Since the release of the POCO F1, the brand has established itself in the Indian smartphone market by offering high-end performance at an affordable price. This trend continued with later models, including the POCO F5, which was one of our favorite smartphones last year. Now, there’s a new contender in the budget powerhouse series: the POCO F6. I had the chance to try out the POCO F6, and here are my first impressions.
POCO F6 Specs at a Glance
Before diving into the various aspects of the POCO F6, let’s take a quick look at its specifications.
POCO F6 Box Contents
In the box, the POCO F6 comes with all the essentials: the device itself, a sturdy opaque phone case, a 120W fast charger, a USB A to C charging cable, a small start guide, and a SIM ejector tool. Additionally, the phone comes with a pre-applied screen protector, so you’re ready to go right out of the box. We received the black color variant with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
POCO F6 Build and Design
Holding the POCO F6 in my hands gave me a sense of déjà vu, reminiscent of my experience with the POCO F5 last year. The design retains many aspects of its predecessor, featuring a boxy shape with sharp edges, which I personally prefer. The back of the black color variant has a soft matte finish, lending it a stealthy appearance. Also, the frame and the back both are made of plastic.
Despite housing a 5000mAh battery, the phone feels surprisingly light, weighing just 179 grams. The weight distribution is quite balanced, although it is slightly top-heavy due to the large camera bumps. The phone also boasts an IP64 rating for dust and water protection, an improvement over the POCO F5’s IP53 rating.
However, the camera unit might be a drawback for some. It’s larger than the one on the F5, causing the phone to wobble on flat surfaces even with a case applied. Overall, the design is rather basic and seems to lack a distinctive identity of its own.
POCO F6 Display
The POCO F6 features a stunning 6.67-inch 1.5K OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. The display is rich in detail, and the colors, especially HDR content, look thrilling thanks to the 10+2 Bit Dolby Vision support that reproduces 68 billion colors. The screen is perfect for gaming, and the 480Hz touch sampling rate proved helpful in winning some matches.
This is one of the best displays we’ve seen in the POCO F series, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching Spiderverse on it. The vibrant colors and accurate reproduction kept me captivated. The phone can reach a brightness of 2400 nits, ensuring good visibility both indoors and outdoors, although I occasionally wished for even higher brightness while watching content.
The flat display with slim, uniform bezels is more attractive to me than curved displays. When it comes to protection, the POCO F6 holds Corning Gorilla Glass Victus. I’m also pleased to see that it finally includes an in-display fingerprint scanner instead of a side-mounted one.
POCO F6 Performance and Benchmarks
The POCO F6 is powered by the latest Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset built on 4nm TSMC architecture, paired with an Adreno 735 GPU. This underclocked version of the high-end 8 Gen 3 CPU is typically found only in flagship devices released this year. It also comes with LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 storage. Let’s see how it performs in day-to-day tasks and benchmark tests.
Day to Day Tasks
The best thing about a gaming-oriented device with a powerful processor is its ability to handle everyday tasks effortlessly. Whether browsing social media, watching YouTube or Netflix, or recording videos, the POCO F6 shows no signs of slowing down. You can seamlessly switch between apps without worrying about them closing in the background.
Benchmarks
Eager to see the benchmark numbers, I ran the usual tests like Geekbench, Antutu, and the CPU Throttle test to satisfy my curiosity. Here are the results—remember, higher numbers indicate better performance.
Gaming
If you’re a smartphone gamer, you’re in for a treat with the POCO F6, which delivers exceptional gaming performance. I tested some of my favorite games, including BGMI, COD Mobile, Warzone Mobile, and Genshin Impact. Throughout my gaming sessions, I never felt the need to lower any settings from their maximum options. Here’s what you can expect from the POCO F6 in terms of gaming performance.
I was particularly impressed with its performance in Warzone Mobile, a demanding game with console-like graphics that often causes performance issues on some devices. It also streams textures during gameplay, which can lead to further slowdowns. However, the POCO F6 handled it like a champ, consistently hitting almost 90 FPS.
The phone didn’t get too hot during gameplay, maintaining temperatures below 40 degrees for the most part. This is thanks to POCO’s Iceloop Cooling technology, which prevents the device from overheating. Even during extended sessions with Warzone Mobile, the phone remained comfortably cool at around 40 to 42 degrees.
POCO F6 Camera and Video Quality
The POCO F6’s primary camera has received an upgrade from the F5. It now features a 50MP Sony IMX 882 sensor instead of an Omnivision sensor. With Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) and an f/1.6 aperture, this upgrade allows you to capture 2x lossless zoom photos using an in-sensor crop. The secondary camera is an 8MP ultra-wide lens, complemented by a 20MP selfie camera on the front.
Daylight
In daylight scenarios, the camera performs well, producing natural colors and appealing HDR shots. The 50MP sensor captures good details, especially noticeable in shots with grass.
Night Time
Nighttime photos are decent, though zooming in reveals a lack of detail. However, the Night mode automatically activates, and combined with OIS, you can still take satisfactory photos in low-light conditions.
Ultra Wide Camera
The Sony IMX 335 ultrawide lens performs well in daylight situations. I appreciate that POCO has tuned the cameras to produce natural results. However, the 8MP sensor has its limitations, resulting in images from the ultrawide lens lacking in detail, and the same applies to nighttime shots.
Selfies
On the other hand, the 20MP selfie camera is quite impressive. The photos it captures are pleasing, with natural and accurate skin tones.
Portraits
And no, I haven’t forgotten about portrait mode. I’ve attached some portrait photos for you to check out. As you can see, they have good detail, and the bokeh effect is nicely executed.
The POCO F6 offers 4K video recording at 60 FPS with its primary camera. Most of the videos I took turned out well, and the OIS helped with stabilization. However, there were slight jitters when recording while walking.
The camera is an area where I feel POCO could improve, particularly on the hardware side. While they have tuned the colors well this time, I believe it’s time to upgrade from the 8MP ultrawide sensor.
POCO F6 Speakers
POCO has also enhanced the media-watching experience by including a stereo speaker setup tuned by Dolby Atmos. The speakers are loud and clear, with the top speaker matching the bottom one in volume and clarity. The separation between the two speakers is well-balanced, and there is no distortion even at maximum volume.
POCO F6 Battery and Charging
The POCO F6 is equipped with a 5000 mAh battery, yet it doesn’t feel overly heavy, as mentioned in the design section. In my experience, the phone lasted a little over 5 hours with heavy usage, which included running benchmarks, intense gaming, browsing Instagram, and watching videos on YouTube and Netflix.
I would have liked more time to assess the battery drain under regular usage, but I estimate it can last up to 7 hours with moderate gaming. Moreover, if the battery runs low, you can quickly recharge it in just 35 minutes with the included 120W charger, allowing you to get back to gaming without much delay.
POCO F6 Connectivity
Despite being a midrange device, the POCO F6 supports all modern connectivity standards. It features 15 5G bands, dual SIM support, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, and NFC. For wired connections, there’s a USB-C port, although it only supports USB 2.0 data transfer speeds.
POCO F6: Still The Reigning Champion
I must say, much like last year, POCO has once again delivered an outstanding device this year, particularly in terms of performance. While last year’s 7+ Gen 2 was already quite impressive, they have surpassed themselves this year by opting for the even more powerful 8s Gen 3 processor. Those who appreciate a powerful phone will surely be satisfied with this device.
Beyond performance, the POCO F6 also excels in providing an exceptional viewing experience. The device features an amazing Dolby Vision 1.5k display with thin bezels, excellent brightness, and an impressive stereo speaker setup. This combination is enough to spoil you and make you want to pick up the device as soon as you set it down.
The phone starts at Rs 29,999 for the 8GB RAM and 256GB storage variant, making it a great option for those seeking a phone that excels in performance-oriented tasks. Although there is room for improvement in the design and camera departments, the POCO F6 maintains its position as a budget powerhouse this year, just like its predecessors.
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