Back in the spring of this year, the Poco F4 GT was a gaming phone that featured some impressive specifications and a striking appearance. Now it is being joined by the basic Poco F4, a phone that is more subdued but also one that is more reasonable and is excellent for anyone searching for an all-around gadget that offers good value.
I’ve put the Poco F4 through its paces to determine how well it handles day-to-day use, how well the cameras perform, and how well the design holds up, among other things.
Design & Build
- Sleek but generic design
- IP53 rating
- No headphone jack
Black, silver, and green are the three colour options for the Poco F4 smartphone that you may purchase. Even if the design isn’t over the top as it was on the GT (or on some of the previous Poco versions), it’s almost to the point where it doesn’t differentiate itself from the rest of the pack at all. The Poco F4 is a good example of how Poco smartphones currently do not have a design language that is uniquely their own.
It has a thickness of 7.7 millimetres and weighs only 195 grammes, so it is quite svelte. Even though it has a very thin frame, it has a solid feel to it, and the IP53 rating ensures that it will be protected from some dust and light rain. When compared to competitors like the Realme 9 Pro+, the fact that the F4 has any kind of waterproofing at all on a phone that costs this much makes it more competitive.
The Poco F4, just like the GT variant, does not have a headphone jack, which may be a deal-breaker for certain individuals (but likely not many in this age of Bluetooth headphones). I discovered that the side-mounted fingerprint scanner that is located on the power button worked properly.
When operating in demanding environments, the Poco F4’s seven-layer structure for dissipating heat and its vapour chamber cooling technology are both designed to keep the chip at an optimal temperature. When you play games, the temperature of the phone itself might reach dangerous levels.
Screen & Speakers
- 120Hz refresh rate
- Stereo speakers
- Variable refresh rate
The Poco F4 features a 6.67-inch FHD+ AMOLED display that is compatible with Dolby Vision and has a refresh rate of 120 hertz. This display is one of the nicest aspects of the device. The display on this phone is different from the one on the F3, and Xiaomi claims that it makes colours look more vibrant, improves visibility, and enhances HDR performance.
I wasn’t able to make a head-to-head comparison between the F4 and the F3, but I can say that both still images and videos look fantastic on this screen. Because of its sufficient brightness, I was able to use it even when the sun was shining directly on it without experiencing an excessive amount of glare. It also wasn’t necessary for me to have the brightness all the way up all the time.
This display on this phone has a variable refresh rate, which means that it may flip between 60Hz and 120Hz based on the activity that you are participating in on the phone. This results in a fluid scrolling experience when going through feeds on social media platforms, but a reduced refresh rate at other times in order to save battery power. You also have the option of keeping it locked to either one or the other all the time.
The F4 is equipped with stereo speakers that are compatible with Dolby Atmos. The audio that comes out of both ends of the phone is loud and powerful, and even the music has clarity and depth to it, despite the fact that there is not much bass.
Specs & Performance
- Up to 8GB RAM + 256GB storage
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 processor
- Decent daily performance
The Poco F4 is powered by a chipset known as the Snapdragon 870. Although it isn’t quite the most up-to-date processor on the market, it does give very smooth performance and is extremely adept of multitasking without any hiccups. It is even capable of running challenging games such as Genshin Impact on lesser settings, albeit at medium graphics settings the game does experience considerable lag due to its high level of complexity.
In our benchmark testing, you’ll be able to see how the F4 stacks up against other Android phones, including the F4 GT.
Poco F4 benchmarks
Therefore, the performance is satisfactory; however, there is a problem: it is identical to the Poco F3, which means that there is absolutely no reason to upgrade if you currently own the Poco F3 phone.
You can read our interview with the global head of Poco, who attributes this choice to Qualcomm’s failure to release a new inexpensive chip that is a worthy replacement for the Snapdragon 870. You can find the interview here.
Cameras
- 64Mp main camera with OIS
- Mixed night mode
- Video up to 4K at 60fps
The Poco F4 boasts a 64-megapixel camera with optical image stabilisation, an 8-megapixel wide-angle camera, and a 2-megapixel macro camera.
During the day, it is much simpler to take a photograph that is of decent quality, with clear details and distinct textures. This phone, like many others in its price range, has an HDR setting that is on the powerful side, which causes the colours to look highly vibrant but also a little artificial. On sunny days, the camera is also susceptible to flare, which is caused by the sun.
The most significant improvement over the Poco F3 is the inclusion of OIS. Even when the lighting was poor, the photos that were captured still looked fine and had acceptable colour. However, when there are strong lights in the frame, the F4 has some difficulty performing well at night. In general, the results aren’t quite as striking as those obtained by other phones in the same price range.
Optical image stabilisation (OIS) does help stabilise moving subjects and reduce motion blur in some instances, however, this effect is inconsistent.
Even if Portrait mode blurs the background somewhat, it lacks sharpness and detail, which is notably noticeable in low light. The clarity and sharpness of wide-angle images taken with the 8-megapixel lens are not as good as those taken with the primary camera, and the colours are not as vibrant. However, it is still useful for taking pictures of landscapes or groups of people.
The macro camera, much like the cameras on other affordable mid-range smartphones, is not particularly outstanding. In point of fact, compared to the 5-megapixel macro camera found in the F3, this one only has 3 megapixels.
You can record video in resolutions up to 4K at 60 frames per second. The audio is captured effectively by the built-in microphones, and the video itself is quite clear and has vivid colours that pop out at you. Stabilization, which may be used to smooth out unsteady hands or movement while walking, is only available in 1080p at 30 frames per second, though.
A punch-hole selfie camera with 20 megapixels can be found on the front of the device, centred in the display at the top. The quality of this camera is also a bit of a mixed bag. When utilising portrait mode, the colours come out just fine, but various textures, such as the strands of hair on a subject’s head, can get lost in the background blur. The fact that the majority of phones that implement this blurring effect via software are plagued by the same problems is not a huge surprise.
Battery Life & Charging
- 67W fast charging
- Just over a day’s battery life
- No wireless charging
The battery life of the Poco F4, much like that of the F3, is hardly something to brag about. The F4 has a cell that has a capacity of 4500mAh, however, the battery struggled to keep the phone powered for a full day even when it was set to the maximum refresh rate, plenty of games were played on it, and it was used while out and about on 5G.
This is evident in our benchmarks as well, where the phone was able to last for only 8 hours and 26 minutes, which is significantly less than the F4 GT and the F3. However, if you use it sparingly and make the most of its variable refresh rate and power saver settings, the phone will last significantly longer than it would otherwise.
The 67W fast-charging technology performs exactly how you require it to by rapidly recharging the battery to 85% capacity in exactly thirty minutes. Even though it’s not the fastest charging we’ve seen, it’s still plenty quick enough that even a five-minute charge will still do enough to give you a few more hours of use out of the phone. It’s not the fastest charging we’ve seen, but it’s plenty quick enough.
During the charging process, both the phone and the charger itself might become rather warm.
Software
- App bloat on MIUI 13
- Based on Android 12
MIUI 13, Xioami’s skin on top of Android 12, is what powers the Poco F4 smartphone. Poco has not yet disclosed when it plans to release an Android update or how many years’ worth of security patches it will receive. After its release, we are aware that it took around five months for the F3 to receive the most recent operating system upgrade.
The Poco F4 continues in the tradition of Xiaomi’s other products, which is to cram the software with an excessive number of programmes that cannot be removed. The Poco store app is the worst offenders because it is a storefront that only offers Poco phones (which you probably won’t find to be very useful if you’ve just purchased the F4) and one Poco wearable item.
When you swipe down from the right-hand side of the screen, the control centre will appear, and when you swipe down from the left-hand side, the list of alerts will appear. Personally, I like the typical Android setup, in which the two are bundled together and stored in the same location, to be the most convenient.
Of course, it’s not all bad news; the operating system makes excellent use of the brilliant display by providing a variety of customization options for the panel, such as Vivid, Saturated, and Original. Altering the colours on the display so that they respond differently to the lighting in the room or giving them a certain shade tint based on a colour wheel are all options.
MIUI is not the cleanest skin of Android that is currently available, and frequent Google users will notice some obvious layout variations between this phone and a device that runs stock Android.
Price & Availability
Prices for the Poco F4 begin at £379/€399/32,999 for the model with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage; however, you have the option of paying £429/€449 for the variant with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. The most expensive version in India has 12 gigabytes of random access memory (RAM), and 256 gigabytes of storage space, and costs 39,999 rupees.
You can purchase it from both the Poco store and Amazon; during the time this review was being written, the Poco store was running a special that included a free Poco Watch. Poco’s suggested retail price was reduced by £20 after the discount from Amazon. At the time that I am writing this, it was not feasible to get a monthly service plan for the Poco F4.
The F4, much like other phones made by Poco, is not sold in the United States; nevertheless, readers in the United States are able to import it from websites such as Aliexpress.
The Poco phone provides a lot considering how much it costs. The performance is comparable to that of several higher-priced mid-range handsets, and the screen is wonderful for watching films on.
The F4 is more expensive by £50 or €50 compared to the F3, which provides a very similar experience for a price that is more reasonable; hence, it is difficult to justify spending more on the F4 merely for the inclusion of OIS and fast-charging capabilities. We would also recommend the Google Pixel 6a and the OnePlus Nord 2T at a price that is comparable to this one.
Check out our rankings of the best mid-range phones and the top Xiaomi phones to get an idea of how Poco’s competitors stack up. Xiaomi is Poco’s parent brand.
Verdict
The Poco F4 continues the history of the Poco F3 by being an excellent performer across the board in the middle price category. It features an impressive AMOLED display, quick charging, and (despite not having an upgrade) impressive performance that is more than acceptable, especially if you want to play some games on it. Additionally, it is water resistant to some degree.
The cameras aren’t the finest you’ll find for the price, and it’s quite difficult to justify the price jump when there’s very little change between the old phone and the new one, as was said earlier.
It is possible that it is still a good mid-ranger, but you would be better off purchasing the F3 for less money rather than investing the additional money in the F4.
Specs
- Android 12 with MIUI 13
- 6.67in Full HD+ (1080×2400) 20:9 AMOLED, 120Hz
- Corning Gorilla Glass 5 display
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 processor
- 6/8/12GB RAM
- 128/256GB internal storage
- 64Mp, f/1.79, main camera with OIS
- 8Mp, f/2.2 ultrawide
- 2Mp, f/2.4 macro
- 20Mp, f/2.45 selfie camera
- Video up to 4K @60fps
- Fingerprint scanner (in the power button)
- Wi-Fi 6
- Bluetooth 5.2
- GPS
- NFC
- 5G
- Dual Nano SIM
- USB-C
- IP53
- Stereo speakers
- 4500mAh non-removable battery
- Fast charging 67W
- 163.2 x 75.95 x 7.7 mm
- 195g