The Poco F4 is an affordable mid-range smartphone that has a lot to offer. We have now tested the successor of the popular (and very good) Poco F3 and you can read all about it in this review.
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Dit is de Poco F4 review
The Chinese telephone manufacturer Little bit has been releasing affordable smartphones with good specifications for years. The first Pocophone F1 was therefore very popular and a real ‘flagschip killer’† The F4 is the latest smartphone in the F-series with a powerful chip, beautiful screen and a suggested retail price of 399 euros.
The Poco F4 is very similar to its predecessor, the Poco F3. For example, they have exactly the same processor. This is probably due to the major chip shortage which has unfortunately been an issue in the tech industry for years. What do we think of the Poco F4 and is it a worthy successor to the F3? Time for the review!
Sleek, yet unobtrusive design
The Poco F4 has a sleek, but not striking design and resembles an average Android smartphone. It is a flat device with a glass front and back. This makes the phone feel solid and premium, but it is in no-time under the fingerprints. Fortunately, the Poco F4 is not very heavy and lies comfortably in the hand.
On the right side are the volume buttons and the power button. The latter has a built-in fingerprint scanner and is conveniently positioned. If you take the Poco F4 out of your pocket, it is unlocked in an instant. There is a USB-C port at the bottom of the phone and fairly loud speakers are placed on both narrow sides.
Less pleasant is the low continuous camera island. This sits just where your index finger is and initially interferes with holding. Furthermore, the glass back contains a Poco logo, some text and reflects it subtly. Our black test model therefore looked very sleek, but the smartphone is also available in green and silver.
Clear AMOLED screen with 120Hz
If you want bright colors and good contrast on your smartphone, then the Poco F4 is the right choice. The 6.67-inch AMOLED display with Dolby Vision support displays very beautiful colors and black is really black. The full-HD resolution is not super sharp, but that is normal in this price range. While watching movies on e.g. Netflixthe resolution does not stand out, but the image really pops.
The automatic brightness of the Poco F4 leaves something to be desired. In many cases, the phone responds slowly or not at all to changes in light in the environment. As a result, the screen is sometimes too bright in the dark and too dark in bright sunlight. Adjusting the brightness yourself then works better.
What makes the Poco F4 feel very fast is the high refresh rate of 120Hz. That means the screen can refresh up to 120 times per second. As a result, swiping through menus, web pages and social media feels very fluid. This contributes to a pleasant user experience.
Solid hardware
Of Little F4 comes with the same Snapdragon 870 chip as its predecessor, the Poco F3† This means that the device provides broadly the same performance and supports 5G internet. The smartphone is generally nice and smooth, but can sometimes stutter.
(It happens more often that while switching from menu or app, the F4 stutters very ff. If you do press, then you are suddenly four menus further and you have to swipe back again. The device registers actions faster than you realize that it crashes causing you to suddenly find yourself in another menu.)
Once in a while the F4 stutters briefly. While that is happening, the device will still register your actions. As a user, you do not immediately notice this. When the stuttering stops, the F4 overtakes all actions, as it were. As a result, you can suddenly be four menus further. There is nothing to do but swipe back.
With 128GB, the device has enough storage space and has no trouble with multitasking in this 6GB RAM version. You can switch between different apps in no time and playing mobile games is no problem either.
With the new ‘LiquidCool 2.0’ technology, Poco knows how to make the device perform well during an intensive game. However, the housing gets uncomfortably warm after a while. Something to keep in mind if you like to play games, but we don’t think so dealbreaker.
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Software takes some time to get used to
The Poco F4 spins out of the box on Android 12† That is the most recent Android version and comes with a lot of improvements. For example, you can see when an app is using your camera or microphone and your privacy is better protected.
However, the Android experience is quite different on the Poco F4. Poco installs the MIUI shell on all its devices. In the case of the F4, it’s MIUI 13 – and there’s a lot to be said about that.
Let’s start on a positive note: the software looks great. The animations are smooth and the icons colorful. Also, the fonts used look very clean from. Especially the – copied from Apple – control panel with all your buttons and switches is very handy. This way you don’t have to fiddle with your normal notification menu at the top, but these buttons are in their own section. However, you can easily swipe down the wrong menu if you operate the phone with one hand.
The device comes with a lot of bloatware. Those are preset apps that you don’t necessarily need. You will have to remove these apps yourself or they will take up valuable storage space.
Great camera with fun extras
Nowadays you mainly take a photo with your smartphone. Some phones almost shoot professional images and others a blurry picture. The Poco F4 is somewhere in between, depending on which camera you use.
The main camera takes fairly sharp pictures by default. Especially on a clear day, images look colorful and you have a lot of detail. With the special 64 megapixel mode you shoot in full resolution and get even more detail in your shots. The photos are very clear even with less light.
The wide-angle lens gives your photos a striking frame and you get more in the picture. However, these photos are grayer and a lot less sharp, because this sensor has a resolution of 8 megapixels. The macro lens is unfortunately disappointing. It only has a resolution of 2 megapixels, produces a lot of noise and it is impossible to get really close to a subject.
The camera app of the MIUI 13 shell does have a number of cool modes in store. This way you can clone subjects and film with your front and rear camera at the same time. The maximum resolution for video is 4k at 60fps.
Battery easily lasts a day
The Poco F4 has a battery of 4500 mAh. With normal use (working days and weekends) you can easily reach the end of the day. Around the evening hours, the device is at about 30 percent. At night, the F4 has to be on the charger, but also charging in between is easy.
After all, the Poco F4 comes with a fast charger and can charge up to 67 Watts. This means that your device is completely full again within 45 minutes to an hour. Ideal if you’ve played an energy-guzzling game and have to leave later.
Unfortunately, the Poco phone does not support wireless charging. That’s certainly not a disaster, but we see it more and more Android-smartphones – even with non-high-end telephones. So please note that you cannot use your wireless charger with this Poco F4.
Conclusie Poco F4 review
The Poco F4 is an Android smartphone with a modern appearance that fits comfortably in the hand. The screen is bright and displays colors very nicely. The Snapdragon 870 chip is a bit older, but still one of the best in this price range and delivers great performance. The battery can easily last a day and checking social media or playing a game is no problem.
With a suggested retail price of 399 euros, the F4 is an attractive midranger. Still, the differences with its predecessor are not great. If you want to save a few bucks, take another look at the Poco F3. If you prefer the latest mid-range device from Poco, then this F4 is really something for you.
Poco F4 kopen
Are you considering getting the Poco F4? The smartphone has a suggested retail price from 399 euros† There are also versions with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, but you also pay more for that. If you order before July 4, 2022, you will also receive a handy early bird-discount.
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