Between mirrorless cameras and foldable designs, top-of-the-line smartphones are getting more and more expensive. But at the same time, i mid-range devices they increasingly offer a complete experience, with even peaks of excellence. When testing for this Poco F5 review we have had concrete proof of this: good shots (with great ease of use), performance up to par (with the new Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2) and an autonomy/recharge combination that is the envy of smartphones that cost more than double. Even if the competition in this range is really fierce.
Our review of Poco F5
The yellow and black packaging – the colors of Poco – already contains everything you need to make the most of your new smartphone. In fact, you find both the 67W charger with USB-A/USB-C cable than a transparent plastic case, as well as the device documents. Another example of how concrete Poco F5 is: you just have to turn on your smartphone and start transferring your data.
The smartphone itself, especially in the black color (the most discreet of the three available), has a discreet but not without elegance style. Full screen on the front, with a small central punch-hole for the selfie camera. Three sensors on the backtwo of them larger, top left corner.
The plastic on the back feels nice in the hand. Looking in detail, you will find very light diagonal lines that play with the light and make the fingerprints on the back less evident (although they are noticeable).
On the edges you will find the stereo speakers, both above and below. At the top is a much appreciated jack da 3,5 mm, while below you will find USB-C input and dual-SIM port. On the right there are both the volume keys and the access key, which also acts as a fingerprint reader. And it works very well indeed: a solution that we appreciated.
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Lo smartphone pesa solo 181 grams, despite being a large device, with a 6.67-inch display. Measure 161.11mm x 74.95mm x 7.9mm, making it not bulky in the hand. The construction is of quality, without creaks of any kind. The plastic reveals it as a mid-range smartphone instead of a top-of-the-range one. But you immediately feel that you have a good quality product in your hands.
A bright display
Little did not save on the F5’s display, which impressed us positively during the tests of this review. It is a display AMOLED DotDisplay da 6,67 pollici, with resolution FHD+. This technology ensures perfect contrast, but we also really liked the color calibration. The images are bright and well made: a display that has nothing to envy even more expensive devices. The thin bezels (the screen-to-body ratio is 93.4%) ensures that you have all the space you need on the display.
Il refresh rate variabile da 120Hz it is very responsive, even during games. The touch sampling rate is 240Hz, not exactly that of a gaming smartphone, but more than enough. We also really liked the brightness, which adjusts to the ambient light quickly and smoothly. Officially, it comes to 500 nits and 1000 nits. But we were able to use the smartphone even in direct sunlight without too much difficulty.
The glass into Corning Gorilla Glass 5 it should ensure excellent protection against scratches and possible bumps. In a nutshell, the display of this smartphone is good and more than enough for almost all consumers.
The performance of Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 and MIUI 13
One of the most interesting news of Poco F5 is its processor: it is in fact among the very first devices to use Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2. It is a processor that Qualcomm has designed for the mid-range, with a 8-Core CPU up to 2.91Ghz and an Andreno GPUall with 4 nanometer architecture.
Paired with 12GB in LPDDR5 RAM (there is also the 8GB version) e 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage, it performs very well indeed. In day-to-day use, we never felt the need for a more powerful processor. Always snappy, even in managing multitasking, we had no problems of any kind. And the battery life, especially in stand-by, seems really positive.
In more “heavy” games you may feel a slight drop in frames per second compared to the top of the range. But also playing FIFA 23 and Genshin Impact for a whilewe had no problems and the smarpthone didn’t get very hot. Below are a couple of benchmarks.
The operating system of Poco F5 is MIUI 14, based on Android 13. As always for Xiaomi and Poco devices, you will always find them when you first turn them on too many pre-installed apps. But you can eliminate almost all of them if, like us, you prefer to have only apps on your smartphone that you use actively.
For the rest the system performs very well. The WiFi and cellular connection is optimal, as is the handling of calls. And it was able to replace our “basic” smartphone in all without any problems: we worked and played with it without problems.
A competent camera
From a photographic point of view, bit f5 has a main sensor from 64MP which will be the one you will use most often. The wide angle from 8MP we recommend it only if you really can’t get a little further from the subject: it’s not on the same level as the main one. The macro from 2MP supports the main one.
Only one quality sensor, therefore. But on the positive side, it performs very well indeed. When we tested it on a sunny day, we may have caught an excessive saturation, especially when framing natural subjects with different shades of green exposed to the sun. But it’s something that almost all smartphones struggle with. Instead, we were impressed with how the images turned out very well defined and how the sensor and the Poco software are able to distinguish the fields focusing in a natural and well done way. In this range it is difficult to find impeccable cameras, but we must say that Poco F5 in this review came quite close.
The thing we appreciated the most is the ease of the shots: just point and shoot, letting the software do the rest. The type of photographs that the vast majority of users take, who will avoid using the Pro features (although there are), leaving the task of fixing the photographs to the AI.
The Night mode it didn’t hit us positively, on the other hand the shots at night without any active mode aren’t bad at all, thanks to the 4-in-1 pixel binning and the optical and electronic stabilization. Which also does its duty in the digital zoom, which remains stable (albeit poorly defined) even at 10x.
The camera from 16MP for selfies it is nothing exciting. But does its duty: for video calls and social media it’s great. The videos are not of a professional level, but they are discreet: there is also the 4K support. In short, it is not a smartphone that photographers will be able to use to create their own professional content. But for most users, Poco F5 in this review has proven to have what it takes.
The shots
Lots of battery and fast charging
Poco F5 has a battery of 5.000mAh, which combined with good processor management allows you to get to the end of the day without problems even with intense use. If you don’t look at your smartphone too much while you’re in the office, it can even lead to lunch the next day.
Charging has long been a strong point for Xiaomi and its Poco brand, and the F5 we tested in this review is no different. The 67W recharge recharges the smartphone from 0 to 100% in just 46 minutes. If you recharge around 15% and disconnect it after half an hour, you will have more than a day of autonomy.
Poco F5 review: is it worth it?
The Poco F5 that we evaluated in this review (12+256GB) costs money 479.90 euros at launchalthough Poco explained to us that the “early bird” price up to 16th of May and of 399,90. The 8+256GB model is expensive 429,90 euros, but you can pay it by the 16th 379,90 euro.
We liked the smartphone and it looks very complete. Nice screen, solid camera and really good performance/battery for the mid-range. But at full price, the competition starts to get tough. Under 400 euros, however, there are few smartphones that can do everything equally well. You may find models that take even better shots, but have a subdued screen. Or that they are slow or with a disappointing fast charge. Poco F5 has it all. If you can get it at an early bird price (or even less), it’s recommended.