Poxo X3 NFC

[ian87w]

No longer a flagship killer, now Xiaomi is doing a mid range killer, at least for the marketing jargon.

This is a very interesting device, as with the Poco F1. It's actually the second original Poco phone after the F1. The rest of Poco models have been rebadged Redmi phones.

Snapdragon 732G, 6GB RAM, up to 128GB storage, 120Hz LCD, 5160mAh battery, 64MP main snapper, IP53. Oh, and 33W charger included. The 128GB model is sold at USD ~$240 in my country.

Biggest downside Imo is that it still uses hybrid SIM slot, where you can only have either dual SIM, or single SIM + SD card. Old school Xiaomi.

Still, an amazing phone for the price. I mean it's rare to see Xiaomi giving Realme a run for its money this time.

 

[ian87w]

Well, instead of making a new thread, I'm resurrecting my own old one.

Some of you might have read my posts about thinking of getting this phone.
And I did. Xiaomi finally made this phone available without those annoying flash sales.

Quick impressions:
- This phone is huge, I mean thick! It is as large as my Galaxy A71, and thicker. And heavier as well. Since it has 5000mAh battery, I guess the size and weight make sense. Will see if I can get used to it.

- MiUI is, well, MiUI. It's definitely better than the last time I used MiUI, but there are still rough edges imo. What I like is that Xiaomi seems to be doing a better job in security patches. The Poco X3 is already on February 2021. In contrast, my Galaxy A71 is still on November 2020. Yeah, that promised 3 years of updates don't sound like anything much Samsung if you don't actually deliver those patches timely.

- 120Hz. LCD though. Obviously I turn it on right away to see what's the hype is all about. At first, it feels weird. It's akin to come from watching movies (regular 60Hz screen) to those soap operas TV shows (120Hz) where everything seems strangely smoothed out. I get used to it fairly quickly... that now I feel it's just a gimmick. After getting used to it, it doesn't magically make the phone feels "faster." In fact, my iPhone 7+ and A71 still feels as smooth overall despite the old 60Hz screen. In fact, adjusting the animation of your phone to 0.5x in developers menu do a better job in making your phone feels faster, imo

- The camera app has a lot of features I still need to explore. I like it that Xiaomi made the stock camera app able to do dual camera video recording, using both the front and rear camera lenses.

- The hybrid SIM slot is annoying though, so I cannot use SD card since dual SIM is a must have for me.

Overall, I think it's an awesome phone for the price. It's definitely a functional chunky phone, not for someone looking for a sleek looking phone. My only concern is if I can get used to the weight. And I thought my A71 was big.

 

[ramram55]

Good for you and the country you are living in. Some countries count this company as national security threat, what a joke. Enforce ban on Google Play store in their devices. Cannot compete must as well ban it.

 

[ian87w]

Good for you and the country you are living in. Some countries count this company as national security threat, what a joke. Enforce ban on Google Play store in their devices. Cannot compete must as well ban it.

Xiaomi has not been banned at that level yet, and Xiaomi is going to the courts contesting this. I’m not too worried about it.

 

[thesim]

I was looking at the poco x3 as I could get it for £144 here in uk but decided to skip it. I had tried the xiaomi mi 10t lite which also has 120hz screen and was a bit let down with its performance as it had a lot of stutters when skipping around the home screen and jumping to different apps. I returned to a 60hz pixel 4a and it feels so much smoother (stock android definitely helps) and I wonder if this screen refresh rate hype is just for marketing to boost sales.

 

[ian87w]

I was looking at the poco x3 as I could get it for £144 here in uk but decided to skip it. I had tried the xiaomi mi 10t lite which also has 120hz screen and was a bit let down with its performance as it had a lot of stutters when skipping around the home screen and jumping to different apps. I returned to a 60hz pixel 4a and it feels so much smoother (stock android definitely helps) and I wonder if this screen refresh rate hype is just for marketing to boost sales.

After seeing it for myself, yes, for me these quest for high refresh rates is a gimmick. Like I stated, changing the Android animation to 0.5x in developer setting helps a lot more than these high refresh rates. Even after using my X3 for a while, I don’t feel my 60Hz iPhone 7+ and Galaxy A71 any slower. Many games don’t even support the high refresh rates. It’s just another way to overspec your product so it’s looks better with a higher number.

But since the Poco is still cheaper, I don’t mind. I just don’t see them as a “premium” feature worth paying extra just for it.

 

[Steve Adams]

The poco and realme's are nice but I cannot stand the branding on the back. The POCO with the huge POCO on the back or the realme with DARE TO LEAP spanning the entire length of the phone. They are great bang for the buck though.

 

[ian87w]

The poco and realme's are nice but I cannot stand the branding on the back. The POCO with the huge POCO on the back or the realme with DARE TO LEAP spanning the entire length of the phone. They are great bang for the buck though.

Easily covered with a case

 

[Steve Adams]

What if you want to have a clear case to see the nice colors they make their phones in. They really need to stop the Massive ugly branding. And really DARE TO LEAP Down the entire length of the phone? Just cheapens the entire phone.

 

[ian87w]

What if you want to have a clear case to see the nice colors they make their phones in. They really need to stop the Massive ugly branding. And really DARE TO LEAP Down the entire length of the phone? Just cheapens the entire phone.

Imo that's intentional for their branding. Both Poco and Realme are young brands, and they are trying to establish their brands with the younger crowd. They want their brands to be out there as they are still not well known.

And I think it fits their target demographics. They want their users to be their fans and proud showing off the brand. Think of it like sneakers. Adidas, Nike, etc, have models that prominently show their branding on their shoes.

I'm not going to say whether that's right or wrong way, but I can see their intention. The way Poco announcements go in my country, they always invite young influencers/hip-hop artists/graffiti artists.

 

[thesim]

What if you want to have a clear case to see the nice colors they make their phones in. They really need to stop the Massive ugly branding. And really DARE TO LEAP Down the entire length of the phone? Just cheapens the entire phone.

Absolutely agree with you with the branding, that DARE TO LEAP is just awful and ruins the entire design for me. I am a fan of realme phones as well after having a good experience with the realm 6.

 

[Steve Adams]

Imo that's intentional for their branding. Both Poco and Realme are young brands, and they are trying to establish their brands with the younger crowd. They want their brands to be out there as they are still not well known.

And I think it fits their target demographics. They want their users to be their fans and proud showing off the brand. Think of it like sneakers. Adidas, Nike, etc, have models that prominently show their branding on their shoes.

I'm not going to say whether that's right or wrong way, but I can see their intention. The way Poco announcements go in my country, they always invite young influencers/hip-hop artists/graffiti artists.

Apple wants the exact same thing, but they are not massively tacky about it. Huge apple logos on everything. but they are well thought out designs. Not DARE TO LEAP down the entire phone which has nothing to do with REALME branding.

 

[ian87w]

2 months update.

I’ve been using my X3 full time in lieu of my Galaxy A71 for the past 2 months, and it’s time to switch my SIMs back to the Galaxy.

The hardware spec is not a problem for the Poco X3. The spec is amazing for the money, and now Xiaomi has dropped its price further with the introduction of the X3 Pro, same launch price as the regular X3 but with Snapdragon 860, impressive, right? But obviously hardware is not the whole story.

My Poco X3 experience can be summed up into “buggy software.” Although not often, but it happens enough to be highly annoying, especially if you use your phone for productivity. Apps can sometimes freeze for no reason (this thing has 8GB of RAM, mind you). Connectivity and WiFi or cellular can sometimes drop randomly. Switching lenses in the camera can freeze the app. Rebooting the phone fix those things, meaning it’s probably bugs in the software. These small things happen enough that I really cannot use this as my primary phone, no matter how impressive the spec.

So back to my trusty A71. Unfortunate since there are features on the X3 that I like, such as dual video recording (which is only available for the S20 and S21 series with Samsung). But OneUI still wins in overall stability.

I guess you get what you pay for. My takeaway point is that hardware is not the whole story, nowadays the quality of the software would also need be considered in your purchase price. I’m sure Xiaomi will get there (like Huawei did) sometime in the future.

 

[Steve Adams]

2 months update.

I’ve been using my X3 full time in lieu of my Galaxy A71 for the past 2 months, and it’s time to switch my SIMs back to the Galaxy.

The hardware spec is not a problem for the Poco X3. The spec is amazing for the money, and now Xiaomi has dropped its price further with the introduction of the X3 Pro, same launch price as the regular X3 but with Snapdragon 860, impressive, right? But obviously hardware is not the whole story.

My Poco X3 experience can be summed up into “buggy software.” Although not often, but it happens enough to be highly annoying, especially if you use your phone for productivity. Apps can sometimes freeze for no reason (this thing has 8GB of RAM, mind you). Connectivity and WiFi or cellular can sometimes drop randomly. Switching lenses in the camera can freeze the app. Rebooting the phone fix those things, meaning it’s probably bugs in the software. These small things happen enough that I really cannot use this as my primary phone, no matter how impressive the spec.

So back to my trusty A71. Unfortunate since there are features on the X3 that I like, such as dual video recording (which is only available for the S20 and S21 series with Samsung). But OneUI still wins in overall stability.

I guess you get what you pay for. My takeaway point is that hardware is not the whole story, nowadays the quality of the software would also need be considered in your purchase price. I’m sure Xiaomi will get there (like Huawei did) sometime in the future.

I was waiting for this exact comment. I agree 100 percent with you. Hardware is not everything. I used to say that when people were talking about all the "better" specs on android phones compared to my older iPhones. Now, better specs and better software have made android the goto. Apple has dropped the ball big time on solid software. My 3 iPhones, and 2 iPads are far buggier than my android and windows devices. I have various issues every day with the apple products in my household, and my cheap 199 dollar android tablet and windows computers just work.