IceBite(TECH)

POCO has pulled out yet another bestseller, and the POCO X6 Pro 5G will surely upset the competition. Have been using the phone for a little over a week and here's why it is the best phone under 30k for the masses. Design - POCO has kept a balance with the CMF. - You get a flat frame, with a pillow 2.5D back that helps with the grip. - The vegan leather variant especially adds that premium touch. - This grey variant reminds of the Pixel 8, and I'd say it's the best color to get. - Not a fan of the individual lenses on the back. They definitely need to fix the camera module design. Display - This is hands down the best display POCO has used till date. - Excellent display quality, with the 120Hz RR & variable refresh rates. - Panel gets bright enough, Outdoors visibility is great. - Color tuning specially in the Pro mode has been done right. - Panel is ideal for watching HDR content, with the Dolby Vision & Atmos support. - Good stereo speaker system & with excellent sound separation. Also gets loud enough. Software - This is where the brand has worked well. - HyperOS is buttery smooth and full of customisation. - You get Android 14 out of the box with 3+4 years support. - Bloatware situation is still out of hand, but brands have to do this to subsidise these phones. - Not a fan of the POCO launcher, doesn't get dynamic icons, large forlder. Hope they ship future iterations with the stock HyperOS launcher. Performance - Performance is top-notch with the MediaTek Dimensity 8300 Ultra. - Easily gets 1.4L on Antutu and beats last year's Snapdragon SoCs for a fraction of cost. - Gaming performance is excellent for the price and matches the competition. - PubG runs at 90fps, CoD at 120fps. - Phone gets slightly warm while gaming but never too hot. - Battery life is impressive and lasts more than a full day with moderate use. - The bundled 67W charger tops up the phone in under 40 mins. Camera - The performance is very similar to POCO F5. - Color consistency between lenses is a plus. - Primary camera takes some great looking natural shot. - There are some issues with HDR, hope they gets fixed in OTAs. - The camera UI is clean & simple to use. - The 2x in-sensor zoom on the primary sensor is a neat touch. - Selfie performance is average and certainly needs work. - Video performance is decent, can capture 4k/30fps videos although they look jittery at times. - 1080p capture on the other hand is quite good. Verdict At ₹26,999, the POCO X6 Pro gets the majority of things right. You get a gorgeous display, functional design, smooth software with a promise of 4 years of updates, a beast of a processor, NFC, and a long-lasting battery. The phone is a no-brainer if you need top-notch performance with decent cameras on a strict budget.