Poco F5 5G review: A value-for-money smartphone in the crowded mid-range market

The recently launched Poco F5 5G smartphone has created a strong impression in the Indian mid-range market with its impressive features. The smartphone has a powerful Snapdragon 7+ Gen processor, a stunning 120Hz AMOLED display, a 64MP triple rear camera and a 5000mAh battery supported by 67W fast charging technology.

Poco F5 5G price and colors

The Poco F5 5G is available in two variants: the 8 + 256GB model priced at Rs 29,999 and the 12 + 256GB model priced at Rs 33,999. It comes in three attractive colors: Blizzard White, Electric Blue and Carbon Black. During the week-long testing, I had the opportunity to try the Snowstorm White variant. That’s what I have to say about Poco’s new mid-range ‘value for money’ phone.

Poco F5 5G design

Poco F5 5G stands out with its light and ergonomic plastic body, which guarantees a pleasant user experience even during long-term use. The weight of the device is 181 g and the dimensions are 162.91 x 76.03 x 7.9 mm, so it is compact and light. The glossy back provides an attractive look and feel. The light frame structure increases the ease of handling and use of the device. However, it is important to note that regular cleaning is recommended so that stains do not affect its overall appearance.

At the back, there are two large circular apertures and a compact circular bezel housing the camera lenses and dual-LED flash. At the top, the Poco F5 has a 3.5mm jack and a speaker. The smartphone has a SIM card slot, a second speaker and a USB Type-C charging port at the bottom. Overall, the Poco F5 5G’s design checks most of the right boxes, making it a great option in the sub-Rs 30,000 segment in terms of design and looks.

Poco F5 5G screen

The Poco F5 5G is equipped with a 6.67-inch Full HD+ (2,400 x 1,080 pixels) Flow AMOLED display that offers a high refresh rate of 120 Hz, a touch sampling rate of 240 Hz, and a local brightness of up to 1,000 nits. The screen supports HDR 10+ Dolby Vision and is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5. In addition, the smartphone has an IP53 rating, which provides some protection against dust and water.

The thin frames surrounding the screen and the hole cut in the middle improve the viewing experience. The colors on the screen were vibrant and accurate, making it great for streaming services like JioCinema, Zee5, Amazon Prime, Netflix and YouTube, as well as reading content. I enjoy watching IPL matches, Sweet Tooth 2, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantuman and content on OTT platforms.

Gaming on the Poco F5 5G is also good, although its visibility in direct sunlight outdoors is better than average. One of the noteworthy points is the smooth and sharp scrolling experience provided by the screen. Whether you’re browsing apps or websites, the screen’s response is smooth. Overall, the viewing experience on the phone is excellent, and the screen offers bright and sharp colors for content consumption.

Poco F5 5G camera

The Poco F5 5G features a triple rear camera setup consisting of a 64-megapixel primary sensor, an 8-megapixel secondary sensor with an ultra-wide-angle lens, and a 2-megapixel sensor with a macro lens. For taking selfies and video calls, the phone has a 16-megapixel front camera. During testing, I took pictures in various lighting situations with the Poco F5 and was very impressed with the quality. The device offered detailed and vivid images in various lighting conditions, including low light.

The Poco F5 5G has remarkable camera capabilities. One of them is 2x Lossless In-Sensor Zoom, which improves the clarity and details of the captured images. In addition, the smartphone has a movie camera feature with seven different movie camera modes.

Moving to the front camera, the camera performance was above average. The smartphone took good selfies in daylight. However, it struggled to maintain clarity and capture detail in low light, especially during video calls and night selfies.

Poco F5 5G performance

Under the hood, Poco F5 5G is equipped with Qualcomm Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 chipset and Adreno GPU. It offers plenty of power for demanding tasks and graphics-intensive applications. Equipped with up to 12 GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256 GB of UFS 3.1 storage, the device offers smooth multitasking and plenty of storage space for files and applications. The smartphone runs on the latest MIUI 14 based on Android 13 and offers a user-friendly interface. It should be noted that the user interface of the Poco F5 5G has pre-installed applications and advertisements, which can be annoying and slightly affect the overall user experience of an otherwise capable smartphone.

In light and medium use, the Poco F5 5G smartphone worked smoothly and without lag. The Poco F5 5G handled multiple apps effortlessly and I had no performance issues. Switching between games was smooth, with no noticeable lag. The browsing experience was smooth, no stuttering or slowing down. The device performed exceptionally well, even when handling resource-intensive tasks such as gaming or running multiple apps at the same time. Overall, the Poco F5 5G offered high performance without compromise.

As for the battery, the Poco F5 5G has a 5,000mAh battery that supports 67W fast charging. When fully charged, the device lasts 10-12 hours in heavy use and more than a day in light or normal use. When testing battery performance, I noticed mild heating issues during intense gaming and video streaming sessions. but. Did not significantly affect the overall performance of the battery. In normal use, the battery gave satisfactory results and met the expected standards.

Poco F5 5G Verdict:

With a price tag of under Rs 30,000 (including renders) in India, the Poco F5 5G is a strong contender in the mid-range smartphone market. With a powerful Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 chipset, a 120Hz AMOLED display and great cameras, this device offers consistent performance, making it an excellent choice in the mid-range segment.