By now even a stone knows it: the world of smartphones is divided into three large groups, high-level, mid-level and entry-level. By now our head is also conformed to the price ranges: if the most expensive exceed € 1000, the mids reach around € 500 and the entries you take home with a maximum of € 300. To break the routine, as always, Xiaomi takes care of it with its Pocophone F1, 90 piece that will overturn your expectations.

Packaging

The product comes in a minimal box, including an 18-watt fast charger, USB-C cable and SIM card opener pin. No headphones, as often happens with this brand.

Design

The first choice made to lower costs is that of polycarbonate instead of glass, making the product more toy but still offering good resistance. The color remains black, without daring a little on the inspiration. The fingerprint sensor is located on the back, while on the side we find the power button and the volume buttons.

On the front the screen presents the much loved notch, going beyond the Xiaomi classics that are still lovers of the old conformation. The size of the smartphone is felt, making the device inconvenient to use for a long time and definitely unusable with one hand.

Specifications

• Dimensions:  155.7 x 75.5 x 8.8mm
• Weight:  180 grams
• OS:  Android 8.1, Xiaomi Mi UI
• Memory:  64GB / 128GB
• CPU:  Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SDM845
• RAM:  6GB
• Display:  6.18 inches, 1080 × 2246 pixels
• Rear camera:  12 MP f1.9
• Front Camera:  20MP
• Connectivity:  LTE-A Pro Cat 16 (1000/150 Mbit / s), HSDPA + (4G) 42.2 Mbit / s HSUPA
• Battery:  4000mAh

Performance

The smartphone is damn fast: the processor, combined with the 6GB of RAM makes the Pocophone F1 one of the fastest smartphones, especially if we analyze it in this price segment (which you will discover shortly). The phone manages to keep up with top of the range such as Note 9 in terms of speed, almost always excluding any lag problem. Unfortunately, even here the savings are felt, and the lack of optimization leads to it not being at the top of the ranking in terms of reactivity (but it could have been quietly).

Camera

Here, too, the Pocophone F1 struggles a bit: despite the reactivity of the shot, the photos do not always have excellent focus. It settles around medium levels, but still high for mid-level devices. Videos are optimal, with excellent audio grip.

Display

The FHD + IPS display doesn’t do the smartphone justice, giving it a subdued but still outstanding brightness by standards. Under the sun it will be difficult to use it, but it will not burden you to always keep the brightness at high levels, thanks also to the power of the battery.

Software

The operating system is the same as Xiaomi, but with the Pocophone launcher (downloadable on any Android device): this makes the Pocophone F1 easy to use, despite some bugs to be solved. The gestures, perfectly imitating iPhone X, are easy to learn and make the smartphone much more accessible than its counterparts.

Autonomy

The 4000 mAh battery is for war: the device under stress can last a couple of days, allowing you to take advantage of its many features without fear of being left on foot. Charging is very fast and all this does it without raising the temperature beyond the threshold.

Price

The real magic of the Pocophone F1 is the price. You can take this smartphone home for € 360, a third of the price with which you will buy the same specifications on other products. The speed of the smartphone, combined with the good quality it brings in each specification, makes it a mid-level capable of breaking the top of the range.