Our Verdict
The Poco F6 is a competent mid-ranger that might surprise you with its camera and performance quality, not to mention its fantastic display. Unfortunately, some software and bloatware annoyances, plus a slightly disappointing battery life and bland design, hold it back from being the obvious stand out of the mid-range price point.
- Fantastic display
- Impressive main camera
- Great gaming performance
- Rapid charging
- Too much bloatware
- Uninspiring design
- Mediocre battery life
When it comes to budget and mid-range phone brands, few deliver quite like Poco. While this shouldn’t come as much of a shock, considering the quality of Poco’s older sister brand’s Xiaomi devices, every time I get something new from the Android manufacturer, it always impresses me. The same is true of the Poco F6, the latest affordable mid-ranger from the Chinese tech firm.
As should become clear in this review, the Poco F6 isn’t going to blow your mind. Still, a solid smartphone doesn’t have to change your life, it just has to do all those things you expect a smartphone to do, from your day-to-day like messaging and internet browsing to a bit of photography and gaming, and do it well. So, how does the F6 compare to the rest of the ever-expanding arena of mid-range phones in this regard? Let’s find out.
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Price and availability
The Poco F6 is available now via independent retailers like Amazon, AliExpress, Walmart, and others in the US or from the official Xiaomi site in the UK. It’s available with either 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, for £399, or 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage for £449. Prices vary in the US depending on the retailer you opt for, but we’ve seen the 8+256GB version for as low as $400 and the 12+256GB version for around $450-500.
There are three colorways to choose from: Green, Black, and Titanium. For this review, we were given the Black version.
Specs
Features and software
The Poco F6 runs on Android 14, using the latest version of the Xiaomi HyperOS Android skin. While HyperOS is much better than Xiaomi’s much-maligned OS skin predecessor, MIUI, it’s still not quite up there with the likes of Samsung’s One UI or Apple’s trendsetting iOS software, but it gets the job done. It’s just needlessly complicated sometimes, like with the abundance of icons in the swipe-down control center menu, but it doesn’t take too long to adjust.
While there’s plenty to like about Poco phones, there’s one recurring issue in the software department that tends to drag my opinion down every time I get my hands on one. There’s just so much bloatware.
For those who don’t know, bloatware is the stuff that comes pre-installed on the phone. The Poco F6 has loads of it, from repeat offender Booking.com – seriously, on every phone I get, that one app is the one that always comes pre-installed – to a bunch of what are essentially knock-off versions of classic mobile games, and some extras to boot. I tend to delete all this stuff when I start testing, and it takes longer than I’d like each time I get a Poco.
Design
I’ll be clear from the off; the Poco F6’s design isn’t going to blow any minds. To call it boring might be a bit harsh. Bland might be more apt. Still, it’s plenty practical and feels nice and lightweight in the hand, which is surprising given that it’s 179g, which is slightly heavier than the likes of the iPhone 15 and Samsung Galaxy S24. Either way, it’s comfortable to hold, which, as an avid mobile gamer, is something I’m always happy about. Nobody wants a strained wrist from half an hour of Diablo Immortal.
It also seems quite durable – I say seems, as I’m not willing to throw the thing to the floor to find out – and its IP64 rating means that while it can’t survive proper submersion, its dust proofing is top tier, and it should be able to handle a downpour or splash of water without any concern of long term damage. Still, the biggest win in terms of durability is the Gorilla Glass Victus screen, which is sure to keep your display from shattering if the thing ever happens to fall out of your pocket.
Display
One of the highlights of the Poco F6 is its glorious display. This thing’s 6.67-inch AMOLED HDR screen is as good as I’ve seen on a phone under $500, and with a peak brightness of 1,200 nits, it’s just as easy to use in direct sunlight as it is in the dead of night with all the lights out. Combine these specs with a 120Hz refresh rate, something we’re becoming more and more accustomed to seeing on mid-rangers thanks to brands like Poco, and the Gorilla Glass Victus protection we mentioned earlier, and it might just be the best display available at the under $500 price point.
There’s the slimmest of bezels wrapped around the edges of the screen, but it’s much less noticeable than that of the Google Pixel 8a, offering you plenty of screen retail estate. If, like me, you spend a lot of time on the road watching Netflix or Amazon Prime on your smartphone, this crystal clear and sizeable display makes for a significant selling point, especially compared to mid-range alternatives like the aforementioned Pixel 8a or OnePlus 12R.
Cameras
The Poco F6 comes with two cameras on the back, a 50MP main and 8MP ultrawide, with a 20MP wide selfie snapper on the front. For the price point, this is a pretty solid offering, especially the 50MP main, which isn’t far off the quality of the primary cameras I’ve seen on some flagship phones, both on paper and in action. Of course, it’s still not a touch on the incredible photography set-up of the Xiaomi 14, or the even more flabbergasting 14 Ultra, but it’s perfectly capable of capturing some high-quality images in both low light and ideal settings.
For an example of the quality of the F6’s main camera, just check out the picture of my dog below. Not only is he my model because he’s a gorgeous fluffy boy, but because I take a photo of him on each phone I review to compare and contrast. Honestly, this is one of the better shots I’ve got of him, there’s a real sharpness to the image, and the depth of color in his coat is apparent, while other phones from the same price bracket can lack this level of definition.
Simply put, the main camera is stellar, provided you’re not looking for something that can compete with semi-professional digital cameras like both the Honor Magic6 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra flagships can. The portrait mode is also solid, though it’s worth saying the bokeh effect goes a little too hard, obscuring almost all of my pup’s tail as part of the background. It’s not quite as bad with human subjects, but it’s not at all subtle.
The selfie camera also isn’t bad at all I was quite impressed with the few selfies I took on the F6 – don’t worry, you don’t have to look at them, just trust me on this one. It isn’t the most dynamic, and I imagine it might struggle with vivid hair colors or bright makeup, but the results are pretty realistic representations nonetheless. There are also the beauty settings on selfie mode, which are less pervasive than others I’ve tried out, like the options I tested in my RedMagic 9S Pro review that made me look like someone else entirely, but still gave off a slightly uncanny valley vibe in which I look like an AI-manifestation rather than a real person. Though I’ve seen Westworld, so that could be true anyway.
Performance
While I never really expect a performance beast from a mid-ranger like the Poco F6, this thing is one of the more impressive options for its price point. A lot of that has to do with the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset, one of the latest offerings from the tech brand that powers countless devices from different brands. What that means is that day-to-day performance, whether it be internet browsing or using the camera, is wonderfully smooth, equaling out the sometimes frustrating operating system.
The F6 is also something of a gaming marvel, something I hadn’t anticipated when first checking out the phone. Whether it’s a casual game like Candy Crush or something a bit more demanding like Zenless Zone Zero or PUBG Mobile, this thing is perfectly content running at medium-to-high settings. Given that Poco hasn’t marketed the phone specifically toward gamers, it easily could be.
Even while running at high settings, the F6 rarely gets warmer than mildly toasty on my phone heat-o-meter, which is pretty miraculous considering there’s no complex cooling system like you might see in some more expensive and niche gaming phones. The only real problem with performance is, as I mentioned earlier, the battery drain. Still, even with that in mind, I can easily see this device ending up on our list of the best gaming phones.
Battery
This section is a bit of a mixed bag, as while the charging speed of the Poco F6 is pretty impressive, which I’ve come to expect from any device associated with the Xiaomi name, the 5,000mAh battery life is mediocre at best. It’s not so bad with sporadic use, lasting at least a day if you’re just using it for messages, internet browsing, and the odd spot of Candy Crush, but if you’re a gamer, it’s hard to recommend. In just one hour of Zenless Zone Zero, 40% of the battery drained, offering you roughly two and a half hours of gameplay before shutting down. That’s not at all ideal if you’re gaming on the go.
So, battery life isn’t the best, but as I mentioned, a fantastic charging rate of 100% from flat in just over thirty minutes certainly alleviates some concerns you might have with the battery life. Better still, you get a charger in the box, which is more than I can say of all mid-rangers – yes, again, I’m looking at you, Google Pixel 8a. However, unlike the 8a, the F6 doesn’t offer wireless charging, which while not a deal breaker, is a little disappointing.
Should you buy the Poco F6?
If you’re looking for a phone with a no-frills design, quality display, impressive performance, and a camera capable of taking some social media-worthy shots, the Poco F6 is worth checking out. It’s a solid all-rounder, and while you might not get that ‘wow’ moment other more expensive smartphones have to offer, an affordable and reliable piece of kit for less than half the price of a new iPhone is something to celebrate. Nice work, Poco.
Alternatively, if you’re looking for something a little less generic design-wise, offers wireless charging, or doesn’t come with a bucket load of bloatware, you might want to look elsewhere. I’m not exactly sure where, as many of the phones in the mid-range section are similarly a touch bland in terms of design and not all of them offer wireless charging, but there are at least a couple that buck that trend.
Alternatives
If this Poco F6 review hasn’t sold you on the Xiaomi mid-ranger, check out some of our alternative suggestions below.
Google Pixel 8a
If you afford to stretch your budget around $100 further than the asking price for the Poco F6, the Pixel 8a is a fantastic alternative. While it’s not as quick to charge as the F6, the Pixel 8a has slightly better cameras, in our opinion, and also offers some exciting AI tools like Magic Eraser for photo editing and Circle to Search. Both are great devices, but it comes down to what you value more in your phone. For more on this one, check out our Google Pixel 8a review.
OnePlus 12R
Of 2024’s mid-range phones, the OnePlus 12R is one of the more impressive. It’s got a much flashier design than the Poco F6 and is similarly impressive in terms of performance and charging speeds. The difference between the two is that the OnePlus 12R holds its charge a little longer than the Poco, but for that benefit, you’re getting a device with no IP rating, which might not be the best idea if you’re not also planning on picking up a case. If you want the full lowdown, check out our OnePlus 12R review.