Since the release of the POCO F1, the brand has carved itself a niche in the Indian smartphone market offering high-end performance at an affordable price. This trend carried on with the later installation including the POCO F5 which was one of our favorite smartphones from last year. But now we have a new heir to the throne of the budget powerhouse series, the POCO F6. I had the opportunity to try out the POCO F6 myself and here are my first impressions.
POCO F6 Specs at a Glance
Before we talk about the other aspects of the POCO F6, let us take a quick look at its specifications.
Specs POCO F6 Dimensions 160.5 x 74.4 x 7.8 mm Weight 179 grams Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 (4 nm) RAM/Storage 12GB LPDDR5X/ 512GB UFS 4.0 Display Full HD+ 1.5K OLED, 2160 Hz PWM frequency, 120Hz, 10+2 Bit Panel, 68 Billion+ Colors, 2400 Nits Peak brightness Rear Camera 50MP Main OIS + 8MP Ultra-wide 119° FOV Front Camera 20MP Video Up to 4K at 60FPS Dual SIM Yes; Does not support eSIM Connectivity 15 5G bands, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, NFC Port USB Type C Battery 5,000mAh Charging 90W wired fast charging IP Rating IP64 Software Hyper OS based on Android 14
3 years of OS updates
POCO F6 Box Contents
Looking at the box itself, the POCO F6 comes with all the essentials including the device itself, a well-made opaque phone case, a 120W fast charger, a USB A to C charging cable, a quick start guide, and a SIM ejector tool. You also get a pre-applied screen protector right off the box so you are all set from the get-go. We got the black color variant with 12GB RAM and 512GB storage.
POCO F6 Build and Design
Holding the POCO F6 in my hands, I got a familiar feeling like I did last year with the POCO F5. The design shares a lot of aspects with its older sibling as it is a boxy phone with mostly sharp edges, just the way I like. The back of the phone with the black color variant has a soft matte finish which gives a stealthy look. The frame along with the back is made up of plastic.
Even though the phone sports a 5000mAh battery, it still doesn’t feel heavy weighing just 179 grams. The weight distribution also seems quite balanced though it is a tad heavy on the top due to the large camera bumps. The phone also comes with an IP64 rating for dust and water protection which is an improvement over POCO F5‘s IP53 rating.
If there’s one thing that may throw you off, it’s the camera unit. It’s bigger than the one on the F5 and makes the phone wobble on a flat surface even with a case applied. Overall, the design is basic, and it just seems to be missing an identity of its own.
POCO F6 Display
The POCO F6 sports a 6.67-inch 1.5K OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate that is gorgeous to look at. It is rich in details and the colors, especially HDR content looked thrilling on it all because the 10+2 Bit Dolby Vision support reproduces 68 Billion colors. The display was ideal for gaming and the 480HZ touch sampling proved helpful in winning some matches.
This is one the best displays that we have seen in a POCO F series and I enjoyed my time watching Spiderverse on it. The way the colors pop out on this screen, and how accurately it shows off colors is why I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. The phone can reach 2400 nits brightness and the visibility is good both outdoors and indoors. But I still wished for the brightness to be higher at times while watching content.
It has a flat display with slim uniform bezels that I find more attractive than curved displays. In terms of protection, POCO F6 comes with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection for the display. I’m also happy to know that they finally included an in-display fingerprint scanner instead of a side-mounted one.
POCO F6 Performance and Benchmarks
The POCO F6 has the latest Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset built on 4nm TSMC architecture and Adreno 735 GPU. This is an underclocked version of the high-end 8 Gen 3 CPU that you would only find on flagship devices that have come out this year. It is coupled with LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 storage. Let us look at how it dealt with day-to-day tasks and performance benchmarks.
Day to Day Tasks
The best part about a gaming-oriented device with a powerful processor is that it handles all day-to-day tasks without a drop of sweat. Whether it is browsing social media apps, watching YouTube or Netflix, or taking videos on the camera. It shows no signs of slowing down. And you can jump between any of these apps without worrying about them closing on you.
Benchmarks
With a processor like this, I was eager to see the benchmark numbers to satisfy the geek in me. So I ran the usual benchmark tests like Geekbench, Antutu, and CPU Throttle test to see how it fairs. Here are the results. Remember, higher numbers are better.
Gaming
If you are a smartphone gamer then you are in for a treat, as it delivers amazing gaming performance. I played some of my favorite games including BGMI, COD Mobile, Warzone Mobile, and Genshin Impact. Of all the games I tested, I never once had a feeling of turning down any of the options from their max settings. Just take a look at what you can expect in terms of gaming from the POCO F6.
Games Settings Genshin Impact Highest +60FPS CoD Mobile Max Graphics = Very High + Max (60FPS)
Max Framerate = Medium + Ultra (120 FPS)BGMI Max Graphics = Ultra HDR + Ultra
Max Framerate = HDR+ Extreme (60FPS)Warzone Mobile High + Uncapped (Average 85FPS)
Of all these games, I was particularly impressed with its performance with Warzone Mobile. It is a very demanding game with console-like graphics and has performance issues with some devices. It also streams textures as you play the games which can cause further slowdowns. But this POCO device handled it like a champ hitting almost 90 FPS.
The phone didn’t get too hot during gameplay and stayed under 40 degrees for the most part. This is because POCO has included its Iceloop Cooling technology to prevent the device from reaching high temperatures. Even during my prolonged sessions with Warzone Mobile, the phone never got too warm and remained at around 40 to 42 degrees.
POCO F6 Camera and Video Quality
The primary camera of the POCO F6 has seen an upgrade over the F5. It now comes with a 50MP Sony IMX 882 sensor instead of Omnivision. It has OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) and an aperture of f/1.6. This upgrade lets you capture 2x lossless zoom photos using an in-sensor crop. The secondary is your by-numbers 8MP ultra-wide lens and a 20MP selfie camera on the front.
Daylight
As you can see from the photos, it does well in daylight scenarios when there is enough sunlight. The colors look natural and the HDR shots come out looking pretty appealing as well. The 50MP sensor preserves good details that you can notice in the shots with the grass.
Night Time
Photos taken at night come out looking serviceable but upon zooming into the shot, you will notice that there is a lack of details. The Night mode automatically kicks in and along with OIS, you can click some decent photos with this phone.
Ultra Wide Camera
The Sony IMX 335 Ultrawide lens also performs well in daylight situations. I like that POCO has tuned the cameras in such a way that they produce natural results. However, the 8MP sensor can only do so much. The images from the UW lens don’t have enough details and it is the same case for nighttime shots.
Selfies
The 20MP selfie camera, on the other hand, is pretty impressive. I like the photos that you can get out of it and surprisingly, it maintains natural and accurate skin tones as well.
Portraits
Did you think I forgot about portrait mode? I have attached some portrait photos that you can take a look at. As you can see they have good details and the bokeh is also well done.
The POCO F6 can record up to 4K videos at 60 FPS from the primary camera. From most of the videos I took, they turned out fine and the OIS helped with stabilization. However, there were slight jitters here and there when shooting during walks.
The camera is the one part where I feel POCO needs to improve more. More on the hardware side of things as they have tuned the colors pretty well this time. But I think it is time to move on from the 8MP UW sensor and give it an upgrade.
POCO F6 Speakers
POCO has taken good care of your media-watching experience by bundling in a stereo speaker setup with this device. They are tuned by Dolby Atmos and get plenty loud. The top speaker outputs a loud and clear sound much like the bottom one and the separation between the two is well-balanced. The sound also doesn’t distort at max volume.
POCO F6 Battery and Charging
POCO F6 comes with a 5000 mAh battery but as I mentioned in the design part, the phone doesn’t feel too heavy despite rocking such a big battery. For me, the phone lasted a little over 5 hours with my heavy usage that included running benchmarks, intense gaming sessions, browsing through Instagram, and watching videos on YouTube and Netflix.
I wish I could have some more time with it to check the battery drain over my regular usage but I feel that it can last you up to 7 hours with some moderate gaming. And if the device hits a low fuel, then you can quickly top it off in just 35 minutes with the included 120W charger so you can get back to gaming again.
POCO F6 Connectivity
Despite being a midrange device, the POCO F6 comes with all the modern and latest connectivity standards. It has 15 5G bands, dual SIM support, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, and NFC. In terms of a wired connection, there is a USB C port but it only supports USB 2.0 data transfer speeds.
POCO F6: Still The Reigning Champion
I have to say that like the previous year, POCO has nailed it this year as well, especially in terms of performance. Last year’s 7+ Gen 2 was already quite powerful but they went above and beyond and got an even better processor this year with the 8s Gen 3. I am sure that the people who love a powerful phone will be pretty satisfied with this device.
Other than performance, POCO F6 also takes good care of you when it comes to the viewing experience. You get an amazing Dolby Vision 1.5k display with thin bezels, good brightness, and an applaudable stereo speaker setup. All this combined is enough to spoil you and make you want to pick up the device as soon as you put it down.
The phone is starts at Rs 29,999 for the 8GB RAM and 256GB storage variant and for that price, this becomes a great option for folks looking for a phone that won’t be a slouch in any performance-oriented tasks. While there’s some scope for improvement in the design and camera departments, the POCO F6 retains the budget powerhouse throne this year, just like its predecessors.
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