POCO X4 Pro review, a question of compromise
POCO X4 Pro review
After a few days in the company of the brand new (and just presented) POCO X4 Pro, I am ready to tell you the report of my adventure together with this smartphone made by Xiaomi. Will it be a new potential best-buy in the mid-range capable of inheriting the good things seen only a few months ago with the POCO X3 Pro? paradigm quite important for the series, with the canons of brute power protagonists of the last generation set aside in favor of greater attention to issues such as display quality and photographic sector. But will it be a winning choice or too risky a bet?POCO X4 Pro, where have I already seen you?
if (jQuery ("# crm_srl-th_mobilelabs_d_mh2_1"). Is (": visible")) {console.log ("Edinet ADV adding zone: tag crm_srl-th_mobilelabs_d_mh2_1 slot id: th_mobilelabs_d_mh2"); } On an aesthetic level, it is useless to go around it, this POCO X4 Pro knows it has already been seen. If you have followed the presentation of the new Redmi Note 11 range (also from Xiaomi), the similarities with what has just been presented will be evident and obvious.The truth is, however, that by concentrating only on the POCO world, the lines now appear for the first time much more graceful and modern, with the new camera layout (this new one and partly inspired by the top range Xiaomi MI 11 Ultra), the main protagonist of this “style” race.
if (jQuery ("# crm_srl-th_mobilelabs_d_mh3_1"). is (": visible")) {console.log ("Edinet ADV adding zone: tag crm_srl-th_mobilelabs_d_mh3_1 slot id: th_mobilelabs_d_mh3"); } Even the POCO brand, which has always left disputes among users, has been implemented in a discreet and almost elegant way (undoubtedly in a less intrusive way than in the past). To use it is therefore a very pleasant terminal, even if we are faced with a nice "frying pan", with the limited thickness and the weight in any case balanced as elements capable of making the user experience already from the first hours but certainly convincing.
At a constructive level, nothing is missing. We find the double stereo speaker, with double upper and lower output, the lateral fingerprint sensor (which via software can be activated both by pressing and only by touching) and also the dear and old 3.5mm jack for headphones (element increasingly rare but always able to win approval among users) together with the infrared LED in the upper frame. As far as connectivity is concerned, we also find a DualSIM hybrid slot, with alternation between second sim or memory expansion via MicroSD card.
OLED display to envy, audio and vibration to the top
if (jQuery ("# crm_srl-th_mobilelabs_d_mh4_1"). is (": visible")) {console.log ("Edinet ADV adding zone: tag crm_srl-th_mobilelabs_d_mh4_1 slot id: th_mobilelabs_d_mh4"); } The main and outstanding element of this POCO X4 Pro is certainly the display. It is a 6.7 ″ unit in FullHD + resolution (with a single front hole in the center for the selfie cam), capable of supporting the refresh rate increased to 120Hz, with a maximum peak brightness of even 1200 nits.Beautiful, without mincing words. The color reproduction, which can also be calibrated to your liking via software as per Xiaomi tradition, is very vivid and pleasant, with absolute blacks guaranteed by the panel technology itself. The resolution then, even if the diagonal is very generous, is absolutely more than sufficient, without any kind of artifact as regards the reproduction of the contents.
Dealing with a panel like this pleasant will then certainly lead users to spend many hours playing multimedia content. In this you will encounter a mix of factors not always discounted in this price range and which I am sure will make many of you sail.
The first, as mentioned above, is due to the choice of POCO to introduce the stereo audio, for a rich and full-bodied reproduction of sounds.
The second element is the vibration feedback when interacting with certain elements of the interface. In fact, if like me you love to have a strong and decisive response from the vibration motor, this POCO X4 Pro, although obviously far from the top smartphones in this aspect, will amaze you with the pleasantness of this particular hardware aspect that still many manufacturers unfortunately underestimate.
The hardware / software news
As we said at the opening of this review, POCO X4 Pro represents in some respects a potential paradigm shift compared to the past. The reference certainly goes to the new software and hardware installed in this new terminal, capable of potentially leaving some of the most demanding users "unhappy".Starting with the software, in fact, we find ourselves from a part with the positivity of the new proprietary Xiaomi MIUI 13 software, weighed however with the "old" version of Android 11.
While this news should not scare users with regards to functions and options of customization (MIUI has always tended to hide many of the "base" skin of andorid by replacing it with its own customization ideology), on the other hand one cannot be happy to see at the end of the first quarter 2022 a smartphone launched not with the latest available version of the robot.
As we said above, there are no missing options capable of invalidating the user experience (indeed, MIUI also in this version 13 which looks more like a 12.5 bis that not like a real new version), the problem is mostly represented by future software support, with a major update of the two guaranteed that will be "played intelligently" by Xiaomi.
If the software aspect could then leave you with some perplexity, the hardware and brute power theme could continue to contribute to this sentiment. The processor chosen by POCO is in fact the Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 which obviously brings with it 5G connectivity and also a 6nm construction process.
Smartphone Geekbench 5 Geekbench ML 3DMark PCMark Work 3.0 Speedometer 2.0 Jetstream 2 Single- core Multi-core CPU GPU NNAPI Wild Life Wild Life
Stress Test Performance - - POCO X4 Pro 689 2051 267 587 409 1196
(7.20 fps) 1170 - 1130
(97.6%) 10301 47.89 (± 0.59) 66661 Honor 50 783 2974 391 931 613 2508
(15.00 fps) 2514 - 2486
(98 , 9%) 12349 61.04 (± 0.59) 86044 At first glance, the conquest of 5G could present a too high bill in terms of performance, both against the competition but also against the direct predecessor of this POCO X4 Pro (which we remember was equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 860). A choice that I do not hide from you in everyday life could cause you some lag and slowdown.
If on the one hand performance will not represent its greatest strength, the autonomy and battery of this smartphone will simply leave you to mouth open. Both in our "laboratory tests" using the usual PCMark Work 3.0 Battery reference app (with a result of 13 hours and 44 minutes) and in the "real life tests" (with data of over 8 hours a day of display on in data connectivity), POCO X4 Pro can easily be considered a champion of durability.
It never heats up, even under intense stress and the presence of 67W ultra-fast charging will allow the 5,000mAh to be charged in less than an hour , thus representing the perfect mix in terms of battery and autonomy.
Attention, however, to the usual and very important detail on energy savings. In fact, by default the "balanced" mode is set for each application, which if on the one hand guarantees super durability, on the other hand it could make you miss some notifications. As per attached screen, remember to set the "no restrictions" mode for the applications you deem appropriate and for which you do not want to miss any updates.
Cameras as an improvement over the previous generation?
But if at the software and hardware level the differences compared to the past do not seem (or even in some cases they are not really) so evident, where does this POCO X4 Pro try to raise the bar? As the back of the terminal suggests, it is precisely the camera compartment, and its 108MP quote, that provide us with a prompt answer to the question.The main camera is the much discussed 108MP with aperture f / 1.9 seen in the past in Android terminals, combined in this triple setup by an 8MP ultra wide-angle lens with f / 2.2 aperture and 108 ° FOV (a bit narrow), together with a 2MP f / 2.4 macro lens . On the front there is instead a 16MP f / 2.4 for selfie photos and videos.
In good lighting conditions, the shots that can be obtained from this smartphone are absolutely pleasant and rich in color and detail. However, this is only for the photos and videos taken with the main camera. In fact, turning to the ultra wide angle, not to mention the modesty of the 2MP macro, the quality drops drastically with loss of quality and general paucity of the shots. that only a few months ago we saw installed in some top of the range, I must say that the final yield remains the average of this price range, if not slightly lower as regards the overall sector in its entirety, with two lenses out of three that seem in everyday life very little usable.
In this it certainly does not help the processor, perhaps not able to fully exploit the potential of the sensor, not even helped by MIUI processes not at the top in this price range as far as concerns photographic management in low light contexts.
Prices and conclusions
As often happens during the launch of "galaxy" products Xiaomi, even this POCO X4 Pro sees an official list price immediately cut on the occasion of some launch promos. More specifically, the prices of 299.90 euros for the 6GB RAM and 128GB user memory variant and the 349.90 euros for the 8 / 256GB variant are thus "cut":The 6GB + 128GB version, for 6 days on po.co and Amazon, starting from 13.00 on March 2, will be sold for € 269.90 The 8GB + 256GB version, for 6 days on po.co and Amazon, starting from 13.00 on March 2 , will be sold for € 319.90
It is a pleasant and all in all pleasant smartphone to use in everyday life. The display is certainly the most successful area together with the multimedia area in terms of vibration and audio. The performance is underestimated, with the price that even in its reduced version puts it in serious competition with smartphones capable of returning better performance (even while remaining at Xiaomi).
The photographic sector, the great extra weapon of this LITTLE marketing device actually brings with it too much weight to bear with cuts here and there in the processor side data sheet that perhaps affect too much daily experience. The quality of the photos is in fact generally modest, a sign that the great hardware effort to induce such a high-performance sensor is not followed by dedicated support from the processor.
My advice is to wait for the devaluation that will surely strike this newcomer of the POCO range as it was for its predecessors, with a price that if it were to get closer to 200 euros than 300, it would allow you to take home a complete and usable device, equipped with one of the best panels in circulation in this price range.
