Poco F6 Review: Powerful beast donning a simplistic profile

Poco F6 Review: The content viewing experience with this phone is seamless, attributed to the stereo speaker setup with Dolby Atmos support.

Poco F6 Review: Poco has a knack of delivering smooth performance, and the Poco F6 continues this tradition. Photo credit: Raghwendra Shukla

Poco F6 Review: Widely known for delivering value-for-money devices combined with powerful performance, Poco has introduced its latest smartphone: The Poco F6. Along with its gaming prowess, Poco this time has enhanced a slew of features, including the camera and display, among others. In this review, we shall explore the upgrades this device has received and how does it performs compared to other devices in the same segment.

Poco F6 Review: Design

Design-wise, the Poco F6 appears to have shifted more towards a minimalistic profile, featuring a subtle design that is not so flashy. It will be interesting to see how this fares among typical Poco users, being fans of gamer-centric design, akin to Poco. It feels light and slim, weighing just 179g and measuring 7.8mm in thickness.

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Sporting a matte finish, the rear panel is prone to fingerprints and smudges. At the back, the dual camera setup is housed in a couple of larger circular rings, while the third ring houses the flash, just adjacent to the middle of the camera setup. The back feels to be crafted from polycarbonate. The device has an IP64 rating, enhancing its splash and dust resistance.

Poco F6 Review: Display

Featuring a stunning 6.67-inch AMOLED display, the Poco F6 sports slim bezels, offering a screen-to-body ratio of 94 per cent. The content viewing experience with this phone is seamless, attributed to the stereo speaker setup with Dolby Atmos support. The display is crisp and provides excellent contrast with deeper blacks. The refresh rate of up to 120Hz further enhances the device’s buttery smooth functioning. With a peak brightness of up to 2400 nits, this smartphone is bright enough even during outdoor usage. It also gets Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection, a feature widely associated with higher-end devices.

Poco F6 Review: Performance and Software

Poco has a knack of delivering smooth performance, and the Poco F6 continues this tradition, retaining the high-performance status. Powered by the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 processor, complemented by 12 GB of RAM and up to 512 GB of internal memory, this smartphone performs well on almost all benchmarks. Further, the Wildboost 3.0 technology elevates the gaming experience to the next level. Day-to-day tasks, including browsing social media, video editing, etc., are a breeze with this device. The gaming performance of this device is impressive, with games like Call of Duty, BGMI, etc., running smoothly even on high settings.

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The Poco F6 runs on HyperOS based on Android 14. The interface does not offer anything significantly new compared to predecessors like the Poco X6 Pro, but it may support some AI air gestures once OTA updates arrive. Notably, third party apps are present, along with popular ones like Facebook, Spotify, Netflix, etc. The smartphone is slated to receive three years of major software updates and four years of security patches.

Poco F6 Review: Camera

The camera module is touted as one of the major pluses in the Poco F6. It features a dual camera setup, which include a 50MP primary sensor with OIS support and an 8MP ultrawide lens. In well-lit conditions, the primary camera offers quality photos with good details and colour calibration. The low-light photography with the main camera is impressive, providing impressive outputs for the segment it belongs to. The ultrawide lens offers satisfactory results, though sharpness appears to be somewhat compromised. The 20MP selfie shooter clicks better photos with good skin tones and details, particularly in daylight conditions.

Poco F6 Review: Battery

The inclusion of a powerful 5,000mAh battery comes as a pleasant surprise, with 90W charging support. A 120W charger is included in the box. Given that the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 is known for being power efficient, the Poco F6’s power game seems well settled.

Poco F6 Review: Verdict

Poco has created a niche of its own by blending power-packed performance with affordability. The Poco F6, in addition to being a gaming beast, does tick boxes that have not be so efficiently addressed previously by Poco. The Sony IMX882 primary camera, along with features like the 6.67-inch AMOLED display, 5,000mAh battery with 120W charger, and others, certainly give smartphone enthusiasts a viable option in Poco F6.