Poco F6 Review: Gaming beast on a mid-segment budget!

Poco is in “need for speed” mode as far as the premium mid-segment is concerned these days. Earlier this year, the brand surprised us with the Poco X6 Pro, which delivered a phone with a flagship-level processor and speedy RAM and storage at a starting price of Rs 26,999. The Poco F6 works on the same broad principles, delivering a very good processor, RAM, and storage at a slightly higher but still very surprising price. Can it repeat the success of the Poco X6 Pro?

Poco F6 specs: A flagship processor in the mid-segment

The Poco F6 is the first phone in the Indian market to come with Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 processor. This is part of Qualcomm’s flagship-level 8 series of processors and is just a notch below the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor while being a small step ahead of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. The availability of a device with this chip at this price is a huge surprise. Considering that most other phones in this price segment come with mid-segment chips (the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ runs on a Dimensity 7200 Ultra, for instance). That is not all – the phone also comes with LPDDR5X RAM and UFS 4.0 storage, tailormade for high-speed performance and multitasking. There is plenty of RAM and storage on offer, too – the phone comes in 8 GB/ 256 GB, 12 GB/ 256 GB and 12 GB/ 512 GB variants.

The other specs of the device are impressive, too, although not quite as exceptional. The phone comes with a 6.67-inch flow AMOLED display with 1.5K+ (2712 x 1220) resolution with a maximum brightness of about 2400 nits and support for HDR10+. The phone has two cameras on the back – a 50-megapixel Sony IMX882 main sensor with OIS and a 12-megapixel ultrawide – and a 20-megapixel selfie camera. Running the phone is a 5000 mAh battery with support for 90W Turbo Charging and a 120W charger in the box. Round that off with stereo speakers and Android 14, topped with HyperOS, and the Poco F6 actually ticks most spec boxes.

Poco F6 design and appearance: Not quite a dazzler

The Poco F6’s exterior does not match its spectacular interiors. The Poco F6 looks smart enough but sticks to solid basics rather than coming with any radical design innovation. The phone’s front is all about the tall display with narrow bezels; the sides are straight, and the back is curved ever so slightly outwards. It comes with two massive camera spheres with metallic accents and a smaller sphere that contains the flash. At about 160.5 mm, the Poco F6 is on the taller side but is not exactly massive, and at 8 mm, it is reasonably slim. Its 179-gram weight is also light for its size. The phone comes with IP64 dust and water resistance, which makes it safe enough to use in the rain, although it won’t survive a dunk in the water.

The Poco F6 has premium Gorilla Glass Victus protection on its display, but its frame and back are both plastic. We got the titanium shade (titanium only in name, we hasten to add), which was smooth and had a slightly shiny look to it. All in all, the Poco F6 looks reasonably smart but is not exceptional in terms of design. This is not a phone designed to turn heads with its appearance – the black variant looks better than the titanium one, in our opinion. Rather oddly, there is no Poco yellow variant for the F6 – we hope one comes out in the future, as it is so typically Poco.

Poco F6 gaming and multimedia: Monster in da mobile house

With that hardware, it is hardly surprising that the Poco F6 emerges as an outstanding device in terms of gaming. The display is impressively bright and delivers good colors, and the dual speaker system is one of the best we have seen in the segment, with volumes that are good enough to fill a room.

However, these play second fiddle to that superb processor that is able to handle everything from Call of Duty to Genshin Impact to Asphalt with a degree of ease. Games fly on this phone, and we particularly liked the way the phone handled action games, which involved a lot of dueling and rapidly changing animation, such as Shadow Warrior and Devil May Cry. The good quality of the display and speakers also add a zen-like impact to the elegant Alto’s Odyssey and make The Room a whole lot more haunting.

Yes, the Poco F6 can heat up a little from time to time, but it never reaches alarming levels. The display and speaker combination also make this a great phone for watching films and videos. We would rate it a notch above the Poco X6 Pro in this regard, which itself was quite exceptional.

Poco F6 cameras and general performance: Steady performing box-ticker

Gaming and multimedia are its forte, but the Poco F6 turns in a decent performance in other departments as well. The phone’s main camera is a very good performer in good light conditions and, if handled carefully, can even turn in some reasonable low-light snaps. It is not in the league of the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ or the Galaxy M55, but it does a good job, more often than not. The 8-megapixel ultrawide camera is of limited use, but the 20-megapixel front-facing camera does take the selfie game a level above those of most of the 16-megapixel cameras in the segment. You get plenty of shooting and image editing options on the device itself. The video quality is decent enough in good light conditions, but it is not as good as the competition in this segment. You will get social media-worthy content, though.

All that hardware also means that the Poco F6 pretty much sails through routine tasks effortlessly. Whether it is browsing the Web, handling messages, checking mail or switching between multiple apps (we ran up to a dozen frequently), the Poco F6 handled them all (and more) without breaking a sweat. HyperOS runs very smoothly on the device, but we were disappointed to see a fair amount of bloatware in the form of third-party apps on the phone. Yes, they can be uninstalled, but their presence detracts from what is otherwise close to a premium experience.

The 5000 mAh battery can see off a day of usage, which was slightly below par in our book, but then we DID do a lot of gaming on the phone, comfortably more than we would have on any other device in this segment. Fortunately, the 120W charger gets the phone recharged very quickly indeed – we got it from almost empty to full in about forty minutes.

Poco F6 Pricing: Cashing in on a super chip!

The Poco F6 is available in these RAM and storage variants at these prices:

• 8 GB/ 256 GB: Rs 29,999
• 12 GB/ 256 GB: Rs 31,999
• 12 GB/ 512 GB: Rs 33,999

Those are very impressive prices, considering the spec sheet the Poco F6 brings to the table. Its most realistic competitor is likely to be the Poco X6 Pro, which also comes with a very powerful processor, the Dimensity 8300 Ultra, at a starting price of Rs 27,999 but loses out in terms of charging speed and camera quality. The OnePlus 11R comes for Rs 27,999, but it has slower RAM and storage and has an older, though still very capable Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor, and even the iQOO Neo 9 Pro, whose specs we had found very impressive for its price of Rs 34,999, comes with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, although it does have better cameras and design!

Poco F6 Review Verdict: A budget gamer’s dream come true

The Poco F6 replaces the Poco X6 Pro as the most powerful device you can get in terms of processor power for under Rs 30,000, and perhaps even Rs 35,000. For gamers on a tight budget, it is an absolute no-brainer as that combination of speedy processor, storage, RAM, display, and very good speakers is capable of handling pretty much any game you throw at it at high settings.

Other phones in the segment might be able to beat the Poco F6 in the camera department and bring more premium-looking designs and displays to the table, but in terms of sheer processor performance, the Poco F6 is in a zone of its own.

We had called the Poco X6 Pro “a darned monster.” The Poco F6 outdoes even that!

Buy Poco F6 Pro