Xiaomi has just launched its new flagship series for the global market under its POCO sub-brand, the F6 series. The highest-end of the two, the F6 Pro, comes with mildly impressive specs that put it closer to the mid-range section, but it does have a proper solid build as well as an unbelievable price tag.
The F6 Pro sports a 6.67-inch 1440p AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a global peak brightness of 1,200 nits, and a peak brightness of 4,000 nits for HDR content. Just like the flagship series from its parent company, POCO has fitted its flagship with a flat display instead of the dreaded curved screen. It’s a sharp, responsive, and relatively bright display with thin, uniform bezels; the optical under-display fingerprint scanner isn’t the fastest but it gets the job done, although it’s not the most reliable if you have sweaty or incredibly dry fingers.
Spec-wise, this year’s flagship isn’t all that different from last year’s. It gets a nominally brighter screen and the usual processor upgrade with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, but the battery got slightly smaller with a 5,000mAh capacity and it got rid of the wireless charging support. That being said, it somewhat makes up for this with the faster 120W wired charging speed.
Despite being so affordable, the phone gets a metal frame on the side with flat edges, a design language that I’ve really fallen in love with over the past couple of years. The back panel is made out of glass but it has a matte finish, so it’s very much fingerprint-resistant. Moreover, the rear design makes it look almost like a shiny rock with pseudo texture, which gets my approval because it brings a tiny bit of a flare to a minimalist design without going overboard.
On the other hand, the gigantic rectangular camera island is made up of reflective glass that makes every speck of dust as well as fingerprint smudges annoyingly visible, although this effect should be less obvious with the white version. The black F6 Pro has a gold rim on the edges of each lens, which honestly gives it a subtle pop of colour.
Speaking of the cameras, the device gets a triple-sensor setup made up of a 50MP main shooter with OIS, an 8MP ultra-wide lens, and a 2MP macro lens. Up front, the punch-hole cutout houses a 16MP selfie snapper. On the connectivity side, it supports 5G, Bluetooth 5.3, Wi-Fi 7, and NFC.
While nothing about the specs of the phone really pops out, it actually seems like a good deal when you consider that the pricing starts from only RM2,299. Of course, whether it’s actually value for your money has yet to be determined, so stay tuned for my full review of the POCO F6 Pro.
