The Poco Lineup of phones was Xiaomi’s answer to budget killer smartphones. The company already got popularity for producing great budget devices. POCO M series lineup made for some impressive spec decked phones at a remarkably affordable price. In fact, the Poco series was one of the earliest to adopt the 5G with the M3 Pro devices. With that said, the POCO M4 Pro 5G seems like a sensible and worthy update to the M3 Pro 5G. Whether it is the better camera module or the improved display color, the phone delivers on all fronts all the while maintaining the affordable price tag.

Poco M4 Pro Key Features

Design and Build Quality

The Poco series always held a distinctive design element in their phones. And it came mostly in the form of the large Poco branding slapped on a contrasting color on the back. The same is present on the M4 Pro. The key design is similar to the Redmi Note 11. However, the camera module gets extended in a rectangular shape to make way for the “Designed by Poco” branding.

Other than that, the phone exudes a premium look and feel all around. The carved plastic back has a distinct graphite tone to it which the company calls “Power Black” color. The phone is available in yellow and blue color options as well.

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The phone features a plastic build all around with Gorilla glass protection on the front. It is also rated for IP53 splash and dust resistance.  The power button and the volume rocker are situated on the right side of the device. There is a 3.5 mm headphone jack along with a stereo speaker at the bottom of the device. Overall, the phone feels premium in hand with a durable plastic build. 

Display

The main improvement from the previous generation Poco M series here is the display. Poco has been criticized in the past for the color gamut on their devices. However, they threw this one out of the park.

The 6.6-inch IPS LCD features a 90 Hz refresh rate and 240 Hz touch sampling rate. The 84.8% screen-to-body ratio is good enough for FHD+ resolution with 399 PPI.  If that alone was not enough to impress, the brand also included the DCI-P3 color gamut for an increased contrast and color capture on the display. It is a budget device after all and the contrast ratio will not be as good as high-end AMOLED panels. But at this price point, it delivers better than the competitors.

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Camera

There has been a trend of shoving as many camera sensors on the back as possible. Brands have made triple and quad-camera setup on the back a normal thing, even on budget phones. While they work to some extent on flagship devices, it is a complete gimmick on the budget lineup. The phone heavily relies on the main sensor most of the time. The supporting sensors fail to deliver most of the time.

Poco understands these issues and has decided to stick with quality over quantity. The phone features a dual-camera setup on the back. One is a 50 MP f/1.8 main sensor. The other is an 8 MP f/2.2 ultrawide one. Both these sensors are incredibly capable and deliver quality photos. In addition to the back sensors, there is a 16 MP shooter on the front. Both the front and the back camera can shoot 1080p videos at 30 fps.

The 50 MP sensor takes some amazing shots in outdoor and well-lit environments. A notable improvement from the previous generation has to be the dynamic range. The back camera can now capture increased dynamic range even under high exposure. The night photography has also gotten better on the Poco M4 Pro. The phone is a testament that more does not always have to translate into better and that a dual-camera setup can easily outperform the competitors in a similar price range.

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Processor and Performance

The processor of the phone is MediaTek Dimensity 810 5G (6 nm). This is basically a souped-up version of the Dimensity 700 series on a more efficient 6 nm architecture. The Octa-core processor features 2 2.4 GHz Cortex-A76 and 6 2.0 GHz Cortex-A55 chips. It is the direct competitor to Qualcomm's Snapdragon 765G processor.

The mid-range processor is coupled with Mali G57 CPU which is decent enough for light gaming. Do not expect lightning-fast performance on this device. This is a phone designed for day-to-day use. The chip and the GPU can handle day-to-day tasks pretty well. Light to moderate users will have no problems at all with the device. Even under duress, the phone does not heat much nor does it throttle.

The medium processor is coupled with Android 11 running MIUI 12.5 skin on top of it. MIUI has had a significant transition over the years from being bloatware-filled lagging OS to a more streamlined, toned-down experience. Needless to say, the phone runs MIUI with a breeze. Security and UI transitions are smooth as ever. Overall, the OS offers a decent user experience.

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Battery and Charge Time

For a 6.6-inch LCD panel, the phone features a 5000 mAh battery. This has been a standard for a few years now in mid-range processor devices. Expect to get around 6-7 hours of screen on time with a single charge. Charging speed is also top-notch in this device. Poco has included a 33W charger with the device which the brand claims to go from zero to 100% in just under an hour.

Price of POCO M4 Pro in Bangladesh

The phone is available in two variants – the 4/64 GB version and the 6/128 GB version. The 6/128 Gb version is available in Bangladesh officially for 25,000 BDT.

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Verdict

The Poco M4 Pro 5G is a decent mid-range phone that delivers for its price. The phone takes note of the issues found on the previous M series phones and addresses them quite well. The dual-camera module performs surprisingly well for the price point. Though the phone is not a gaming device in any way, it does a decent job of handling whatever is thrown at it. To wrap things up, for a budget buyer, this phone can be an excellent choice.