POCO F5 is the newest entry in the model’s well-liked F collection of smartphones. This is one in all the first telephones to launch with the newest Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 processor and guarantees to reside up to the legacy of the legendary POCO F1 when it comes to price-to-performance ratio. It additionally considerably upgrades different corners over the final yr’s mannequin. After utilizing this cellphone for a while, I’ll share my in-depth expertise with the gadget on this overview of the POCO F5 5G.
POCO F5 5G Review
The POCO F5 5G appears to be the world model of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Turbo that was completely launched in China. In India, POCO F5 begins at Rs 29,999 for the 8GB RAM and Rs 33,999 for the 12GB RAM model. Both include 256 GB of storage and can be found in three colour variants: Snowstorm White, Electric Blue, and Carbon Black. The gadget we will likely be reviewing is the Snowstorm White model with 12GB of RAM.
Box Contents
Before shifting ahead with the overview, allow us to peek at every part you get inside the field of the POCO F5.
- POCO F5 5G Smartphone
- Plastic Protective Case
- 67 Watt Charger
- USB-A to USB-C cable
- SIM ejector software
- Quick Start Guide
- Warranty Card
POCO F5: Build And Design
POCO F5 is one in all the better-looking telephones in the F collection. It has a boxy design with flat sides and a slight curve at the again. This makes it simpler to maintain the cellphone but in addition provides to its total look.
The cellphone has a slim profile coming at simply 7.9mm in thickness. The again is product of polycarbonate and has totally different design patterns relying on the colour you purchase. The plastic again additionally helps to hold the weight to a manageable 181 grams.
Going by means of the gadget, you will discover the signature Xiaomi IR blaster, secondary microphone, and speaker grill, adopted by a headphone jack at the prime.
The backside is dwelling to the SIM card tray that may home 2 SIM playing cards with no possibility for reminiscence enlargement. There can also be the major microphone, USB kind C port, and speaker grill.
On the proper, you will discover the quantity and the energy button. The energy button sits flush with the body and doubles as the fingerprint scanner. The left of the cellphone is empty.
You will discover the triple digicam setup in the again, with the dual-tone flash and the POCO 5G branding. The POCO F5 5G is IP53 rated for primary safety towards mud and water droplets.
I choose the design of the POCO F5 because it feels strong in hand although the plastic again does dampen the premium enchantment. The glass again could be extra relevant for this value phase. One factor I missed was the lack of an in-display fingerprint sensor. However, together with a headphone jack is a welcome addition, as a number of different gadgets in the midrange class often skip it.
POCO F5: Display
The show is amongst the largest highlights of the POCO F5 5G. The cellphone has a big 6.67-inch FHD+ show. The bezels are fairly slim and uniform from all sides, making the show come out.
POCO did not go away any stone unturned, as the show comes with all the bells and whistles one would need. It’s an AMOLED panel that helps HDR10+ and Dolby Vision in streaming apps like Netflix and Amazon Prime.
The gadget is reported to include a 12-bit panel that may reproduce over 68 billion colours. Xiaomi makes use of software program trickery to add the further two bits to the 10 Bit panel primarily making it a ten+2 Bit show.
Based on ongoing utilization, the cellphone helps a 120HZ refresh charge and might change between 60HZ and 120HZ. You can change this to hold the cellphone at 120HZ all the time underneath Display settings.
I did not face or discover any points with its viewing angles. The total show is roofed by Corning Gorilla Glass 5, which protects the entrance glass from minor scratches.
POCO F5’s show can attain 1000 nits, however its brightness falls quick open air.
I’ve to say that the staff at Xiaomi and POCO did a commendable job with the show. It is amongst the greatest show in its class. It is just a little saturated for my style, however as soon as can regulate it to produce extra pure colours through settings.
POCO F5: Performance
POCO caters to those that need the greatest specs the value can supply. This is why the POCO F5 5G comes with the new Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 chipset. It is coupled with the newest LPDDR5 RAM and quick UFS 3.1 storage.
The 7 branding right here is deceptive, as the processor can ship flagship efficiency. But that doesn’t imply it sips by means of your battery, as it’s fairly vitality environment friendly. The heating points seen in different Snapdragon processors are additionally dealt with right here. POCO has added a 725 mm2 Large Vapor chamber for cooling.
Benchmark Tests
Benchmarks will not be a great way to calculate the uncooked efficiency of the gadget and the way a lot it may be pushed. Seeing all the hype surrounding the 7+ Gen 2 chipset, I simply had to see the way it does in benchmarks.
CPU Throttling and Heating Test: The CPU throttling check reveals how a lot the CPU throttles underneath steady stress and the way a lot the cellphone heats throughout this course of. We ran the check twice for quarter-hour every, and listed here are the check outcomes.
The cellphone did throttle a bit, dipping into yellow and even crimson at instances. However, the CPU did handle to deal with itself fairly nicely. The cellphone did get heat however didn’t warmth up.
GeekBench Test: GeekBench reveals the single-core and multicore efficiency of the CPU. The Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 in the POCO F5 relies on the similar structure as the flagship 8+ Gen 1, so we will count on it to carry out someplace in that ballpark.
As you possibly can choose for your self, the gadget scores 1608 in Single-core efficiency and 4193 in Multi-core efficiency. This is par with different 8+ Gen 1 gadgets like the OnePlus 11R (overview), a midrange flagship smartphone.
Antutu 3D Benchmark Results: Lastly, we ran the Antutu 3D benchmark to get an total POCO F5 5Gs efficiency rating. The cellphone crossed the a million mark, scoring 1115952, which places the gadget head to head with another flagship telephones of 2023.
However, operating the check for the second time gave us 969,540, nonetheless a decent rating.
Gaming Performance
Moving in direction of gaming, POCO F5 can simply deal with any sport with the highest settings. I attempted Genshin Impact, and it had no points enjoying it at High graphic settings at 60FPS. I had no points, and the gameplay was easy. The FPS didn’t drop under 54, even after enjoying for an hour.
First-person video games like COD Mobile ran nicely. I performed for one and a half hours constantly at the highest settings. The cellphone may simply deal with the demanding necessities of the sport. I didn’t encounter any stutters as soon as throughout my playthrough. The cellphone did not even get sizzling, thanks to its vapor cooling chamber.
Lastly, I performed Asphalt 9, however the sport doesn’t have the assist for 60 FPS for the chipset at the second, so my playthrough was restricted to 30 FPS solely. This may get mounted with an replace. As for my expertise, the gameplay was good, and the gadget had no points working round the excessive graphics requirement of the sport.
Day-to-Day Usage
POCO F5 delivers efficiency that may simply deal with any process thrown its approach. Whether multitasking or intense gaming periods, the cellphone breezes previous every part with out breaking a sweat. It flies previous day-to-day utilization and multitasking, and juggling apps or video games with ease. Not as soon as in my time with the POCO F5 did I discover any stutters, hiccups, or lags.
POCO F5: Software and UI
Coming to the software program aspect of issues, POCO F5 5G ships with MIUI 14 primarily based on prime of Android 13. Your regular MIUI expertise is bundled with the POCO launcher with round icon shapes. There are some preinstalled bloatware apps, however you possibly can simply uninstall them. The excellent news is that in my time, I didn’t encounter any adverts that plagued MIUI earlier than.
MIUI customers will likely be glad to study that this smartphone comes with the MIUI dialer and messaging app as an alternative of the Google dialer. This means you possibly can report calls with none warning bulletins.
POCO guarantees two years of main Android updates and up to three years of safety patches. POCO can also be providing two years of guarantee on this gadget.
The consumer’s expertise is snappy as MIUI appears optimized for this gadget. The animations did not lag; the apps opened instantly whereas the cellphone was ready to hold a number of video games operating in reminiscence together with apps at the similar time. One ought to be aware that Xiaomi’s observe report for updates has not been up to the mark, however hopefully, it will change quickly.
POCO F5: Sound and Haptics
POCO has bundled stereo audio system with the F5 5G, which output satisfactory loud sound, nevertheless it appears flat and lacks depth in the music. It ought to suffice for gaming, cellphone calls, and different listening necessities.
The cellphone has assist for Dolby in addition to High Res Audio. You will want to join your headphones to benefit from both of these.
There are additionally options like Virtual Immersive Sound and Track head motion, offering an additional immersive listening expertise whereas utilizing headphones.
The X-Shocker haptics on this gadget are fairly good. The vibrations really feel crisp and tight, outshining a number of different equally priced gadgets. You can really feel the haptic vibrations everytime you change brightness, regulate audio or navigate by means of the UI.
POCO F5: Camera
POCO F5 has a triple digicam setup at the again and a punch-hole selfie digicam at the entrance. The triple digicam array features a 64 MP sensor with OIS, 8 MP ultra-wide, and a 2 MP macro lens. The selfie digicam is 16 MP. The cellphone can report 1080p movies at 60 fps and 4k movies at 30 fps. While the selfie digicam can report up to 1080p 60 fps.
Coming to digicam efficiency, the major 64 MP lens captures good footage with ample element in all eventualities.
The dynamic vary can also be first rate as you possibly can choose from the pictures under. But the pictures clicked in indoor circumstances are delicate and lack sharpness.
Sometimes the digicam auto-saturates the colours. The cellphone stored boosting the colours even after turning off the AI mode.
The leaves in the above pictures had been initially orangish, however the digicam turned them crimson. This reveals that the digicam software program wants enhancements to hold the colour tone pure.
Besides that, different pictures had been good. The OIS helped seize first rate evening pictures. The digicam didn’t wrestle at evening, as the pictures got here out sharp. You may need to regulate the publicity for some evening pictures, and the digicam can deal with the relaxation.
Talking about the ultra-wide and macro digicam, the 8 MP ultra-wide digicam produced good pictures. I favored that there was no colour shift when switching between lenses. The picture readability with the ultra-wide lens was first rate.
On the different hand, the macro sensor can take good pictures supplied you make investments time because it struggles to concentrate on an object. You can check out the macro samples under.
As for the selfie digicam, it might ship good pictures, though it does wrestle with managing publicity in shiny conditions. The digicam did soften my pores and skin, nevertheless it wasn’t as aggressive because it used to be.
The portrait mode works nicely right here; you possibly can regulate the depth of discipline later after taking the picture.
The digicam has been Achilles’ heel for POCO telephones. This time there have been some enhancements in direction of post-processing and pictures captured from the major digicam, however there’s nonetheless a lot room for enchancment.
POCO F5: Connectivity
As apparent from the title, POCO F5 is a 5G smartphone with assist for 12 5G bands. I used the gadget with my JIO sim and confronted zero issues with the community.
I may obtain 5G speeds of upwards of 500 Mbps consistently. The name high quality was additionally good; the different particular person may hear my voice.
The cellphone additionally helps the newest WiFi 6/6E and Bluetooth 5.3 requirements. I had points connecting the gadget with a few of my Bluetooth peripherals, however that was mounted with an replace.
The IR blaster accessible at the prime permits you to management the TV, set-top field, soundbars, AC, and different gadgets.
POCO F5: Battery and Charging
The 5000 mAh battery has grow to be a staple of the POCO smartphones as most up-to-date releases include the similar capability battery. This battery is adequate to final you all through the day, with nonetheless some juice left in the tank.
I may rapidly get by means of the day even after pushing the cellphone through a number of hour-long gaming periods coupled with streaming reveals on Netflix, listening to music, and browsing social media over a 5G community.
The cellphone has a quick 67 Watt charger to prime up this huge battery. It obtained charged from 16% to 100% throughout my testing in simply over one hour. The cellphone obtained barely heat throughout quick charging however nothing to the extent of alarming ranges.
POCO F5: Pros and Cons
After going by means of all the elements of the POCO F5 and discussing them intimately, I’ve compiled a listing of execs and cons for the gadget to summarize my overview.
Pros:
- A gorgeous show that helps HDR 10+ and Dolby Vision
- Good haptic suggestions
- Exceptional efficiency
- It comes with assist for all the newest requirements and options
- Captures good particulars in low mild circumstances
- It provides nice worth for its value
Cons:
- Boost the colours of pictures in particular eventualities
- The macro digicam struggles to focus
- Photos captured lack sharpness, and colours look saturated
- Dual speaker output is flat
- Lack of an in-display fingerprint sensor
POCO F5 5G Review: Final Verdict
There is a time period referred to as “Sleeper” for economic system vehicles fitted with high-performance engines, suspension, and breaks. These vehicles are able to going head-to-head with the likes {of professional} racing vehicles. The similar may be mentioned for POCO F5 5G.
It punches approach above its class when it comes to pure efficiency. POCO, in its advertising and marketing, describes the F5 as the “Return of the King,” and I agree with this assertion. The F5 holds up to the legacy of the legendary POCO F1 whereas making crucial compromises the place it ought to.
That mentioned, vigilant customers ought to keep in mind that Xiaomi will not be doing so nicely when delivering software program updates. Not to overlook the bricked motherboard and digicam saga that POCO continues to be making an attempt to dig out of. If you’re a gamer or need a value-for-money smartphone from POCO, you’ll not be dissatisfied by the POCO F5 5G.
Check out our different overview:
You may observe us for fast tech information at Google News or for ideas and methods, smartphones & devices evaluations, be part of GadgetsToUse Telegram Group or for the newest overview movies subscribe GadgetsToUse YouTube Channel.