While POCO has proved itself as a brand that can deliver great smartphones, it’s latest mid-range smartphone offers decent specifications at a lower price than its competitors. We take a look at the all-new POCO M3 smartphone and share our thoughts about the device.
Design
It’s no surprise that almost all mid-range smartphones now come with large displays and with a stylish form-factor. In the case of the new POCO M3, the smartphone features a large 6.53-inch IPS panel and comes with a screen resolution of 1080 x 2340. The screen resolution is more than enough, considering the fact that this is a mid-range device. And similar to other smartphones, the display on the POCO M3 has a screen aspect ratio of 19:5:9, along with a screen brightness up to 395 ppi. The display is protected with Gorilla Glass 3 to resist scratches and bumps. The edges of the smartphone are curved.
There is also a water-drop notch camera on the upper middle portion of the display that houses an 8MP selfie camera. The smartphone features a high-quality plastic frame instead of a metal counterpart. The backside of the smartphone also has a rear plastic panel with a leather-like textured finish that helps for a better grip of the device. With most smartphones nowadays coming with either a glass or plastic rear side, it’s rare to see one that has a leather-like finish. The smartphone itself weighs 198g and is 9.6mm thick. While there are only three cameras located on the rear side, the triple-camera island sits atop another glass surface that takes over most of the top portion of the rear side. Both the main camera island and the secondary island is made of glass. There is also a large POCO insignia on the main glass surface. The whole idea of this design is more to do with giving a premium asthetic look for the smartphone. What’s odd is that there is nothing located in the middle of the glass surface.
The right side of the smartphone features a fingerprint scanner that doubles as the power button, along with a volume rocker that sits above the scanner. The SIM card slot is located on the left side of the device that can accumulate two Nano SIMs and a MicroSD card. On the bottom of the device, you will find the USB Type-C port, along with a speaker grill and a microphone. On the top side of the smartphone, there is the 3.5mm audio jack, stereo speakers, another microphone, and an IR blaster.
We can also see that the earpiece of the smartphone blends well with the design in such a way it stays hidden. The plastic frame that we spoke about earlier features a matte finish, which can help to resist fingerprints and smudges. However, that may not be the case when it comes to the large glass surface on the rear side of the device. Also, the glass on the rear side protrudes a bit outwards and the main camera island also a bit further.
Specifications
The POCO M3 may be priced at a very affordable rate but the chipset used inside the device is something normally seen on devices that cost above 1000 AED. The smartphone is powered by Snapdragon 662 SoC, an octa-core processor that features four Kyro 260 Gold cores clocked at 2GHz, and four Kyro 260 Silver cores clocked at 1.8GHz speeds. The chip is based on the 11nm fabrication process that should help in power efficiency. The GPU embedded in the SoC is the Adreno 610, which should suffice for some decent gaming. The processor is paired with 4GB RAM and features an internal storage of 128GB. The internal memory is based on the UFS 2.2 for fast loading time and copy speeds. Users will also be able to expand the internal memory with the help of a MicroSD card and the smartphone offers a dedicated slot for the memory card, so you don’t need to sacrifice any of the SIM cards. The unit we got for review is the 128GB model in Power Black color.
The smartphone runs on Android 10 OS and is blended with the MIUI 12 interface. The performance of the smartphone is snappy most of the time, although we did come across some light lags at times when switching between apps. We had run the latest Antutu 8.5.2 benchmark test and achieved a score of 184305 points. We also ran some games and the device performed decently, although do not expect gaming performance that is similar to high-end models. And when it comes to power, the POCO M3 houses a large 6000 mAh battery that has support for 18W fast charging capability. And with the 6000 mAh battery, the smartphone also is capable of reverse charge functionality that should turn the M3 into a portable charger for your other devices. With our usage, the POCO M3 was able to last for a day with usages such as calls, video calls, internet surfing, camera shots and more.
Camera
The POCO M3 features a total of three cameras on its rear side. The main camera houses a 48MP image sensor, along with 2MP sensors for both the macro shooter and the depth-sensing camera. The 48MP camera features an aperture of f1.8 and the rest of the 2MP shooters with an aperture of f2.4. The 48MP shooter also brings support for phase detection autofocus. However, the camera can only record videos up to Full HD at 30fps. It’s understandable that this smartphone cannot do 4K video capture but POCO could have at the least added Full HD video recording at 60fps. The front-facing 8MP camera has an aperture of an f2.1 lens.
The camera offers a 48MP mode, along with a night mode, portrait mode, panorama, document scanner, slow motion, time-lapse, and more. And of course, the camera also offers a Pro mode for the absolute control of camera functions. We have taken some samples of the camera so take a look at the images below.
48MP mode
48MP mode
Night mode
As you can see, the 48MP mode does offer high-quality images with a resolution of 8000 x 6000, while when shooting on normal mode, the POCO M3 shoots at 12MP (4000 x 3000). Do keep in mind that the images posted here were downscaled to reduce space consumption. That said, each 48MP weighs between 10MB to 13MB in total. The night mode also offers decent low-light photography with lesser grains in the image.
Verdict
For a smartphone that costs less than 1000 AED, the POCO M3 is impressive on its own. The inclusion of the Snapdragon 662 SoC is one of the main selling points that offer customers the performance of a mid-range device with a price tag of an entry-level smartphone. The 6.53-inch IPS display and its FHD+ screen resolution is a bonus advantage for those who want to view high-definition content on the go. The smartphone also comes with a 48MP camera that offers high-quality images, along with a modest macro and depth camera. However, the video recording capabilities of the camera are limited.
That said, the smartphone has its own dedicated MicroSD card slot, along with dual-SIM functionality. The POCO M3 also packs a large 6000 mAh battery under its hood which also features reverse charging capability. The new POCO M3 smartphone is priced at 699 AED in the UAE.
