Poco F1 Review

Launched in New Delhi on 22 August 2018 at Rs 20,999 for 6GB/64GB, about $300, and sold as the Pocophone F1 outside India, the F1 never had a US release; the price here is that conversion. The pitch was a single line: the same Snapdragon 845 as the OnePlus 6 and the Galaxy S9, at half the money. Xiaomi got there with a polycarbonate back (Kevlar on the Armoured Edition), a 6.18-inch 1080p LCD with a wide notch, no OIS, and no NFC at all.

What it kept mattered more: a 4000mAh battery that ran two days with that chip, a vapour chamber Poco called LiquidCool, a 12MP Sony IMX363 main camera that turned excellent the moment you sideloaded a Google Camera port, a 20MP selfie camera with infrared face unlock that worked in the dark, and a headphone jack. The screen is the honest weak point, with backlight bleed around the notch on plenty of units and a dim, cool panel.

Some early units also suffered ghost touches that took a few firmware rounds to settle. MIUI for Poco shipped on Android 8.1 with an app drawer and less clutter than mainline MIUI, though the ads in Xiaomi's system apps came along for the ride. Android 9 and Android 10 followed, ending on MIUI 12, and the custom ROM scene kept it alive for years beyond that. Widevine L1 for HD streaming arrived by update. It reset what a flagship chip was allowed to cost.