Feels cheap, but delivers good performance: We tested the POCO M4 Pro 5G
Reasonable camera, quality screen and a lot of plastic: the new smartphone from Shiomi's sub-brand manages to once again be a worthy alternative to devices in the mid-range category.
However, it does include some compromises
The full review
Yinon Ben Shoshan
21/12/2021
Tuesday, 21 December 2021, 22:10 Updated: 22:13
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POCO M4 Pro 5G (Photo: Walla! Technology, Yinon Ben-Shoshan)
The segment of POCO, Shiomi's discounted sub-brand that has recently embarked on an independent path, apart from the desire to recover the lost success, is the attempt to do it like the big manufacturers - only in less.
Recently, in the smartphone market saturated with devices, the Poco M4 Pro 5G landed in Israel, a new smartphone for NIS 1,049 that tries to bring quite a few advanced features to the mid-range market.
Near the launch in Israel, we received the device from the official importer, the Hamilton Group, and checked: Does it do the job like more expensive phones, and who even needs a smartphone with such a price tag?
Here's what we thought.
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Design
At first glance, it is difficult to see that this is an intermediate smartphone, since the glossy finish of the device's back and the enlarged camera arrangement manage to produce a luxurious and sleek look.
However, it is still a back and frame made of plastic and not aluminum or glass, and as soon as you hold the device you feel that it is cheap - too cheap.
At first glance, it is difficult to see that this is an intermediate smartphone (Photo: Walla! Technology, Yinon Ben-Shoshan)
The Poco M4 Pro 5G incorporates a 6.6-inch LCD screen (yes, LCD), with a hole for the front camera (selfie) at the top.
In addition, there are two other disadvantages: the device is quite heavy - 195 grams, and also not very comfortable to hold with one hand.
At the bottom of the device is a USB-C charging socket, and if you have not yet switched to wireless headphones (hey, we are a week before 2022) you will be surprised to know that Poco strangely decided to also incorporate a 3.5 mm headphone socket. On the right side is the lock button \ An activation that also serves as a fingerprint scanner.
6.6-inch LCD screen (Photo: Walla! Technology, Yinon Ben-Shoshan)
Screen and interface
The screen, as we said, is a 6.6-inch LCD screen with an IPS panel - technical data that says not bad sharpness and great detail.
In addition, you will be surprised to know that it is also readable in direct sunlight and displays good but not very deep colors.
Also, the Poco M4 Pro 5G enjoys a high refresh rate of 90 Hz, which is very nice for a phone at this price level.
The operating system of the Poco M4 Pro 5G is MIUI 12.5 - the one you already know from Shiomi devices - and is based on Android 11. And this is not necessarily a good thing, as the system comes loaded with many unnecessary apps - including games and Chinese apps.
The happy part: they are removable.
There is also a 3.5 mm headphone jack (Photo: Walla! Technology, Yinon Ben-Shoshan)
In general, it is evident that the home screens and the app drawer require organization and rearrangement, such as the cancellation of the "Suggestions for applications" feature, which shows the applications in the most common use - which creates unnecessary duplication.
Still, let’s add a word about something Shiomi (or POCO) has managed to excel at: the huge pool of animated wallpapers and background screens is beautiful, and a lot of thought has obviously been invested here.
Performance and battery life
Also in the specification segment, the Poco M4 Pro 5G is not very advanced.
The processor is a MediaTek Dimensity 810 that supports 5G, along with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.
However, overall, the device delivers good performance to its price level without stuttering during routine work.
Also, the battery life (5,000 mAh) is great.
The device will easily hold on for several days, and between a day and a half and a half in medium to heavy use.
Also, another nice upgrade (at least in the low price tag) is the fast charge: the POCO supports charging at a maximum power of 33 watts - that means 50% within about half an hour.
Despite the low price tag - the performance is good (Photo: Walla! Technology, Yinon Ben-Shoshan)
Camera
Despite the enlarged camera arrangement, the POCO carries a camera array that includes only two cameras: 50 megapixels as the main camera (f / 1.8), and an additional 8-megapixel sensor (f / 2.2) for wide-angle photography.
The front-facing camera (selfie) comes with a 16-megapixel sensor.
Main sensor for 50-megapixel photography (Photo: Walla! Technology, Yinon Ben-Shoshan)
In natural light photography (daylight), the main photography system manages to provide only reasonable images, with a low level of detail and colors that are not the most faithful to the original.
In less good lighting conditions, such as an enclosed space, photography becomes more challenging and provides less quality results.
Note:
The main camera does not take 50 megapixels by default and you have to switch to this mode manually in the camera settings.
Despite this, even without it the pictures that the device takes are pretty good.
In night photography, in the condition performed for them, the images were slightly dark in certain areas and suffered from a deficit or over-processing of the brightness.
On the other hand, the level of detail is good and in a way these are better results compared to other devices in the category.
Dark areas in night photography. (Photo: Walla! Technology, Yinon Ben-Shoshan)
Night mode photography: deficit and over-processing of brightness (Photo: Walla! Technology, Yinon Ben-Shoshan)
Bottom line
In the test of the result, POCO achieved the goal - to provide as many features as possible from the flagship devices with a low price tag (
NIS 1,049
).
Amidst all the huge selection in the local mid-range market, the device is suitable for those looking for a large, high-quality screen, good performance, long battery life - but willing to compromise on build quality and camera.
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