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The Poco F4 GT is the Xiaomi sub-brand’s highest-spec phone thus far and is geared against smartphone players. Poco insists it’s no longer only a gaming phone although, and with a moderately restrained design in comparison to different gaming telephones, I’m vulnerable to agree.
After a couple of weeks with the handset instrument, it’s transparent it is a phone that may take care of a number of rounds of Call of Duty Mobile and the like with no longer such a lot as a efficiency hiccup, but it surely additionally does the entire standard smartphone issues with no hitch too.
Design & Build
- Pop-up shoulder cause buttons
- Subtle gaming glance
- Fingerprint scanner in energy button
The F4 GT is a world model of the Redmi K50 Gaming that’s already been launched and is on sale in China. The specifications are equivalent, and the {hardware} design is amazingly identical, too.
Other gaming telephones from Asus and Red Magic have very loud designs with RGB lights, unusual angles and sheet steel vibes. The F4 GT is so much subtler, which I a lot desire. Not all players desire a phone that appears just like the break out hatch on an area travel.
The glass again of the phone hints at gaming chops although with my black overview unit carrying gray strains to get a divorce the color and an lightning bolt for the digital camera flash that is equivalent portions reduce and funky. A silver model stands proud somewhat extra, whilst a yellow type does away with all subtlety.
There are RGB mild strips within the triple digital camera module, however they just come on when charging the phone, enjoying a recreation, or for incoming calls and messages. Weirder is the inscription ‘FREEZING SPEEDIEST’ subsequent to the cameras, I’ve no concept what this is supposed to imply.
Better is the fingerprint sensor within the energy button for terribly speedy biometric unlocking and no longer having to debris about with unhealthy in-screen sensors.
The large gaming giveaway is pop-up cause buttons at the proper fringe of the F4 GT. You flip them on via flicking adjoining bodily switches so the buttons can also be flush with the edges when no longer in use. It’s a suave little bit of design however does imply the ones switches are all the time poking out somewhat.
I’ve slightly small arms however discovered the button positioning on the subject of the top of the brink of the phone supposed I may just simply press them right through gameplay with no need to show my arms into attaining claws. You do need to slightly cradle the phone too, as at 210g it’s reasonably weighty, but it surely does really feel top rate.
You typically need to dive into the settings of particular person video games to assign shoulder contact controls to the buttons.
Poco neglected a trick no longer together with a three.5mm headphone jack when such a lot of cellular players would need the latency-free possibility of stressed out headphones. There is no less than a USB-C headphone jack adapter within the field, although.
Also incorporated within the field is a 120W speedy charger however extra on that later.
Screen & Speakers
- 6.67in AMOLED
- 120Hz refresh charge
- High 480Hz contact sampling charge
No gaming phone is whole with no prime refresh charge show and the F4 GT does no longer disappoint with a 120Hz-capable, 6.67in 20:9 AMOLED panel. With a 480Hz contact sampling charge, it is rather responsive, app and menu animations fly via easily and video games at prime refresh charge settings play smartly.
Some telephones, just like the Pixel 6 Pro and that iPhone 13 Pro, have variable refresh charge presentations that may pull the velocity proper all the way down to 10Hz to avoid wasting battery energy when wanted. The F4 GT can most effective transfer between 60- and 120Hz, so it’s rather less complex.
Poco has opted to stay the answer at 1080p, and different gaming telephones just like the Asus ROG Phone 5 have the next 144Hz possibility, however except you’re extremely choosy the F4 GT’s display is superb. I’d have appreciated it if it might move brighter as in some mild it appears a tad boring, however for many indoor gaming it appeared vivid and crisp sufficient.
The quad audio system are excellent, positioned at the best edges of the highest and backside of the phone while you’re keeping it in panorama orientation to recreation with. This supposed from time to time when the use of the cause buttons and gripping the phone I lined the speaker grilles with my index hands, however the sound wasn’t too muffled due to a reasonably open design.
The audio system get lots loud however do distort on the very best possible volumes. On the plus facet, their energy way it is a just right phone for obviously enjoying podcasts with out headphones.
Specs & Performance
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 5G
- Up to 12GB RAM
- Up to 256GB non-expandable garage
The phone holds its personal due to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, the highest-spec Qualcomm chipset to be had to Poco for the handset’s April 2022 release. My 256GB overview unit had 12GB RAM which appeared greater than sufficient, however take note you’ll most effective get 8GB with the 128GB type.
It provides as much as a phone whose specifications aren’t the best possible to be had for any Android flagship, let by myself a gaming phone. But in my utilization, it carried out admirably at the entirety, together with video games, so I don’t have any court cases.
I powered via COD, Mario Kart Tour, Genshin Impact and different visually hard titles without a problems cropping up and a lovely fluidity to the entirety. It assists in keeping video games like PUBG in reminiscence for a temporary time too so if you want to dip out and do one thing in some other app, the sport will load immediately while you go back. Leave it a couple of mins and you’ll have to restart although.
The LiquidCool 3.0 tech reputedly stored the phone from getting too heat beneath load. Poco designed the phone to stay the battery charging unit and processor as a long way from every different as imaginable and put vapour chambers over every to maximize cooling. The phone gets somewhat sizzling should you recreation for hours with the cable plugged in, although.
Comparing the Poco to different gaming telephones within the benchmark desk under, it greater than holds its personal in opposition to telephones that price much more. It additionally equals or betters the Samsung Galaxy S22+ in all assessments.
A small however good thing is that this phone’s superb haptics. They are company and dad smartly when typing and right through gameplay and are top-of-the-line haptics I’ve noticed on a phone at this worth.
Battery Life & Charging
- 4700mAh no longer the largest
- Insanely speedy 120W charging
- Clever cable design
The Poco truly displays off relating to the battery with 120W stressed out speedy charging speeds. It’s completely insane. I charged the phone to 100% from empty in 20 mins.
As with different telephones with rapid charging tech, it modified how and once I charged my phone. Instead of working it down all day and leaving it plugged in all evening, I now best up the phone for an issue of mins when it wishes it. If it’s under 40% or so once I hit the hay, I will be able to plug it in whilst I’m brushing my tooth and it’ll be on the subject of 70% afterwards.
That makes up for the just-fine longevity of the battery itself. Using the phone usually all the time were given me to the top of the day however after I fired up some video games and performed for part an hour, the battery expectedly ticked down at an excellent charge. Despite a perfect PC Mark battery check ranking of 10 hours 46 mins of persistent use, after two hours of continuing gaming I used to be attaining for the charger.
Poco is aware of it would be best to fee whilst gaming, which is why the USB-C cable is cleverly angled in an L form so it plugs in and is going off at 90 levels, which means you’ll dangle the phone in panorama to recreation and no longer have a cable getting into the way in which of your hand.
Despite a pitcher again the phone does no longer fortify wi-fi charging, however you’ll’t precisely wi-fi fee a phone whilst gaming anyway, and the 120W stressed out possibility is so speedy you gained’t pass over the function.
Cameras
- Solid 64Mp primary shooter
- Other 3 lenses not anything particular
- 4k at 60fps video recording
Poco’s head of selling instructed me cameras nonetheless aren’t a concern for the emblem, however the triple-lens setup here’s above reasonable. The 64Mp f/1.9 Sony IMX686 primary sensor does lots of the heavy lifting right here and in just right stipulations photographs are sharp and transparent.
There’s no telephoto lens, so the 2x zoom within the digital camera app is solely virtual zoom cropping this primary sensor. Digital portrait mode continuously produces pleasingly moody, contrasty photographs and is amusing to play with.
The instrument has a tendency to oversaturate colors and there’s an HDR toggle, however the dynamic vary of pictures is not anything to write down house about. The 8Mp ultrawide is much less succesful than the principle digital camera however no less than you have got the strategy to seize extra within the body when wanted. The 2Mp macro means that you can get shut as much as stuff, but it surely’s no longer a patch at the iPhone 13 Pro’s macro would possibly.
All lenses combat in low mild, even in evening mode, with textures and colors continuously misplaced to muddy darkish tones.
A 20Mp selfie digital camera produces washed-out photographs in low mild, but it surely suffices for video calls, the occasional selfie consultation, and any video games that use the entrance digital camera.
Poco has a effectively designed digital camera app with intuitive toggles and choices, and the video recording is strangely flexible. There’s a amusing film body mode to offer your capturing a black letterbox glance, and the principle lens can shoot in 4K at 60fps.
Software & Apps
- MIUI 13 in keeping with Android 12
- Game Turbo function
- Too a lot iOS copying
Poco has added some granular gaming keep an eye on within the type of a standalone app referred to as Game Turbo. It means that you can set particular {hardware} and instrument settings on a in step with recreation foundation. I didn’t really feel the wish to use it a lot however if you wish to crank up the RAM allocation and different settings then it’s there.
Taste in instrument is reasonably private and I may just no longer get on with Poco’s MIUI 13 pores and skin. It’s nice the phone launches with Android 12, however Xiaomi’s instrument design adjustments an terrible lot, and in some cases purposefully makes Android extra like iOS.
This is maximum noticeable in how notifications behave, stacking one on best of the opposite in large white blocks with rounded edges similar to on an iPhone. Several notifications from the similar app aren’t grouped in combination in stacks both, so the pings pile up into a large ungainly mess.
It’s a a long way cry from the organised, simple to regulate notifications of Android 12 on telephones from different manufacturers, particularly Samsung.
There’s additionally an iOS scouse borrow in how the instrument brings down Android’s fast settings when swiping down from the highest proper. It blurs the display and gifts you with large panels and buttons to the touch.
You can transfer off get right of entry to to this by way of the highest proper, but it surely’s some other example the place sticking with Android’s common behaviour would make a lot more sense. I regularly attempted to swipe down for notifications and were given the short settings as a substitute.
The efficiency of the phone way the instrument works how Poco supposed. But the volume of cruft excessive makes the phone really feel somewhat slow, even supposing it’s a long way from it. Animations are a bit of laboured.
For the hardcore players, the instrument has a efficiency mode that turns the entirety as much as 11 in Spinal Tap taste. I by no means felt I had to make use of the mode because the video games I performed ran fantastic on standard settings but it surely’s just right to understand it’s there if you want it.
Poco hasn’t showed what number of Android platform updates the F4 GT gets or what number of years of safety updates. The corporate instructed me it’s aiming for 3 years and 4 years respectively, however that isn’t sure but.
Price & Availability
The Poco F4 GT retails at €599 in Europe for the 8GB/128GB type and €699 for the 12GB/256GB type. You can get it from Amazon Germany. these days with an early chook release worth of €100 off both type.
€499 is these days about £500, which places it close to the £399 OnePlus Nord 2, and the Poco even will provide you with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 for this worth over a £1,099 gaming phone just like the Asus ROG Phone 5S Pro which has the older 888+. You’ll save some huge cash choosing the Poco and most probably gained’t realize a efficiency distinction.
At complete worth, it is simply over £500, which places it at £100 lower than the Google Pixel 6 and the similar because the £499 Realme GT 2.
The UK pricing might be introduced when the phone launches on the finish of May. It’d be nice if Poco can hit about £500 for the decrease finish type, which might make it one of the crucial least expensive 8 Gen 1 telephones round.
Verdict
Poco has succeeded in its purpose of creating a gaming phone that may masquerade as a ‘standard’ smartphone while you aren’t gaming – one thing that is uncommon within the phone marketplace however reasonably most likely a candy spot many customers could have been looking ahead to.
The design hints at a gamer aesthetic however is sufficiently subtle that nobody will truly realize, however provides amusing and helpful touches like cause buttons and cooling tech.
The display and audio system are superb and whilst the battery existence is unremarkable, the 120W charger incorporated within the field is the quickest you’ll these days to find on any globally to be had smartphone and way you’ll absolutely fee the phone in simply 20 mins.
Add to that the aggressive pricing and the Poco F4 GT is likely one of the uncommon gaming telephones I will be able to suggest to informal players in addition to those that are glued day by day to on-line multiplayer insanity.
Specs
Poco F4 GT: Specs
- Android 12 with MIUI 13
- 6.67in AMOLED, 1080 x 2400, 120Hz, 20:9 ratio
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 5G processor
- 8/12GB LPDDR5 RAM
- 128/256GB of UFS 3.1 garage (non-expandable)
- 64Mp f/1.9 Main
- 8Mp f/2.2 Ultrawide
- 2Mp f/2.4 Macro
- 20Mp f/2.4 Selfie
- Dual-SIM
- Quad speaker
- NFC
- GPS
- Bluetooth 5.2
- Wi-Fi 6E
- Fingerprint sensor in Power button
- 4700mAh battery
- 120W speedy charging
- USB-C charging port
- 162.5 x 76.7 x 8.5mm
- 210g
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