Poco F6 Pro review

Competition

Poco F6 Pro starts at 499 dollars for the base 12 GB/256 GB, 549 dollars for that 12GB/512GB and goes up to 629 dollars for a 16GB/1TB unit, like the one we have. You can get $50 off early bird specials from these prices. This is the official price, Amazon has the base 12GB/256GB model listed €500 and 12GB/512GB for €550. That’s not too cheap in absolute monetary terms, but relative to the market and the great flagship specs you’re getting, the Poco F6 Pro is actually pretty competitive. Let’s set our rough budget limit at $600 and see what else you can get for the price.

Starting with the Samsung camp, the Galaxy S23 FE is well discounted and fits our budget. Similar to the Poco F6 Pro, it’s kind of like a budget flagship with just a few compromises here and there. However, it has aged quite a bit since it was released in October 2023. So, our suggestion is to explore the Galaxy A55 instead. It’s a bit cheaper as it’s more of an upper mid-range, and its Exynos 1480 chip can’t keep up with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 inside the Poco F6 Pro. Still, it comes with some great features like IP67 ingress protection, Gorilla Glass Victus+, stereo speakers, a microSD slot for storage expansion, and a great 6.6-inch, 120Hz, HDR10+ Super AMOLED display. And of course, you’re not getting a telephoto camera like on the S23 FE, but the setup on the A55 is still very versatile and comparable to the one on the Poco. And as a little added bonus, the Galaxy A55 has a bigger battery than the S23 FE and much better battery life.

Samsung Galaxy A55 • Xiaomi Redmi Note 13 Pro+ • Xiaomi Poco X6 Pro • Motorola Edge 50 Pro

Xiaomi’s own lineup also has some interesting alternatives. There is the ever-popular Redmi Note 13 series. Its most popular member seems to be the Redmi Note 13 Pro at the moment, at least according to our statistics. And of course you can go that route and save a lot of money. You’ll have to live with IP54 ingress protection and the relatively unimpressive Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 chipset. So why not spend just a little more and get the Redmi Note 13 Pro+ with its “full-fat” IP68 rating , as well as 120 W fast charging, a MediaTek Dimensity 7200 Ultra and a powerful 200 MP main camera?

However, both these Redmi phones are from 2023 and came out with Android 13 first. Hence, you can expect shorter support from them. So you can potentially consider the Poco X6 Pro as a slightly cheaper alternative to the F6 Pro. You get a very similar device with a powerful Dimensity 8300 Ultra chip and a great, if not quite, Poco F6 Pro-level display. You’ll have to settle for slower 67W charging and IP54 ingress protection.

Left: Poco F6 Pro • Right: Poco F6

Finally, the Motorola Edge 50 Pro is roughly the same price as the Poco F6 Pro (maybe a bit more expensive). It, once again, isn’t as powerful as the Poco with its Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chip, but apart from that it offers some great specs like a 6.7-inch, 144Hz, HDR10+ OLED display, stereo speakers, IP68 ingress protection, charging 125W and Wireless charging support, as well as a powerful camera setup with a 3x telephoto optical camera and laser AF on the 50 MP main snapper. The Moto also has display output via its Type-C port and support for the Ready For platform.

Our verdict

Honestly, it’s hard to find any serious fault with the Poco F6 Pro. Of course, we would have liked to see a better intrusion protection rating and perhaps expandable storage. Other than that though, the Poco F6 Pro is an all around great device. It has a premium build, a great display, great speakers and incredible charging speed.

The decision to go for last year’s premium Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, in particular, is well-placed. The chip still offers amazing performance. Plus, Xiaomi has done a great job with cooling and stable performance as well. Furthermore, Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 offers excellent connectivity and flagship features. It should cost a bit less than the current Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 flagship, and those savings will likely be passed on to end users.

The Poco F6 Pro is a great device with few compromises and deserves our full recommendation.

Pros

• Rich accessory package.
• Premium build quality and no-nonsense design.
• Excellent OLED display with exemplary HDR support and high refresh rate behavior.
• Very fast charging.
• Very good stereo speaker setup.
• The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset offers great performance, flagship connectivity and features.
• Excellent all-round camera performance.

ANTI

• Battery life could be better.
• The ultra-wide sensor is a bit dated with mostly unimpressive video capture.