An affordable flagship for avid gamers

With the POCO F1, Xiaomi has made waves in the world of smartphones, providing flagship- class internals for the price of an average midrange smartphone. The F1 starts at 20,999 for the base 6GB/ 64GB variant and goes up to Rs 29,999 for the 8GB/ 256GB with a Kevlar rear panel.

Defying the modern convention of building phones with metal or glass, POCO has gone for a more robust and pocket- friendly plastic build. As stated, the Armoured Edition features a Kevlar rear panel, which POCO claims can resist scratches. However, the overall fit and finish isn’t as impressive as an equivalent priced Xiaomi device. The F1 features a 3.5mm headphone jack, a USB- C port, FM Radio and an expandable storage slot — features that enthusiasts seek. The F1 flaunts a 6.1- inch full HD+ IPS LCD display with a notch on top, which puts out an above- average viewing experience with adequate brightness. The F1 is built around the Snapdragon 845 chip and POCO accompanies it with a liquid cooling system. Xiaomi’s MIUI manages the hardware, albeit with POCO’s take on the OS. The POCO launcher introduces a new app drawer and a colour- based search to categorise app based on icon colours. Even on the base variant with 6GB of RAM, the F1 is lightning quick — apps open fast and multitasking is effortless. Resource- intensive titles are help up well by the Adreno 630 and the liquid cooling system keeps temperatures under control.

For the optics, the 12MP + 5MP rear setup paired with Xiaomi’s AI manages good- looking photos with a wide dynamic range and adequate details. Low light imaging is decent too with well- balanced exposure. The 20MP front camera with Pixel Binning also takes impressive selfies in portrait mode. The massive 4000mAh fuel tank ensures a day’s stamina under moderate usage, sans gaming.

To sum it up, the POCO F1 is the most affordable smartphone with a Snapdragon 845 chip and liquid cooling system. It’s highly recommendable for gamers and performance enthusiasts on a strict budget.