The Pocophone that we have been hearing of so often lately is finally a reality in India. Xiaomi officially launched the F1, the first from the budget-oriented sub-brand which comes across as an affordable device while still featuring top-of-the-line specs.
Of course, corners have been cut, but according to the Chinese manufacturer, they have got the competition covered where it matters the most, that of performance and battery life. Xiaomi also stated their Poco venture is backed by extensive research to find out what the buyers at large look for the most in a phone. That also explains the rather odd plastic cladding at the rear which the company justified saying the rear, in any case, is always covered with a case and should not make much of a difference either.
The specs are top notch though, and the highlight here is, of course, the Snapdragon 845 chipset and Qualcomm Adreno 630 GPU that makes up the core of the device. Three is going to be either a 6 GB or 8 GB RAM version while the choice of internal storage would include 64 GB, 128 GB and 256 GB for the top-end model.
Upfront, it’s a 6.18-inch 1080p display that would be dominating things though the overall design isn’t anything to cry home about. For there exist tiny bezels along the sides while the same along the top and bottom can be considered a bit substantial going by today’s standards. The display is of 18.7:9 aspect ratio while there also is a Gorilla Glass 3 layer on top.
The latter bit again is another aspect where Xiaomi tried to save on component costs given that its Gorilla Glass 6 that is available now.
As for the optics, there is the 20-megapixel camera at the front for accurate selfies. The rear boasts of a dual camera set up, comprising of a 12 megapixel and 5 megapixels. Then there are active AI back software enhancements available as well, something that has become almost the de-facto standard on even mid-range phones.
The rest of the specs include a 4000mAh battery along with Android 8.1 Oreo as the OS. There will also be the MIUI 9.6 running on top, one that will soon be upgraded to version 10.
Security features include the rear-mounted fingerprint sensor as well as face unlocking.
Saving the best for the least, owning the Pocophone F1 won’t be akin to breaking the banks. The base model with 6 GB RAM and 64 GB of ROM is priced INR 20,999 while the model with the same 6 GB RAM but 128 GB of storage will cost INR 23,999. Similarly, the version with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage will set one back INR 28,999. Then there also is the special Armoured Edition that too comes with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage and will cost INR 29,999.
Availability starts 29 Aug 2018 via Xiaomi’s own website and Flipkart.
