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POCO X4 Pro 5G Impressions: Pro, No Mo’

Yural Maskey

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March 8, 2022

POCO has recently announced the POCO X4 Pro as the successor to the last year’s POCO X3 Pro—which if you remember was the best gaming phone in the mid-range segment. And naturally, we would expect this year’s X4 Pro to be a gaming-centric phone as well, right? But this isn’t a gaming phone by any means. Having used the POCO X4 Pro 5G for about a day, this is my early impression of the phone.

In terms of pricing, the 6/128GB and 8/256GB variants of the device go for EUR 299 and EUR 349. So, yeah, it’s definitely priced higher than the last year’s POCO X3 Pro.

POCO X4 Pro 5G Specifications:

Body (W x H x D): 76.1 x 164.19 x 8.12mm, 205 gm
Display: 6.67-inches AMOLED, 120Hz refresh rate, up to 360Hz touch sampling, 1200 nits (peak), DCI-P3 Gorilla Glass 5
Resolution: FHD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels), 20:9 aspect ratio
Chipset: Snapdragon 695 (6nm Mobile Platform)
Memory: 6/8GB LPDDR4X RAM, 128/256GB UFS 2.2 storage (expandable)
Software & UI: MIUI 13 for POCO on top of Android 11
Rear Camera: Triple (108MP f/1.9 primary, 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide, 2MP macro)
Front Camera: 16MP f/2.4 sensor (punch-hole)
Audio: Stereo speakers, 3.5mm headphone jack
Security: Side-mounted fingerprint sensor, Face unlock
Connectivity: 5G, Dual-band WiFi, Bluetooth 5.1
Battery: 5000mAh with 67W fast charge
Color Options: POCO Yellow, Laser Black, Laser Blue
Price in Nepal: N/A (not launched yet)

POCO X4 Pro 5G Impressions:

If you look at the overall specs sheet of the POCO X4 Pro, it looks pretty much identical to that of the Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G. It has the same 6.7-inch AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, the same 108MP triple camera setup, and the same Snapdragon 695 5G chipset.

The only difference you’ll find here is the design on the back. While the Note 11 Pro brings a matte finish, the X4 Pro settles for a glossy look that reflects lights from the bottom. The camera layout is also quite different here with such an unnecessarily big and wide module, which to be honest, I am not a big fan of. But I can certainly see people liking such design choices.

Nothing new

And that’s about it! The POCO X4 Pro, which I expected to be a gaming phone, to begin with, is basically a rebranded Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G. As Anupam Mittal from Shark Tank India says, “Mujhe valuation sunkay chakkar aaraha hai”. And that’s what’s exactly happened with this phone.

I just don’t get why POCO, which is now an independent brand, decided to copy everything from its ex-parent company Xiaomi and launch it as a new phone of its own. Besides, POCO’s X-series is supposed to be home to ultra-competitive gaming phones for the OG gamer community.

And speaking on their behalf, it’s fair to say that they just don’t care if the X4 Pro has a flagship 108MP camera sensor or a design that shines. Heck, they don’t even want an AMOLED screen, as long as the display has a high refresh rate and a fast touch sampling rate.

So yeah, I would have liked it if POCO had launched this phone in a different series or maybe simply named it the POCO X4, and then launched the X4 Pro with a beefier chipset instead.

Still considerable—but not for gamers

Then again, if you are not a gamer, the X4 Pro is actually not a bad phone by any means. I can say that because I’ve been using the Redmi Note 11 Pro myself for the past couple of days, and there is definitely some quality of life improvements over last year’s Note 10 Pro here.

For instance, you get a very good AMOLED display on the POCO X4 Pro with a fast 120Hz refresh rate, while the touch sampling rate has been bumped from 240Hz on last year’s X3 Pro to 360Hz as well.

As a result, typing up stuff here is a satisfying experience and more importantly, the faster touch sampling rate is also a big plus when playing fast-paced games. Yet, POCO has downgraded the display protection from Gorilla Glass 6 to Gorilla Glass 5 this time—whereas this OLED display still doesn’t integrate an in-display fingerprint reader.

On the other hand, its stereo speakers are pretty loud and you will certainly enjoy watching videos on this phone. And despite featuring a big 5000mAh battery, POCO has maintained the overall design aesthetics of the phone pretty well. At 205 grams, it has the right heft to it and the phone doesn’t end up feeling cheap or anything.

Faster charging, better cameras

Additionally, the X4 Pro supports a faster 67W charging that takes it from 0 to 100% in just 41 minutes according to POCO.

Daytime

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In my preliminary tests, I’ve found its camera to be fairly good enough as well. From what I can tell, it’s definitely better than the POCO X3 Pro and even the more expensive POCO F3.

But since they have included such expensive hardware in the display, camera, and design department, POCO had to compromise somewhere else to keep the price low. And yes, that’s in the chipset itself.

The Snapdragon 695 that’s powering the X4 Pro is a fairly capable 5G chipset, but it is nowhere near what Snapdragon 860 on the POCO X3 Pro offered. It can’t hit 60fps in most games including PUBG Mobile and Genshin Impact even when lowering the graphics quality.

POCO X4 Pro 5G Impressions: Final Words

So yes, this is absolutely not the affordable gaming phone that many of us were hoping for, but is rather a balanced midrange device that should appeal to the mainstream consumers. Having said that, I would certainly love to see the true successor of the POCO X3 Pro in the coming months! I hope you will make that happen, POCO!

Check out our unboxing and impression video of the POCO X4 Pro 5G.

Redmi Note 11 Pro Impressions: A Decent Iterative Upgrade

Yural Maskey

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March 8, 2022

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Redmi Note 11 Pro Impressions: A Decent Iterative Upgrade

In this article, I will share my early impression of the newly launched Redmi Note 11 Pro. The smartphone is launching soon here in the South Asian market starting with India—and it will be followed by other markets shortly. If you recall, last year’s Note 10 Pro was an incredible all-rounder phone, probably even the midrange phone of the year. And naturally, the expectation from this year’s Note 11 Pro is quite high!

Redmi Note 11 Pro Specifications:

Body: 164.19 x 76.1 x 8.12mm; 202 grams
Display: 6.67” FHD+ AMOLED DotDisplay, 120Hz refresh rate, 360Hz touch sampling rate
Chipset: MediaTek Helio G96 (12nm Mobile Platform)
Memory: 6/8GB LPDDR4X RAM, 64GB/128GB UFS 2.2 storage
Software & UI: Android 11 with MIUI 13
Rear Camera: Quad (108MP primary, 8MP Ultrawide, 2MP macro, 2MP depth)
Front Camera: 16MP f/2.4 sensor (punch-hole cutout)
Audio: Stereo speaker setup, 3.5mm headphone jack
Security: Side-mounted fingerprint sensor, Face unlock
Sensors: Accelerometer, Ambient Light, Gyro, Electronic Compass, IR Blaster
Battery: 5000mAh with 67W fast charging
Color Options: Atlantic Blue, Graphite Gray, Polar White
Price in Nepal: N/A (not launched yet)

Redmi Note 11 Pro Impressions:

By the way, Xiaomi has released 2 variants of the phone so far. One is the 4G variant with a modest Helio G96 chipset while the 5G-ready model comes with Snapdragon 695. Besides this, the rest of the specs are pretty identical on these phones. I, for one, have been using the 4G variant for a couple of days alongside the Poco X4 Pro, which is technically the 5G variant of the Note 11 Pro.

Now as for the pricing, the base 6/64GB variant of the Note 11 Pro goes for USD 299, while its higher variant (8/128GB) costs USD 349.

Design

If you compare this phone with last year’s Note 10 Pro Max—features by features—the Note 11 Pro might seem a little underwhelming and not much of an upgrade. But after using it for a couple of days, I have found a bunch of major quality of life improvements here.

First off, I think this design looks relatively modern and more robust than its predecessor. It has this flat design language with sharp edges that looks pretty similar to the more expensive Xiaomi 11i Hypercharge.

The back also has gorilla glass protection while it’s not glossy too—just the way I like it. As a result, fingerprints and smudges are much less prominent here. It retains the right amount of heft and isn’t too heavy or too light as well.

So, design-wise, I see the Note 11 Pro as a great quality of life upgrade and I think most of you will like what Xiaomi has done on this front.

In terms of port selection, it doesn’t skip on the 3.5mm headphone jack, an IR blaster, or stereo speakers either. Its audio output gets quite loud, to be honest. And while it obviously struggles in terms of low frequencies, it’s still good enough for watching movies and listening to songs.

Display

Likewise, the display is another area where the company has fine-tuned it over last year’s Note 10 Pro. On paper, their 6.7-inch Full HD AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate sounds identical, but the Note 11 Pro brings a brighter screen: 700 nits vs 450 nits. It can still reach up to 1200 nits under HDR contents though.

Plus, it is also more responsive now, since Xiaomi has bumped the touch response rate from 180Hz to 360Hz. With this, I could instantly notice just how responsive the touch is here, which feels like something you’d find on a more expensive mid-range phone.

Not only that, it seems that the company has even optimized the fluidity of the 120Hz refresh rate. Last year’s Note 10 Pro was plagued with a lot of micro stutters and jitters. But this time around, I haven’t faced such issues yet.

Helio G96

Then again, Note 11 Pro’s overall performance isn’t much of an upgrade over its predecessor—especially the 4G variant. In all fairness, the Helio G96 chipset inside this phone is perfectly fine for your day-to-day tasks as I didn’t notice any lags or even a hint of sluggishness here. Apps open up quick enough and the multitasking experience has been decent too.

But, the G96 doesn’t deliver the most stable experience or the highest fps numbers if you play a lot of games. Here, PUBG mobile can only hit Smooth graphics and Ultra-frame rates, which is strictly average gaming performance. I’ll definitely be testing out more games for the full review but even now, I can confidently recommend you get the 5G variant if gaming’s a priority for you. On top of faster performance, it is well… 5G compatible as well.

Still Android 11

Sadly, both the 4G and 5G models of the Redmi Note 11 Pro boot on last year’s Android 11 out of the box. It does bring the latest MIUI 13, but Android 11 in 2022 is a bit concerning on a mid-range phone like this if you ask me. And that’s because, unlike flagship or semi-flagship phones, they don’t have the luxury of getting 3 or 4 years of updates. Even if Xiaomi says; “hey, this phone will receive 2 years of OS upgrades”, the reality is that it’s only going to be updated up to Android 13.

Cameras

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Anyway, there’s a quad-camera setup at the back with a 108MP primary, an 8MP ultra-wide, and 2MP depth and macro lenses. Funnily enough, the 5G variant skips a 2MP depth sensor and comes with a triple camera setup instead.

During my initial tests, I am not that impressed with the photos that I have captured so far, to be honest. Still, I do think its color optimization is slightly better as compared to last year’s Note 10 Pro.

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Here, the photos aren’t that oversaturated—neither are they contrast heavy. It can take some good images from the main as well as the selfie camera under good lighting conditions. But I still think that this camera—especially the 108MP primary lens—is behind what Samsung or even Realme is offering at this price segment.

Plus, I am pretty surprised to see the lack of 4K as well as 60fps recording option here—both of which were present on the Redmi Note 10 Pro. As things stand, you can only record videos in 1080p 30fps on this phone. The Helio G96 does support 4K 30fps recording but I think since Snapdragon 695 on the more expensive 5G variant maxes out at 1080p videos, Xiaomi has hesitated on enabling the 4K option here.

Battery

Getting to the battery, it’s the same 5000mAh cell as last year. And I’ve managed to get similar endurance with it—which is around 5 hours of onscreen time. Not that great, but still good enough considering this 5-hour SOT is under heavy usage that includes gaming for an hour or so, taking photos and videos, and watching movies as well. So, if you are a comparatively moderate class of users, it should easily provide a day worth of usage.

Moreover, charging up the phone is pretty fast with the provided 67W brick. It only takes 30 minutes to go from 0 to 75%, while a full charge takes less than 50 minutes.

Redmi Note 11 Pro Impressions: Final Words

So, as I mentioned at the beginning, the Redmi Note 11 Pro is all about the quality of life improvements. It’s like what Apple did going from iPhone 12 to the iPhone 13. And Xiaomi’s philosophy here is basically “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. On top of that, they have definitely offered a better design, a better display, superior camera optimization, as well as faster charging speed this time around.

Check out our unboxing and impression video of the Redmi Note 11 Pro.

Samsung Galaxy F23 5G with Snapdragon 750G official in India; won’t launch in Nepal

Samsung

GadgetByte

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March 8, 2022

1

Samsung Galaxy F23 5G with Snapdragon 750G official in India; won’t launch in Nepal

Samsung has just announced the successor to last year’s Galaxy F22 smartphone—the Galaxy F23 5G. It’s the first F-series phone to feature a 120Hz display with Gorilla Glass 5 protection. Now, let’s go through the specs, features, availability, and expected price of the Samsung Galaxy F23 5G in Nepal.

Samsung Galaxy F23 5G Overview:

Design and Display

Starting off with the design, like its predecessor, the Galaxy F23 5G still has a waterdrop style notch on the front. However, the rear camera island is now rectangular in shape while the back panel has a clean matte finish. The smartphone is available in two colors options— Aqua Blue and Forest Green.

Over on the front, the device boasts a 6.6-inch screen. It’s not an AMOLED panel, yet the device now has Full HD+ resolution—up from HD+ screen on the F22. Also, as aforementioned, it’s the first F-series phone to feature a 120Hz refresh rate with Gorilla Glass 5 protection.

Also Read:

Performance

Moving on, the phone will ship with Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G processor. It’s an octa-core chipset with two Cortex-A77 cores and six Cortex-A55 cores. It’s coupled with up to 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. The device also supports a RAM expansion feature of up to 12GB while the storage is also expandable via a microSD card up to 1TB.

Furthermore, it comes with power-cool technology to keep the smartphone cool. Over on the software front, it boots on Android 12 based OneUI 4.1. Additionally, Samsung has promised to provide 2 years of major OS upgrades and 4 years of security patches. Fueling the smartphone is a 5000mAh battery that supports 25W of fast charging.