Poco is a new brand of smartphones that has been in the market for a year now. The Poco F3 GT version was released on the 23rd of July 2021 and it offers intriguing features like Dimensity 1200 5G, 5065 mAh battery and 6GB RAM all at $389. Here are my thoughts on this phone after using it for a month or so.
Design and Display:
The Poco F3 GT comes with a 6.67-inch IPS LCD screen of 1080 x 2400 pixels and an aspect ratio of 86.3%. The display is crisp, well lit and very responsive to touches. I was actually surprised at the way the phone responded to my touch when it got swiped to any corner or side.
It shows off your photos in a beautiful manner too which makes it great for media consumption like watching YouTube videos, series etc on your device.
The brightness levels are also good even under sunlight which make it perfect for outdoor usage as well although you have to increase the brightness manually otherwise it tends to go relatively dim sometimes as I noticed while walking down the street one day but this issue is not present always. Overall, I am very happy with the screen on this device and feel that it is a great upgrade from the Poco f2.
This smartphone comes with a notch where you can see your camera, selfie shooter and notification bar but unlike other phones which have the sensors in those tiny holes at the bottom of the display, here it has its own little space above so you can actually choose whether to use it or not as there are no sensors below for face unlock etc.
Other than that this phone doesn't have any other buttons except for power button and volume rockers placed on both sides.
The back of this phone houses three cameras like most phones these days , one of them being the main 64MP camera, 8MP ultrawide camera and the other 2MP pixel cameras for depth detection which work in harmony with each other to produce some amazing photos without any blur, especially when you click using night mode although it slows down the phone a little bit but that doesn't really bother me personally as I don't use this feature all too often.
The Poco f3 GT comes with Gorilla Glass protection from both sides which means that you can place your phone face down and nothing will be scratched off. It also has an IP rating of IP53 which makes it resistant to dirt and water splashes as well so if it falls in a puddle or something then there is still not much damage that your phone would suffer.
One downside of this device is that it comes with a hybrid SIM card slot which means you either have to choose between second storage or a second SIM but not both at the same time.
Another thing is that when they advertise their phones as water and dust resistant, they actually mean just splashing water from any direction but don't go swimming with your phone in hand because there will be damage for sure haha.
Hardware and Performance:
The Poco f3 GT comes with MediaTek Dimensity 1200 5G which ensures that all your apps run smoothly without any hiccups throughout the day.
I played multiple games on this phone like madden mobile, Modern Combat, Pubg, COD and more over longer periods of time without any issues so overall, the processor is quite good for everyday tasks as well as multi tasking as it processes them quickly in the background.
It comes with 6GB RAM of memory which makes everything run smoothly and freeze less often as opposed to my previous phone where things did tend to freeze once in a while.
The Poco f3 GT has 128GB/256GB storage but you can double that if you use a micro SD card up to 256GB in here because it comes with a hybrid SIM slot as I mentioned above, however, if you are using a 128GB micro SD card then the second SIM card slot cannot be used anymore.
Camera:
The Poco f3 GT comes with three back cameras , one of them being an ultrawide camera which can shoot pretty wide pictures and videos so it's great for landscape photography as well as getting more into your group photos in selfies.
The front facing camera is decent but I don't often use it much since I am not a huge selfie guy anyway so I don't really care about it all that much but hey, if you like to take selfies then this phone does do a good job in taking those pictures too although sometimes the colors look washed out when I click on cloudy days but nothing too major.
Another thing is that despite this phone having three cameras on the back, it does not let you shoot in RAW format as well so if you are looking to edit your photos or do any kind of professional photography then this wouldn't be a great choice.
The gallery app works very easily and quickly so you can check out your pictures or at least look through them very quickly because there are no folders for photo albums in here as well so you can only swipe left or right to view your pictures and videos.
Sound Quality:
The Poco F3 GT has good sound quality speakers but the thing is that it does get quite loud but a downside of having louder speakers means that they don't sound as crisp and clear at full blast even though they still have pretty decent bass and treble, I would personally lower the volumes by half to prevent any ear fatigue from long term listening or else you might end up with some annoying ear ringing when you try listening to music after a while. The headphone jack works like normally do .
Battery Life:
This device comes with a 5065mAH battery which is pretty standard for any smartphone these days but thanks to the MediaTek processor and other components, it does manage to last me almost 2 full days on a single charge so I never really had an issue where my phone died on me in middle of the day.
Overall Thoughts:
The Poco f3 GT offers some great specs at a lower price than most flagship phones that are currently out there and honestly, that's why I chose this over something like OnePlus 8 because if you take care of your device and maintain it properly then their support will keep it going for much longer than the typical 1 year warranty so while you might get more apps or better cameras from competing flagships, they might also not perform as well as this one with time either so for a person like me who just wants to use the phone to text, call and browse the web then I have no complaints since it does those things just fine.
The Poco f3 GT is definitely worth your consideration if you want a smartphone that can do all of your basic stuff without having any major issues and all things considered , this would be one of my best purchases from Giztop up until now.