terms of image definition. The natural bokeh effect is excellent, giving a professional look to the photos, just as the portrait mode was also good, with an excellent contouring of the framed subject even if this is less natural.
On the front we can make use of a 16 MP selfie camera with f / 2.45 aperture, which overall behaves excellently, resulting better than many other views on other devices, better managing the most difficult situations, such as backlighting. For night shots it is possible to rely on a virtual flash that will exploit the lighting of the screen as a point of light for our face as well as the night mode via software.
We have the possibility of recording videos in 4K at 30 fps, but it is advisable to take advantage of the resolution of 1080p at 60 fps for better performance, obtaining more stable and fluid images, counting on OIS + EIS stabilization and in any case mass is present. with automatic focus, which overall turned out to be quite fast and above all not at all jerky. For the selfie camera, however, the videos can be recorded up to 1080p 60fps, which is not so obvious.
At the software level, for example, we find the Vlog mode and the one dedicated to prolonged exposure, a sort of night mode designed ad hoc to capture the night stars, or the reflections of the lights, etc. There is also the PRO mode with which to set the various shooting parameters in manual, but also HDR, AI, integrated Google Lens, Time Lapse and Slow Motion and precisely Night mode, which returns good shots but the definition of the colors should be better calibrated, tending a little to green.
PRICE and CONCLUSIONS
POCO F5 has been made official in sales in Italy at an introductory price of 399 euros for the more pumped 12/256 GB version. The offer has unfortunately ended since poco but I'm sure that soon the device will go on offer again, even on other stores, so I invite you to subscribe to our Telegram channel for offers. Having said that, referring to the introductory price, I could define POCO F5 a best buy: this smartphone really has everything you can ask for in a device, perhaps even more in consideration of the price and the market segment in which it is located. I wouldn't hesitate to buy it, because the first batches have already sold out. In every aspect analyzed he came out brilliant, earning full points from the first taste and I don't think you will find a better smartphone than this with such a limited budget.
