Poco F6 Review: Ideal smartphone under ?30,000 for gaming, multitasking

Poco F6 Review: Over the years, smartphone consumers have shifted drastically in terms of requirements and preferences. The shift may be a result of digital transformation as now people have started to adopt advanced technology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI). If we talk about Poco, then it is an emerging smartphone brand which has made a good image in the budget to mid-range segment. Now considering Poco's recent smartphone trends, it is entering the premium offering spectrum, but it's also maintaining its mid-range pricing.

A few months back, the company announced the Poco X6 Pro for gaming and multitasking purposes. Now, it has unveiled another new performance-oriented smartphone, the Poco F6 which is stealing quite some spotlight in the smartphones under Rs.30000 segment. Well, the smartphone has all the essential features which a user requires, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 processor, 1.5K resolution display, Sony camera sensors, and much more.

I have been using the Poco F6 smartphone for a week and I have put the device through several tests such as extended hours of gaming, multitasking, and other basic tasks to understand its performance. Therefore, check out this detailed Poco F6 review, to understand how the smartphone functions in real life.

Poco F6 Review: Design and display

Poco F6 comes with a very minimalist and simple design with the usual colour options: Black and Titanium (Grey shade). While other brands in the segment such as Realme and Vivo have continuously provided unique designs with dual back panel design, nano-mirror camera modules, and more. Poco F6 retains the polycarbonate back panel, it does come with a shimmering texture, but is it enough to sway buyers? Maybe not. Therefore, in my opinion, Poco should consider some design overhaul as its plain design does not match its premium offering. However, the plastic back panel does not attract dust or fingerprints which is a bonus point. Additionally, the smartphone is extremely lightweight and comes with a 7.8mm thickness.

In terms of display, the Poco F6 features a 6.67-inch 1.5K AMOLED display which is a perfect size as it does not make the smartphone look too big or too small in the hands. The display also supports Dolby Vision and HDR10+ playback which provides a crisp viewing experience. It also has AI features such as Super-resolution and AI HDR enhancement to improve the device resolution but when enabled it drains the battery quickly. However, if I compare it to the Realme GT 6T, it is not up to the mark due to the missing LTPO display. While there is not much difference, in gaming or streaming HDR content you may notice a minor change.

In terms of brightness, the Poco F6 offers 2400nits peak brightness which allows comfortable usage outdoors or during heavy sunlight conditions. However, its auto-brightness mode does not work properly and suggests random brightness which requires manual adjustment. Lastly, its 120Hz display is quite fluid and responsive, making your day-to-day browsing and scrolling a breeze.

Poco F6 Review: Camera

In terms of cameras, the Poco F6 features a dual-camera setup that includes a 50MP OIS Sony IMX882 main camera and an 8MP ultra-wide camera. In my opinion, the camera has the ability to capture decent quality images with promising clarity, details and colour accuracy. However, it is not as good as its competitor, the Realme GT 6T which captures images in a brighter tone. Although the image quality of Poco F6 tends towards cooler tones, it does not over-saturated the image, but its HDR quality could have been improved. Poco F6 also captures great quality images in portrait mode with quick focus on the object and captures with great clarity.

On the other hand, the ultra-wide sensor works fine with decent image quality in a wider field of view. On the front, the smartphone comes with a 20MP selfie camera which also captures natural tones and it does not make the image look edited. Therefore, overall the camera performance is acceptable considering the price and other advanced features it provides under Rs.30000.

Poco F6 Review: Performance

The Poco F6 is powered by the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 processor which has the ability to support on-device AI features and provides a similar benchmark as the flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor. Considering a smartphone under Rs.30000, the Poco F6 provided a very impressive performance when it comes to, graphic-intensive mobile gaming, mobile network, multitasking and more. While the smartphone provides very few AI features, it supports features such as Magic Eraser which is not as good as Samsung or Google, but it's acceptable.

If you are a true gamer, you do not have to worry about extended gaming hours as the smartphone will not budge at all. I played a couple of games such as BGMI, Asphalt 9, and Free Fire Max and it handle the gaming in extreme HRD setting swifty. I did not experience any frame drops and the speed was optimum after more than an hour of gaming sessions. However, the smartphone does show some minor heating but not up to the uncomfortable level. The heat management for Poco F6 was supported by the new Iceloop cooling technology and LiquidCool Technology 4.0 which sustains the temperature and performance. The smartphone is also equipped with Wild Boost Optimisation 3.0 technology for smooth gaming performance, and Poco has excelled in the performance segment.

The Poco F6 sports LPDDR5X RAM and up to 512GB UFS 4.0 storage which is promising for a performance-centric smartphone like Poco F6. When comes to the user interface, the Poco F6 runs on Xiaomi HyperOS based on Android 14 which has a very cluttered interface in my opinion. The smartphone includes multiple bloatware which is disappointing for a mid-range and a good-performing smartphone. However, the OS provides all the latest features which a smartphone requires.

Poco F6 Review: Battery

The Poco F6 is equipped with a 5000mAh battery which offers a great battery life which lasts up to a day with medium usage and day-to-day tasks such as browsing, scrolling through social media, gaming, or streaming HD content. However, some of its features such as AI enhancements, always on display, and other advanced features do affect the battery life.

In terms of charging, the smartphone supports 90W charging and it comes with a 120W adapter out of the box which takes about 45 to 50 minutes to fully charge the device.

Poco F6 Review: Verdict

So, should you buy the Poco F6 smartphone? In my opinion, the smartphone has so much potential to compete in the mid-range segment. However, we can not miss the minor limitations such as bloatware, camera performance, and basic design. On the other hand, it does provide an exceptional performance which swiftly manages tasks and extended gaming without any stutter. I personally enjoyed my experience with Poco F6 and it can give tough competition to other smartphones in the segment such as the Realme GT 6T, Inifnix GT 20 Pro, and others.