Introduction
Poco spiked into popularity with the success of Poco F1 in 2018 launched as a true flagship killer against the OnePlus 6. Since then, there have been several Poco devices that may or may not have attracted the masses. But with the Poco X3 Pro, things are now different.
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The sub-20k smartphone brings a lot of pros including a 120Hz display, a Snapdragon 860 processor among others. It does make some compromises here and there but to be honest, you are paying 1/3rd of what you would pay for a flagship phone so that shouldn’t be a problem.
Prices in India, Variants, Availability
About the pricing, Poco X3 Pro is available in India with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage at Rs 18,999/-. You can choose between Golden Bronze, Steel Blue, and Graphite Black colour variants available. The higher-end 8GB+128GB variant is available at Rs 20,999/- on Flipkart India. You can avail of a tonne of deals and discounts including 10 per cent off on HDFC Bank Mastercard CC and BoB Mastercard Debit Card on their first translation. Avail standard EMI or No Cost EMI starting at Rs 3,167/mo. There’s also an exchange offer with up to Rs 18,999/- off on eligible devices.
Box Contents
A familiar box packaging of the POCO X3 Pr0 comes with standard box contents:
- POCO X3 Pro device
- 33W fast charger
- USB Type-C cable
- Sim ejector tool
- Documentation
Specs at a glance
Before we talk in detail about the POCO X3 Pro let’s see what the on-paper specs look like?
- Display: 16.94 cm (6.67 inch) Full HD+ IPS LCD Display, 120Hz refresh rate
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 860
- Storage: 6GB/128GB, 8GB/128GB
- Software: MIUI 12 based on Android 11
- Rear cameras: 48MP + 8MP + 2MP + 2MP
- Battery: 5160 mAh, 33W fast charging
- Weight: 215g
- Dimensions: 165.30 x 76.80 x 9.40mm
Familiar Look and Feel
As a typical case, Xiaomi (the parent company) has recycled the same chassis from Poco X3 to create what you are trying to find more about i.e. Poco X3 Pro. With that being said, you get the said polycarbonate back with a giant POCO insignia right at the middle that reflects in iridescent colours. The back panel is dual-tone gradient while the centre along with a giant circular camera bump is glossy while the sides are matte finish. Since there’s a mention of glossy here, you can expect pretty much some fingerprints and smudges that accumulate over time.
The phone is 9.4mm thick and has a weight of 216 grams which makes it quite heavy. Although Poco has tried to work with proper weight distribution but yet, the phone is among the heftiest so you will feel it too once you get a hold of it. But I would ensure that once you get a hang of its weight, it feels natural.
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The sides are plastic as well while the top where a giant display lies has a Corning Gorilla Glass 6 on top of it. To put things into context, Poco X3 Pro is the first smartphone in this price segment to get a Glass v6 that should prevent it from multiple falls and drops and scratches alike.
Talking about the controls now, you get a power button on the right that doubles as a reliable fingerprint scanner. There’s a volume rocker on top of the power button as well. On the left side, you get a dual hybrid SIM card slot, and finally, there’s a Type-C port, a bottom-firing loudspeaker, a 3.5mm headphone, and a mic at the bottom. You get an infrared port and a secondary mic on top. Finally, the earpiece that finds its way between the display at the top bezel doubles as a secondary speaker too.
Punchy Display with 120Hz
Poco X3 Pro gets the same chassis as Poco X3 and so does the display tech. It is the same display with a 6.67-inch IPS LCD tech with a 120Hz refresh rate, HDR10 compliant, 450 nits of typical brightness, and a resolution of 1080×2400 pixels with a 20:9 aspect ratio. Although the display is the same, is it possible that the usability and experience could be different. Let’s see.
The display is huge and that does make the phone heavy as well. But it’s crisp at 6.67-inch and has a 120Hz refresh rate. Apparently, I found out that the refresh rate dynamic changes based on the content being displayed or interacted with. It can go as low as 30Hz to 48Hz, 50Hz, 60Hz, 90hz, and the top-most is 120Hz. The touch sampling rate is 240Hz that lets the display react much faster than usual budget smartphones.
You can set the refresh rate to 60Hz or 120Hz but it does dynamically change based on the content. Certain UI elements and video playback apps get 60Hz locked while social media apps could engage a higher refresh rate along with games subject that the title in talks supports it.
The typical brightness of the device is 450 nits which are adequate on lit days although I do think getting greater nits on the clock would have helped Poco X3 Pro stand out. The display has HDR10 certification and comes with Widevine L1 so watching HD content on the phone is as crisp and punchy as possible. However, HDR is probably not available on Amazon Prime Video and Netflix but YouTube for some reasons.
If you are switching to an AMOLED display, the LCD panel does have some shortcomings and you will instantly feel the difference. Some alternatives with AMOLED panels that I would like to add here are Realme 8 Pro and Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro Max.
Overall, the display is crisp, has punchy and vivid colours, and great viewing angles. It is large enough to accommodate many people watching a movie or show at once.
SuperCar Performance
Poco X3 Pro sports a Snapdragon 870 SoC paired with Adreno 640 GPU, LPDDR4X RAM, and UFS 3.1 storage which are some powerful specifications in the device. The chipset handles everything with ease so no matter if you are switching between multiple apps, multi-tasking, or playing high-octane high-graphics games like Call of Duty Mobile, it can take it all. I know that the phone doesn’t have the optimum read and write speed a UFS 3.1 would bring but it is a Sub-20K device, some corners require trimming.
Running benchmarking tests on Poco X3 Pro revealed that it does stand strong among its competitors. To put things into perspective, it scores 2574 points and 735 points on multicore and single-core tests on Geekbench 5 respectively. These numbers outrun the scores made by Realme 7 Pro, Realme 7 5G, Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro Max, Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro, and a few others.
The Snapdragon 870 SoC does make a lot of difference in terms of performance on Poco X3 Pro. It is truly a beast on a budget and something you should really consider when buying a phone on a tight budget of Rs 20K.
Much Refined Software
Poco X3 Pro arrives with Android 11 powered MIUI 12 and Poco UI on top of it. It is almost the same interface as the MIUI 12 although Poco has claimed that it is clean. It does have some bloatware to check out and the GetApps does send some spam notifications now and then. Talking about the software, it is still worth using with a tonne of features that you wouldn’t even get with Android 11. The RAM management is very aggressive which is something of a problem since it kills immediately unlike other UIs that will keep the app active for some time.
Sub-Rs 20K price tag all while injecting a powerful processor and other specifications and it has not failed. The Snapdragon 860 SoC is unlike any in this price segment and it is powerful. Paired with UFS 3.1 storage, the device is almost unstoppable. It is well-designed although the cameras are something that I cannot call a strong suit on Poco X3 Pro because it is decent and average.
The device does get many things right but makes compromises too including a slower 33W charging, bulky at 216 grams. On the flip side, if your priorities are flagship-grade performance in a budget phone, an all-day battery life, and an awesome display, Poco X3 Pro is the way to go.
