Poco F6 Review: The India smartphone market is flooded with very competent mid-range handsets and choosing the best in the lot can be daunting. In 2018, Poco made ripples in the smartphone market with the debut of the Poco F1, which offered flagship-level performance at a mid-range price. Since then, Poco’s F-series has been known as a performance-focused lineup that offers great specs and hardware at half the price of flagship counterparts. In fact, Poco has established itself as a handset maker synonymous with value and the F6 is no different.
The Poco F6 has been recently launched in three configurations: the entry-level model with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage priced at Rs 29,999. The second option comes with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage and costs Rs 31,999 and the top variant with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage available for Rs 33,999. Here’s why I think the Poco F6 qualifies as one of the best smartphones under Rs 30,000.
Poco F6 Design, Display, Looks And Build
The Poco F6 comes with a sleek design, in Black and Titanium colour variants, with the latter looking more posh than the other colourway. It has a polycarbonate back with a matte finish that prevents fingerprints, complemented by a dual-camera setup arranged within large circular modules in a symmetric triangle formation alongside the ring flash.
The display of the Poco F6 is big and bright and has a 6.67-inch 1.5K AMOLED panel with a resolution of 2712 x 1220 pixels, a 20:9 aspect ratio. This upgrade from the FHD+ screen in the F5 translates into superior visuals and supports up to 2400 nits of peak brightness, significantly higher than the 1000 nits offered by the F5. The pixel density of the panel is around 445 PPI. The display is very bright, even in outdoor settings or when consuming HDR content. The panel boasts a 100 per cent DCI-P3 colour gamut as well.
The Poco F6 remains lightweight at just 179 grams, making it comfortable for prolonged use. Its IP rating has been taken up from 53 to 64, and now, the phone offers better protection against water and dust. The Poco F6 is equipped with a dual speaker system optimised by Dolby Atmos. However, surprisingly, the standard 3.5mm headphone jack has been removed. The phone supports USB Type-C port and an IR blaster for versatile connectivity options.
The smartphone also comes with an impressive 120Hz refresh rate display and a 480Hz touch sampling rate, which ensures a seamless and ultra-responsive overall and gaming experience.
Poco F6 Battery, Performance And Software
The Poco F6 operates on Xiaomi’s newly-introduced HyperOS, built on Android 14 OS. The proprietary HyperOS delivers a streamlined experience with a handful of useful features, but it does come with some downsides. Besides the default Xiaomi and Google apps, the Poco F6 includes at least 19 pre-installed apps that are unnecessary. Apps such as Amazon, Spotify, Facebook, Snapchat, Rummy Circle, Dream11 and Bubble Shooter come pre-installed and not really needed. The users can download them when they need them. With HyperOS users will see ads throughout the interface, including the start page next to the home screen, the app drawer search. The ads also pop up within Xiaomi’s native apps like File Manager and Music app.
The Poco F6 comes with the same 5,000mAh battery capacity as its predecessor. The Poco F6’s battery depleted very fast while gaming. After 30 minutes of playing Call of Duty and Real Racing 3 the battery dropped by more than 25 per cent. This generally lasts a full day on a single charge with average usage. This includes running multiple social media apps, music streaming and checking emails. The phone includes a 90W charger which can swiftly charge the battery, taking it from 10 per cent to 100 per cent in approximately 30 minutes. Those who are looking for faster charging capabilities can enable “Boost” charging in the settings. I noticed the device getting heated up significantly with this feature on.
The Poco F6 is the first smartphone in India to feature Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset, designed to enhance on-device AI features for users.
Poco F6 Camera
The camera interface on the Poco F6 is similar to the other Xiaomi and Poco smartphones running new HyperOS. As far as image quality is concerned, daylight photos exhibit good dynamic range and enough details. The primary sensor uses pixel binning technology and clicks 12MP images. The 8MP wide-angle sensor produces satisfactory pictures under proper lighting conditions. The ultra-wide sensor maintains consistent colour accuracy but it loses some details due to its lower megapixel count. There’s a 20MP front camera for selfies and video calls. The front camera performs well for its price, capturing selfies that are close to natural skin tones.
Poco F6 Final Verdict
The Poco F6 stands out as the most powerful smartphone in the Rs 30,000 price segment. The camera is a bit underwhelming and there’s some overheating that goes against the device. The phone’s strong points such as powerful performance, bright display, Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset and good battery make it one of the best options to consider in the sub-Rs 30,000 segment right now.