POCO F2 Pro is the third offering launched under the POCO brand and it is the second POCO phone that is released this year, after the POCO X2. Unlike the X2, the POCO F2 Pro is a flagship device with the power of the Snapdragon 865 SoC. Its first debut was on 12 May in Europe and its launch date in India is expected to be soon, but the exact details are still unknown. For now, the competition in the F2 Pro’s price range is not really that much. There are currently not many phones in the sub-Rs. 40,000 segment that has the Snapdragon 865 chipset. The most notable names I can think of are Realme X50 Pro, OnePlus 8, and iQOO 3, all of which are available for sales in India. Overall, the POCO F2 Pro is a good choice compared to the aforementioned phones, except for its 60Hz display. 

Display

The POCO F2 Pro features a full-screen display thanks to the pop-up camera design. The 6.67-inch Super AMOLED panel covers 87.2 percent of the front as well as supports 20:9 aspect ratio, FHD+ (2,400 x 1,080p) resolution, and HDR10+. As mentioned, one of the biggest disappointments of this phone is the 60Hz refresh rate. Many other high-end phones launched in the last few months have at least 90Hz or higher refresh rate. For example, the Realme X50 Pro or the OnePlus 8 released before the F2 Pro both have a 90Hz display. However, what they don’t have is the full-screen display. Both of them feature the punch-hole display, which seems to be on every phone launched recently. Personally, I prefer the pop-up camera more than the punch-hole style.

The POCO F2 Pro display can get up to 800 nits of brightness if you manually change the settings while it can hit up to 1200 nits of brightness if you go under the sun, as claimed by Xiaomi. Netflix HD is enabled on this phone, so if you are a movie fan, this is a great one to pick.

Under the display, it is equipped with an optical fingerprint reader, which is quite reliable. The screen reads my fingerprints in 80 to 90 percent of the time.

Chipset

The POCO F2 Pro is powered by the top-of-the-line Snapdragon 865 SoC, which is the most powerful chipset by Qualcomm at the moment. On paper, this chipset should be enough to power every task you need, including gaming. If you are looking for a good all-around phone that has a powerful performance, the POCO F2 Pro is at the top of the list unless you want to go all-in on gaming, then, get a gaming-centric smartphone. 

RAM & Storage

The handset comes in two memory configurations - 6GB RAM LPDDR4X RAM + 128GB UFS 3.1 storage and 8GB LPDDR5 RAM + 256GB UFS 3.1 storage. The price between the two models is significant. If you are just a regular user, just get the 6GB RAM version. If you want the highest performance possible, grab the 8GB RAM. 

During my time with the F2 Pro, I experienced only a few hiccups. The device ran smoothly even when I switched between PUBG Mobile and the camera app. It seems like the phone has a quick image processing time and it handled opening multiple apps with ease. Gaming performance is also a strength of this phone. I played Real Racing 3, Fortnite, PUBG Mobile, and several other 3D games, and I got a nearly-flawless gaming experience. Obviously, the phone got heated during an intensive gaming session, but it was not at a concerning level.

Battery

The battery of the POCO F2 Pro is quite beefy as it has a capacity of 4,700 mAh. In comparison, the OnePlus 8 only has a 4,300 mAh battery and the Realme X50 Pro has a 4,200 mAh battery. While the OnePlus 8 and F2 Pro support 30W fast charging tech, the Realme X50 Pro’s 65W charging tech is much faster. 

Don’t worry as it only takes around 64 minutes to fill the battery of the F2 Pro from 0 to 100 percent. Not just that, the battery life of the new POCO phone is also very impressive thanks to MIUI’s aggressive RAM management, large battery capacity, and of course, the lack of high-refresh-rate display.  During my time with the phone, my usage was not that heavy. I usually spent time on social media and listening to music using either Wi-Fi 5 at home or 4G network in other places. Obviously, don’t expect the phone to last more than 7 hours if you are a heavy user, especially if you are really into gaming. The phone doesn’t support wireless charging, but for me, it is quite unnecessary since wireless charging is not as fast as wired charging, so I don’t really care about it that much.

Camera

Moving to the back, POCO F2 Pro carries a 4-camera system placed in a circular module. This camera cluster includes the main 64MP Sony IMX686 sensor with an aperture of f / 1.69, a 13MP ultra wide-angle sensor with a 123-degree viewing angle, a 2MP depth sensor, and a 5MP telephoto lens that doubles up as a macro camera. The selfie camera is in the pop-up module on the front and has a 20MP resolution. It seems like a decent camera setup, but there is nothing special to talk about, but it is still a massive improvement over the POCO F1. 

The photo quality of the F2 Pro is not really consistent. Its 64MP main sensor does a good job of picking up a good amount of detail and the colours are also well-balanced as well. There is also no over-saturation while its Realme counterparts tend to over-process the colours. However, I don’t like the high level of contrast, which can make the scenes look highly moody. In addition, you also have to toggle the HDR mode manually to lift the shadows to a reasonable level. In terms of low-light photography, the cameras don’t perform as good as they do in day-light conditions. The outcomes are too smooth and lack details. 

If you want to get a good camera smartphone, you are looking at the wrong phone. Instead, OnePlus 8 might be a better option in the sub-Rs. 40,000 segment.