After its unveiling in India, France, Indonesia, and Hong Kong, Pocophone — the new smartphone brand under Xiaomi — has finally launched the Pocophone F1 (aka POCO F1) in the Philippines. It comes with flagship specs such as Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 and 6GB RAM but priced starting at just PHP 17,990. Is this the new bang-for-the-buck device for 2018? Find out in our review.
Table of Contents
Design and Construction
The F1 comes in three colors – Graphite Black, Steel Blue, and Rosso Red. There’s also an Armoured Edition with Kevlar Aramid fiber. For this hands-on, we’re taking a look at the Steel Blue model.
One of the first things you’ll notice about the F1 is its large screen. It’s a 6.18-inch display with a thick notch at the top. This notch houses the 20MP front camera, earpiece, proximity sensor, infrared lens, and infrared lighting. Down below at the center of the chin is the notification LED.
Found on the left side of the device are the volume and power/lock buttons. They’re plastic but firm, clicky, and easy to reach.
Up top are the 3.5mm audio port and the secondary microphone, while down below are the loudspeaker, main microphone, and the USB Type-C port.
Flip it on its back and you will see the dual rear cameras, fingerprint scanner, and the LED flash.
Quality-wise, the F1 feels far from the premium glass and metal I’m accustomed to, but it looks and feels really good for something that is made of plastic. The hard-coated polycarbonate unibody is solid, it doesn’t creak when squeezed or sound hollow when tapped. The finish is also able to resist fingerprints and smudges well.
At 182g it’s already hefty so I’m starting to appreciate the use of polycarbonate to keep the weight in check. It’s tall and a bit wide so navigation of the UI would often require both hands. And if you’re worried about scratches and bumps, don’t worry as Pocophone included a jelly case in the package.
Display and Multimedia
The 6.18-inch screen which Pocophone calls the edge-to-edge display has an 18.8:9 aspect ratio and Full HD+ (2246 x 1080) resolution or equal to 403ppi, which is a decent resolution for a screen of this size.
The display is nice as it is sharp with good viewing angles and accurate colors. However, it’s prone to glare but the bright screen was able to keep things legible. As for its screen protection, it uses Corning’s Gorilla Glass so it should be able to withstand minor scratches and bumps.
There’s nothing fancy about the down-firing speaker. Like with most smartphones, it’s lacking in bass but it is loud and crisp enough for hands-free voice-calls, watching videos on YouTube and Netflix, or listening to tunes on Spotify. If you have a good pair of wired headphones, I’m glad to report that the F1 still sports a 3.5mm audio port.
Camera
When it comes to imaging, the F1 sports a 12MP main rear shooter with the Sony IMX363 sensor, which is the same sensor found on the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S which got a score of 97 at DxOMark Mobile. The secondary camera, on the other hand, is handled by a 5MP Samsung sensor. For selfies, it has a 20MP camera.
As expected, images produced are good as they’re sharp with punchy colors and great dynamic range. Low-light performance is also good and was able to preserve details while keeping the noise down. We can attribute the performance to the camera’s built-in AI capabilities and image stabilization. Selfies are good as well, especially in bright conditions. It’s sharp as it has plenty of resolution to go around and comes with bokeh and beauty effects.
As for video recording, the F1 maxes out at 4K resolution at 30fps. There’s no 60fps option here, even at 1080p. Quality is as good as stills with dynamic range and colors. There’s EIS, although works best when recording at 1080p. For slow motion, there’s the Video HFR (High Frame Rate) which can record up to 1080p at 240fps. Watch the sample clip below:
OS, UI, and Apps
Running the software is MIUI for POCO (MIUI 9.6.11.0 Stable) based on Android 8.1 Oreo which is basically a slightly customized version of Xiaomi’s MIUI. It has multiple home screens but also has an app drawer that you can bring out by swiping up. The apps are pre-arranged by category but you can add your own tab.
Other features include the ability to hide the notch, Second Space which allows you to make your own private home screen, Button and Gesture navigation, Dual Apps, a Security app, and App Lock. Since it’s based on Xiaomi’s MIUI, we can expect new features to be developed for it as well.
Speaking of apps, we have the usual Google suite of apps, as well as pre-installed ones from Microsoft, Facebook, and Lazada. Overall, I’m getting 52.6GB of usable space out of the 64GB. Good thing Pocophone decided to make this expandable and has support for a microSD card but in a hybrid setup.
Performance and Benchmarks
Powering the F1 is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, Adreno 630 GPU, 6GB or 8GB RAM, and a 4,000mAh battery with QC 3.0. As expected, performance is great and it was able to keep things running smoothly. The fingerprint scanner and face unlock feature are very fast and responsive. Even games like PUBG Mobile, Mobile Legends, and NBA 2K18 are easily playable in high settings.
When it comes to thermals, there’s a slight warming felt beside the cameras when running games and benchmarking apps but it’s very minimal. I checked the temperature using an IR thermometer after playing PUBG Mobile and I got a maximum read of 37.5-C which is tolerable, so I can say that the LiquidCooling technology works.
Check out the benchmark scores below:
• AnTuTu – 264,977
• Geekbench –2,475 (Single-Core), 9,004 (Multi-Core), 14,415 (RenderScript)
• 3DMark – 3,252 (SSE – OpenGL ES 3.1), 2,706 (SSE – Vulkan)
• PCMark – 7,427 (Work 2.0)
• AndroBench – 700.88 MB/s (Read), 146.69 MB/s (Write)
Connectivity and Battery Life
The Pocophone F1 has your usual connectivity features like dual-SIM with 4G LTE, WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0, and GPS. The said features work as advertised as calls are loud and clear, mobile data connects right away, it had no problems connecting to BT devices like speakers, earphones and wearables, while GPS-based apps like Google Maps, Waze, and Grab was able to pinpoint our location right away.
Since this is a performance-oriented smartphone which is designed to be used heavily, I’m glad that Pocophone equipped the F1 with a 4,000mAh battery. It sure was able to last a whole day and into the night on light to moderate usage and sporadic gaming. Our video loop test got us 19 hours of video playback which is good. Charging, on the other hand, using a QC 3.0 charger takes 2 hours.
Conclusion
The Pocophone F1 became a wakeup call not just for consumers but for other smartphone brands as well. Here is a device that delivers flagship performance, feels good, doesn’t have a lot of fancy features or tech, but is offered at a price that we normally see in mid-range devices. For plenty of users, this is a big win, and definitely not overpriced. For some smartphone brands, it kind of ruined a lot of things.
To end this review, I can absolutely say that this device is a big hit. It has proven that we don’t need to pay ridiculous amounts just to get the best performance possible. I just hope that they have enough supply to meet the demand. So to answer our question, is the Pocophone F1 the best bang-for-the-buck device in the market? Yes, it is.
The Pocophone F1 is priced at PHP 17,990 for the 6GB + 64GB model and PHP 19,990 for the 6GB + 128GB.
Pocophone F1 specifications:
| Specs | POCO F1 |
|---|---|
| Display | 6.18-inch Full HD+ edge-to-edge display @ 2160 x 1080px |
| Glass protection | Corning Gorilla Glass (version not specified) |
| CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 2.8GHz octa-core |
| GPU | Adreno 630 |
| RAM | 6GB/8GB LPDDR4X |
| Storage | 64GB/256GB |
| Expandable Storage | expandable via MicroSD up to 256GB |
| Rear Camera | 12MP Sony IMX363 + 5MP Samsung sensor rear cameras, LED flash |
| Front Camera | 20MP front camera |
| Connectivity | 4G+ VoLTE (India) |
| SIM | Dual-SIM (hybrid) |
| Wi-Fi | WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 5.0 |
| GPS | GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS |
| USB | USB Type-C |
| OS | MIUI for POCO (Android 8.1 Oreo) |
| Battery | 4,000mAh battery w/ QC 3.0 |
What we liked:
* Good build
* Great performance
* Good cameras
* IR face unlock
* Very competitive price
What we didn’t:
* Non-premium build (but we could be nitpicking)
cute nung nasa selfie
Will LTE work here?
Ano po pinagkaiba ng POCO F1 AT POCOPHONE F1 MAY NAKIKITA PO KASI AKONG UNBOXING TAPOS YUNG TATAK NG LOGO NG CELLPHONE NILA POCO F1 TAPOS YUNG IBA POCOPHONE F1 ANG TATAK BAT PARANG MAGKAIBA
It’s marketed in India as POCO. For other regions, it’s POCOPHONE.
Available na po ba sa trinoma yung 256 gb na rom at 8gb rom ng pocophone f1
swerte mo kung mapasaiyo yung may screen bleeding nito ahahaha
DON’T BUY IT!!! terrible post sales service! suddenly turned off in the middle of a game then reset and cannot access the phone anymore. it’s asking for a numeric password that we never registered anyway. it’s been more than a week and they still can’t fix it. they are not even updating us of the status. VERY POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE!
sa One plus six na nga kinumpara ea gusto pa sa v11 taena. Gamit naman ng isip oh. Mura na yan at presyong katamtaman para sa mahirap na katulad namin kung nag woworry pa kau sa kalidad nyan edi dun kau sa Find X ni oppo para di nakau madameng kuroro.
Sana po gumawa sila ng comparison video ng v11 and poco f1
Hope they have a similar deal for Philippines just like the one in India: https://www.gsmarena.com/deal_pocophone_f1_for_75_off_and_a_catch_f2_coming_in_half_a_year-news-33678.php
For the camera. Nova 3i or poco f1? Hindi ako makadecide. For products use sana ang camera. Help please thanks!
ANG TAONG PANGIT SA OPPO KUMAKAPIT IHA.ANG TAONG TEKI SA NOVA NAKASABIT IHO. POCO TATAY YAN NI PINOKYO. KAYA MATIBAY.
kelan kaya magkaka 8gb 128 kevlar? or kahit yung 6gb 128gb variant man lang. nagtanong ako 6gb/64gb lang meron. Wait ko na lang sa december. Yun lang baka may mas magandang phone na sa December magmove on nako dito sa poco lol
Do we have the 8GB Variant of this here in the Philippines?
Need help po. Nag pre-order ako sa lazada xiaomi flagship store ng pocophone f1(blue) cod last sept. 09 and ang date ng delivery is from sept. 29 to oct. 4. price is 16990 less 5%. sept. 11 tumawag sa akin customer service ng lazada na kung itutuloy ko pa ang pre-order ko at ang start daw ng shipping ng item is sept. 25. sabi ok lang sa akin. sept. 21 nag text lazada ” We’re happy to inform you that your Xiaomi item under Order 2067245*****491 will be shipped on Sept 25. Estimated delivery after shipment is – GMA: 2-3 days, Luzon: 3-5 days, Visayas & Mindanao: 5-7 days. Thank you for your patience.” sept. 28 processing pa rin. nag follow up ako ang sagot sa akin ng customer service “Alright and you ordered this item [Pre-Order] XIAOMI Pocophone F1 6GB RAM 64GB ROM last Sep 09, 2018 22:36? The status of your item is still handled by warehouse. But no worries we just got an update that all xiaomi phones will be delivered 7 to 12 days if out side of metro manila starting on September 25”. sept. 30. follow up ulit. customer service “As I can see, na-coordinate na po ito sa other department and we’re just waiting for their feedback kung kailan po ang estimated delivery schedule.” yan ang sabi. follow up ulit ako ng oct. 3 sabi ng agent “to be transparent with you sir Fernando, the item is currently out of stock.” tapos tumawag sa phone para sabihin sa akin na cancel daw order ko kasi walang stock. hindi daw na meet ng supplier yung order nila. for cancellation na daw order ko. saka nag offer na lng ng 500 discount voucher para sa abala for approval pa daw un. Hindi ako pumayag. Nag message ulit ako sa customer agent na wag icancel order ko. changed na lang ng color sa black kasi ang sabi ko yan may stock sila. reply nang customer service”.Good day Fernando. Kung out of stock na po ang color blue possible po na black ang maipadala sa inyo sir. ” oct. 04 na cancel order ko ng text lazada sa akin. pag check ko sa reason ng cancellation ito nakalagay sa email ” We regret to inform you that the item(s) listed below from your order # has been canceled due to a system error we encountered”. nag follow up ulit ako sabi ko hindi valid ung reason sa pag cancel ng order ko. sabi ko ibalik nila order ko. sabi ng customer service ” I will indicate our case as high priority so that my coordination will be received by them at the soonest time. On behalf of Lazada, I extend my apologies for the order delivery that you have experienced.” waiting pa ako sa feedback kung approve or hindi. pwede ko po ba ireklamo sa dti?
pwede ka mag reklamo pero abala sau lang yan bumili ka nlang sa mga outlet dito sa metro manila bro.
Does it have led flash on the front camera?
I love this review. Its very detailed and somewhat not boring to read. This is the first time I enjoy this kind of review in Yugatech.
you are most probably going to slap a phone case with it so non-premium feel makes no difference.
sometimes, famous brand are not always the most practical choice
The non-premium build makes the cost low so I’m okay with that. Also, 64GB at Trinoma is already sold out as of yesterday.
Where can I buy this, I kept asking at SM malls but they keep saying they dont have any, was it already released?Philippines btw .
try to check xiaomi store at mega mall and trinoma