The Capital City of Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines – March 28, 2021 – Thanks to POCO Philippines, we were able to get a hold of the POCO F3. After our review, we considered the POCO F3, the uncrowned king for budget, high-end smartphones. Although it’s a bit ironic to say a high-end phone is a budget, we still consider the handset as a budget phone since the price is still below 20,000 pesos. So without further ado, let’s get right into it.
Design and body
As of this time, in the Xiaomi ecosystem, Mi 10 Ultra is the most good-looking, luxurious-like smartphone yet. It is followed by Mi 11. I mentioned this because Mi 11 seems inferior when it comes to looks and feels against POCO F3. Especially the camera placement design of the new device has a way more flagship looks than the Mi 11. In addition, the handset has a curve near the edges to add more premium looks.
Its back is looking glossy-finished and mirror-like. Unlike the POCO F2 Pro, this handset is way lighter and thinner when you gave it a grip or hold it. Unlike the other phones with the same price range, this device is protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 for both front and back. Let me also emphasize that the frame is made of aluminum, which will help you avoid bending your phone when you lie it down on the bed or sitting on it when it’s in your back pocket.
Display
Before the device is released, there’s always a notion that Xiaomi phones or POCO phones, with budget price tags, have always mediocre panels on their display. From IPS-LCD, AMOLED with fewer nits, and no HDR. That notion disappeared when this phone was released. It has an E4 AMOLED panel, a 120Hz refresh rate, and an HDR10+.
To experience these features we tried to browse on Facebook and watch Netflix videos for a couple of hours to see how respectable the display is. And the result is outstanding. If we were asked to give it a score, we will give it an 8 out of 10.
Package
Good to know that the phone comes with a 33W wall charger paired Type-C cable. Jelly case, user manual, and warranty cards are also included.
PERFORMANCE IN BENCHMARKS
The recently-released smartphone scored a 619218 on AnTuTu benchmark v8.5.6. This comes as no surprise since the handset has Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 870, which is said to be the overclocked version of Snapdragon 865. The chip is paired with an awesome integrated GPU, the Adreno 650.
POCO F3 also got a 4,858 score on Sling Shot Extreme – OpenGL ES 3.1. And the DRM Info gave a level 1 security for the handset.
GAMEPLAY
Playing Call of Duty Mobile on the phone is phenomenal. The refresh rate of 120Hz made the difference. I can say the tagline of gamers that refresh rate win games seem to reflect on this idea. I can shot better, and I can maneuver better.
On the other hand, playing Mobile Legends on this device is pretty much normal with the other high-end phones. Maybe because the game only supports up to 60Hz refresh rate.
We will try the 120Hz refresh rate on WR once the update is available OTA.
Camera and Video
For recording and shots, we would like to invite you to watch it on YouTube, so you can get a better picture of what we are talking about. The only thing we can say about its rear and selfie camera prowess is that it went beyond our expectations. Watch our YouTube vlog review below.
Battery and Charging
The newly-launched smartphone is packed with a 4520mAh, which is for me, a 2020 thing. Most of the smartphones right now are being sold with a 5000mAh of battery. The handset can be charged from 0% to 100% in 50 mins to 55 mins. But don’t get me wrong, these data are still impressive considering the price.
Conclusion
From a budget standpoint, the POCO F3 is a win for every person who wants a high-end phone but on a budget. I don’t think that there is a smartphone today that can match what the POCO F3 can offer.
To finish my concurring opinion, the POCO F3 is priced at PHP 17,990 for 6GB RAM/128GB ROM and PHP 20,990 for 8GB RAM/256GB ROM. At Lazada’s birthday celebration, this phone was priced at PHP 15,990 for 6GB RAM/128GB ROM and PHP 18,990 for 8GB RAM/256GB ROM.
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