POCO X6 5G Review

POCO is kicking off 2024 with a bang with the launch of the new X6 series. The popular Xiaomi-sub brand has just introduced a new lineup of models for the global market and, of course, the Philippines. These are the X6, the X6 Pro, and the M6 Pro 4G.

Today, we’re checking out the new entry model X6. While it might be a mid-range smartphone, it does have some pretty decent specs and features. These include a Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chipset, 12GB of RAM, up to 512GB of storage, and a price tag that won’t break the bank.

But is the POCO X6 something you should buy if you’re looking for a new phone this 2024? Well, let’s find out in this review.

Design and Construction

In terms of design, the Poco X6 features a minimalist design at the rear with a very shiny back panel. Nothing particularly stands out too much apart from the small POCO logo beside the camera housing and the 5G emblem. This black colorway looks great if you want a lowkey-looking style since there’s no chrome anywhere on the phone.

The downside to the very shiny back panel is that the X6 is a fingerprint magnet. If you use it without the included case, you’ll easily leave nasty fingerprints all over the back panel. Once you place it in your pocket, you’ll also notice that dust is easily picked up. So, while I do like the minimalist styling, I’d prefer using this with the case just so I don’t see all of the fingerprints while using it.

As with most phones, the volume rockers and the power button are found on the right side. At the bottom, you’ll find the dual-sim card slot together with the USB-C port and one of the loudspeakers. At the top, there’s the other loudspeaker along with a 3.5mm headphone jack, which is nice to have especially if you prefer using wired headphones.

In terms of ergonomics, it’s relatively easy to use and fits my hand quite well. The POCO X6 isn’t too heavy or too light, making it easy to use even while walking. It’s quite slim too, making it fit my pockets quite well.

Display

Flip it over, and you’re greeted by a large 6.67-inch OLED display with a pinhole at the top for the front camera. Although not as obvious, there’s also an under-screen fingerprint sensor.

Out of the box, the colors are already great as is. They’re quite vivid, and you get nice deep blacks. Not to mention the colors are rather accurate too, even without adjusting the settings.

The POCO X6’s display also comes with a 120Hz refresh rate, meaning you get smooth animations whether you’re watching videos on YouTube or Netflix or for play games on the phone. The screen is quite bright too, making it easy to use under the sun. According to POCO, it has a maximum of 1800 nits.

Paired with the dual-stereo speakers, you get a relatively immersive viewing and gaming experience. The loudspeakers are quite loud too, but they lack bass for my liking. Thankfully, you can easily plug in your favorite wired earphones or pair the phone with your Bluetooth headset.

Like the back panel of the phone, you do have to be cautious with the Poco X6’s display since it is a fingerprint magnet. If you have sweaty hands, you’ll find yourself wiping down the screen every so often just so it’s clean.

Performance and Benchmarks

Powering the POCO X6 is a Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chipset, which is becoming increasingly popular in mid-range smartphones. Depending on the variant you choose, you can even get up to 12GB of RAM and up to 512GB of internal storage. Our review unit comes with 12GB of RAM and 512 of storage, which is more than enough for our use.

In terms of performance, we didn’t experience any lag or slowing down with the phone whatsoever. Even with multiple apps running in the background, it still handled playing videos on YouTube well without any issues.

The same can be said about gaming on the phone. We played our usual trio of games including Genshin Impact, Asphalt 9, and Honkai Star Rail, and it ran them smoothly. However, we had to tweak Genshin’s settings in order to have a smoother gameplay experience. However, the phone does heat up a bit when playing Genshin with the case. Although, and the stereo loudspeaker made playing games more enjoyable.

But to give you a better idea of how the phone performs, check out the scores we were able to get using the usual benchmarking apps.

Benchmark Scores
Antutu – 590,822
Antutu Storage Test- 57017
S.Read- 11796
Speed: 1028.0 MB/s
S.Write- 11685
Speed: 1018.3 MB/s
R.Access- 33536
R.Speed: 499.0 MB/s
W.Speed: 401.0 MB/s

Geekbench 6
Single: 1025
Multi: 2997

Geekbench 6 GPU Vulkan- 2176
Geekbench 6 GPU OpenCL- 1770
PC work 3.0 performance- 13119
PC work battery life – 13 hours and 19 mins

Cameras

In terms of cameras, you get a triple camera system highlighted by a 64MP main shooter, 8MP ultrawide, and 2MP macro lenses. Meanwhile, the front camera is rated at 16MP. The photos taken by the rear camera are great out of the box, and they’re quite sharp too when shooting especially in well-lit areas. The colors are a bit too saturated for my liking, but you can easily adjust the HDR or in the gallery.

At night, the photo quality does suffer a bit, but that is to be expected. It’s not too bad that though. The highlights do become a bit blown out, but it’s still okay. Importantly, there’s not too much grain. You can expect similar results with the front camera.

Just check out some of the photos we were able to take using the POCO X6 in the album below.

In terms of video, the POCO X6 is capable of shooting at 4K@30FPS, allowing you to capture great content whether it’s for a vlog or just keeping memories. However, there’s no stabilization at 4K, so you do need to have a steady hand when shooting.

There is OIS and even Steady Video mode, but you’re video output will be limited to just 1080P. Still, it’s pretty decent at 1080P, given that there’s enough lighting. At night, the quality does suffer similar to the photos.

Overall, we’re happy with the video output of the POCO X6. And to give you a better idea, here are some video clips we shot using the phone.

OS, UI, and Apps

While we did get the phone early, we updated the software of the POCO X6 to the latest version. Unfortunately, it still doesn’t run on the new HyperOS system based on Android 14 found on other Poco phones. Instead, it still uses MIUI 14 which is based on Android 13.

It’s still great to use, but I’m just disappointed HyperOS wasn’t available at the time we reviewed this phone. But we expect POCO might introduce another update featuring HyperOS once the X6 officially goes on sale.

With the current OS, I’m still not a fan of how it automatically switches to search mode when you open up the menu. Instead, I’ll have to close the search just to browse all of the apps available. Some of you might like this since you can easily find the app you’re looking for, but I prefer going through all of the apps available.

The Poco X6 also has bloatware, and these include games that you won’t probably play. They’re easy to delete, but it’s still a hassle to individually remove nonetheless.

Battery and Connectivity

In terms of battery life, the POCO X6 packs a 5,100mAh lithium-ion battery pack which is slightly bigger than most in the segment. The additional 100mAh doesn’t seem to do too much though. From my experience, it does last an entire day from regular use, but the phone does drain quite fast when playing games. Based on PCMark’s Battery Test, we got 13 hours and 19 minutes of battery life, which are still decent numbers.

If you do need to recharge, the POCO X6 also comes with 67W fast charging provided you use the included cable and power brick.

Conclusion

So overall, the POCO X6 is a very capable phone with decent performance numbers and battery life. Not to mention it can easily run most of the games you can think of playing such as Genshin and Honkai. Best of all, it comes at an affordable price without stepping into the Xiaomi range. As for the price, the POCO X6 starts at just PHP XX,XXX, making it a serious contender in the mid-range smartphone segment. For that price, you already get a Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chipset with more than enough RAM and storage to match.

With POCO starting the year strong, mid-range smartphones that will be launched later this year will have some serious competition with the X6. But if you’re in dire need of upgrading to a more capable phone this January 2024, you can’t go wrong with the Poco X6.

But what do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

What we liked:
* Great Display
* Good Performance
* Decent Camera

What we didn’t like:
* Phone slightly heats up when playing games
* Battery life could be better

POCO X6 specs:
6.67-inch CrystalRes 1.5K Flow AMOLED DotDisplay panel, 100% DCI-P3 wide color gamut @ 1080 x 2400 pixels
120Hz refresh rate, 1800 nits (peak), Dolby Vision, HDR10, HDR10+, HLG, 2160Hz instant touch sampling rate
Corning Gorilla Glass Victus
Snapdragon 7s Gen 2
Octa-core (up to 2.4GHz)
Adreno 710
8GB, 12GB LPDDR5X RAM (up to +8GB RAM Memory extension 3.0)
256GB, 512GB UFS 4.0 internal storage
No card slot
64MP main camera
8MP ultra-wide
2MP macro
16MP front camera
Dual nano-SIM
5G
WiFi 6E
Bluetooth 5.4
GPS
NFC
IR Blaster
Dual speakers
No 3.5mm audio
USB Type-C
Xiaomi HyperOS based on Android 14
In-display Fingerprint sensor
5,100mAh battery, 67W Turbo Charging
X-axis linear vibration motor
IP54 splash-proof protection
LiquidCool Technology 2.0
Weight: 181 grams
Dimensions: 161.15mm x 74.24 x 7.98mm (plastic) / 8.35mm (vegan leather)
Color variants: Black, White, Blue

The POCO X6 will come in 3 variants:
Php 14,999 (8GB + 256GB)
Php 15,999 (12GB + 256GB)
Php 17,999 (12GB + 512GB)