With the Poco X3 Pro, Xiaomi combines an actually low price with a fast processor and a lavish camera equipment. The review will show you whether a real “Pro” comes out of this smartphone in the end.
With the Poco X3 NFC , the Xiaomi subsidiary brand Poco has landed a smartphone price tip under 200 dollars. For a manageable surcharge of only 15 dollars in relation to the RRP, the Poco X3 Pro should offer even more for 250 dollars range RRP and positioned itself within the Poco model family in the upper range. At first the plan worked and the price tumbled as usual.
We categorized every aspect of the phone and gave a star rating based on general price/ performance of the phone.
LOOOKI, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Table of Contents
POCO X3 Pro: Pros and Cons
The Xiaomi Poco X3 Pro will also be one of the fastest cell phones in the price range under 300 euros in 2022. Therefore, the purchase is still worthwhile. However, the missing AMOLED screen and the non-existent 5G are shortcomings that need to be weighed up beforehand – especially if you want to use the cell phone for a long time.
Pros
- Faster processor
- Phone charges fast
- IP53
- Endurance
Cons
- Heating Problems
- Performance collapses under load
- big and heavy
- no OLED display
- no 5G
POCO X3 Pro: Design
POCO X3 Pro: Our Rating for Design = 7.2/10
Visually, the Poco X3 Pro is very similar to the base model. The front also features a 6.67-inch LCD panel with a small hole for the front camera in the middle at the top edge. The power switch is on the right side at thumb height. It also houses the fingerprint sensor. The volume button is a few millimeters above it.
The back is constructed similarly. In the middle of the upper third there is an oval bulge that houses the rectangular camera module including the LED photo light. Underneath is the lettering “Poco”.
You can only visually distinguish between the Poco X3 NFC and the X3 Pro by their color. The Pro model is available in blue, black and “metal bronze”, the basic version only in blue and grey. The blue tone of the Pro version is also lighter than that of the NFC model.
Both cell phones are also protected against dust and water according to IP53 , which is rather a rarity in this price range. Like the base model, the Poco X3 Pro isn’t exactly dainty. With dimensions of 165.3 x 76.8 x 9.4 millimeters, it is even larger than the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and, at 215 grams, similarly heavy despite the plastic back.
Small mobile phones are now a rarity even in the middle class in 2022.
POCO X3 Pro: Screen
POCO X3 Pro: Our Rating for Screen = 7.3/10
As in the Poco X3 NFC, an LCD with a diagonal of 6.67 inches and a resolution of 2400×1080 pixels is still used. If you value a high-contrast OLED, you have to use the Poco F3 . Xiaomi shows with the Redmi Note 10that a crisp OLED is definitely possible for 200 euros. The screen in the Poco X3 Pro is not bad, the display is sharp and with activated 120 Hertz the high screen change frequency also ensures a pleasantly clear display with fast movements.
The touchscreen sampling rate is 240 Hertz. The dynamic adjustment to the requirements (you need full power for games, a low frequency is also sufficient when looking at photos) keeps the energy requirement in check.
Basically everything like the Poco X3 NFC with the difference that the display is now covered with Gorilla Glass 6 instead of 5. At 1506:1, the contrast is on the iPhone 11 level, and the brightness is only satisfactory at 552 nits per square meter (cd/m²). The Poco X3 NFC was a good 100 cd/m² brighter in the test and therefore also got the better intermediate mark for the screen.
There is also a lot in terms of color fidelity and color space coverage. The front camera in the display took satisfying selfies that turned out slightly better than the X3 NFC. The lens has a resolution of 20 megapixels and unlocks the cell phone via face recognition. Alternatively, the fingerprint sensor is disguised as a power button on the right side.
POCO X3 Pro: Performance and Processor
POCO X3 Pro: Our Rating for Performance = 8.8/10
The processor in the Poco X3 Pro is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 860 chip. Qualcomm’s 800 series marks particularly fast processors. In the benchmark comparison, the Xiaomi cell phone does not disappoint: In terms of performance, the cell phone will still be at the level of significantly more expensive devices such as the Galaxy A52s 5G in 2022.AnTuTu and Geekbench are tools for testing the performance of a smartphone’s hardware. Higher values mean better results.
Unfortunately, the performance sometimes drops significantly under load. In order not to overheat, the Poco X3 Pro throttles its computing power. When the load is intense, only 71 percent of the actual computing power is available to you. In mobile games in particular, this can quickly become a disadvantage.
| model | Geekbench (single core) | Geekbench (Multi-Core) | AnTuTu |
|---|---|---|---|
| ZTE Nubia Redmagic 7 | 1,242 points | 3,754 points | 1,045,538 points |
| realme GT2 Pro | 1,203 points | 3,543 points | 1,001,700 points |
| realme GT | 1,138 points | 3,572 points | 822,869 points |
| Black Shark 4 Pro | 1,138 points | 3,729 points | 841,297 points |
| Samsung Galaxy S21 FE | 1,090 points | 3,213 points | 762,238 points |
| Xiaomi Poco F3 | 950 points | 2,957 points | 676,000 points |
| Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G | 804 points | 2,903 points | 526,949 points |
| OnePlus North 2 | 797 points | 2,482 points | 573,307 points |
| Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G | 777 points | 2,804 points | 541,000 points |
| Apple iPhone SE (2020) | 1,319 points | 2,794 points | 463,869 points |
| Xiaomi Poco X3 Pro | 758 points | 2,726 points | 566,902 points |
| Xiaomi Poco X4 Pro | 687 points | 2,028 points | 397,876 points |
| Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G | 686 points | 1,958 points | 383,473 points |
| Samsung Galaxy A52 5G | 646 points | 1,909 points | 326,155 points |
| Fairphone 4 5G | 638 points | 1,881 points | 317,807 points |
POCO X3 Pro: Battery
POCO X3 Pro: Our Rating for Battery = 8.2/10
The Poco X3 Pro is powered by a 5,160 mAh battery. In the PCMark test, the lavishly dimensioned energy storage device achieved an average runtime of 12 hours and 56 minutes. This should allow the vast majority of users to get by for one and a half to two days without a power supply.
The cell phone does not offer a removable battery, but the battery of the Poco X3 Pro can be quickly recharged. In the test, the battery indicator jumped from 4 to 60 percentage points within 30 minutes. The battery was fully charged again in less than an hour. The cell phone is charged with a maximum of 33 watts, the Poco X3 Pro does not support wireless charging. Nevertheless, in terms of battery performance and charging speed, the cell phone is still up to date.
POCO X3 Pro Battery Test Comparison Video
POCO X3 Pro: Camera
POCO X3 Pro: Our Rating for Camera = 7/10
The main camera of the X3 Pro uses the same sensor as the F3 (1.6 µm pixel size), which takes standard 12-megapixel photos from 48-megapixels using 4-in-1 pixel binning. And that doesn’t make Poco bad at all. In the mobile phone camera test , the X3 surprised with extremely good photos in daylight. The Poco X3 Pro was a bit weaker, but still good. In low light, the measurements of the Pro were slightly better.
There was a draw in the visual test. In good lighting, the X3 NFC was slightly ahead. And while we measured a shutter lag of 125 ms for the Pro, the X3 NFC was spotless with 0 ms.
POCO X3 Pro: Full Specs
| Brand | Poco |
|---|---|
| Release Date | 2021, March 24 |
| Out Price | $249.00 / €207.00 / £179.10 |
| Type | IPS LCD |
| Aspect Ratio and PPI | 20:9 ratio - 395 ppi density |
| Size | 6.67 inches, 107.4 cm2 (~84.6% screen-to-body ratio) |
| Refresh Rate | 120 Hz |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
| Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass 6 |
| Colors | Phantom Black- Frost Blue - Metal Bronze |
| Dimensions | 165.3 • 76.8 • 9.4 mm (6.51 • 3.02 • 0.37 in) |
| Weight | 215 gr (7.58 oz) |
| Material | Glass front (Gorilla Glass 6), plastic back |
| Sensors | Fingerprint (side-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass |
| 3.5mm Jack | Yes |
| NFC | No |
| USB Type | USB Type-C 2.0, USB On-The-Go |
| Technology | GSM / HSPA / LTE |
| 2G Bands | GSM - 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2 |
| 3G Bands | HSDPA - 850 / 900 / 1700(AWS) / 1900 / 2100 |
| 4G Bands | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 20, 28, 38, 40, 41 - International |
| Navigation | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS |
| Network Speed | HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE-A (CA) |
| SIM Card Type | Hybrid Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) |
| Number of SIM Area | 2 SIM |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot |
| Bluetooth | 5.0, A2DP, LE |
| FM Radio | Yes |
| Chipset | Qualcomm Snapdragon 860 (7 nm) |
| CPU | Octa-Core, 3 processors: 2.96GHz Single-Core Kryo 485 Gold 2.42GHz Triple-Core Kryo 485 Gold 1.78GHz Quad-Core Kryo 485 Silver |
| GPU | Adreno 640 |
| Android Version | Android 11, MIUI 12.5 for POCO |
| RAM Capacity | 128GB 8GB RAM |
| Storage | 128GB (106GB available) UFS 3.1 |
| External storage | Until 1TB microSD, microSDXC (hybrid slot/shares the same SIM-2 slot) |
| SD Card Slot | microSDXC (uses shared SIM slot) |
| Battery Capacity | 5160 mAh |
| Battery Type | Li-Po |
| Charging Speed | 33W |
| Camera Specs | |
| Image Resolution | 48 megapixels |
| Video Resolution and FPS | 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/60/120/240fps, 1080p@960fps, gyro-EIS |
| Optical Stabilisation (OIS) | No |
| Features | Dual-LED flash, HDR, panorama |
| Front Cam Resolution | 20 MP |
| Aperture | f/2.2 |
| Video Resolution and FPS | 1080p@30fps |
| Features | HDR, panorama |
POCO X3 Pro: Conclusion
POCO X3 Pro: Our Rating General = 7.1/10
The Poco X3 Pro is a faster Poco X3 NFC with slightly better endurance. In terms of the camera and the display, however, it has no advantage. One would wish for a crisp OLED and 5G from a real “Pro”. The catch in the story is a smartphone with high processing power yet lacks of other specs such as camera quality and screen.
