Review POCO F2 Pro
POCO F2 Pro arrives on the market almost two years after the first and glorious one POCOPHONE F1, the top of the range that had the philosophy of stripping away the superfluous, such as the use of premium materials in favor of a latest generation and super-performing hardware, offering a super competitive price. This philosophy does not seem to belong to POCO F2 Pro if not for the price, which for less than 500 euros allows you to take home a top smartphone that we discover today in our review.
![Xiaomi POCO F2 Pro 5G 6GB RAM 128GB ROM Black [Global version]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/31Gm7Mr19CL._SL160_.jpg)
![Xiaomi POCO F2 Pro 5G 6GB RAM 128GB ROM Black [Global version]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41fPD4xsSBL._SL160_.jpg)
SAR values (limits: 10g for head and body / 2,0 W / Kg - 10 for limbs / 4,0 W / Kg):
- Head: 0,789 W / Kg
- Body: 1,031 W / Kg (5mm distance)
Unboxing - POCO F2 Pro
Inside the sales package we find the following equipment:
- POCO F2 Pro;
- silicone cover;
- USB data cable - USB Type-C;
- wall power supply with European socket and max output at 33W;
- pin for the SIM slot;
- instruction manual.
Completely revised the design and use of materials in the new generation, as on the rear we find a massive body in opaque Corning Gorilla Glass 5 curved on the profiles in which a porthole containing the 4 cameras arranged in a circle and Dual Tone LED flash is set. positioned poco lower. The color we tested is more suitable for use without a cover since the fingerprints retained by the glass stand out less from the eye. The profile is in shiny metal where the volume rocker and the power button that stands out for its red color are located on the right, while at the top we have the second microphone, IR transmitter, 3,5 mm jack input and pop-up camera module which also acts as a notification LED. Below, however, we have access to the SIM tray that houses 2 SIMs in nano format but without the possibility of memory expansion, the USB Type-C port, system microphone and speaker with mono audio.
POCO F2 Pro is not resistant to water and dust, but it is very solid, also thanks to a not inconsiderable weight of 219 grams and dimensions that settle on 163,3 x 75,4 x 8,9 mm making the phone a small tile in fact to be taken in tow despite the ergonomics is rather good net of this, as not at all slippery but in any case it is not of those terminals that we use safely with a single hand.
The spirit of offering as much as possible from the technical point of view at the best price and in fact is maintained POCO F2 Pro integrates the latest generation Snapdragon 865 processor, octacore clocked at 2,84 GHz which is accompanied by the Adreno 650 GPU and support for 5G connectivity, perhaps not essential at the moment but still a plus to keep in mind.
Our model is equipped with 6 GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 128 GB of UFS 3.1 storage, but the 8 GB RAM cut variant is also available on the market, in this case LPDDR5 and 256 GB of UFS 3.1 internal memory. The connectivity equipment is also excellent, which consists of a WiFi 6 module, Bluetooth 5.1, dual-frequency GPS and NFC chip for mobile payments, as well as the aforementioned IR transmitter. FM radio is absent.
With this equipment, performance is guaranteed for maximum enjoyment, even with the most intense gaming, without being affected by lag or particular overheating, thanks to the presence of a LiquidCool 2.0 cooling system, i.e. a multilayer liquid cooling process with a chamber. of steam.
The haptic feedback system is excellent, which returns a clear and clear sensation of the operations performed with the phone. Through the mono speaker we get a very good audio from the point of view of volume and execution in general, as it is devoid of any distortion, but perhaps it is slightly "flat". In any case, at the software level, by listening with headphones, the situation changes radically as it is possible to emphasize every single aspect of the sound spectrum, emphasizing the voice, or the music, managing to obtain in some cases even a three-dimensional effect. There is also support for AAC / LDAC / LHDC / aptX / aptX-HD / aptX-adaptive codecs.
But it is on the front that POCO F2 Pro gives its best, thanks to the adoption of a large 6,67-inch diagonal panel in Full HD + resolution, 1080 x 2400 pixels with the use of AMOLED technology and the benefit of HDR10 +, protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and additional protection by plastic film pre-applied by the manufacturer. The maximum brightness reached is very high and the ratio in 20: 9 with flat surface, are an extraordinary combination in the viewing of multimedia content. In fact on the display of POCO F2 Pro we do not find any disturbing element, no notch or punch hole, covering a surface of 92,7%.
Excellent viewing angles and decidedly excellent color rendering, which can be further improved via software through the many customizations made available by the system. The HDR10 + allows viewing of HD streaming on platforms such as Netflix but as for many Xiaomi devices, certification for Amazon Prime Video is still missing despite the fact that the Widevine L1 protocol is supported.
Despite the display of POCO F2 Pro is a feast for the eyes, some might find poco It is interesting that a refresh rate of only 60 Hz is still present, although the company declares a sampling at 180 Hz. Finally, the Always On Display with which you cannot interact, the various modes of protection for the eyes from radiation are present bright, DC-Dimming and dark theme. About the latter at the minimum backlight mode you can notice an annoying trail effect of the writings. Do not miss the unlocking with the double touch or waking up by lifting the phone.
Below the display we find the optical fingerprint reader which is precise but not very fast. The 2D unlocking via the selfie camera therefore remains, which in fact resides in a pop-up module, with a mechanism that requires its opening times, while remaining reliable even in low light conditions. Inertia, but that must be mentioned when talking about a top of the range or presumed one.
The display frames are well optimized in size although the chin is slightly more pronounced than the forehead where the ear capsule and the proximity and brightness sensors are inserted, the latter triple for better processing and performance.
The software POCO F2 Pro is based on MIUI 11 with Android 10 operating system and April 2020 patch, with further customization via the POCO Launcher 2.0 which offers the basic app drawer and other functions that we do not find in MIUI, such as the possibility of changing the icons through the various Icon Packs available on the net or directly on the Google Play Store, with also the division of the apps by category or by icon color. The smartphone will be updated to MIUI 12 but already now we can enjoy some goodies related to the personalization of the device such as the possibility of changing the LED light and sound effect of the pop-up mechanism of the selfie camera, or the gaming mode and various graphic effects to the receiving notifications, second space and much more that we already know through other smartphones that adopt the MIUI interface.
The battery that powers the smartphone is a large 4700 mAh unit, which contributes to the final weight of the smartphone but which allows an authoritative autonomy, allowing you to arrive without problems at the end of a day of intensive use. It is true that wireless charging is missing, but on the other hand you would not do anything about it since the software and processor optimizations in many cases would also allow the use of the smartphone for 2 consecutive days. In addition, the 30W fast charge support ensures total charging in about 60 minutes.
POCO F2 Pro for the photographic sector relies on a quadruple camera system. The main sensor is a Sony IMX686 with 64 megapixel ƒ / 1.9 not optically stabilized but only via EIS. There is a 13 megapixel camera ƒ / 2.4 wide-angle FOV 123 °, a combination that gives excellent shots in good lighting conditions but which shows the side with imperfect lights, bringing out background noise and details poco sharp. The results are not to be rejected but from a top of the range we would have expected more, although in many cases for the quality it is also necessary to pay double the amount required for POCO F2 Pro.
The night mode is only available for the standard and not wide-angle lens, but in my opinion the company has yet to perfect this feature, which however can be compensated by installing the GCam, which does real miracles. We also have a 5 megapixel ƒ / 2.2 macro camera that takes decidedly particular shots, opening our eyes to a world that we didn't even know existed. Finally, the camera equipment offers a 2 megapixel ƒ / 2.4 lens for shooting bokeh, with good results but still perfectible. Unfortunately, I would like to point out that artificial intelligence at the software level is too invasive, often returning photos with too unnatural colors.
In line with what has been seen so far, the 20 megapixel front camera ƒ / 2.2. Note the presence of the anti-fall sensor, which will allow you to retract the selfie camera's pop-up mechanism, thus avoiding irreparable damage. in conclusion POCO F2 Pro if compared to the category it wants to belong to, ie the top of the range, it is not in line with expectations but it defends well overall when compared to mid range. The videos suffer from the absence of an optical stabilization as that of the EIS type sometimes seems to have some yield problems. We can go up to a resolution in 8K at 24/30 fps, perhaps useless since it would be difficult to appreciate its quality on the vast majority of devices that we have. However, we also have resolutions in 4K at 30/60 fps as well as 1080p 30/60 fps, the latter perhaps more suitable for everyday use. We also have the Vlog mode or subject tracking as well as the one called cinema, which simply goes to insert the LetterBox bands in the video for a more suggestive effect. The capture of the audio is definitely appreciable while the rendering of the video in general can be improved: with the addition of a gimbal we can certainly bring out small works of art.
PROJECTED IMPACT
POCO F2 Pro as a whole is a smartphone that offers excellent potential and that will certainly be able to count on official support as well as the community that to this day still brings benefits to the glorious POCOPHONE F1. To date we cannot call it a best buy, but overall at a much lower price than the competition, the smartphone scores on many practical aspects of everyday life, such as display, autonomy, hardware and software without disdaining an excellent design characterized by materials. premium. The photographic sector could be improved with future updates, but the presence of the GCam already solves the critical issues listed. POCO F2 Is Pro therefore recommended? Well at such a price, which could drop in the coming months, it is certainly recommended to purchase this terminal which boasts reliability and true top of the range hardware.
between this and the realme x3 super zoom, what would you recommend? or the xiaomi mi 10
given that I have to try both the realme and mi 10, if you find a good offer I would say mi 10, at current prices I recommend x3 super zoom