Xiaomi POCO M3 test - the entry level king has arrived?

Xiaomi hit the competition with the POCO M3 properly!

Xiaomi POCO M3 - Introduction

I can say I am lucky, because this year I could (can) write an article about all three POCO phones. The POCO F2 Pro arrived to me soon, the POCO X3 was already in my hand before the official announcement, and the M3 arrived to me the third day after the presentation.

POCO, as a sub-brand of Xiaomi, was known as the gaming phone division. This was not fully proven with the F2 Pro, but for the X3 it was quite clear that we got a gamer phone. However, M3 is completely confused. This handset is not a top phone, in fact, it is not even a gamer phone, but it is a mobile with an incredibly good price-performance ratio.

So, we can ask the question that if that is the case, then now we are also a sub-brand of POCO, because that is not a department that produces gamer phones, that is for sure!

Well, it increasingly seems to me that POCO is a test workshop where they examine how well each novelty comes in for customers. If the novelty works, it can also appear on Xiaomi or Redmi phones.

Perhaps the best example of this is the X3’s 120-horsepower IPS display, which was a really important innovation, and as it turns out, we’ll see one soon in the revolving Redmi Note series, but we can also list the fingerprint sensor debuting in the X3, which is on the side, the power button cost.

However, this article is not about POCO as a manufacturer, but about their new cost-effective phone. I don’t want to shoot the joke, but I’m describing so much now, in the introduction, that it wouldn’t surprise me if phones very similar to the M3 would soon appear on the entry level of the Redmi series as well. However, until this happens, we must honor the new king of the entry level in POCO M3!

Packaging and accessories

The POCO M3 comes in the usual yellow box. In the middle is a larger POCO label, and at the bottom edge of the box is the battery capacity, which in this case is 6000 mAh. At the bottom of the box we find a list of accessories, but for example, nowhere can we find information about such important data as the size of the mobile storage in the box.

Removing the cover, you will find a package containing the clear silicone back cover and the SIM needle, which also contains the descriptions for the phone. Underneath the phone, in the bottom row is the charging head, and a USB Type-C cable. No other. The charging head is of course European plug, so we won't need a converter. What is even more important and worth mentioning is that the charging head is capable of fast charging at 18 watts.

External

POCO M3 strengthens the entry level at Xiaomin, and this can be felt in the use of materials. We can forget the glass on the back, or the plastic that imitates glass, just as the showy metal frame fell victim. However, the phone does not even make a cheap impression.

In fact, I feel a bit like the POCO is directly playing on the cheap effect. There are plenty of phones on the market that come with a plastic but glass-like back cover, but the M3 isn’t like that. Because of this, we then get a characterful design that stands out from the crowd.

The plastic on the back panel tilts to the display, meaning there is no separate frame. Its grip is a surprisingly friendly feel, perhaps due to the touch of the plastic that backs the skin pattern.

At the back, at the top left, was the camera island with the three optics, roughly balancing this on the left with a large POCO caption. This part, in contrast to the other areas of the back cover is glossy plastic.

On the left side of the front, there is only the SIM tray, where you can insert two SIMs and a memory card at the same time.

On the other side is the volume control and the power button already known from the POCO X3, which is also the fingerprint sensor.

At the bottom is a speaker grille, a Type-C USB port and a microphone, while at the top is another microphone, another speaker grille, the infrared port, which is cleverly disguised as part of the speaker grille, and a headphone jack.

On the front panel, a small notch with the camera hangs on the display. The front panel display ratio is around 83 percent, which is not an outstanding value, although it can’t be said to be terribly bad either. In fact, we’ve seen narrower frames, too, but that doesn’t make the phone a boomline yet.

Hardware

Processor, memory

The phone received a Snapdragon chip, the eight-core Snapdragon 662. This eight-core chip, operating at up to 2 GHz, is the direct successor to the 660 solution, which has the most improved photographic capabilities over its predecessor.

The power of proci is pretty much at the level of MediaTek Helio G85, which in practice means that according to the paper format, it's a very usable solution, it will be enough for basically everything, maybe we'll just have to fool the graphics settings of the games to make everything run properly.

The mobile is available in two versions. Both have 4 GB of system memory, the smaller 64 GB and the larger 128 GB. The latter differs not only in capacity but also in the type of storage. The smaller one is based on UFS 2.1, while the larger one is based on the faster UFS 2.2.

Display

The front camera was housed on a relatively tiny camera island as usual. The display is IPS, with a resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels, or FHD +. The diagonal is 6,53 inches, which means it didn't get small either. The aspect ratio is 19,5: 9 and the pixel density is 395 ppi. The brightness doesn’t seem like much, as only 400 nit is given. This can still be a problem.

Kamerák

The phone has enough cameras for entry level, but these days we’re used to more. This is because the ultra-wide viewing angle has been omitted from the phone with noble simplicity.

The main camera is a 48 megapixel solution with an aperture of f / 1.8, next to it is a 2 megabyte macro and a 2 megabyte depth sensor.

The self-contained camera on the front panel is only 8 megapixels, which is not bad, but nowadays we can see bigger ones at this price level.

Other skills

Unfortunately, since this is a cheap device, Wi-Fi 6 and 5G are not yet available. There is Wi-Fi 5 and 4G instead, the latter of course works in Hungary as well. Version 5.0 of Bluetooth is already available.

Navigation comes with A-GPS, GLONASS and BDS support, infrared and FM radio. Sensors such as a fingerprint reader, accelerometer, proximity sensor and compass fit into the package.

It’s a painful point that the entry level at Xiaomi still doesn’t fit into the deployment of NFC, but that’s still somewhere understandable, but I can’t really find an explanation for the lack of a notification LED.

What is more than welcome is that the phone has a huge battery with a capacity of 6000 mAh. By the time this is enough, the test will reveal. What we already know, however, is that charging takes place via a USB Type-C port, and we also get an 18-watt fast charge!

Reviews

Let's start with the hardware!

You will find the exact results in the table below. As usual, I used 4 tests for the measurements. Antutu and 3D Mark show the ability during games, while PC Mark models everyday use, while Geébench measures raw power.

It is clear from the test results that the new games on the phone will not run at alarming speeds. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t play with it because the iron has enough power, at most we stumble a bit on the graphics.

The phone has, of course, been given plenty of cocoa for everyday activities, so an eight-core 2GHz Snapdragon unit, even if it’s not top-notch, guarantees the right capabilities.

Photography

As I wrote above, the camera setup got pretty weird as I missed the ultra wide angle. For me, this is not a negative. I don’t see much point in poor quality cameras being put in phones just to make them more salable. It makes a lot more sense to save some money and spend it on the main camera.

So the wide angle isn’t so lacking, but if I wanted to be completely honest, I would have been much happier if they left this and thrown the 2 mega macro camera in the recess. It didn’t happen that’s for a definite reason, just I can’t figure out what.

What I was hoping for, that is, that the main camera could be more advanced that way, however, happened. Sure, you don’t have to fall for it, but the Sony IMX852 Exmor RS isn’t a bad piece, just as the 4-megapixel resolution using 1-in-48 pixel merging isn’t. The lens system has become a six-member, which is not an outstanding value, but it should not be underestimated.

The finished pictures, as you can see, have become quite good. The distortion is not very much, the detail of the edges and corners is also fine, in addition to normal daylight, the detail of the captured images, the dynamics of the colors and the contrast are all fine. Of course, this will not make it a top photographer, but at this price level we will swallow even worse.

The situation worsens when the light is low, do not give god it is dark. The night mode can still be used here, but the phone has a hard time finding the middle ground between brightening the image and reducing noise. The images are at least enjoyable this way, although they are sometimes very noisy and the detail could be improved.

Macro images

However, this noise is immediately tempered when we get a little help, that is, extra light sources at night.

With the camera, of course, we can shoot in 48 megapixel mode, for which Sony’s sensor is a good partner. Another question is whether such a resolution makes sense, as they lose the larger pixel size available with pixel merging, i.e., the detail does not improve significantly due to the larger image size, the more pixels.

64 megapixel images

You can take 1080p or 720p videos with the main camera. I was happy with the quality of the picture here too, maybe just the anti-shake that is missing from it.

Anyway, there’s no jitter reduction at 1080p either, so you need a sure hand to make really enjoyable videos.

At the same time, FHD videos aren’t bad, again just emphasizing that it’s worth just looking at as a function of price.

Overall, the main camera is better than I expected, not a little. It won’t change the world, but it will be plenty enough to make an average holiday photo album. It can be used even in the dark, although the ability deficiencies are already striking here.

12 megapixel images

I don’t want to waste a lot of words on the macro camera. Yes, it can be used, it will be good for Facebook shares, but not for anything else.

The selfie camera is as it is. Not bad, but the 8 mega resolution isn't the pinnacle for a long time. We get images that can be used in normal daylight conditions, but don’t expect anyone to do more than that.

The camera software, of course, allows for the usual extras, so there’s slow motion and accelerated recording, panorama mode, and short video, but the Vlog effect mode found in the more powerful Xiaomik, for example, is missing.

Szoftver

Like all POCO phones, this device comes with the MIUI system, of course with the latest version 12. The only difference between the Xiaomi and POCO phones in the software is that POCO uses a launcher called POCO Launcher, which can also be downloaded from the Google Play store.

I was also infected because since I have been testing POCO phones, I have been using POCO Launcher on my own Xiaomi phone ever since, it has come in very handy for me.

Anyway, MIUI itself would fill a lot of its own article, plus it’s getting better from version to version, so I’m not going to write about that anymore. Anyone who has used MIUI knows what it is like, who doesn't, should try it urgently, and then, if it does, buy a Xiaomi phone for themselves anyway, or see if it can be installed on his device.

Regarding the software, it is also worth mentioning that Xiaomi honors sends updates, not only MIUI version updates, but also Android security updates. That is, if you want your phone software to always be up to date, this is another great argument for buying Xiaomi phones.

Use

Contrary to my habit, this isn’t going to be a long chapter right now because this phone is just a bump of boredom. What they promise works, what they don’t, don’t even look for. Perfect for a phone, good speakers, good microphones. The manufacturer highlights stereo sound as an extra. In fact, on a lot of phones, this is really an extra, but Xiaomi has already been included in Note 9, and in the case of POCO, the X3 can boast of it. So the ability is good, it is also useful, but it is not so new anymore.

Regarding the display, I wrote that the 400 nit brightness is not much. That’s a fact, but my concern about that fact lasted pretty much until I turned on the phone. The display is good. Bright colors, good contrast, it has everything to make the user experience perfect. And yes, 400 nit is somehow not enough, though it is a fact that a good AMOLED is more grateful to use gelada in sunlight.

The strength of the hardware can be measured from the tests, I don’t think anyone would cry about it.

Navigation, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are completely standard, they work well, as we would expect from a Xiaomi phone. So it’s really not worth wasting a word on these.

What I’m clearly missing is the notification LED, as I indicated, I don’t really understand why this should be left out of a brand new phone, even if it’s a cheap phone.

I don’t even understand the lack of NFC somewhere, after all, it’s the entry level, and Xiaomi also differentiates its devices sent to different categories with this capability.

On the outside, I don’t think anyone will have a complaint. Our chin is not detached from either surprise or shock. Cost-effectiveness can be felt, but they pinched where they needed to and took nothing that would hurt.

Battery life, on the other hand, sets the phone apart from the gray crowd. Of course, the 6000 mAh also has some drawbacks, but we don't even feel that few grams plus in the weight of the device. In return, we get a two-day operating time available on a buttermilk, and with some savings, a three-day uptime with one charge. That's not bad!

Summary

Here’s a phone that had zero history, as POCO has so far been thought to be the gaming division of Xiaomi. Well, it's not!

The POCO M3 is an awfully well-put together phone, but the question is whether it’s worth the price. Well, the answer is not easy to find, but let’s see why!

In the knowledge of the phone, it is located somewhere between Redmi 9 and Redmi Note 9, and the price will change accordingly. Redmi is more expensive than 9, but cheaper than Note 9.

The power of the central unit is with the Note 9 in Paris, the memory in both phones is 4 GB. However, the difference in the area of ​​mass storage is very significant.

Both phones have 64 or 128 Gb of built-in storage, meaning there is no difference at first glance. However, browsing the data reveals that while the Note 9 is an eMMC, the M3 is based on UFS technology. I’m not going to go into the difference in technologies in this article, but the point is that the speed of UFS is miles better, so much so that we can encounter it mostly in high-end devices.

What difference is there? In terms of cameras, the Redmi Note 9 looks better as it has more cameras in it. Here, however, comes the question already discussed above, i.e., how much sense does an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera make. In my opinion, not much, so for me, this advantage is not an advantage.

However, the main camera is already an important issue. The M3 got a Sony sensor, while the Note 9 has a Samsung sensor (as far as I know). Based on my experience so far, Sony is a better choice, at least I like it better. So, in a field like this, for me, the Sony sensor weighs so much that I can forget about the missing 8 mega camera.

In terms of display, the Note 9 is better, at least if you look at the brightness, as 450 nit compared to the M3’s 400 nit. The resolution, aspect ratio and front panel display ratio are the same. The self-contained camera is also better for the Note 9 (13 vs 8 MP).

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are the same, but the M3 lacks Galileo support. There is no difference in sensors, FM radio and the like.

What it does, however, is not small, battery capacity. Redmi Note 9 has a capacity of 5020- while M3 has a capacity of 6000 mAh, which is a significant difference in favor of M3.

It seems that the two phones are very similar. For Redmi Note 9, plus one more camera, the approx. We can write 12 percent more brightness, while the M3 features high-speed mass storage, a main camera Sony sensor, and a larger battery.

The prices of the two phones are close to each other, but the M3 is still a bit cheaper.

So, the point. The M3 became a very well-designed phone. It didn’t blow up a bank, it didn’t chase up emerging manufacturers with its price, but rather just offered a very good alternative to the Redmi series. Based on the above, I think everyone can decide which device to choose from the $ 150 category.

If you liked the phone, you can buy it here:

Xiaomi POCO M3 mobile phone

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