Poco M6 5G Review: Bringing 5G To The Masses

The Poco M6 5G is available in three variants for purchase in India. The base variant of the phone with 4GB RAM and 128GB storage retails for Rs.10,499, while the 6GB RAM and 128GB storage variant costs Rs.11,499.

In addition, there is another variant of the phone with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage that sells for Rs.13,499.The phone is available for purchase in Galactic Black and Orion Blue colours on Flipkart.

The Poco M6 5G comes with the following items inside the box

• 10W Charger
• Handset
• USB Type-C Cable
• Sim Eject Tool
• Documentation

Before we talk in detail about the device, let’s see what the on-paper specs look like:

• Display: 6.74-inch IPS LCD
• Chipset: MediaTek Dimensity 6100 Plus
• RAM & ROM: 4GB 128GB, 6GB 128GB,8GB 256GB
• Software: Android 13
• Rear camera: 50-megapixel+0.08-megapixel
• Selfie camera: 5-megapixel
• Battery: 5,000mAh
• Weight: 192 grams
• Dimensions: 168 x 78 x 8 mm

The Poco M6 5G is a rebrand of the Redmi 13C 5G and features a plastic back design on the back. The Orion Blue colour has a shimmery design that reflects under lighting.

The phone feels good to hold in the hand and does not collect any fingerprints or smudges. There are two large circles on the back housing the dual-camera setup and an LED flash sitting next to it. You also get a POCO branding in a black frame.

The device weighs around 192 grams and is 8.1mm thick. Despite its huge size, holding it in the hand does not feel uncomfortable, and the plastic back provides a good grip.

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Coming to the ports and placements, the Poco M6 5G has the volume buttons and power button on the right, which also doubles up as a fingerprint sensor. You get the SIM card tray and the micro-SD card slot on the left, while the top houses the 3.5mm headphone jack.

At the bottom, you will be greeted by the speaker grille, secondary microphone and the USB-C port for charging.

The Poco M6 sports a 50-megapixel primary camera on the back paired with a secondary AI lens. On the front, there is a 5-megapixel camera for taking selfies.

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During the daytime, the camera samples are decent, with average details. The phone often struggles to balance the contrast. Furthermore, there is no ultrawide angle sensor or portrait lens, with Poco opting only for an “AI lens”.

When it comes to low-light photography, the shots are mediocre, with the camera often missing out on highlights and details. The included Night Mode does not affect the output much.

The Poco M6 5G can record videos at 1080p at 30FPS from the primary camera as well as the front camera. No stabilisation option is available, and the output is average at best.

The 5-megapixel front-facing camera can take decent photos in indoor lighting with good details and contrast. The skin tones of the device are also close to natural; however, the output can be mediocre at times. Overall, if you want a good camera phone, then it’s best to explore other options in this price range.

The Poco M6 5G packs a 5,000mAh battery with support for 18W charging, although Poco provides a 10W charger in the box, which is disappointing for a phone in 2023. The large battery and the power-efficient 6nm chipset can ensure the phone can easily last up to 5-6 hours on normal usage.

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There is also a battery saver and an ultra battery saver mode that can further extend your phone’s battery life. However, charging the device can take awfully long, especially using the included 10W adapter.

Given that brands like Realme offer 33W fast charging at a similar price, I was hoping Poco would offer an 18W charger in the box. Hopefully, the company will provide a faster charger for its budget phones in the future.

The Poco M6 5G features a large 6.74-inch HD+ IPS LCD screen with a resolution of 1600×720 pixels and a 90Hz refresh rate. In addition, the display has Corning Gorilla Glass for protection with a peak brightness of 600 nits.

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The 720p resolution on a huge display is evident as you will immediately see pixelation, especially when reading articles or text on the screen. It is disappointing to see brands not offering Full-HD+ screens even at the end of 2023.

Moving on, the screen is bright enough for indoor usage, but you might face legibility issues under bright sunlight. The 90Hz refresh rate results in a smooth and fluid user experience.

However, the teardrop notch and the huge chin at the bottom will make it evident that you are using a budget phone. Despite the thick bezels surrounding the screen, watching content is a good experience, as I enjoyed watching Season 2 of “Reacher” on Amazon Prime Video.

I can only hope Poco will offer a punch-hole cutout with an FHD+ display when it launches a successor of this device. There is a single speaker at the bottom of the phone that produces decent output with an ample amount of loudness.

Furthermore, you also get a 3.5mm headphone jack, which is a welcome addition and a side-mounted fingerprint sensor that is fast and accurate.

The Poco M6 5G is powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 6100+ chipset, with up to 8GB of RAM and 256GB UFS 2.2 storage. Interestingly, the Dimensity 6100+ is a rebrand of an underclocked version of the MediaTek Dimensity 810, which debuted two years ago.

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This 6nm chipset is good enough for day-to-day tasks such as scrolling through Twitter and Instagram and watching videos on YouTube. I did not see any significant stutters or delays during my usage. Even when opening multiple apps in the background, the phone managed to keep most of them in memory.

You can still play games like Asphalt 9, Call of Duty Mobile, and BGMI despite its affordable pricing. BGMI runs at Smooth and Ultra while you get support for Medium graphics and High Frame rates in CODM.

When it comes to benchmarks, the Poco M6 5G has a Geekbench score of 695 in single-core and 1938 in multi-core tests. Moreover, it throttles to 93 per cent in a 15-minute CPU throttling test, which is good for a budget device.

Furthermore, the phone has a stability score of 97.9 per cent in the 3D Mark Wildlife Extreme Stress Test and an AnTuTu score of 376055, defeating 1 per cent of users. Overall, the Poco M6 is a good phone for day-to-day tasks that can handle your occasional gaming needs.

The Poco M6 5G runs on MIUI 14 based on Android 13 with the October security patch. A large variety of customisation options are available in MIUI, including various wallpapers and themes.

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Furthermore, there are also additional features such as one-handed mode, screen recording, game turbo, video toolbox and more. You also get the option for memory extension to add up to 8GB of virtual memory.

Given the budget pricing of the phone, you can expect the usual bloatware such as Amazon, Bubble Shooter, Block Puzzle Guide, Dust Settle, Crazy Juicer, Jewels Blast, LinkedIn, Netflix, Phone Pe, Opera Browser, Word Trip, Snapchat and more. Thankfully, you can get rid of them by uninstalling them from the Settings.

Poco also promises two major OS updates and three years of security patches, which is surprising in this segment. Overall, the phone offers a feature-packed software experience that is sadly ridden with bloatware similar to other Xiaomi phones.