Poco X3 First Impressions: Impressive By All Means

Design- Finding Balance Between Premium Looks And Durable Build

Despite a plastic body, the Poco X3 feels sturdy and looks stylish. There are some noticeable design changes when compared to its predecessor. For instance, the Poco X3 is noticeably bulkier than the Poco X2. In fact, it is the bulkiest device in the sub-20K price segment because the phone draws power from a big 6,000mAh battery cell.

The front fascia now has a punch-hole camera in the centre which looks aesthetically clean and occupies less real-estate as compared to the dual-punch hole selfie setup on the Poco X2. The screen size hasn't changed and the phone still flaunts the big 6.67-inch IPC LCD screen with some hardware changes.

Moving onto the rear panel, the camera setup has been redesigned to add some originality to the overall design. The new camera module with four sensors and a flashlight sits on a protruded black color plate which is placed inside a circle. I am not sure whether I like this new chunky camera design; however, it certainly adds a character to the phone's back panel.

Do You Like The New Bold Logo?

And how can miss this big and bold Poco branding which displays rainbow colors as light falls on it at certain angles. I am particularly not a fan of such bold brandings but it totally comes down on personal preference. I think the X3 would have looked much better without this big logo.

Physical Biometric Scanner, Stereo Speakers, And P2i Splash-And-Dust Coating

Similar to the Poco X2, the Poco X3 also has a side-mounted biometric scanner which works really well. The phone has a 3.5mm headphone jack, a down-firing speaker, Type-C charging port, a hybrid dual-SIM card tray and the Xiaomi's signature IR blaster. It is worth mentioning that the Poco X3's earpiece also works as a secondary speaker to create a stereo sound setup.

Poco has also ensured high durability standards on an aggressive price-point. The Poco X3 display comes equipped with the Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and the phone's body has P2i splash- and dust-resistant coating which should offer better overall protection from the devices in competition. The Poco X3 is available in two color options- Shadow Gray and Cobalt Blue.

Display- 6.67-inch 120H IPS LCD

Similar to the Poco X2, the Poco X3 also flaunts a 6.67-inch Full HD+ 120Hz IPS LCD panel. Thanks to the higher refresh rate and 240Hz touch-sampling rate, the display feels buttery smooth and fluid with UI navigation and scrolling. The HDR 10 enabled IPS LCD produces vibrant colors and offers immersive video playback and gameplay experience. We will talk more about the display performance in our detailed review. So far we can tell that the Poco X3 offers one of the best screen in the sub-20K price segment but if you already have the Poco X2, you aren't missing out on much.

Camera- 64MP Quad-Camera With Sony Sensor

The Poco X2 performed really well in our camera tests though it needed some camera optimization. We also have high expectations from the Poco X3 as it packs a similar camera setup with some notable changes. The primary camera still uses a big 64MP Sony-made lens but now it works on the IMX682 sensor instead of the IMX686 used in the predecessor. The IMX682 has the same sensor, pixel size (1/1.7) and the resolution but it lacks on-paper support for 4K 60fps video recording. This shouldn't bother you much as the Poco X2 also couldn't record 4k 60fps videos. Also, we have recently tested the Galaxy M31s that also uses a Sony IMX682 sensor and found it to be delivering amazing results.

Excellent Details, Lots Of Modes And Features To Explore

That said, the Sony IMX682 might prove to be a better overall choice for the Poco X3 and the initial response has been positive. The 64MP high-res. pictures and even the 16MP pixel-binned shots show excellent details, good dynamic range and slightly natural colors as compared to the results on the Poco X2. The wide-angle camera (119° field of view) with the bumped up to 13MP sensor also captures better pictures. The other two lenses remain unchanged, i.e. 2MP macro camera and a 2MP depth sensor. As far as the selfie camera is concerned, you now get a single 20MP shooter with ƒ/2.2 aperture. We will test the Poco X3's camera to its potential in our comprehensive review.

Hardware And Software

The Poco X3 is the first smartphone to be powered by the Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 732G SoC. Similar to the SD730G, the SD732G is also based on the 8nm fabrication process and has Adreno 618 GPU to take care of graphics-related tasks; however, the GPU is clocked at 950 MHz, just 100 MHz higher than the Adreno 618 on the predecessor. The new SoC is also touted to offer 15% faster processing speed, mainly because of the 2.3GHz clock frequency of the performance cores (Cortex-A76). The SD730G uses the same performance cores with 2.2GHz clock speed.

These are very marginal differences and we will try to evaluate if there are any real-life performance differences in our detailed review. I must tell you that the haptic response feels really good on this mid-range handset. It is marginally better than the Realme, Samsung and even the Xiaomi Redmi series devices.

The Poco X3 comes in three variants- 6GB + 64GB, 6GB + 128GB and 8GB + 128GB. For the software, the phone runs on the MIUI 12, based on the Android 10.The new MIUI version runs smoothly on the new Poco device but the phone comes pre-loaded with bloatware. Also, you need to follow some steps while setting up the device for an uncluttered software experience. Check out our video of the Poco X3 for a quick setup totorial.

As far as the battery is concerned, the Poco X3 easily lasts for more than a day with moderate to heavy usage, thanks to its massive 6,000 mAh battery cell. The company is offering a respectable 33W fast-charging adaptor in the box.

Should You Buy The Poco X3?

The Poco X3 has spiced up things in the sub-20K price-bracket with its solid spec-sheet and premium features. A 120Hz refresh rate screen, latest Qualcomm chipset, big 6,000 mAh battery cell and a Sony-backed 64MP quad-lens camera all at just Rs. 16,999 (entry-level variant). If you were planning to buy a new mid-range smartphone, this is worth considering but don't miss out on our detailed review which is dropping very soon.