Poco F4 5G Review: Design
The Poco F4 5G is available in multiple color variants, and we are testing the green variant. Like the Poco F1, the Poco F4 has a simple design, and there is nothing fancy about the look and feel of the device.
The Poco F4 has flat sides and is made of plastic. T; h back panel of the Poco F4 is made of glass and t, and the front panel uses Corning Gorilla Glass 5. TThe top part of the phone has a secondary speaker, a secondary microphone, and an IR blaster. The lower part of the phone contains a USB Type-C (USB 2.0) port, a primary speaker, a primary microphone, and a primary speaker. The power and volume buttons are on the right side, where the power button doubles as a fingerprint sensor. AThe SIM card tray is also on the bottom and can accept two nano SIM card slots. Overall, the Poco F4 has nothing special to offer regarding design. However, for most people, it is a practically designed smartphone that works rather than just flashy.
Poco F4 5G Review: Display
The Poco F4 has a 6.67-inch E4 AMOLED display with FHD+ resolution and a refresh rate of 120 Hz. The display offers a maximum brightness of 1300 nits with a contrast ratio of 5000000:1 and a sampling frequency of 360 Hz. The Poco F4 also has Dolby Vision certification and HDR 10+ certification for HDR content streaming on major OTT platforms such as Prime Video and Netflix.
The Poco F4 has a flat screen with a punched hole in the top center to house the 20MP selfie camera. While it has a bit of a bezel at the bottom, the Poco F4’s display looks modern. His device is Widevine L1 certified and can stream at FHD resolution on platforms such as Disney+ Hotstar, Prime Video, and Netflix. The Poco F4’s display supports a 120Hz refresh rate for gamers, making it a great show for gaming and social media use. However, phones like the Moto G82 5G have a slightly vibrant 10-bit display compared to the 8-bit display on the Poco F4 5G.
Poco F4 5G Review: Camera
The Poco F4 5G has a triple camera setup on the back with a 64MP primary sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide angle lens, and a 2MP macro lens. On the front is a 20MP selfie camera with support for 1080p video recording. The Poco F4 5G is the first smartphone to feature OIS or optical image stabilization. The primary 64MP sensor captures much detail well in daylight and well-lit situations. The OIS technology allows the device to take stable shots even in low light, especially when longer exposures are needed.
Poco F4 5G Primary Camera Performance
This first photo was taken from an interchange in Bengaluru on a cloudy day. The image has a lot of detail with minimal motion blur, even when some vehicles are in motion. However, in normal mode, the photos taken on the Poco F4 look dull, and I would have liked a slightly more saturated photo. This macro shot was also taken up close with the primary camera. The center of the image is fully in focus while the surroundings equal a natural bokeh effect. Overall, the Poco F4 5G took a great shot.
This photo was taken with a wide-angle camera in indoor lighting conditions. Due to the lack of light, the image looks a bit grainy. However, the camera captured all the photo’s highlights without any problems. This photo of the iPhone 12 Pro was taken using portrait mode on the Poco F4. As you can see, the bokeh isn’t perfect, and the same goes for non-human subjects. That’s why we don’t recommend using the bokeh mode on the Poco F4 on non-human subjects. Finally, this photo was taken with the selfie camera on the Poco F4, again on a cloudy day. The selfie camera did well, preserving the natural skin tone and texture. The semi-blurred background also helps highlight the subject; in this case, it’s my face.
Poco F4 5G Camera Performance Verdict
Poco has baked in many new features on the F4 5G, such as night mode, 64MP mode, vlog mode, time-lapse, and a movie effect mode with pre-built filters. There’s also a built-in long exposure mode to take beautiful low-light photos of the light trail, moving crowd, and the night sky. Overall, the Poco F4’s camera performance is quite satisfactory. I would have liked a telephoto lens instead of a 2MP macro lens. Also, note that the Poco F4 also supports 4K video recording at up to 60fps and supports slow-motion 960fps videos at 720p resolution.
Poco F4 5G Review: Performance
The Poco F4 5G is powered by the Qualcomm 870 SoC, a fast Snapdragon 865 SoC. While the Snapdragon 870 isn’t the newest or most powerful processor, the company claims it’s more optimized and power efficient than the Snapdragon 888 and 8 Gen 1. The processor is paired with LPDDR5 RAM (up to 12 GB) and 256 GB. One storage. The company uses a CPU throttling test to prove the same, and we’ve been able to replicate the company’s claim. On Geekbench 5, the Poco F4 5G scored 979 points on the single-core CPU test and 3266 points on the multi-core CPU test. On AnTuTu, the Poco F4 placed 682206 points.
These numbers aside, I enjoyed playing COD: Mobile on the Poco F4 on a single piece for hours, and I also played a lot of Candy Crush Saga. The Poco F4 5G is a delight if you’re a gamer, especially for the asking price. The Poco F4 5G can also handle games like BGMI and PUBG. New State easily offers 60 fps at high graphics settings and can maintain the performance for longer gaming sessions.
Poco F4 5G Review: Software and Connectivity
The F4 5G is getting two major updates, and the device should receive Android 13 and Android 14 updates in the coming days. The Poco F4 comes with Android 12 OS, a custom MIUI 13 skin, and a Poco launcher. WThe MIUI 13 is heavily inspired by iOS 15 and is visible throughout the OS. Hile, I was once a fan of MIUI, MIUI 13 isn’t for me, although it has significantly less bloatware than MIUI 12 and MIUI 11. This does not mean I am against a custom skin; I recently reviewed the Realme Narzo 50 Pro 5G and believe the Realme UI 3 looks much more modern and intuitive than the MIUI 13. Poco has confirmed.
Regarding connectivity, the Poco F4 supports a 5G network on both slots with support for ten 5G bands. The device does support Bluetooth 5.2 and dual-band WiFi. However, there is no support for WiFi 6, which is a shame. Finally, the Poco F4 also has NFC, and when it comes to geo-navigation, the device also supports India’s NaVIC along with GPS, GLONASS, and Beidou.
Poco F4 5G Review: Battery Life
The device is equipped with a 4,500 mAh battery with support for 67W fast charging, and the fast charger is included in the box. The phone can be fully charged in less than 40 minutes, and it takes about 13 minutes to charge from one percent to 50 percent. The Poco F4 5G can last a whole day for normal users. However, if you are a heavy user, you may need to refill the battery at the end of the day. Given the screen size, the company should have added a slightly larger battery at 5,000 mAh.
Poco F4 5G Review: Verdict
The Poco F4 5G is not that different from the Poco F1. We could say that the Poco F4 is a 2022 variant of the Poco F1. From simplistic design to no-nonsense features, the Poco F4 is probably the textbook example of a perfect mid-range smartphone that will last two to three years without a hitch. Poco made a safe bet that aggressively helped the brand price the device. If you want a machine that stands out from the crowd, the Poco F4 is not the device. However, if you want a machine that works and won’t slow down shortly, then the Poco F4 is the device to consider.
