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Poco F2 review – test – specs

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Published on: 21-05-2020 / Modified: 13-07-2021
I usually buy phones between 200 and 300€ maximum but I couldn't resist the temptation to break my piggy bank to buy the Poco F2 Pro.

Poco is a brand of the Xiaomi group which aims to offer even more performance for an even lower price. Xiaomi had already succeeded very well with the Poco F1 in 2018, the Poco F2 sets the bar even higher by tackling the Samsung Galaxy S20+ or the One Plus 8T Pro!

On paper this new Poco F2 Pro has everything you need to offer the best quality/performance/price ratio.

Manufacturer web site:
https://www.poco.net/global/

Structure of my tests

I test the phones according to a pre-established structure (see below) to provide you with as much information as possible. Unfortunately, this takes a long time. Some tests like network performance tests take several days and for photo tests I sometimes have to wait until the weather is suitable to take pictures in good conditions. I am therefore obliged to publish the tests step by step, so I invite you to come back if the test is not complete at the time of your visit.

Price Poco F2 Pro

The list below shows the prices for the Poco F2 Pro from more than 50 sites around the world. If you are not satisfied with any price, you can subscribe to a price alert to be the first to be notified when the price drops.

Timeline

21/05/20 Purchase of the Poco F2 Pro on Gearbest.com
15/06/20 I finally received the Poco F2 Pro, I'll be able to start testing it.

Why this phone?

Xiaomi had launched the Poco / Pocophone brand with the Poco F1 in 2018 targeting first the Indian market and then the rest of the world. This phone was a massive success and unfortunately I did not test it.

With the Poco F2 Pro, Xiaomi brings to the market a high-end phone comparable on paper to the Samsung Galaxy S20+ for a price below 500€. This territory was usually reserved for phones like the Xiaomi Mi 10 but the price of this device has increased significantly, so there was a place to take.

The Poco F2 is one of the most powerful phones on the market (at launch), it uses a Sony sensor that has already proven itself in the Huawei P30 Pro, it is 5G compatible, it lacks nothing to compete.

Unpacking

The box of the Poco F2 Pro leaves no doubt as to its link with Xiaomi, the box contains the bare minimum and the packaging has not been given any special treatment. The difference with the Xiaomi phones lies in the use of a box without photo with specific Poco colors (black and yellow).

The box contains the phone, a charger, a USB cable type C, a manual, a needle for the sim drawer and a transparent shell.

First configuration

The configuration of the Poco F2 Pro faithfully follows the configuration of the phones at Xiaomi. After accepting the general conditions, you must connect to the wifi, then transfer your account from your old device and finalize the configuration with the fingerprint sensor.

At the end Xiaomi will invite you to register to its cloud and validate the privacy rules a second time, it's the same on Xiaomi phones.

I encountered an error while importing my profile from a Xiaomi, I had to use a Samsung for this to work.

Finish

The first Poco was launched in 2018 and was a high-performance phone positioned as a low-cost phone. This new Poco is a different kind of animal. It still offers a very interesting quality/price ratio but this new Poco F2 Pro is far from being a low cost phone.

Xiaomi has borrowed the basics from the Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro to make it a slightly larger phone but keeping the pop-up camera for selfies and placing a circle at the back to hold the photo sensors. The power button is red like on the Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro.

The phone really made a very good impression when I opened the box.



The perimeter of the phone is made of the same material as the back, so there are no interruptions and the phone gives the impression of a screen supported by a glass back.

On the top of the phone there is a pop-up selfie camera, a jack connector and an infrared port. This is the same as the Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro



The lower part of the phone is composed of a SIM drawer, a USB type C port and an external speaker. Here too it is the same as the Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro.



The left side of the phone is completely smooth because the SIM drawer is at the bottom of the phone. On the right is a classic configuration with the two volume buttons and the red start button like on the Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro. These buttons are correctly positioned and come out enough from the device so as not to confuse them.



The Poco F2 Pro is very similar in many ways to the Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro but it is the back of the phone that is different from the latter. Where the Mi 9T Pro had gone in a festival of not necessarily pretty gradients, the Poco F2 Pro offers a totally uniform glass surface with a brushed aluminum effect. It is much more sober than the Mi 9T Pro, I think the Poco F2 Pro is much more elegant but it's a matter of personal taste!

Another new feature is the position of the rear photo sensors. Xiaomi has probably already tried everything, they tried something else with the Poco F2 Pro. The sensors are encircled by a black circle that stands out a little bit from the device, so the device will never be completely flat, but this is the case with most phones at the moment. I'm curious to see if using the sensors in this position will have an influence on the parallax of the pictures.



The screen of the Poco F2 Pro is huge (6.67 inches compared to 6.39 inches for the Mi 9T Pro) and takes up 87% of the available space compared to 86% for the Mi 9T Pro.

The edges of the screen are thin but not to the point of offering a full-screen experience like on a Samsung Galaxy S20.

Specifications

The information below comes from the Device Info HW application. The application provides detailed technical information about the tested phone.Es gibt zwei Versionen des Poco F2 PRo, eine 6 Gb / 128 Gb-Version (die ich getestet habe) und eine 8 Gb / 256 Gb-Version. Beide Versionen bieten die 5G.

CPU / GPU Performance

The Poco F2 Pro is equipped with a Snapdragon 865 processor, it is one of the most powerful processors at the time of writing this test, it is probably the cheapest phone among those using processors of this power level. At Samsung it must be opposed to the Exynos 990 which is available in the Samsung Galaxy S20.

the Poco uses an Adreno 650 GPU and here again it is one of the most powerful graphics chipsets on the market.

Xiaomi wanted to hit hard with this Poco and by offering this combination of Snapdragon and Adreno, they have designed a high-performance phone that will tickle the high-end models from Samsung or OnePlus.

Benchmark Antutu/3DMark

Last week, I started testing the Samsung Galaxy S20 and not surprisingly, this phone delivers top level performance. Xiaomi positions the Poco as a direct competitor of the Samsung, so I was curious to see if the Poco would outperform the Samsung in performance? The answer is yes!

I scored 569,000 points on Antutu with the Poco F2 Pro where I scored 503,000 points with the Samsung. If I look at the results in detail I can see that it is mainly at the CPU level that the Poco outperforms the Samsung with 17% more performance while at the GPU level the Poco outperforms the Samsung by 4%.

The Poco will therefore allow you to play any game using the maximum level of graphics and to push the nail even harder, the Poco F2 Pro heats up less than the Samsung. When the Samsung gets hot, it's unpleasant to hold (especially near the volume buttons) while the Poco doesn't present this kind of problem. The Poco also heats up, but not at least not to cause an unpleasant sensation.



I scored over 7000 points with 3D Mark, it's simply the best score I've gotten so far, even the Samsung Galaxy S20 doesn't do any better.




Gaming

To test the performance in game, I download the mobile PUBG game and evaluate the in-game experience, graphics level and depth of vision. This game is quite demanding and should help you evaluating the performance of a phone.The Poco F2 Pro has been designed to run any game. It can run any game with the maximum level of graphics without burning your hands thanks to its efficient cooling system.



PUBG Mobile works wonderfully on the Poco F2 Pro, the level of detail and depth of vision are at their maximum.



I'm usually only testing game performance with PUBG Mobile, but since this phone is designed to appeal to gamers, I also tested Fortnite. It looks like nothing can beat the Poco F2 Pro here too.

Network performance

The Poco F2 Pro supports all frequencies used in Europe for 3G and 4G. This is the first 5G phone I'm testing but I don't have access to a 5G network in Belgium yet. For those who live in France, the Poco F2 Pro will allow them to use 5G thanks to the n78 frequency.


Signal 4G (before december 2020)

The ability to pick up the network correctly is an essential element for a phone but it is only very rarely measured. To measure a phone's ability to pick up the network, I perform a large number of measurements on the same cells to be able to compare phones under similar conditions. The signal is measured in dBm, a value of -90dBm indicates a worse signal than -70dBm. These measurements are therefore taken under real conditions and not in a laboratory, they are not scientific but give a good indication of performance.


I had very good results with the Mi 9T Pro when I tested it, the Poco F2 Pro on the other hand is in the middle range with signals fluctuating between -97 dBm and -100 dBm. Most of the phones I test are in this range with a few rare exceptions that stand out from the crowd. Xiaomi has never been a champion at network level, this Poco F2 Pro is not a champion but it is not a bad phone.

Signal 4G (from December 2020)

I decided to change the methodology for measuring the network because I noticed that the configuration of the mobile network changes over time. This makes it more difficult to compare phones because the conditions are no longer exactly the same.

To overcome this problem, I set up a device that captures 24 hours a day about ten parameters from the mobile network (ex: cell id, rssi, rsrq, snr, frequency,...). I then place the phone next to the device for 24 to 48 hours taking the same measurements so that I can compare them.

Overview of the phones tested with this methodology



Download/Upload speed

To test the download speed, I have identified some 4G cells offering good performance where I test all my devices several times to see what download and upload speed they can achieve.

The Poco F2 Pro gets a good score for wifi downloads but this is also the case for 4G speed. In download I got 207 Mbps and in upload I get just under 60 Mbps. With such a speed the Poco F2 Pro ranks among the fastest phones I've ever tested.

I don't have access to a 5G network, so I couldn't test the speed in 5G.

Wifi performance

To test a phone's ability to receive the network properly, I take measurements near my router and then remotely (and always at the same place). This gives me an average in dBm where a value of -90 dBm indicates poorer performance than a value at -30 dBm.


Wifi signal

I measured a signal of -11 dBm near the router, it's simply the best signal level I've gotten so far, the Poco F2 Pro ranks ahead of everyone else with even a solid lead.

I measured a signal of -68 dBm away from the router, again this is the best score but the difference is less marked than with the other phones I tested.





Download/Upload speed

To test the speed in Wifi, I connect to my router in 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz (if available) and use the Ookla application to measure the speed.A good score on the wifi signal often translates into a good download speed, the theory is fully verified with the Poco F2 Pro. I got a download speed of 341 Mbps and I'm sure the phone can go higher but I probably didn't have the bandwidth at the time of the test.

GPS performance

To test the quality of the GPS signal I use the Offline Maps application and I make the same train trip in pedestrian mode. Why? In pedestrian mode, the GPS does not artificially correct the signal to stick to the road, it has no markings, so you can see the actual position. I then use an application to measure the accuracy of the signal.
GPS accuracy test


The Poco F2 Pro is compatible with most major GPS providers such as Glonass, Beidou and Galileo.

The Poco F2 Pro hooks the signal quickly and stabilizes to an accuracy of 3 meters. This is an average score without being exceptional. Its computing power, however, will allow you to quickly recover the signal after a tunnel exit.

GPS test on the road

Not yet done

Battery range

[battery product="poco-f2-pro" capa="4700" lg="en"]

The Poco F2 Pro is equipped with a 4700 mAh battery, it is more than the market average, which is currently around 4000 mAh.

With 4700 mAh, the Poco F2 Pro is able to offer a longer battery life than the Motorola G8 Power when the display is turned on at maximum while the Motorola has a larger battery. This is due to the default activation of the Poco's power save mode which remains in economy mode unless you ask it to do otherwise.

When the screen is on at 50%, the Poco will run for more than 25 hours. The autonomy is therefore very good but it is mainly thanks to its capacity because the efficiency of the Poco is in the average.

Photo camera test

To test the quality of photos produced by a phone, I do a technical test (resolution, sharpness, chromatic aberration,...) in studio (identical conditions) to evaluate the technical part objectively. From the second half of 2020, I built my own laboratory to take completely objective technical measurements. I then take pictures in real conditions to see how the camera performs. I then evaluate these photos according to my criteria but I publish the photos so that you can evaluate the result according to your criteria.

Hardware

The Poco F2 Pro is equipped with a Sony IMX 686 sensor as the main sensor. This sensor has already proven itself on the Huawei P30 Pro and is one of the best sensors available.

The other three sensors are:
- ultra wide angle sensor
- portrait sensor
- macro sensor

With the Sony IMX 686, I'm curious to see if Xiaomi will be able to match the Huawei P30 Pro because the quality of the sensor has to be combined with good image processing.

Default app

The Poco F2 Pro's default photo application is a perfect copy of what is found in other Xiaomi phones.

The application is quite complete and offers many settings possibilities. What I regret is the use of a semi-transparent zoom button above the photo, this button is not very readable. The other thing that annoys me is the abandonment of the choice of resolution in the settings. It was previously possible to choose the resolution of the photo or videos in the settings and keep this setting in memory, this is no longer the case. It is necessary to choose an image format to change the resolution. For the video it is the same, 8k is not activated by default and the option is not very visible.

Photo quality

Photo test / studio

First example: ƒ/1.89 1/166 5.43 mm 50 ISO

Exposure: ok
Sharpness: Okay.
Colors: ok
Depth of field: ok
Distortion: none
Chromatic aberration: none
Vignetting: none
Digital noise: none

The Sony sensors are doing better than the Samsung sensors in my studio and this is once again true with this Sony IMX 686. The photos are correctly exposed, the colors are correct even if they could be a little less saturated. The sharpness is very good, you can even see the dust on the hood of the car. The Sony sensor of the Poco F2 Pro does a good job.

Second example: ƒ/2.4 1/186 2.13 mm 50 ISO

Exposure: slightly underexposed
Sharpness: medium
Colours: a little too dark
Depth of field: ok
Distortion: the curvature is visible on the head of the character on the right side.
Chromatic aberration: none
Vignetting: none
Digital noise: none

The ultra wide angle sensor does not deliver the same level of quality as the main sensor. It has the usual defects of ultra wide angle sensors such as a lack of light, less sharpness and distortion.

Third example: ƒ/1.89 1/129 5.43 mm 50 ISO

Exposure: ok
Sharpness: Okay.
Colors: ok
Depth of field: ok
Distortion: none
Chromatic aberration: none
Vignetting: none
Digital noise: none

The Poco F2 Pro does not have an optical zoom, so the main sensor acts as a zoom lens with a digital zoom. The photo therefore also has the same characteristics as the first photo.

Photo test / sunny

First example: ƒ/2.4 1/322 2.13 mm 50 ISO

Exposure: ok
Sharpness: ok.
Colors: ok
Depth of field: ok
Distortion: none
Chromatic aberration: none
Vignetting: none
Digital noise: none

I decided to start this test with the ultra wide angle sensor because the landscape was very suitable. Ultra wide angle sensors from Xiaomi do not usually produce extraordinary photos, the quality of the photo is often much lower than the main sensor. With the Poco F2 Pro, Xiaomi has set the bar very high because this wide angle sensor produces beautiful photos in good conditions. The colors are well saturated, the exposure is good, I don't see any distortion and the level of detail is really good for a sensor of this type (only the trees in the background of the photo are not as well detailed). Even the darker areas are richly detailed. If I get such a good result with the ultra wide angle sensor, I'm curious to see what the main sensor will be able to produce.

I took a picture at the same place with two other cameras (another day but the conditions were similar)

Redmi Note 9s

The Redmi Note 9s delivers an almost ordinary photo next to what the Poco F2 Pro can produce while it produce good photos in its price category.

Samsung Galaxy S20

The Samsung also produces very nice pictures but I think it offers less detail than the Poco. The colors of the Poco are also more saturated.

Second example: ƒ/1.89 1/741 5.43 mm 50 ISO

Exposure: slightly overexposed
Sharpness: very good
Colors: ok
Depth of field: ok
Distortion: none
Chromatic aberration: none
Vignetting: none
Digital noise: none

For this second photo, the sun had passed behind a cloud and yet the photo is even slightly overexposed, this is especially visible on the buoys in the water. The level of detail is very good, the colors are saturated without forcing too much. This picture was taken with the Sony sensor and it delivers a very good result.

Third example: ƒ/1.89 1/1072 5.43 mm 50 ISO

Exposure: slightly overexposed
Sharpness: very good
Colors: ok
Depth of field: ok
Distortion: none
Chromatic aberration: none
Vignetting: none
Digital noise: none

The Poco F2 Pro does not have an optical zoom, so this photo was also taken by the Sony sensor using a digital zoom. The photo is also a little overexposed but with the digital zoom it is easier to see the level of detail in the photo. This Sony sensor does a very good job and will deliver great pictures without any effort. Of course, we can always discuss the processing of the image, but every manufacturer applies some processing and this one is quite successful.

I've taken a few more examples to highlight the quality of the Poco F2 Pro's photos

The sharpness of the image is really excellent.


The ultra wide angle sensor has a limited level of deformation and an above average level of accuracy for this type of sensor.

And here is a gallery of images taken in good conditions


Sometimes I get photos that are a little too exposed, sometimes a little too little exposed but the deviation from reality is not very important, the rest of the image compensates quite largely for this fluctuation between light and shadow. If the color saturation disturbs you, it is possible to adapt it with a filter or in post-processing.

Photo test / cloudy

First example: ƒ/1.89 1/1798 5.43 mm 50 ISO

Exposure: good
Sharpness: good
Colours: slightly too saturated
Depth of field: shallow
Distortion: none
Chromatic aberration: none
Vignetting: none
Digital noise: none

I like to take pictures before a storm, the colors of the sky are often surreal, but it's not an ideal situation to take pictures with a smartphone. The Poco F2 Pro does very well though. Smartphones tend to underexpose photos when the light is bad, it is not the case with the Poco. The photo is a little too saturated, but it captures the ominous atmosphere of the sky nicely. The depth of field is quite poor, the phone thought it would be a good idea to focus on the first ears of wheat. The background blur is artificial but the rendering is quite convincing.

Second example: ƒ/2.4 1/934 2.13 mm 50 ISO

Exposure: good
Sharpness: good
Colours: good
Depth of field: good
Distortion: none
Chromatic aberration: none
Vignetting: none
Digital noise: none

This ultra wide angle sensor does a really good job, it had already produced beautiful photos under the sun and here by this stormy weather it produces a really interesting result. The colors are less saturated than the main sensor, the depth of field is more important than with the main sensor and the sharpness is really good. The Poco automatically corrects the deformations related to this kind of sensor and it does it very well because I don't see any typical curvature of the wide angles on the edges of the photo.

Third example: ƒ/1.89 1/2601 5.43 mm 50 ISO

Exposure: slightly underexposed
Sharpness: good
Colours: slightly too saturated
Depth of field: good
Distortion: none
Chromatic aberration: none
Vignetting: none
Digital noise: none

We can see here the characteristics of the first photo with a photo darker than the wide angle and an accentuation of the saturation. The effect is probably a little exaggerated but I find the atmosphere of the moment I took the picture. There are here very important differences between the dark and light areas but only a small portion of the sky is burned, so the dynamics is rather good.

Here are some other pictures taken at the same place:


Even if from a purely technical point of view, the Poco tends to force the processing a bit, it produces good photos. The Poco offers many settings to adapt this type of effect to your tastes, you can create surrealistic photos with the combination of HDR, AI and filters but you can also produce a more neutral effect by disabling these options and reducing saturation with a filter.

Test photo / night

First example: ƒ/1.89 1/13 5.43 mm 2047 ISO


Exposure: correct
Sharpness: correct
Colours: correct
Depth of field: correct
Distortion: none
Chromatic aberration: none
Vignetting: none
Digital noise: light

I took this first picture with the main sensor without any assistance (no hdr, no night mode). The result is rather good if you look at the central area of the picture. The edges are losing sharpness (ex: the grass at the bottom right).

Second example: ƒ/2,4 1/15 2,13 mm 4411 ISO


Exposure: underexposure
Sharpness: high smoothness
Colours: too cold, appearance of mauve in the sky
Depth of field: correct
Distortion: none
Chromatic aberration: mauve in the sky
Vignetting: none
Digital noise: visible

Ultra-wide angle sensors do not produce good night-time photos and this is also true on the Poco. The photo is underexposed, details have disappeared due to heavy smoothing and the colours are too cold. The sky is turning purple. This sensor is therefore not recommended for night photos.

Third example: ƒ/1.89 1/13 5.43 mm ISO 4041


Exposure: good
Sharpness: good
Colours: correct
Depth of field: correct
Distortion: none
Chromatic aberration: none
Vignetting: none
Digital noise: light

The night mode of the Poco F2 Pro can only be used with the main sensor and that's a good thing because the result is really good. I find colors richly saturated and close to reality, the sharpness is much better than what I got on the first photo, just the grass or the foliage of the trees, the sharpness is really very good.

I took pictures at the same place with Gcam to see if the night mode of this application would give a better result.



The photo is slightly overexposed, the sharpness is less good and the colors are too cold. I used the Gcam version intended for the Redmi Note 8 Pro because at the time of writing, there was no version for the Poco F2 Pro. Gcam is generally quite unstable on the Xiaomi but I didn't have a crash with the Poco, the application works pretty well but I prefer the night mode processing of the Xiaomi application.

In night mode, the Poco is able to deliver nice night pictures, you have to be able to hold the camera without moving too much for a few seconds but it's the same for all cameras.



I'm not used to test the pro mode because I didn't see the point, the automatic mode often does a good job but there is a type of exercise for which the pro mode is absolutely necessary. Indeed to photograph a starry sky at night, the automatic mode will not produce good results because you need to be able to increase the exposure time. I was very surprised by what I got because where I live, the light pollution is very visible and the sky was slightly veiled.



The result is simply incredible. I can get better pictures with a DSLR but it takes a lot more work. I simply put the Poco F2 Pro on my garden table with a few settings in pro mode. Jupiter and Saturn can be seen very clearly on the horizon, the Milky Way is also visible, it's been a long time since I've seen it. I also recognized some other bright stars like Vega or Deneb.

Video quality

Stabilisation

Video stabilization has never been a strength of Xiaomi, most of the models I tested didn't offer efficient stabilization. The Poco F2 Pro is the first Xiaomi phone I test that offers real stabilization and it works pretty well. The shocks from my footsteps are well absorbed and the video is very smooth even if I quickly move around.



I have a second test that complicates the Poco's work because he has to recompose an image full of many details. The stabilization is effective as on the first video but we see a pixelization of the details which is corrected with a small delay.



Video normale conditions
Not yet available / tested

Video low light

Video at night is a difficult exercise for a phone because it has to constantly look for the ideal place to focus. The Poco does quite well, the focus is fast, the video doesn't have too much digital noise and the Poco can do all this in 8k. You'll need a good connection to enjoy it.

Audio quality

To test the quality of the phone's audio output, I connect the device's audio output to a measuring tool, then play sounds on all frequencies and measure the differences between the original sound and the sound produced by the phone. In this way I measure the phone's ability to correctly reproduce all sounds.
The Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro is one of the best Xiaomi phones in terms of audio and as the Poco F2 Pro seems to be strongly inspired by this model, I expected to experience a very good sound and this is the case. On a subjective listening I found the finesse of the sound of the Mi 9T Pro with probably a little less power. Not only will I compare the Poco F2 Pro to the Mi 9T Pro, but I will add the best phone I have tested in terms of audio (Galaxy S10+) to see if Xiaomi managed to attack Samsung on its territory.

Frequency Response

This test is intended to test the device's ability to correctly reproduce all frequencies. The white line in the middle of the graph is the ideal situation and the other colors come from tests on different phones. A deviation from the reference line indicates a deviation from the ideal situation. To see good sound at all frequencies, it is therefore necessary to get as close as possible to the reference line.
I compared the Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro and the Samsung Galaxy S10+ with the Poco F2 Pro and the curves are so close that it's hard to differentiate them. This means that all these phones can reproduce all frequencies very well.

The Poco F2 Pro has a slight weakness in the low tones, it looks big on the graph because I compare phones that are very close to each other but when listening I didn't notice any difference.

The Poco F2 Pro seems to offer more stable sound reproduction across all frequencies.

Is the Poco F2 Pro better than the Samsung Galaxy S10+? Not yet but it's not very far and I doubt many users can really hear the difference.

Dynamic Range

This test is designed to test a phone's ability to play sounds at different volume levels. Here too, the phones must be as close as possible to the reference.

I used the same phones for this test and apart from a difference in power, the Poco F2 Pro follows the frequency curve of the other phones, I find that its curve is quite regular except in the highest frequencies.

The Poco F2 Pro doesn't do better than the Samsung Galaxy S10+ but it's not far off.

Noise Level

This test aims to identify if the device under test is able to reproduce sounds without too much noise. A high score indicates a low parasite rate, a lower score indicates a higher presence of parasites.

The sound produced by the Poco F2 Pro is of good quality and this is also shown on this graph.

If I look at the values obtained for distortion I see that the Poco F2 Pro produces less distortion than the Samsung Galaxy S10+ but it also produces a much less powerful sound, so the comparison is not very fair.

In conclusion, I'd say that the Poco F2 Pro offers a very good sound performance at a level equivalent to the Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro and slightly lower than the Samsung Galaxy S10+. In this price range, the Poco is without doubt one of the best devices.

Screen quality

To test the screen, I use a colorimetric probe that measures the color accuracy of a screen, as well as other parameters to see if a screen is able to correctly reproduce an image. I also test the brightness level to determine if the screen will be able to display an image in full sunlight.

Colorimetry



Since the Poco F2 Pro has many similarities with the Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro, I was wondering if it could do better in terms of screen quality. After passing under the colorimetric probe, the Poco F2 Pro a dE of 1.72. With such a score, the Poco outperforms the Xiaomi and even allows itself to get very close to the Galaxy S20.

Screen quality is usually Samsung's territory. Even if this Poco F2 Pro fails to defeat Samsung, it still comes very close.

The default setting of the Poco is not good from a colorimetric point of view, you have to take the "standard" mode to obtain good colors.



Brightness / Contrast

The screen of the Poco is very bright in a natural way, I get 460 cd/m² by setting the brightness to maximum manually. I couldn't get any more it's the front sensor which is usually used to check if the brightness should be pushed higher but this sensor is inside the unit. This means that the Poco gives you right away where a Samsung Galaxy S20 can go higher, but only if it is under strong light.

The Poco F2 Pro uses a good quality Amoled screen, the blacks are truly black and the contrast is therefore infinite.

Biometry

The Poco F2 Pro is equipped with a fingerprint sensor below the display. This unlocking mode of the phone is fashionable, most phones are equipped with it nowadays. Where the Poco stands out a little is the position of this fingerprint sensor, which is usually at the bottom of the display. On the Poco the fingerprint sensor is located a little higher up on the screen and this makes unlocking much more intuitive. The success rate is also higher than what I was getting with the Mi 9T Pro but this type of fingerprint sensor is still less effective than a sensor on the back of the phone.

Since the Poco doesn't have a front camera in the screen, face-based unlocking isn't even offered when the phone starts up because that would mean having to pop out the pop-up camera each time.

Operating system

The Poco F2 Pro is sold with MIUI 11 but the interface is not quite the same as on the Redmi range. The Poco F2 Pro has an application launcher with a classification of applications by theme and a dedicated search engine. This type of launcher is much more convenient than the default Android launcher. The right-hand screens are used to place the shortcuts, so not all the applications can be found like on other Xiaomi phones.

Apart from this launcher, the experience is quite similar to what I've tested before, this application launcher on the Poco brings a real added value to the phone.

Encoutered bugs

Not yet available / tested

Accessories Poco F2 Pro

Compare Poco F2 Pro with the others

Test / Review conclusion

This new Poco is not a Poco, it is clearly a muscled Xiaomi with another name. The Poco inherits the same positioning as the Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro at the time of its launch, it could just as well have been called the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro, it wouldn't have made any difference.

On paper the Poco F2 Pro is simply the best phone in the segment around 400€, Xiaomi has even positioned it in competition with the Samsung Galaxy S20 which costs much more. So is it just a bluff? No, clearly not. This Poco F2 Pro may not be perfect in every way but it sets the bar very, very high and at the same time, I don't directly see a model capable of competing in this price range.

The Poco F2 Pro is a massive phone as is often the case with Xiaomi but you have to store this power and battery somewhere. This phone doesn't really have any defect and it allows itself to attack much more expensive phones frontally and without any complexes. The Poco F2 is very powerful, has a good autonomy, it makes beautiful pictures and offers the 5G at a more affordable price than the competition.

Is it better than the Galaxy S20? I would say yes for a number of reasons, but the Galaxy S20 fits in a lighter and more elegant format and offers a more consistent photo quality in all conditions. Unless you don't like massive phones, the price difference is not justified.

Strengths

CPU/GPU power
Screen quality
Photo/video quality
Video stabilization
Battery life
Finishing
Wifi & 4G speed

Weaknesses

GPS just about average
4G capture quality in the average

Alternatives to this product

In this price range, the Poco F2 Pro doesn't have much competition if you take all the features of the F2 Pro into account. If you take out certain features such as 5G or battery life, some other models might be an alternative. I'm thinking of the Realme X2 Pro, the Huawei P40, or some of the models at Vivo.