When it comes to Xiaomi and mobile gaming, the brand that might first come to mind is Black Shark which is a Xiaomi-backed company. However, under the tech giant’s umbrella also features another mobile gaming branch, POCO. While both of their smartphone designs have been traditionally gaming oriented, often including physical triggers, POCO has traditionally been focusing on lower-specced smartphones for a more affordable price point while Black Shark would aim to be the top of the line for gaming.

However, POCO recently debuted a new smartphone with a high-end chip, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. While still pricey, it is relatively more affordable compared to competitors. For instance, the Black Shark 5 Pro which sports the same chip starts at $729 while the POCO F4 GT starts at $ 479.00.

Contents and specs

The model under review is the 12GB RAM + 256GB ROM Stealth Black variant, which goes for $580 and comes with the following items once unboxed:

• POCO F4 GT smartphone 
• 120W Adapter 
• 1.5M L-shape USB-C Cable 
• SIM Eject Tool 
• Protective Case 
• Quick Start Guide 
• Warranty Card 
• Safety Information 
• Type-C to 3.5 mm Headphone Adapter

Specs of the POCO F4 GT are as follows:

    

Specs details courtesy of Poco

Hardware impressions

Akin to the recent trend with Black Shark phones, the F4 GT bears a welcome, inconspicuous black slab look that doesn’t scream “gaming phone”. On the right flank is the power button with an integrated fingerprint sensor and the activators for the magnetic physical triggers akin to Black Shark phones. The left flank sports the volume rocker, microphone outlet and SIM tray. As for the device's speakers, they are located at the top and bottom of the phone.

Regarding cameras, the front-facing selfie one is integrated with a punchole design in the screen while the main camera arrays are found at the back. Around the latter in are some discreet LED lights that provide some handy visual feedback for some actions such as charging state and notifications.

The build is quite sturdy and feels premium to the touch. It’s also very welcome that POCO included a dedicated silicone bumper in the kit to prevent damage while leaving access to all ports and triggers open.

One noteworthy feature of the hardware is that it lacks a 3.5mm headphone jack. While this is a downer for many, including myself, POCO somewhat makes up for this missing feature by including a USB-C to 3.5 mm jack adapter in the package.

Daily driver potentials

As a whole, the F4 GT can easily double as a daily driver with its low-profile, classy look. Its triple camera array (64MP+8MP+2MP) delivers some compelling shots and the AMOLED display really makes colours pop whether you’re browsing said shots, browsing the net or watching videos.

The 4700mAh battery (with a dual 2350mAh cell structure) easily provides a whole day use and being equipped with Xiaomi’s 120W HyperCharge technology, low battery isn’t an issue any more. With the included 120W charger, the device can get a full charge in under 20 minutes. 

This feature, also present in Black Shark phones I’ve tested, always baffles me. Whenever I see the battery dropping, I just plug the phone in the charger and take out the trash or take a quick shower and the phone is ready to go when I’m back. Another aspect of the charger that I found convenient is its L-shape and lengthy 15m which is handy for gaming in landscape as it prevents weird kinks in the USB cable.

 

However, one major downside is that there is no IP water resistance rating on this device. This can be an inconvenience for using it as a daily driver as splashes, rain or accidents are daily possibilities and the phone isn’t safe from those. This could be a result of cutting corners to make the device more affordable but would be something of a must-have for a daily driver.

Another downside to the out-of-the-box experience is a common feature with Xiaomi phones: bloatware. The F4 GT is no different and while some can be handy, having a more vanilla Android experience, with the ability to install apps you want would be more welcome. But as this is an Android phone, there are steps you can take to de-boat the experience but these are extra steps to be considered.

Gaming performance

The POCO F4 GT’s gaming potential is what will likely draw you to this device. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip places it among the higher end of performance based on Geekbench’s CPU and compute benchmarks. 

This carries on to actual gaming performance, with everything thrown at it running impeccably well. Android titles like Genshin Impact and Pascal’s Wager play smoothly with high graphics quality at 60fps while cloud gaming with Xbox Game Pass running stably. 

 

You can also expect pretty decent emulation on the F4 GT, even with the relatively demanding PS2 emulator AetherSX2 which can get titles like Shadow of the Colossus running at a smooth 60fps. Other, less demanding systems also run flawlessly on the device. Metal Gear Solid The Twin Snakes on the Gamecube via the Dolphin Emulator hits 60fps, as does Dreamcast’s Crazy Taxi (via Redream) and the PSP’s Ridge Racer via PPSSPP.

  

With its AMOLED screen, every gameplay session is a visual delight with the vibrant colours supplemented by the crisp audio booming from the speakers. The magnetic physical triggers are also a win for those preferring physical controls for gaming such as myself. You can map touch screen input to these thanks to the dedicated Game Turbo app that can be called by pulling down from the left side of the screen in-game. You can easily indicate which touch input to emulate with each shoulder key press. 

While the Black Shark version of the magnetic triggers is more feature rich (through the companion app), the F4 GT’s is still decent and provides some much needed physical input which is lacking from most gaming smartphones. 

  

However, as far as gaming smartphones are concernedm I would still prefer to have a full set of physical controls for gaming that is integrated on the device akin to the Xperia Play or even in a foldable design; and I’ll never tire of pointing this out (until a company makes such a phone). But as a contemporary gaming phone that’s relatively affordable and packs some impressive features, the POCO f4 GT is an easy recommendation.

Accessories

Along with the F4 GT, POCO also provided some of its accessories to check out, namely the POCO Buds Pro Genshin Impact Edition and the POCO Watch.

POCO Buds Pro Genshin Impact Edition

 As the name suggests, these are a pair of Genshin Impact-branded earbuds. They retail for $200 and feature the popular mobile game's designs and colour accents. More prominently, the earbuds' charging case can be housed in the included carrying case that has been inspired by Klee's backpack. When connecting and disconnecting the earbuds, you'll also receive audio feedback of these in Klee's own voice. Quite the appeal for fans of the game and the quality is premium all-round.

 

Paring the Buds Pro to a phone is done quickly via Bluetooth and the audio output is crisp and clear. The soundscape is a balanced one that makes it rather versatile for gaming, music playback and video streaming. With up to 28 hours of battery life, it offers plenty of juice for such entertainment needs. Of course mileage will vary based on use and the device also features a handy but power-hungry noise cancellation feature. Luckily the earbuds' charging case also supports wireless charging for better convenience.

 

However, controls on the Buds Pro is limited. The touch control are responsive but limited to answering/rejecting calls, play/pause music, fast forward to the next track and toggle noise cancellation. You cannot adjust the volume, call up your phone's voice assistant or go back a track. This is a major downer personally as you'll still have to reach to the audio source for these extra actions and somewhat defeats the hands-free purpose of earbuds.

While the POCO Buds Pro Genshin Impact Edition are premium earbuds that deliver quality audio, their limited functions make them less competitive, especially considering the price; and are only recommended for fans of Genshin Impact who really like the branded look of these earbuds.

POCO Watch

Next up we have the POCO Watch, which is something akin a fitness tracker and smartwatch. In fact, the user experience and UI is very very similar to the recently-reviewed Xiaomi Smart Band 7 Pro; and I would recommend taking a look at that review for more details.

However, there are a few differences between the two smartwatches; primarily with the hardware. The POCO Watch bears a more traditional squarish smartwatch look and features a single hardware button on the right flank. This button helps you access the main menu and the watch's app while most other navigation is done via the touch screen. The experience is a fluid one but you'll want to pair it to the companion Mi app to flesh out its potentials and find more details about the health tracking features.

 

Tracking includes a suite of fitness activities as well as sleep tracking, stress level monitoring and blood oxygen saturation measurements. Like the Smart Band 7 Pro, the POCO Watch also includes female health tracking which is a nice addition as these have been traditionally left out of health trackers.

With up to 14 day use on a single battery, being lightweight and always-on watch faces, the POCO Watch can be a good watch companion for your phone. The build quality is also decent, with a sleek matte plastic casing and swappable watch straps.

 

However, for $76, its potentials are limited. The watch straps are proprietary and you cannot really customise the apps on the device's proprietary OS. Other handy apps such as calculator or note taking are missing and there is no companion store to load other apps in. In this way, the POCO Watch is similar to the XIaomi Smart Band 7 Pro and more customisation would be possible if they used another OS such as Wear OS. I hope to see Xiaomi come up with one that could be affordable yet of quality as it has issued with these two recent smartwatches.