Poco F5 5G Review: The Best Mid-Range Gaming Phone

After upgrading its cheap and mid-range lineups earlier this year, POCO has now introduced its flagship-grade F5 smartphone in India. On paper, the handset appears to follow the same performance-centric philosophy as past smartphones in the lineup. The POCO F5 is India’s first smartphone with a powerful Snapdragon 7+ Gen2 CPU. The smartphone also has a 12-bit display and a 5,000mAh battery, among other notable features. However, the most important question remains: does the smartphone provide good value for your money? Continue reading the POCO F5 review to discover out.

The POCO F5 is a powerful gaming and streaming gadget. It has an excellent screen and a strong processor. While the phone’s look and photography may not be as remarkable, its battery life and fast charging features are genuinely exceptional.

POCO F5 5G KEY FEATURES

The subject of our review, however, is the vanilla Poco F5, and it’s worth noting that the F5 goes by a different name in some areas, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Turbo. The latter was released in March, so you may use this review as a reference if you’re considering purchasing the Redmi Note 12 Turbo, as we doubt we’ll be able to obtain a review unit for that one very soon.

The handset has a few noteworthy improvements over its predecessor while remaining the same price (the F4 was launched for €400). It’s an excellent pick if you want a capable mid-ranger with a few high-end capabilities.

The regular F5 is powered by a fresh new Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 chipset, which we hope isn’t just a rebranded Snapdragon 778G. The handset also has a 6.67-inch OLED panel with the same 120Hz refresh rate and high maximum brightness as its more expensive brother, albeit at a lower resolution. Both devices have identical camera setups, and the battery capacity is roughly 5,000 mAh, with support for blazing-fast 67W charging. The sole difference is that the F5 Pro has wireless charging among its features.

It appears that regardless of which device you choose, the user experience will be quite consistent. However, if wireless charging and a more future-proof SoC, such as the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, are important to you, the F5 Pro may be worth the extra cost. Still, we feel the F5 will get you 90% of the way to your destination, giving it the superior value of the two options.

POCO F5 5G UNBOXING

The handset is packaged in a conventional retail box with all of the usual user instructions, the required 67W fast charger, and a USB-A to USB-C cable for data transmission and charging.

There’s also a transparent silicone case as a bonus, which doesn’t obscure the beautiful paint job.

CAMERA

The POCO F5’s back camera arrangement and performance appear to be the same as its predecessor, the POCO F4. The handset is equipped with a 64MP primary sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide sensor, and a 2MP macro unit. The 64MP primary sensor, which includes OIS, excels at shooting beautiful photographs in well-lit environments or during daylight. The produced photographs reveal bright and crisp details with well-balanced colors. HDR on the POCO F5 provides better exposure and contrast than non-HDR photos.

The POCO F5’s 8MP ultra-wide sensor has a 119-degree field of view, which allows for more thorough coverage. However, some distortion and softness can be seen at the margins of the frame. In contrast, the 2MP macro sensor does an excellent job of catching fine details in close-ups, especially under decent lighting circumstances. In low light, the 64MP primary sensor is the only standout among the back camera array, as both the ultra-wide and macro cameras struggle significantly. Even though color fidelity is questionable, the sensor captures photos with reasonable detail and sharpness. The phone’s noise mode application helps to reduce noise levels while also improving overall sight in such situations.

The front camera, which appears to have been lowered to 16MP from the 20MP sensor present on its predecessor, captures selfies with good face detail. However, as with the previous year, the colors may appear slightly incorrect in low-light conditions. Furthermore, the POCO F5 cameras include a variety of modes, such as portrait mode, which provides a natural-looking bokeh effect but might benefit from improved edge detection, and the new film mode. The latter provides a variety of filters to experiment with. Overall, the POCO F5 offers cameras that many casual users will enjoy.

DESIGN AND SCREEN

The Poco F5 Pro has a few eye-catching features, but I prefer the Poco F5 appearance. Its squared-off edges, shimmering (but not shiny) back, and distinct camera module appear and feel more modern and premium than the Pro.

It’s also more slim, measuring 161.1 x 75 x 7.9mm, and its significantly smaller weight of 181g makes it easy to carry in your pocket. Overall, it’s an improvement over the Poco F4’s design language, which felt a touch cheap and generic.

It helps that I was sent the Blue model, which has a wonderful shimmering hue and repels fingerprints fairly well. The Poco F5 is also available in black and white, with the latter featuring a unique mottled appearance.

The top and bottom bezels are symmetrical, which is always nice to see in a less expensive phone. However, the IP53 certification is lower than that of the Pixel 7a and Samsung Galaxy A54. The front panel is made of Gorilla Glass 5, which is more durable than the GG3 on the Pixel 7a.

As if the enhanced design of the Poco F5 wasn’t enough, Xiaomi has also reintroduced the 3.5mm headphone port, which was removed from the Poco F4. That’s encouraging and supports the brand’s gaming-related claims. After all, wireless buds are typically associated with delay.

While the appearance has been tweaked, Xiaomi has maintained the same display setup as the Poco F5. It’s a 6.67-inch FHD+ (1080 x 2400) AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and 240Hz touch response time. The max brightness (in HBM) has been slightly increased from 900 nits in the Poco F4 to 1000 nits here, but the difference is minimal.

I have no concerns about the Poco F5 screen being mostly the same. For the price, it’s still an agreeably large, bright, responsive, and color-accurate panel that’s ideal for mobile media consumption.

However, it has gotten slightly worse, with a touch sampling rate of 240Hz rather than 360Hz on the Poco F4. For the great majority of users, this will have no impact. However, given that Poco frequently courted the gaming audience and emphasized the gaming capabilities of its phones, it doesn’t appear particularly good, at least on paper. This screen is accompanied by a pair of stereo speakers that are loud and crisp, yet lacking in detail and bass.

HOW’S THE PERFORMANCE?

Poco phones, and particularly the Poco F-series, have always prioritized performance. It’s great to see the Poco F5 adhering to its roots and having a powerful Snapdragon 7 Plus Gen 2 processor.

In terms of CPU performance, this chip exceeds the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 found in the Poco F5 Pro, according to my Geekbench results. That’s impressive.

In terms of GPU performance, however, the Poco F5 Pro outperforms its smaller counterpart under like-for-like settings. Nonetheless, the Poco F5 is no slouch, and I was able to play Wreckfest on high-end settings. There was the occasional stutter that suggested you might be better off with somewhat lower settings, but it remained playable.

The handset comes with two RAM options: 8GB and 12GB, both of which can be expanded using virtual RAM. The phone comes with 256GB of storage, which is not extendable. The POCO F5 comes preloaded with MIUI 14, which is based on Android 13. It is encouraging to see the manufacturer providing the most recent software out of the box. The handset is scheduled to receive two years of major OS updates and three years of security patches. The phone includes a few pre-installed programs, such as games and an app store, as well as advertisements.

However, this device dramatically reduces spammy alerts. Aside from that, I didn’t notice any additional differences between the POCO F5 and other devices running MIUI 14. Users can personalize their experience with a variety of customization options, and they can also uninstall the pre-installed programs if they wish.

Buy it if...

• Awesome, lightweight construction.
• Excellent AMOLED with 120Hz refresh, Dolby Vision, and HDR10+.
• The SD 7+ Gen 2 delivers unrivaled performance.
• Excellent battery life with a competitive rapid charging solution.
• Excellent camera experience overall (save for selfies).
• Good-sounding, powerful speakers.
• 3.5mm audio jack, infrared blaster, IP53 certification, superior haptics, and 256GB base storage.
• MIUI 14 is a feature-rich skin built on top of Android 13.

Don't buy it if…

• Instead of a UD scanner, use a side-mounted fingerprint reader.
• Night mode requires more work, and selfies are mediocre.

FULL SPECIFICATION