POCO F6 Series & POCO Pad: Hands-On Impressions & Interview
This week, POCO, the gaming-oriented and global smartphone branch of Xiaomi, launched its F6 smartphone series. This includes the POCO F6 and the POCO F6 Pro flagship models. In addition, the company launched its first-ever Android tablet, the POCO Pad. True to the company’s roots, these new products pack decent specs at attractive prices. The POCO F6 starts at $379 (8+256GB model), the POCO F6 Pro starts at $449 (12+256GB model) and the POCO Pad starts at $329 (8+256GB). Currently, all of these products are eligible for an early bird discount of $50.
I’ve had the opportunity to attend the launch and represent GBAtemp. During the event, I’ve had access to the new devices, tried their standout features and also interviewed Angus Ng, head of product marketing at POCO Global. I asked some questions about gaming phone designs, especially around physical controls, as well as the barriers to have decent front-facing cameras on Android tablets. Read on to learn what the representative behind one of the most prominent gaming smartphone brands has to share.
POCO F6
POCO’s latest line comes in two models: the F6 and the F6 Pro. These vary in specs and aesthetics, with the F6 model being available in Black, Green and Titanium and the F6 Pro being available in Black and White. They also differ in pricing and storage. Storage variants of the POCO F6 are 8+256GB and 12+512GB; while the F6 Pro comes in 12+256GB, 12GB+256GB and 12GB+1TB. The latter variant is a rather unique option for smartphones, especially at that price range.
Specs of the phones can be found below:
POCO F6 Specs (click on image to enlarge)
POCO F6 Pro Specs (click on image to enlarge)
While the specs are not those of flagships such as the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, within this price range, they are quite aggressive and are definitely daily-driver material with decent gaming capabilities. Regarding the build quality, both the F6 and F6 Pro look and feel like high-end devices. They feel good in the hands, especially with the curved edges, and deliver crisp visuals with their AMOLED displays.
Traditionally, POCO didn’t have much of a focus on their phone’s camera but they are changing this approach with the F6 series. This includes some handy and impressive features such as the Ultra Night Algorithm of the F6 Pro which significantly improves the quality of pictures in low-lighting conditions. POCO is also jumping on the AI hype-train with some AI features such as modifying portraits with AI-generated settings based on your prompts, expanding the background of pictures and AI search of your gallery. I found the former option to be a rather nice-to-have feature to play around with and the results were quite convincing.
Within its marketing lingo, POCO mentions “Wildboost Optimization 3.0”. This improves performance on popular games such as 1.5K resolution with Genshin Impact and 120 FPS mode with PUBG Mobile.
Considering the pricing, specs and performance, the POCO F6 series is an attractive contender as a daily driver that is very capable of gaming. However, some features and specs are only locked to the pricier Pro version, such as the Ultra Night Algorithm and 1TB storage option. Having those features on the regular model would be also be welcome.
But the major missing feature in current gaming smartphones is - and I won’t tire myself of saying this - physical controls. POCO was actually one of the only companies with physical controls on a smartphone, in the form of mechanical triggers. However, since the POCO F4 GT, the company has not issued any phones with such a hardware; despite targeting mobile gamers, and it is a real downer. I brought this up with Mr. Ng and you can read his response below.
A full review of the POCO F6 Pro is coming up and will include its performance with Android games and emulators. So keep an eye out for the review!
POCO Pad
POCO’s first Android tablet is the affordably-priced POCO Pad which packs the following specs:
POCO Pad Specs (click on images to enlarge)
While not crammed with the latest specs, for casual and light productivity uses, it should be adequate. With its slim metal unibody design, it packs an attractive and sturdy build. Aesthetically, the POCO Pad makes a strong impression considering it is the company’s first tablet.
As such devices are aimed at productivity use cases, POCO sells accessories separately to support such ends. They have a keyboard cover and a smart pen. The latter is pressure-sensitive, making it adequate for sketches as well as note-taking. However, these accessories are not included in the base package and have to be purchased separately.
In addition to work uses, the POCO Pad is also well adapted for entertainment purposes. With a 2.5K, 12.1” display boasting 120Hz refresh rate and quad-speakers with Dolby Atmos support, this tablet is well equipped for video streaming. These should also lend themselves well to gaming purposes, although I have yet to try the Pad’s gaming prowess.
It was refreshing to see that POCO did not oversell the Pad with marketing buzz-words. It looks and feels like a no-frills tablet as your secondary work/entertainment device. The company might also be playing it safe as this is their first such device. This might be for the best but a verdict will be shared in the upcoming full review of the POCO Pad.
Interview with Angus Ng, head of product marketing at POCO Global
After the launch event, I had the opportunity to interview Angus Ng, POCO Global’s head of product marketing. Mr. Ng was kind enough to welcome questions and provide honest responses. You can read the interview below which was lightly edited for clarity.
GBAtemp: Hi Angus, thanks for the inviting us to the event and for accepting the interview. I’d like to focus my first questions on the gaming side. I would usually associate POCO with gaming phones but the POCO 4 GT was the last device from the company with physical gaming triggers. Is there a reason for the shift away from this design?
Angus Ng: It’s a really good question and my regional colleagues were confused as to why we removed the triggers in the next generation. Actually we found two things that we didn’t think through enough when we released a phone with physical triggers.
Firstly, a lot of games did not allow the triggers to be used and some users were complaining that their game accounts got banned from using them. This is because the games’ algorithm would think that the user is cheating and we had to reconsider the usefulness of the buttons.
Secondly, when it comes to gaming phones, we found that people really use them as their second phone. It wasn’t a phone that people was able to buy and use as a daily driver. And as the 4 GT was so gaming-oriented, a lot of its other features were flawed. Like, the camera wasn’t good enough for daily usage.
So, in terms of gaming on your phone, it acted as a GameBoy that people would buy as a second device. We didn’t see a huge need to keep the triggers for our users but we kept everything we thought was good such as the cooling, the processor and the tuning of the algorithm, without the physical boost of the triggers.
I think it’s also a common trend for gaming phones. Phones like ASUS also toned downed their gaming design to make it more like a casual daily driver phone that can game really well. But at the heart of the device, it is still gaming-oriented. So I think that’s just the direction of the market.
GBAtemp: Thanks for the insight! But is there any chance that we see the GT line make a comeback?
Angus Ng: I don’t want to say that there isn’t a chance. But considering the direction that the mobile gaming market is going towards, I think that the most popular mobile games are still MMOs. With games like Wild Rift, Genshin Impact and a lot of the games we thought were really popular, there wasn’t much scenarios to use triggers. But we might consider “touch triggers”, like what ASUS has been doing. We just have to consider how much cost this would add to our phones and if it’s worth it.
GBAtemp: Speaking of ASUS, they have gaming add-ons such as gamepads that can be attached to their phones. Would that be something you’d consider? Or maybe something like the Xperia Play that looks like a regular phone but hides a full gamepad under a sliding mechanism? While possibly niche, there is still a demand for physical controls on gaming smartphones as they feel better to game with.
Angus Ng: For sure, it’s an area that we don’t want to completely shut off. It’s something that’s still open for discussion within the team. I think that as we go down and establish our presence more as a brand and also with our phones being more and more powerful, that’s something we definitely see as a potential. ‘Cause I do know that handheld consoles are now becoming more and more popular. This could be the trend going forward, you know, portable mobile gaming devices. Making our phones a little bit more gaming-oriented with add-ons is definitely something we’ll look into. I wouldn’t say it’s something we release next year; but maybe, who knows!
GBAtemp: I’d like to see that!
GBAtemp: Considering the recent rise in dedicated handheld gaming devices, and just as an idea, would POCO consider a foldable where half of the device functions as a controller and the other half functions as a screen?
Angus Ng: It’s good to have such insights from the press. I was actually using the Samsung Flip for a month to try it out as we were discussing the idea of foldables. I never liked the Fold because I like using a tablet and I thought that the Fold took that away from me; so I was like, “No, I will use the Flip, because that’s, to me, more extreme than a foldable phone”. I thought it was pretty good on a daily basis until one time, I went travelling on a weekend, and I realised that the battery dies too fast. I thought that was the biggest concern I had when it comes to foldables currently.
This gave me the insight that when companies released foldables, it was a flex of innovation. It has not yet matured to the point where we are all using it and have gotten used to it. I hope that one day we can, because I did see the benefits of it. When I closed the Flip, I was like, “Wow, this fits nicely in the pocket!”. But there were flaws: the camera wasn’t good enough, the battery wasn’t good enough, the charging wasn’t good enough. There are areas that you have to sacrifice so much just so that you can flip the phone. We thought that that was an issue.
I don't think those will be issues in the long term as I think those will be fixed over time. Just as of right now, foldables still have a long way to go in order to give you as easy of an experience as a normal phone. Right now, they haven’t offered much, except that you can flip/fold and make your screen bigger. As a daily driver, you still have compromises: it’s heavier, it’s more fragile, and when you drop it, the wallet hurts as it costs so much. With so many compromises, we didn’t think the format is ready but it’s a great showcase of innovation. I enjoyed it; it’s just that when I went back to a regular phone, I didn’t miss it. So from our stand point, we’re not ready for it.
GBAtemp: Maybe it’s not a question specifically for POCO but rather for the Android tablet market itself: why is there not more focus on having a better front-facing camera? Usually on tablets, the back camera is much better but you don’t really want to take pictures with your tablet. But you do want to take video calls with your tablet. So why not invest more on the selfie camera on tablets? I think it’s an issue with every Android tablet on the market. Can you please share why this has not been addressed?
Angus Ng: I’m gonna be very frank with you: it’s because most tablets made by smartphone manufacturers reuse parts from smartphones. Not reused as in recycled, but they use the same model; and at the end of the day, there are not many great sensors that can fit in the template of tablets. It costs a lot to change that as changing the front sensor means they get bigger as well.
It’s a really good question when I think about it. It’s something that we focus on in terms of providing users with a good online meeting experience. But for the POCO Pad at least, it’s mostly focused on entertainment, for younger generations to just watch videos or casual gaming or a work machine that mostly requires typing that’s easy to carry around and is affordable.
On our higher segments [of future tablets], the importance of the front and back would probably be very similar. We would also incorporate more technologies where the camera follows you. Not many tablets can do that right now but we do see it as an important feature, especially during meetings and work calls.
I think you’ve raised an amazing concern and I think that was really good insight!
GBAtemp: Thanks a lot for answering the the questions!
Angus Ng: No worries!
This concludes the coverage of the POCO F6 launch event and impressions piece. I would like to extend my thanks to POCO for the invitation and for the opportunity to discuss the mobile gaming landscape with Angus Ng. I hope it was an informative read and be sure to keep an eye out for the full review of the new POCO devices!
