Rocking state of the art hardware along with an attractive build and design at a competitive price is no longer reserved for the bold few. We have seen a number of devices bring with them state of the art hardware, an impressive build and a price point that sometimes sounds too good to be true. A new addition in this category is a venture from Xiaomi called the Pocophone F1. The smartphone has some pretty impressive hardware under the hood including liquid cooling, a feature we first saw on the Nokia Lumia 950 and the 950XL back in 2015. Before we delve deep into the features of the Poco F1, here is a look at how it stacks up against the competition on paper.
| Particulars | Poco F1 | Honor 10 | Asus Zenfone 5Z | OnePlus 6 |
| Display Size | 5.99-inch | 5.84-inch | 6.2-inch | 6.28-inch |
| Display Resolution | 2280×1080 | 2280×1080 | 2246×1080 | 2280×1080 |
| Rear Camera | 12+5MP | 16MP+24MP | 12MP+8MP | 16MP+20MP |
| Front Camera | 20MP | 24MP | 8MP | 16MP |
| Built-in Storage | 64GB/128GB /256GB | 128GB | 64GB/128GB /256GB | 64GB/128GB /256GB |
| RAM | 6GB/8GB | 6GB | 6GB/8GB | 6GB/8GB |
| CPU | Snapdragon 845 | Hisilicon Kirin 970 | Snapdragon 845 | Snapdragon 845 |
| Battery | 4000mAh | 3400mAh | 3300mAh | 3300mAh |
Kicking things off with the display, all the displays on the smartphones in this comparison house a notch. The notch on the Poco F1 is wider than what we’ve seen on other devices and that’s because it houses an IR blaster. This will help face unlock work in the dark, something other Android smartphones with face unlock have suffered with. With an IPS LCD display, you can expect pretty good colour reproduction along with good viewing angles. How this compares to the Optic AMOLED display on the OnePlus 6 is something we will tell you in our review. As you can see from the table above, the display size and resolution are nearly at par on all the devices.
When it comes to the processor and RAM combination, all the devices (except the Honor 10, which runs on the Kirin 970) run on the Snapdragon 845 platform which is the best Qualcomm has to offer as of today. 6GB is the minimum amount of RAM on any of the devices, so you can expect it to be a multitasking and gaming beast. How the Poco F1 pushes itself ahead of the competition and takes advantage of liquid cooling is yet to be seen. In our experience with all the devices (except the Poco F1), the performance of all the devices has been pretty good overall. The Picophone F1 has its job cut out if it needs to impress on the performance front.
When it comes to optics, the Asus Zenfone 5Z, OnePlus 6 and Honor 10 bring their A game be it with bokeh effects, low light photography, and even selfies. We haven’t spent enough time with the Poco F1's camera, but it looks like it will give the competition a run for its money.
If there is one place where the Poco F1 has an advantage above the competition on paper it is with battery. The smartphone houses a behemoth 4000mAh battery and if the smartphone has optimized its battery consumption, then this may be the work horse everyone wants. The Poco F1 also supports fast charging.
The 8GB/256GB variant Picophone F1 comes with a Kevlar back which makes the smartphone feel unique in one’s hands. The Honor 10 has its fancy dual coloured back whereas the OnePlus 6 and Zenfone 5Z are glass all over. Design could be the one place where the Poco F1 could really distinguish itself from the competition.
The Poco F1 6GB RAM, 64GB storage variant is priced at Rs 20,999. The 6GB RAM, 128GB variant of the phone is priced at Rs 23,999. The top of the line 8GB RAM and 256GB storage variant is priced at Rs 28,999. The Kevlar armoured edition with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage is priced at Rs. 29,999. Seeing the price point of the Poco F1, it has aggressively taken on the other phones in this comparison. Stay tuned as we will bring you an in-depth look at the Poco F1 in our review.