Poco’s new flagship, the F5 is finally here. This time around, instead of an 8-series chip, the company has opted for the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 1 SoC with features like a 12-bit OLED screen, 5000 mAh battery, and it even comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack.
With a starting price of Rs 29,999, the Poco F5 aims to be the next performance-oriented phone for the masses like the company’s first offering — the Poco F1.
Other than the performance, does the Poco F5 has everything that one expects from a phone of this price range? I have been daily driving the device for over two weeks. Here is my review of the Poco F5.
Poco F5 design: Practical but not fancy
The Poco F5 is one of the lightest phones of this year with a 5,000mAh battery. The company has achieved this using a plastic back panel and a plastic frame. The phone feels surprisingly light to hold, and the back panel is finished in such a way that the phone doesn’t feel cheap and also makes it resilient to breakage, unlike a phone with a glass back panel.
The inclusion of a stereo speaker setup with Dolby Atmos, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and the phone even has an IP54 rating for water and dust resistance. Overall, the phone is designed to be practical rather than flashy and a soft silicon case is included in the box, adding more value to the whole package.
Poco F5 display: One of the best in the segment
While I prefer a curved display over a flat panel any day, the Poco F5 is an exception. Despite having a flat screen, it amazed me with its higher screen-to-body ratio with negligible and uniform bezels. The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5, and it even comes with a pre-applied screen protector.
This 6.67-inch FHD+ panel also has Dolby Vision support, and the company markets it as a 12-bit panel although the processor only supports up to 10-bit colour processing. In the real world, the display is bright, colourful, and very responsive. On top of that, it even supports Dolby Vision playback on Netflix, making it a great device for content consumption.
While the side-mounted fingerprint sensor is fast and responsive, I would have loved to see an in-display fingerprint sensor. Overall, the Poco F5 definitely has one of the best displays on sub-Rs 30,000 smartphones in 2023.
Poco F5 camera performance
The Poco F5 has a triple camera setup with a 64 MP primary sensor with OIS, an 8 MP ultra-wide angle lens, and then a 2 MP macro lens. Similarly, there is also a 16 MP selfie camera at the front.
While I wasn’t expecting much from the cameras, I was really impressed with the primary camera performance. From the quickest shutter speed in the segment to support for up to 4k video recording, the Poco F5 is a good camera phone, if not the best.
If you are looking for a camera-centric device at this price range, we definitely recommend you check out devices like the Pixel 6a.
Here are some camera samples from the Poco F5.
Poco F5 Performance
The Poco F5 is the country’s first phone with the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 1 SoC. Its performance is similar to phones with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 sans heating issues. On AnTuTu, the device scored 9.1 lakh points, again, similar to phones with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC.
I played several games on this phone, including BGMI, CoD Mobile, Pure Sniper, Modern Strike, and Traffic Rider. In most games, the device performed well and, despite being a mid-range phone, delivered flagship-like gaming performance thanks to the new chip. Interestingly, the base model offers 256 GB of internal storage and 8 GB of RAM and the high-end model offers 12 GB of RAM.
It runs on MIUI 14 based on Android 13 and will receive two Android updates and four years of security updates. Although MIUI doesn’t feel as intuitive as OneUI or even OxygenOS/ColorOS, there aren’t any major bugs or glitches that hinder the user experience.
Poco F5 Battery and Connectivity
The Poco F5 boasts a 5,000 mAh battery with support for 67W fast charging, and the charger is included in the box. On most days, the phone can easily last the entire day and provide over 6 hours of screen-on-time.
I tested the phone with the Jio network, and its 5G performance was on par with other devices. Overall, it offers above-average battery life, considering plenty of phones support even faster charging standards. The phone has two nano SIM card slots and the Poco F5 does not support memory expansion.
Verdict: Delivering on Basics
The Poco F5 can be considered a mid-range gaming phone, thanks to its fast processor, great display, good battery life, above-average camera, and the inclusion of a 3.5mm headphone jack. It is one of the few phones in this price range that focuses primarily on the user experience rather than being flamboyant in one or two departments.
With the base model featuring 8GB RAM and 256 GB storage costing less than Rs 30,000, this is one of the best mid-range phones in the country. When combined with the 2-year warranty, the Poco F5 becomes a compelling package that will impress most users.
