POCO is Xiaomi’s new smartphone sub-brand that aims to deliver fast flagship performance at a lower price point. The official launch event is taking place in India very soon but if you can’t wait, there’s already an unboxing video which gives us a clear look at the new “flagship killer.”
GSMDome had obtained a full retail unit of the Pocophone F1 and the packaging is like any typical Xiaomi smartphone. It just contains the device, a USB cable and a charging brick without any headphones bundled in.
The video also reveals the rear of the Pocophone F1 which appears to be made of plastic, which is acceptable to keep its prices low. The front gets a 5.99″ IPS display with a notch and surprisingly it has an IR camera for face unlock. For taking pictures, it gets a 12MP + 5MP dual camera setup at the rear, while the front gets a 20MP selfie camera.
While POCO claims to have the freedom to start anything from scratch, it still runs on Xiaomi’s MIUI 9 out of the box. In terms of specs, it runs on a top of the line Snapdragon 845 processor and it is powered by a 4,000mAh battery.
The key highlight of the Pocophone will be its price. According to a Romanian retailer, the Pocophone F1 is priced at RON 1,999 (which is about RM2,000). Take note that European pricing is usually more expensive and as a comparison, the Mi 8 is priced at 500 EUR (about RM2,337) but it’s only going for RM1,599 in Malaysia.
The Pocophone F1 will be officially announced on 22 August in India and it is expected to be available globally including Malaysia. Would you consider the Pocophone F1 over the Mi 8 if it’s priced under RM1,300 in Malaysia?
More than peak performance, more than speed - the best of smartphone innovation is almost here. Brace yourself for the #MasterOfSpeed. See you on August 22, 2018. #POCOF1
