(Credit: Mostafa Eltawel)
We have witnessed great developments in the recent period in the category of mid-priced phones, which have suffered a lot in unequal competition with leading phones. This applies to everything from specifications to external design, manufacturing quality and everything. Poco is known to release its phones with exceptional values and standards, which has led to it being dubbed the “flagship phone killer”. This time Poco has raised the competition even further with the Poco X5 Pro, adding technologies such as a 108MP camera sensor for a triple rear camera array, as well as Qualcomm’s 778G 5G processor, bringing the performance of many flagship phones closer.
We’ve been trying out the phone for a while, and the results are amazing (for a phone priced at 1594AED). So let’s dive into our review and start with the phone’s specifications.
Poco X5 Pro 5G specifications
Poco X5 Pro 5G comes with a 6.67″ AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate, 100% DCI-P3 coverage, and 10-bit color depth. Poco X5 Pro 5G is equipped with 1920Hz PWM to relieve your eyes from fatigue especially during prolonged gaming. Inside is a Snapdragon 778G processor 5G, which is considered one of the medium and high-performance chipsets. The camera performance is optimized for photography and night mode.
The battery is 5000 mAh with a 67W charger included in the box with the phone “Alhamdulillah”. As for the main camera in the Poco X5 Pro, it is equipped with a 108-megapixel sensor, along with an 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera and a 2-megapixel macro camera.
In terms of RAM and internal storage, our review unit came with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage which is enough to store all the files and apps you will need to use.
Poco X5 pro 5G categories and prices
Poco X5 Pro 5G is available in Black, Blue and Yellow colours. And one version of 8 GB + 256 GB at 1549 AED.
photo/default/poco-x5-pro-5g-review-review-2023-pcmag-middle-east_vfcq.png" itemprop="url"/>Poco X5 Pro 5G design
The all-plastic design of the Poco X5 Pro looks far from perfect. The back of the phone is attractive and sparkles thanks to the light-reflecting effect. The phone is comfortable to hold thanks to the curved and slim edges.
At the back and next to the upper left corner, there is the triple camera group in a rectangular box with a simple bump that contains the three lenses. The left side of the phone is clean without any buttons. The buttons are on the right side including the power button which houses the fingerprint sensor. If you’re as used to an under-display fingerprint sensor as I am, this is a great upgrade that makes unlocking the phone quick and easy and you won’t have a hard time getting used to it.
On the upper side of the phone is a 3.5mm headphone jack that makes you feel nostalgic about using old headphones. In addition to a subwoofer that works in conjunction with the bottom speaker to give you a distinctive stereo sound experience. Finally, as we are used to on Xiaomi devices, there is an IR that makes you able to control your TV and other devices that are controlled remotely through the Mi remote app.
photo/default/poco-x5-pro-5g-review-review-2023-pcmag-middle-east-2_c8yz.png" itemprop="url"/>At the bottom are the other speaker, the dual SIM tray, and the USB-C port. All these things have been combined in a good way to give the body of the phone an IP53 certification for dust and splash resistance, we do not recommend immersing the phone in water but it is resistant to water splashes or use during rain.
The phone case also comes with a transparent cover that does not cover the protrusion of the camera, which will remain prominent. However, it is a good addition that comes in the box at no additional cost.
photo/default/poco-x5-pro-5g-review-review-2023-pcmag-middle-east-3_x9xx.png" itemprop="url"/>The display of the Poco X5 Pro 5G looks great for use (with its 6.67-inch FHD+ AMOLED display) in entertainment and gaming uses, especially with Dolby atmos, 10-bit color depth, and stereo speakers creating a great experience.
Poco X5 pro 5G camera
This camera is very similar to the flagship phone cameras. Poco has done a really good job with improving the camera. Numbers aren’t everything, of course, but Poco was able to give us a truly amazing photography experience with its 108MP camera.
In good lighting conditions, the camera produced great photos with slightly sharp detail, good color reproduction, and a great HDR range.
On the other hand, in night mode shooting or in poor lighting conditions, shooting with night mode makes the image look brighter but it reduces the sharpness of the images and erases some details.
The wide angle camera is less sharp than the main camera due to its lower number of pixels, and it also produced images with weaker levels and less sharpness, so it is always preferable to use the main lens.
Video shooting was also unique, as it can shoot 4K video. Poco X5 Pro 5G can shoot videos up to 4K at 30fps as well as shoot FHD videos at 60fps or even 120fps. Slow motion video shooting is great.
As for the selfie camera, it has a resolution of 16 megapixels, and it can take sharp pictures even in low-light conditions, in the sun, or even in the shade. Equipped with its own HDR mode to balance details and lighting.
photo/default/img-20230210-134701-c3rq_g79g.jpg" itemprop="url"/>There is also a 108MP mode which makes you able to take advantage of the full pixel count and enables you to zoom in on the fine details of the image.
photo/default/img-20230209-211309-ckg2_9pbq.jpg" itemprop="url"/>In general, the camera in the Poco X5 Pro 5G is a great camera to use and will give satisfactory results so great that it competes with leading phones and is more powerful than the cameras of mid-priced phones.
Poco X5 pro 5G performance and operating system
The performance here is close to that of the leading phones, with an eight-core Snapdragon 778G processor and 8 GB of RAM. The phone is fully capable of handling demanding games as well as multitasking, floating windows, and opening a large number of apps without any issues. The power of the processor and the screen refresh rate of “120 Hz” make the gaming experience on this phone an enjoyable experience with great performance.
On the other hand, MIUI 14 (Poco launcher) is full of bloatware with a large amount of pre-installed apps that you may not need. Fortunately, you can remove these apps and use the ones you like best. The downside of bloatware is that ads are enabled by default, but you can disable them after digging into the settings.
photo/default/pocox5pro-fe2u_tk4e.jpg" itemprop="url"/>There is plenty of flexibility and options in the Look and Feel settings to make the UI look more consistent and similar to the standard Android UI or use the default Poco style. By pulling the notification bar from the left side, you can see notifications and alerts, while the Control Center can be shown by pulling the notification bar from the right side of the screen. Similar to the iOS controls, which Xiaomi implements in its phones. But you can tweak that and go back to the traditional Android look.
One of the ‘flagship phone’ features found in this phone is the Taptic Engine which is very rare to see in mid-priced phones. This feature makes you feel that this phone is one of the leading phones.
In general, the settings and customization experience of the bloatware for this phone is flexible to adapt to your desire and daily use, but its abundance may make you feel very crowded.
Poco X5 pro 5G battery life and charging speed
This is one of the best features of the phone. The battery capacity is 5000 mAh, and the battery life completely exceeded our expectations, as it lasted more than a day and a half without using any battery saving settings. The battery ensures that it lasts for a full day which is great.
Another great feature that you will get with this phone is the fast charger in the box. The phone supports 67W fast charging, something you won’t find even in most flagship phones nowadays. The Poco X5 Pro 5G took about 40 minutes to charge the phone from 0% to 100% (about 2 minutes more).
Conclusion and final judgment
Poco X5 Pro 5G looks like a flagship phone in the mid-range price category. Poco has cut down on non-essential costs, to keep the price down without reducing overall performance. You will not find a competitive smartphone at 1549 AED in this price category that can compete with the Poco X5 Pro 5G.
