When it was announced, I couldn’t wait to review the new offering from POCO. In many ways, POCO X3 Pro is the spiritual successor to the POCO F1 by offering a flagship-level chipset for around €200. Yes, we’ve had the F2 Pro, but that was marketed with a more premium price while the X3 Pro fits nicely in the budget-pricing realm.
For that price you get the new SnapDragon 860 (an overclocked 855+), 6GB of RAM, 128GB of storage and a 120hz LCD screen and a 48mp camera on the rear. Cracking specs for €200.
Of course, cutbacks had to be made in order to reach that magical €200 pricepoint. It’s an IPS LCD panel instead of an Amoled, the body is plastic, although it doesn’t feel cheap and feels quite nice in hand, while the camera lens has been downgraded from the 64MP on the x3 nfc to 48MP on the X3 Pro.
Spec Champion
First up is that excellent chipset and RAM. X3 Pro is the first phone to include Qualcomm’s brand new Snapdragon 860 Soc. It’s essentially the 855+ from 2019, that’s been overclocked to provide an extra boost in performance over that flagship chip. Gaming is a big part of POCO’S marketing for the X3 Pro and the inclusion of the Adreno 640 GPU handles most games you throw at it, at high settings.
To make sure there’s little to no throttling, LiquidCool Technology 1.0+ is included to keep the performance optimal under heavy load.
POCO X3 Pro comes in couple of different RAM/storage variants. My device is the 6GB/128GB version but you can also choose from 6GB/256GB and 8GB/128-256GB. A little bonus is that all the storage is UFS 3.1. A great feature for a phone this cheap. With the X3 Pro having expandable storage, it makes little sense to buy either of the 256GB variants. Just chuck in a micro SD card and save yourself some cash.
A massive 5160 mAh battery means you won’t be worrying about reaching for the charger after heavy use. It lasted well over a day for me after heavy use and you also have the option to turn on battery saver mode if you want to squeeze every last ounce. If you do need to charge it, then you can fully charge it with the 33 watt charger in just under an hour.
Screen
We’re now n a time where a €200 phone can have a 120Hz refresh rate. That would have been inconceivable just two years ago. It’s an excellent addition that really elevates this phone so far ahead of anything priced similarly.
Unfortunately, it is an IPS LCD screen but at this price point, it’s an understandable cutback. the refresh rate keeps everything running smoothly. The Full HD+ resolution is standard these days with text and pictures looking sharp. There’s bezels around all 4 sides and a slightly larger chin but it’s still smaller than a lot of premium phones like the Nokia 8.3 5G.
With it being an IPS panel, you’ll always have trouble with the selfie camera and shading around the lens. PCO X3 Pro is no different with pretty heavy shading noticeable when the background is white. Although there are some things you can do to mitigate against that or make it less noticeable. Keep reading to find out how.
Build Quality
This is one area where POCO needed to cut costs in order to meet the €200 price point. That’s not to say POCO has skimped out on the build quality. On the front, covering the 6.7-inch Full HD+ screen is Gorilla Glass 6. On top of that, every x3 Pro comes with a pre-installed screen protector.
The rear and the chassis are plastic but it doesn’t feel like a cheap plastic. It still feels substantial in the hand and has a nice heft to it that a lot of plastic phones don’t really have. Unfortunately POCO, like some other manufacturers have plastered their logo in a massive font on the rear of the device. That branding colour does warp when hit by sunlight at certain angles.
The build is actually the same as the X3 NFC. At 9.4mm thick and weighing 215 grams, it’s not the type of phone that you can put in your pocket and almost forget about it. On the side of the chassis, there’s the power button that also functions as a fingerprint reader. I’ve always found side-mounted fingerprint scanners more stable than on-screen and the X3 Pro is no different. It’s infinitely faster at reading my fingerprint than the on-screen reader on my F2 Pro. Also included are dual stereo speakers and while not a high-end offering compared to the Mi11 or Samsung s21, they provide a clear-sounding performance if a little bit tinny when you increase the volume.
OS Delights
Say what you want about MIUI, but to Xiaomi’s credit, it has come on leaps and bounds from what it was just a year or two ago. Certainly, for the global editions of phones, you’d struggle to find any serious problems with it. There are a few bloatware apps and games that come pre-installed, all of which can be removed but you also get really handy apps like cleaner, boost performance, and Game Turbo, all of which let you run your X3 Pro at optimal levels.
MIUI 12 for POCO is the OS that is put on top of Android 11. You get the best of borsht worlds in my opinion with MIUI features like the vIDEO toolbox where you can change the style/colour of the picture on your screen to turning off the screen entirely but still being able to have Youtube videos playing.
Or you have the option of Enhanced Animation which is basically motion interpolation that smooths out images and reduces the blur of moving objects in videos. I’ve said in the past that ads were a problem in MIUI but now you only really see them when you install an app. It’s a simple process to remove the majority of ads by going to Settings – Passwords and Security – Authorisation and revoke msa. for apps like mi video and mi music you’ll have to go into those apps to stop seeing ads when using them.
Camera
The camera on POCO X3 Pro is nothing to shout home about. It’s a quad-camera setup led by a 48MP sensor which is a downgrade from the X3 NFC’s 64MP sensor. You also have an 8MP Ultrawide, 2MP Macro, and 2MP depth sensor.
I will never not be frustrated by phone companies choosing to include a 2MP macro sensor. Either put in a 5MP or higher OR don’t include a Macro and put in a better ultrawide or main sensor. Priorities, folks. In saying that, I don’t think anyone who buys a phone for around €200 should expect world-leading camera performance. If you want that, go buy the Mi11.
Design-wise it’s the same layout as the X3 NFC which is disappointing. The circular camera setup is outdated at this point and thankfully POCO has changed it for their F3 device to be more in line with the Xiaomi Mi series of devices. There’s a single punch hole selfie camera on the front. it’s a 20MP sensor that can record video in 1080p – 30fps. Like all camera setups on POCO phones, customization is a big feature. Settings like vlog mode, slow motion, clone are with checking out.
Shady Selfie
It’s not a small punch hole unfortunately and like many selfie cameras on LCD screens, there’s a bit of shading around the lens. One way to limit the effect of the shading is to switch to dark mode. You only see the shading when the screen is white. you also save battery life by switching to dark mode.
In Conclusion
POCO X3 Pro is a ludicrously good offering for around €200. For that you get a flaghship-level SoC, a massive battery, 120hz screen and a healthy amount of RAM , this phone blows the competition out of the water. While the POCO branding on the back is an eyesore and hopefully a one off, POCO X3 Pro feels nice in the hand and even though the rear and chassis are plastic.
MIUI has come on leaps and bounds and there was even a recent update that should improve stability even further. While the camera is a pretty bog-standard affair, you shouldn’t expect outstanding camera performance from these types of phones. It’s the specs that should make you want the POCO X3 Pro.