Poco F5 Pro review
Poco F5 Pro Intro
Poco enters the global market in 2023 with its Poco F5 series, leading with the flagship Poco F5 Pro with a starting price of $449 regular price. The phone comes with the best display from the company so far, a very capable chipset, fast charging, and a premium design. There are also improvements to the camera system, and gaming-oriented features like a dedicated cooling system for improved gaming performance.
Let’s jump in to explore the full package of the Poco F5 Pro and see what it’s all about.
What’s new about the device
- Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor
- 3200 x 1440 resolution display
- 1400 nits peak brightness
- 30W wireless fast charging
- 8K video recording
Table of Contents:
Poco F5 Pro Unboxing
(Image credit - PhoneArena)
Unlike many other manufacturers, Poco is quite generous when it comes to the unboxing experience with its phones. Inside the box of the Poco F5 Pro you get the phone itself, which comes with a pre-installed screen protector, a 68W charger, and a charging cable. You also get a transparent case that’s rather thick, as well as the sim ejector tool and documentation.
Poco F5 Pro Specs
A mixed bag of goodies for a good price
There is much to like about the Poco F5 Pro’s spec sheet. Poco had to cut down on some areas, but overall it seems like it made good decisions and was careful not to downgrade too much where it had to.
| Specs | Poco F5 Pro |
|---|---|
| Size and Weight | 162.8 x 75.4 x 8.6 mm (6.41 x 2.97 x 0.34 in), 204 g (7.20 oz) |
| Display | 6.67" AMOLED, 120Hz, 1400 nits peak brightness |
| Processor | Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 |
| RAM, Storage and Price | 8/256 GB: $449 12/256GB: $499 12/512GB: $549 |
| Software | MIUI 14/ Android 13 |
| Cameras |
|
| Battery Size | 5160mAh |
| Charging Speeds | 67W wired, 30W wireless |
It is obvious that the company focused most on offering a great viewing experience by adding a stellar display. Then again, most flagship phones already have one of those, so the thing that makes the F5 Pro stand out here is the fast wireless charging. The 12GB of RAM is also much appreciated. Can’t say the same for the choice to add a 2MP macro camera instead of a telephoto though.
Poco F5 Pro Design & Colors
Stylish and sleek
The design of the Poco F5 Pro is stylish and sleek. The back panel is made out of glass and curves as it reaches the edges of the phone, making it more comfortable to hold in the hand. It also helps that the phone is not too heavy, measuring at only 204g (not that much for a handset of this size). At the front, you have a large 6.67” flat display with very thin uniform bezels, resulting in an overall gorgeous look for the Poco F5 Pro.
When it comes to durability, however, it is not exactly the best you can get out there. The display is protected with Gorilla Glass 5 (which is still pretty good mind you), but the more disappointing part is that you only get an IP53 certification for dust and water protection, which will be enough to shield your phone from some splashes of water, but nothing more than that.
As for the color options, we got to test out the white model, which looks really classy and helps with hiding the fingerprint smudges left on the smooth glass back panel. There is also a black version.
When it comes to durability, however, it is not exactly the best you can get out there. The display is protected with Gorilla Glass 5 (which is still pretty good mind you), but the more disappointing part is that you only get an IP53 certification for dust and water protection, which will be enough to shield your phone from some splashes of water, but nothing more than that.
As for the color options, we got to test out the white model, which looks really classy and helps with hiding the fingerprint smudges left on the smooth glass back panel. There is also a black version.
Poco F5 Pro Display
(Image credit - PhoneArena)
The F5 Pro’s also has its fingerprint scanner embedded in the display, and I am glad to say that it is lightning-fast to use, as well as accurate.
Poco F5 Pro Camera
An unbalanced experience
(Image credit - PhoneArena)
It almost feels as if Poco has decided to completely disregard the ultra-wide and macro cameras on the phone's back, and spend 90% of its resources (for that part of the device) on the main camera. We are talking about some stellar performance here, but is that better than spreading it throughout the whole camera system? I guess it depends on the user.
Main Camera - Day
It seems poco has focused most of its attention (and budget) to the main snapper when it comes to the F5 Pro’s camera system. Well, that’s how it should be, after all.
This 64MP camera seems to handle HDR like a pro (no pun intended), and offers vibrant, deep colors. Images are tack sharp and the shutter response is very quick. I have zero bad remarks for the main camera on the Poco F5 Pro. I would trust it to help me capture some awesome shots any time of the day.
This 64MP camera seems to handle HDR like a pro (no pun intended), and offers vibrant, deep colors. Images are tack sharp and the shutter response is very quick. I have zero bad remarks for the main camera on the Poco F5 Pro. I would trust it to help me capture some awesome shots any time of the day.
Main Camera - Low-light
I was very surprised with the night-time photos from the main camera. The sample image you see above was taken in near pitch-dark conditions, as you can probably tell from the photo on the left. Despite that, switching the Poco F5 Pro to night mode seemed to do wonders in this case.
Zoom Quality
The Poco F5 Pro does not have a telephoto camera, but it does have a digital 2x zoom that produces a very sharp image. That’s because the phone crops in on the main camera sensor instead of simply zooming in on the image.
Portrait Mode
Portrait mode on the F5 Pro looks very fake and doesn’t do a great job at separating the subject from the background. There are some edges that are blurred out but shouldn’t be. The silver lining here is that you can regulate how blurred out you want things to be in the background, but that doesn’t really help in this case.
Ultra-wide Camera
I was a bit disappointed by the 8MP ultra-wide camera on the Poco F5 Pro. The photos that come out of it are lacking in sharpness and color accuracy, producing some washed out colors. That being said, unlike you will later find out about the video recording, images are usable for social media and quick snapshots.
Macro Camera
The 2MP macro camera will give you good looking images that are plenty sharp. However, I noticed that you cannot really get very close to the subject, which kind of defeats the whole purpose. It is hard to call the photos you can get with this snapper macro.
Selfies
The front-facing camera of the Poco F5 Pro comes with 16MP, and that shows. It shoots sharp images with good color accuracy (at least for my skin tone). One annoying factor is the face smoothing effect that is turned on by default when you open camera, but you can easily turn that off if you don’t like how it looks.
Video Quality
The Poco F5 Pro is capable of shooting video in 8K 24fps, but I wouldn’t recommend it, as it doesn’t really offer the best image quality and takes up a lot of space. More viable are the 4K and 1080p options.
One thing to note here is that you cannot shoot HDR video at 4K 60fps for some reason. You can only shoot HDR in 4K 30fps and lower. The image while shooting video in 4K is sharp and detailed, with great colors (albeit a bit oversaturated). Sadly, things go south when you start to move.
It seems the optical image stabilization (OIS) is not working very well here, as the focus seems to constantly when you are moving with the phone. This issue persists both with 60fps and 30fps.
Video from the ultra wide-camera is simply-put unusable. Unless you are okay with very low detail that is. It is hard to say that this is 1080p footage, even though it technically is.
One thing to note here is that you cannot shoot HDR video at 4K 60fps for some reason. You can only shoot HDR in 4K 30fps and lower. The image while shooting video in 4K is sharp and detailed, with great colors (albeit a bit oversaturated). Sadly, things go south when you start to move.
It seems the optical image stabilization (OIS) is not working very well here, as the focus seems to constantly when you are moving with the phone. This issue persists both with 60fps and 30fps.
Poco F5 Pro Performance & Benchmarks
Perfectly capable
The Poco F5 Pro might not come with the latest flagship processor from Qualcomm, but it gets arguably the next best thing — the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. The unit we got to test out was the one with 12GB of memory and 256GB of storage.
With these specs, the F5 Pro seemed to handle anything I threw at it with flying colors. Regular tasks such as navigating the UI and browsing the web were a total breeze, especially with that super smooth 120Hz display refresh rate. I saw no hiccups that would ruin my experience while using the phone.
I was most impressed by how effortlessly the camera app was working. Swapping between the different modes and taking photos or shooting video did not result in any stutter or lag, which is always a welcome sight.
Gaming-wize, besides the processor’s power and the 12GB of RAM, the Poco F5 Pro also comes with Poco’s LiquidCool Technology 2.0 that features 5000mm2 stainless steel vapor chambers and graphite layers to improve heat conductivity. On that note, I didn’t notice any overheating issues and the phone stayed relatively cool while I was gaming, with no drops in the frame rate.
With these specs, the F5 Pro seemed to handle anything I threw at it with flying colors. Regular tasks such as navigating the UI and browsing the web were a total breeze, especially with that super smooth 120Hz display refresh rate. I saw no hiccups that would ruin my experience while using the phone.
I was most impressed by how effortlessly the camera app was working. Swapping between the different modes and taking photos or shooting video did not result in any stutter or lag, which is always a welcome sight.
Gaming-wize, besides the processor’s power and the 12GB of RAM, the Poco F5 Pro also comes with Poco’s LiquidCool Technology 2.0 that features 5000mm2 stainless steel vapor chambers and graphite layers to improve heat conductivity. On that note, I didn’t notice any overheating issues and the phone stayed relatively cool while I was gaming, with no drops in the frame rate.
Performance Benchmarks:
Poco F5 Pro MIUI / Android version
Poco is a sub-brand of Xiaomi, so it runs Xiaomi’s MIUI 14 interface, which in this case is on top of Android 13. If you are familiar with both iOS and Android, you can think of MIUI as a mixture of both operating systems.
You get a control panel that is inspired by the one on iOS, but notifications are displayed similarly to other Android phones. I have to say that I quite like the Frankenstein-like approach between the two OS, but there are some issues with the software that might prove very annoying to some users.
More specifically, I am talking about the massive amount of bloatware that usually comes with Poco phones, which is no different for the Poco F5 Pro. You will find many examples of pre-installed games and apps that are completely unnecessary. You do get to uninstall most of them, however.
There is also the fact that MIUI 14 tends to be quite aggressive when it comes to killing background applications, which can make switching between apps a bit slower than usual. That being said, with our unit’s 12GB of RAM, I didn’t notice any such behavior.
Software support is another downside to Poco’s phones, which in the case of the Poco F5 Pro means just 2 years of major OS updates and 3 years of Android security patches. That is considered subpar for flagship phones and it means it will only go as far as Android 15.
You get a control panel that is inspired by the one on iOS, but notifications are displayed similarly to other Android phones. I have to say that I quite like the Frankenstein-like approach between the two OS, but there are some issues with the software that might prove very annoying to some users.
There is also the fact that MIUI 14 tends to be quite aggressive when it comes to killing background applications, which can make switching between apps a bit slower than usual. That being said, with our unit’s 12GB of RAM, I didn’t notice any such behavior.
Software support is another downside to Poco’s phones, which in the case of the Poco F5 Pro means just 2 years of major OS updates and 3 years of Android security patches. That is considered subpar for flagship phones and it means it will only go as far as Android 15.
Poco F5 Pro Battery
Expected battery life, great charging
With the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, Poco claims the Poco F5 Pro has a 30% decrease in CPU and GPU power consumption and 20% increase in AI power efficiency. Paired up with its 5160mAh battery, the phone lasted about a day and a half on a single charge with some gaming, web browsing, and content watching thrown in. I found stand-by time (how much the battery drains while the phone is asleep) to be quite alright too.
Poco F5 Pro Charging Speeds
One of the best parts about the Poco F5 Pro is its 68W fast charging, which genuinely improved my experience with the phone, as I didn’t have to think too much about the battery percentage. If I saw that it was getting close to 20%, I just had to plug it in for 15 minutes and I was good to go for the whole day. Also, you get a 68W charger in the box, so you can make use of this feature immediately.
Somewhat more impressive is the 30W wireless charging, however, as it is not something you see on many phones yet, especially from manufacturers like Google, Samsung, or Apple.
Somewhat more impressive is the 30W wireless charging, however, as it is not something you see on many phones yet, especially from manufacturers like Google, Samsung, or Apple.
Poco F5 Pro Audio Quality and Haptics
The Poco F5 Pro comes with two speakers, one that is firing from the bottom and is embedded in the lower frame of the phone, and the other situated where the earpiece is.
Volume-wise, it can get sufficiently loud, but the more impressive part is that the audio quality remains good throughout the whole volume range. I couldn’t get enough of these speakers while watching YouTube (I tend to spend a bit too much time on YouTube, so I have a good reference on that front), or enjoying some Netflix content.
Haptic feedback was also a pleasant surprise with the Poco F5 Pro. Typing messages resulted in tight and accurate vibrations, albeit a bit weak. I just had to increase the intensity, and it felt great to use afterwards.
Volume-wise, it can get sufficiently loud, but the more impressive part is that the audio quality remains good throughout the whole volume range. I couldn’t get enough of these speakers while watching YouTube (I tend to spend a bit too much time on YouTube, so I have a good reference on that front), or enjoying some Netflix content.
Poco F5 Pro Competitors
Galaxy A54 5G
If you are not a fan of Poco's MIUI Android skin, then maybe the Galaxy A54 will hit more close to home with you. It comes at similar starting price of $449 and has two more year of major Android updates and security patches, making it a much more viable option in the long run. Meanwhile you still get a phone that is great for enjoying content with better protection against dust and water. You do loose out on the fast charging speeds, though.
Pixel 7a
The Pixel 7a might not be here yet, but there is a very good chance we will see it on May 10 during Google's I/O developer conference. The new mid-ranger from google is said to come at $499 and it has a really good chance to beat the Poco F5 Pro in terms of overall camera capabilities and features, especially considering the Pixel phone's history in that segment. Plus, you get the original Android experience. Then again, it probably won't have as good of a display as the F5 Pro, neither its awesome charging capabilities.
Poco F5 Pro Summary and Final Verdict
(Image credit - PhoneArena)
All in all, I did enjoy using the Poco F5 Pro. The display and audio quality played very well with my addiction for consuming video content. There is also the fact that its main camera is very capable at taking some banger shots no matter the lighting conditions. Plus, you get 68W fast charging and 30W wireless charging.
That being said, the 2 years of software support is big deal breaker for me. I am also a bit turned off with the issues I noticed during video recording at 4K. If neither of these are important to you, though, and you don’t mind MIUI and some of its annoyances, then there is a good chance you will enjoy the Poco F5 Pro.
That being said, the 2 years of software support is big deal breaker for me. I am also a bit turned off with the issues I noticed during video recording at 4K. If neither of these are important to you, though, and you don’t mind MIUI and some of its annoyances, then there is a good chance you will enjoy the Poco F5 Pro.
*Disclaimer: You may notice review scores have changed on PhoneArena! Since September 20th, we have started using a new scoring system. Learn more about the new PhoneArena Smartphone Review Rating system here.
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