The Poco X4 Pro 5G 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.
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 The Poco X3 Pro and Poco X3 NFC’s bulky and heavy bodies have been replaced by a more svelte but harsher frame.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 sides are still made of plastic, the overall design has improved.
The Poco X4 Pro 5G is a phone that is more subdued 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 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 colors like blue and vivid yellow is an option.
The Poco X4 Pro has a large camera glass that gives it a distinctive appearance both inside and outside of its cover. The Poco X4 Pro excels in audio in other areas, including with stereo speakers and a 3.5mm headphone jack. They are audible and provide adequate lower-frequency output for a phone. ..
The Poco X4 Pro is a powerful phone with an IR blaster, fingerprint scanner, and water/dust resistance. It also has a SIM tray and two slots for storage. The 128GB model has a microSD card slot and the 256GB model has a storage option for an additional SIM.
Display
The Poco X4 Pro is a 5G phone that has a 6.67-inch AMOLED screen with a maximum refresh rate of 120 Hz and a resolution of 2400×1080. It also has an adaptive refresh rate that can be changed to 60 Hz for those who want to save some energy. The phone is not possible to modify the refresh rate, so you will need to learn our article on how to adjust it.
The OLED panel in our Brightness Test performed admirably. The 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’s OLED panel can’t help avoid flickering, even when the display is set to a lower brightness. The PWM frequency varies between 159 and 479 Hz, depending on the brightness level. At 120 Hz, the amplitude curve becomes more constant and levels off more toward the maximum brightness.
The Poco phone is a great phone for people who want to use it outside. Its extreme brightness and viewing angle stability make it perfect for people who want to see what’s around them without having to adjust their screen brightness.
Poco X4 Pro 5G review: Software
Android 11 is the operating system that’s used on the POCO phone. MIUI 13 is a custom ROM that has been specifically made for the POCO phone. This implies that while Android 11 retains many of the features and tweaks that are available on “stock” Android, there are also some additional features and changes available here. Coming from the Pixel line, we value when a phone manufacturer gives us the option to customize our user interface to feel very personal. Live wallpapers, themes, lock screen settings, text colors, and more are all available here. If you like to experiment without downloading additional programmes, then you’ll enjoy this material.
We’ve had a chance to test a few of the latest models from Chinese phone manufacturer BLU and we can say that they’re not as bad as some of the other Chinese phone manufacturers we’ve tried. The phones come with latest software builds and patches, which is something that US-based BLU usually doesn’t offer. Although we don’t believe BLU will offer any firm promises on upgrades, the company seems to understand that you might want to take your chances with the long-term software.
Hardware and performance
The Poco X4 Pro 5G is a gaming phone that has strong performance. Depending on the option you choose, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G processor powers the phone 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.
The Xiaomi Poco X4 Pro 5G uses Dynamic RAM Expansion technology which increases the RAM to 8GB and 11GB, respectively. This affects the Poco X4 Pro 5G’s general performance in any way? Although it does start to reveal its mid-range nature in particular 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.
The Snapdragon 695 is a powerful mobile phone that 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.
Despite its good performance, the Poco X4 Pro 5G is not the best option for dedicated mobile gamers. Our benchmark results place it in line with other alluring mid-range options like the OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G, and largely support that claim. Aside from performance, the Poco X4 Pro 5G has Bluetooth 5.1, Wi-Fi 5, and 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
The Poco X4 Pro 5G has a 108-megapixel primary camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera, and a 2-megapixel zoom. These 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 main camera on the Redmi Note 10 Pro is 108 megapixels, which is more than the 5-megapixel telephoto on the Redmi Note 10 Pro. This means that the pictures taken with the main camera are of a higher quality than those taken with the telephoto. The Poco X4 Pro also has a main camera of 108 megapixels, but it uses a Samsung HM2 sensor. The Xiaomi 11T Pro costs about as much as the Redmi Note 10 Pro 5G, and it also has a main camera of 108 megapixels. This means that the pictures taken with the Xiaomi 11T Pro are of a higher quality than those taken with the Redmi Note 10 Pro 5G. ..
This camera is not as good as some of Xiaomi’s earlier attempts at this pricing. 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.
The OnePlus Nord 2 5G is a phone that uses a newer and more powerful camera than the other two, but it also has the poorest mid-tone contrast and shadow detail. The Poco X4 Pro is the best phone in this group by far, displaying the most accurate colors and having the best overall image quality.
The Poco X4 Pro’s results will be enhanced when it switches to HDR. 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 is a great phone for people who want a long battery life. It has a 5,000mAh battery, which is plenty for most people. If you are not very frugal, you can extend the battery life by using the refresh rate setting to 120Hz.
The 120Hz refresh rate on the Galaxy S10 is amazing and helps eliminate battery worry. It also implies that if you continue using the slower 60Hz refresh rate, it might live much longer.
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.
Price and availability
The Poco X4 Pro 5G is a new model from Xiaomi that has a different camera and processor. It is not as powerful as the Poco M4 Pro 5G, but it is much cheaper.
Conclusion
The Poco X4 Pro is a successful mid-range phone that sacrifices performance for connectivity. Its Snapdragon 695 gives very competitive performance rates and has enough graphics capability for high-fidelity gaming, but its price (RRP) is higher than the model it replaces.
