POCO X4 Pro 5G review

The smartphone mid-variety is a crowded room with no signals of slowing. Irrespective of whether you are chatting about the United States or the international current market as a whole, there is a seemingly unlimited stream of new and appealing handsets.

POCO, a sub-manufacturer of Xiaomi, is a person of those manufacturers which consistently pump out new designs with intriguing layouts and offers. The X4 Professional 5G, which comes in as reduced as $330 USD, offers up a pretty sturdy set of components for the money.

The POCOX4 Pro 5G checks a amount of packing containers for “important” functions for a lot of shopper desires. That is to say it has a significant display screen, generous battery ability with rapid charging, 5G guidance, and a various digicam procedure.

The technical specs place it firmly in the middle of the smartphone pack but its rate arrives in substantially reduce than the standard competitors. How does it fare? I have used a several weeks working with 1 of these in tandem with a handful of other designs and have some feed-back and impressions to share.

Style

The X4 Professional 5G has the glance and really feel of a far more costly “premium” phone with its trim bezels, flat edges, refractive end, and thin profile. Whilst it is made from plastic with aluminum framing, it’s much more stylish than it appears on paper. Gentle moves properly across the rear it catches the eye, especially in sunlight.

It feels good in the hand when lots of phones really feel curved and tapered, this one particular comes across as additional crisp and sharp. It’s a wonderful departure from some of the types I’ve used about the final number of many years.

Readily available in 3 colors (Laser Black, Laser Blue, and POCOYellow), my review unit is technically black but skews far more grey and steel. The refraction influence calls to intellect spotlights shining in the night sky. I can’t talk of the other shades but this one particular picks up fingerprints quickly but cleans up with out fuss.

The IP53 rating safeguards it versus dust and water but it is not a entirely water-resistant experience. You may perhaps be alright if caught in a sprinkle or splash but you’ll want to hold it absent from pools just to be harmless.

Pretty much each individual phone maker has its individual get on the multi-digital camera array and the POCO X4 Professional 5G is no exception. Right here, the module will take up a good volume of place throughout the top quarter. The most important digicam is 108-megapixels with 8-megapixel ultra-extensive and 2-megapixel macro complimenting the shooter.

The 6.67-inch display seems gorgeous with its unbelievably substantial brightness and 120Hz refresh rate. The 1080 x 2400 pixel resolution and 20:9 factor ratio make for a relaxed reading and online video knowledge.

The facet-mounted fingerprint reader doubles as the ability button. The far more I uncover this with mobile phone makers, the more I come to enjoy it. Even though I can set my products to wake on pickup or tapping, much more generally I drive the electrical power button.

I was pleasantly surprised to uncover the POCO X4 Pro 5G functions a 3.5mm headphone jack. Positioned on the top rated, I like obtaining one particular of these out there even in 2022.

Specs

In conditions of ability, the X4 Professional 5G comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 5G processor with at minimum 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. An 8GB/256GB variant is also supplied really should just one want to bump matters up a smidge.

These are mid-variety specs for handsets now but they are surely significantly extra than what your standard person may will need. If you’re looking at this model, I suggest opting for the 8GB/256GB edition just for the further peace of mind and longevity.

The 5,000mAh battery is excellent for close to two times of regular usage. If you demand up your equipment while you snooze, you will rarely operate into a situation wherever the battery dips to yellow or purple ranges.

The POCO X4 Pro 5G supports up to 67W speedy charging but it does not permit for wireless charging. This wasn’t significantly of a problem for me as I have been extensive accustomed to plugging in when a working day with the random leading-up in the car.

For what it is value, my evaluate device arrived with the 67W brick but it’s not compatible with US shops. I have identified that a 50 percent hour on the charger is all it usually takes to get the battery from virtually dead to around 75% entire. I are unable to consider myself needing much more than a commute’s well worth of time getting plugged in.

Computer software

Android 11 operates the clearly show but it is dressed up with MIUI 13 for POCO. This far more or fewer usually means it sprinkles in further customizations and capabilities but does not transform the appearance all that a lot from the “stock” Android expertise.

Coming from the Pixel line, I take pleasure in when a cellular phone maker offers me the skill to make the UI come to feel uniquely mine. There is a good deal on supply below which include reside wallpapers, themes, lock display settings, textual content colors, and a lot more. If you like to tinker without having putting in excess applications, you will dig this stuff.

Points can get a minor quirky or sense fairly out of purchase, but that is some thing I’ve witnessed in other Chinese cellphone makers, far too.

Acquiring only put in small quantities of time with evaluate models I can not converse on how perfectly the model does with software updates. The telephones I have analyzed occur with present application builds and patches but I really don’t believe the manufacturer will make any hard commitments on updates.

Similar to what we come across with US-primarily based BLU, I assume there’s a trade-off or unspoken knowledge that you get a lot more hardware for your cash and get your chances with the very long-time period computer software.

Overall performance

The POCO X4 Professional 5G is an spectacular minimal bundle, offering on my expectations throughout the board. I’m not the sort of consumer to press telephones to their restrictions I do not play significant-close or graphic intense video games. With that stated, the titles I do dabble in performed just fine.

Obviously one particular does not commonly see any velocity difficulties or lag in a new machine with this a great deal hardware, at minimum in the first few months. More than time I additional new applications and games, little by little introducing accounts and dialing up the requires. I have however to operate into just about anything that alerts a weak location in the location of general functionality.

The battery lifestyle has been fantastic, typically having me two times at a clip. I have develop into extra snug with not plugging my phones in around night and the X4 Professional 5G has not improved my pattern. I can plug in while obtaining my espresso or breakfast and sense self-assured that I’ll be just fine over the relaxation of the day.

There is no wi-fi charging in this article but which is a non-starter for me. Though I personal a number of wireless chargers, electricity financial institutions, and docks, I hardly ever change to them. I’m delighted to swap out wi-fi charging for very quick charging. At 67W, I get extra than 50% worth of battery in just 15 minutes.

The 108-megapixel main camera is complimented by an 8-megapixel extremely-wide (118-degree) and 2-megapixel macro shooter. There is pixel binning at engage in in the main camera so it is much more or fewer a 12-megapixel snapper.

I observed the key digital camera captures really detailed pictures with a awesome well balanced publicity. Shades are accurate and typically do not involve any article processing right before sharing to social media.

Lower-light scenarios can be a minor irksome for the phone and night time pictures are strike and overlook. I really do not acquire several photos just after sunset but on the occasion that I would, the POCO X4 Professional 5G would be a little bit of a gamble.

The extremely-wide and macro lenses are satisfactory, but I’m a minor much more demanding than my friends and loved ones. Whereas I would often scowl at a picture I experienced acquaintances who would have no difficulty sharing the pic on the web. I have unquestionably witnessed substantially even worse on social media but I do think the camera practical experience is generally average. Don’t acquire the POCO X4 Pro 5G since the 108-megapixel camera sounds best-tier.

Conclusion

Presented the $330 value tag for the 6GB/128GB product, I’m much more than pleased to suggest the phone for shoppers. It’s all of the points that I will need in a system and I suspect all your usual consumer may possibly will need, too. It just takes place to be priced decrease than the level of competition.

In a time when the Pixel line seems to have completely eliminated the headphone jack, I’m pleased to see it’s present listed here. I also like the inclusion of NFC, an IR blaster, and the fingerprint reader in the facet-mounted power button.

Coupled with a thoroughly customizable UI working experience, the POCO X4 Pro 5G feels like something a small distinct, and dare I say, welcome.

I desire the digicam system had been a bit far better but I’m prepared to acknowledge that I’m staying a tad significant. The typical consumer may perhaps consider no difficulty with what is at play.

Also, offered that the telephone is an unlocked world wide handset, the 5G aid could not be genuine to what you’re at present obtaining from the US carriers. If you’re information with 4G LTE, or devote most of your time on Wi-Fi, you need to be superior to go.

And finally, you may possibly want to look at picking up a new charger with support for up to 67W mainly because the just one that comes in the box is not suitable with US power outlets.

I have develop into ever more intrigued in lesser acknowledged telephone makers in the US and am happy to look at possibilities to the even larger names. POCO has intrigued me thus significantly with some of its styles and I glimpse ahead to more.