POCO M4 PRO ● Best of the rest
Price £205 / stuff.tv/m4pro
ever heard of Poco? It’s actually the cheapest branch of Xiaomi, renowned purveyor of feature-packed phones. And the 5G-ready M4 Pro packs in so many goodies it’s unbelievable at this price point.
This Android uses the Mediatek Dimensity 810 platform – a power-packed octa-core processor that dismisses the Snapdragon snobs. Plus with 6GB of RAM, multitasking isn’t a chore either. Framerates in games aren’t the highest, but more demanding titles are perfectly playable at medium detail settings.
NFeatures: bargainy
The 6.6in display is superb, with lovely colours and a 90hz refresh rate – which is most welcome at this kind of price level, delivering super-smooth scrolling. A 5000mah battery sounds beefy enough for all-day use, but the Poco thrashed our estimates and lasted well into a second day before needing a top-up… and 33W wired charging is also impressively nippy. It has a 3.5mm port for those who prefer their headphones wired.
The camera bump is a tad misleading: there might be five ‘lenses’, but only two have sensors behind them. Still, all credit to Poco for ditching the near-pointless depth and macro lenses favoured by other £200 phones. Instead you get the more standard lenses in the form of a high-pixel main snapper (50MP) and an ultrawide.
The former handles colour and contrast well, and the latter crams a lot more into every shot with its 119° field of view… but neither captures an awful lot of fine detail.
Software: bloaty
The interface is pleasant enough and you get two years of OS updates and three years of security updates. The MIUI Android skin blends elements from both Apple and Google, such as the Control Centre-like notification tray and an app drawer that’s fit to bursting right out of the box. Yes, there is a lot of bloatware and you’ll want to bin it off, which is a pain.
It’s also an annoyance that a great number of settings and features are switched on by default. This can be a little overwhelming and it’s not easy to hunt through the settings menus to disable them.
But if you accept that low-light photography won’t be on the menu, and are prepared to spend some time tweaking the interface, the M4 Pro could earn a place in your pocket.
TECH SPECS
● 6.6in 2400x1080 90Hz LCD ● Dimensity 810
● 6GB RAM ● 128GB
● Android 11 + MIUI 12.5
● 50+8MP rear, 16MP front ● 5000mah
● 164x76x8.8mm, 195g STUFF SAYS Skips a few luxuries, but still seriously good for the price ★★★★✩
REDMI NOTE 11 £199 / stuff.tv/rn11
With capable hardware at not quite back-of-the-sofa money, and available in more tiers than a wedding cake, the Note 11 series might be peak Redmi. The vanilla model seen here is the baby of the bunch, but still packs a high refresh rate and a 50MP main camera, which takes decent enough snaps for the price.
The flat edges and matt finish give off serious iphone vibes, and the 1080p OLED screen is a real highlight, with superb contrast and punchy colours. Performance isn’t all that great, though, with occasional stutters and time to twiddle your thumbs when opening more demanding apps.
This is one for buyers on a truly tight budget.
Key specs
● 6.43in 2400x1080 AMOLED
● Snapdragon 680 ● 4GB, 128GB 50+8+2+2MP rear, 13MP front ● 5000mah ● 160x74x8.1mm, 179g
STUFF SAYS ★★★✩✩ SAMSUNG GALAXY A52s from £349 / stuff.tv/a52s
If an S22 is concentrated Galaxy, the A52s is the watered-down alternative - think familiar design and software, but with a cheaper build and a few feature cutbacks to sneak into budget territory. Luxuries like an in-display fingerprint sensor and 120Hz OLED screen help justify the price, and the 64MP main camera takes detailed shots in Samsung’s usual saturated style.
You can expect all-day battery life, but 25W charging is a step down from the competition. There’s enough muscle for a smooth experience across apps and games, and with three years of software updates it has more of a future than many cheaper rivals.
Key specs
● 6.5in 2400x1080 AMOLED ● Snapdragon 778G ● 6GB, 128GB ● 64+12+5+5MP rear, 32MP front ● 4500mah ● 160x75x8.4mm, 189g
STUFF SAYS ★★★✩✩ REALME 8 5G £199 / stuff.tv/realme8
Opting for Mediatek silicon and not going to town on the feature list has left the Realme 8 5G with enough room in the budget for supercharged mobile data. Could be handy if you plan on bingeing video streams on the 6.5in Full Hd-and-a-bit screen.
Performance is so-so, but the entry-grade chipset is at least power-efficient, making a day and a half between top-ups very much achievable.
A pair of 2MP secondary lenses are a token inclusion, but the main 48MP camera promises to capture a decent amount of detail in good light. Don’t plan on stepping up to 5G any time soon? The 4G version costs the same but comes with a superior snapper.
Key specs
● 6.5in 2400x1080 LCD ● Dimensity 700 ● 8GB, 128GB
● 48+2+2MP rear, 16MP front ● 5000mah ● 163x75x8.5mm, 185g
STUFF SAYS ★★★✩✩
As ‘budget’ as Samsung gets, but don’t expect miracles Affordable 5G, but this one makes too many sacrifices Sluggish performance lets down an otherwise fine handset