Xiaomi Poco F1

F1 is fast, good looking and affordable

- Kunal Gangar

Xiaomi has had an interesting year so far. Not only was the company recently listed on the stock exchange in Hong Kong, its Indian subsidiary rose to the top in the world’s second largest smartphone market. However, most of the phones that Xiaomi sells falls under the sub-Rs. 20,000 range. Sure, there’s Mi Mix 2 at ₹29,999 but there’s still a gap they need to fill. Enter Poco.

Poco is Xiaomi’s sub-brand that will design and engineer their devices independently but also take advantage of Xiaomi’s massive supply chain and its after-sales network. The first device under the new sub-brand is F1 and we take a thorough look to see if it can live up to the hype.

Xiaomi-branded phones, be it the Redmi or the Redmi Note series, they seem to follow a similar design pattern. But since Poco acts as a separate entity, F1 seems to break the mould for its maiden device. Utilitarian design The Poco F1 does not boast a metal or glass body that most of the devices come these days with but the device sports

Utilitarian design

The Poco F1 does not boast a metal or glass body that most of the devices come these days with but the device sports a polycarbonate back. We guess it was the cost that made Poco go with polycarbonate but the decision has its advantages, usability-wise. The phone does not feel slippery like its metal or glass counterpart and gives the phone a good grip in the hands. Another advantage is that polycarbonate is more durable in terms of scratches and falls than other materials, thus eliminating the need to slap a case at the back. However, Poco is still bundling a soft case with all the F1 phones.

The Poco F1 is available three different colours - black, blue and red, and one special edition, which is our favourite. Called the Armoured Edition, the back panel of the phone is made from Kevlar material that is used in military and aviation industry.