Poco X3 Hands-on, First Impressions

The recently launched Poco X3 NFC made a big splash with an entry price of just Php11k. It’s also the first smartphone to be powered by the newer Snapdragon 732G chipset.

The Poco X3 is certainly geared towards gamers with its 120Hz high refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling rate with a very capable Adreno 618 GPU coupled with Elite Gaming features. The Adreno 618 GPU on the Poco X3 is 15% better than the other 618 in previous 720G and 730G chipsets. The 732G is composed of a dual Kryo 470 @ 2.3GHz and 6-core Kryo 470 @ 1.8GHz which puts the maximum clock speed a tad faster than the 2.2GHz of the 730G.

Right out of the box, the phone feels solid and nice, a bit hefty on the hands with a glossy finish at the back that looks like its made out of glass. The USB Type-C port is at the bottom, along with the speaker grill, primary mic and the 3.5mm audio port. On the left side is the SIM card slot, noise-canceling mic up top with the IR blaster and (surprisingly) a secondary speaker grill as well. On the right side are the volume controls and power button that also serves as the fingerprint sensor.

At the back is the large camera module that protrudes off the back panel. The. quad-camera setup is composed of the main 64MP f/1.9 wide shooter with PDAF, and ultrawide 13 MP, f/2.2, a 2MP f/2.4 macro, and another 2MP f/2.4 depth sensor. There’s a dual-LED flash alongside them, making the module look like a 5-eyed monster.

The cobalt blue color that we got has a nice band of accent with strip lines that cuts along the middle of the back panel and a huge Poco logo at the bottom end. This aggressive look gives the Poco X3 a hint of gaminess owing to the massive camera setup and the gamer-centric performance it offers.

The Poco X3 runs on Android 10 right out of the box with the latest MIUI 12 interface. It’s fast and responsive, quite clean and organized yet offers a lot of customizations you’d want to do on your phone.

We played a few games with it and the experience is very smooth, thanks to that 120Hz refresh rate. The full HD display is large enough at 6.67 inches with Gorilla Glass 5 protection. Poco also made sure it same with a screen-protector pre-installed on the glass display so that’s an added security.

For added protection, there’s also a gelly case that came with the device.

We’re also pretty impressed that Poco even though of adding a second speaker at the top aside from the larger primary speaker at the bottom. This offers better sound quality and volume especially if you’re watching videos or playing games. The inclusion of an IR blaster is also another surprise.

As for battery, the Poco X3 comes with a 5,160mAh battery and a huge 33W charger out of the box. Poco included LiquidCool Technology 1.0 Plus (copper heat pipe + graphite) for better heat management to give you extra long hours of gaming time without any overheating of sorts.

We’ll certainly cover everything else and in-depth in our full review of the Poco X3 so watch out for that soon.

The POCO X3 NFC is priced at Php10,990USD 187INR 15,876EUR 178CNY 1,364 for the 6GB/64GB model, and Php12,990USD 221INR 18,765EUR 211CNY 1,612 for the 6GB/128GB. It’s now available in stores nationwide starting September 9, 2020.

POCO X3 NFC specs:
6.67-inch FHD+ (2400 x 1080) LCD DotDisplay, 395ppi
120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling rate
HDR10, Widevine L1 certified
Corning Gorilla Glass 5
Qualcomm Snapdragon 732G octa-core CPU
Adreno 618 GPU w/ Elite Gaming
6GB LPDDR4X RAM
64GB, 128GB UFS 2.1
MicroSD up to 256GB (hybrid slot)
Quad-rear cameras:
• 64MP Sony IMX682 F1.89 (primary)
• 13MP F2.2 (ultra-wide)
• 2MP F2.4 (macro)
• 2MP F2.4 (depth)
20MP F2.2 front camera
Dual-SIM
4G LTE
WiFi 5
Bluetooth 5.1
USB-C
NFC
GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS
IR Blaster
3.5mm headphone jack
Dual-Stereo speakers
IP53 splash-proof
Fingerprint scanner (side)
MIUI 12 for POCO (Android 10)
5,160mAh battery w/ 33W fast charging (33W charger included)
LiquidCool Technology 1.0 Plus (Copper heat pipe + graphite)
165.3 x 76.8 x 9.4 mm (dimensions)
215 grams (weight)
Shadow Gray, Cobalt Blue