Poco M3 Pro 5G: Design
The Poco M3 Pro features a gradient finish which we have seen on numerous affordable and mid-range smartphones in recent times. The blacked-out upper-left portion housing the camera module and the Poco branding is what gives it a distinct look. Unfortunately, the shimmering surface picks up fingerprints and is smudge prone if not wrapped in a case. It is slippery as well.
The retail box comprises a transparent soft TPU case which you can use for added protection. The handset has a slim profile compared to the standard variant which allows for easy usage. But the tall form factor makes it slightly difficult for single-hand operations. That’s the case with most of the smartphones nowadays that offer a large screen including its rival, i.e, the Realme 8 5G.
The front panel is neatly designed with slim side borders and a punch-hole at the centre-top of the display. The company has used an IPS LCD display which has 1080p FHD+ resolution and a higher 90Hz refresh rate. Poco is known for equipping a higher refresh rate in its affordable devices.
In fact, the brand is amongst those few which have introduced smartphones with a 120Hz refresh rate under Rs. 20,000 price mark. The Poco M3’s panel is balanced in all aspects. The color production and viewing angles are good. However, the sunlight legibility is where this handset lacks. The output is decent not great with streaming apps.
While there are no issues with clarity, it isn’t as vivid as an AMOLED panel would have been. Do note that the refresh rate is set to 60Hz by default. You will need to change the settings manually to use the 90Hz settings.
Poco M3 Pro 5G: Hardware Performance
Unlike the standard variant that uses a Qualcomm processor, the M3 Pro 5G is equipped with a MediaTek chipset; Dimensity 700 SoC to be precise. The new-generation octa-core 5G processor drives its rival, i.e, the Realme 8 5G as well. Power delivery is good with this processor. There are no noticeable lags in the performance when two or more apps are running in the background.
The device has a 4GB/ 6GB RAM option; select the latter to be sure of a better multitasking experience. Storage options are also dual; you can either select the 64GB model or the 128GB, model. There is additional microSD card support as well to suffice all the requirements. The gaming experience has been decent. We didn’t find any persistent device heat-up issues which come as a respite.
The battery powering the Poco M3 Pro 5G is a 5,000 mAh unit that supports 18W fast charging. While the current norm is a 6,000 mAh battery for mid-range and budget smartphones, the 5,000 mAh unit packed inside the M3 Pro 5G doesn’t disappoint. It takes close to two hours for a full recharge, but the power delivery you get is more than half a day. That’s with moderate to extensive usage including HD video playback and gaming.
Poco M3 Pro 5G: Suitable For General Photography
The Poco M3 Pro 5G has a triple-lens camera module where the primary sensor is a 48MP lens accompanied by a pair of 2MP depth and macro sensors. The rear cameras capture 12MP pixel-binned images by default and support up to 1080p video recording.
The camera performance is decent if not super great. The image output is clear but not as sharp and refined. The daylight images don’t show washed-out colors, so you wouldn’t be disappointed there. The camera app has additional shooting modes such as HDR, Portrait, Pro, Time-lapse, and Slow-motion.
Bokeh shots are well-defined, with no artificial-looking background blur. The stability is average with video 1080p video recording. For low-light imaging, the camera app has a dedicated Night mode. But, the images tend to appear grainy in dark lit situations.
An 8MP camera handles the selfies and also serves the purpose of video calling. It is a decent setup overall for social media uploads and calling. The selfie camera’s performance is good with well-lit situations. However, low-light performance is average here as well.
Poco M3 Pro 5G: Software, Benchmark Performance
The Poco M3 Pro 5G uses the Android 11 OS which is wrapped around MIUI 12.0.2 skin. It’s a familiar UI we have seen on Redmi and other recent Poco offerings. You don’t get a stock Android UI, rather the pre-installed bloatware makes the UI a bit cluttered.
Not all the pre-installed third-party apps can be manually installed which is a hassle at times with all unwanted spam notifications. You do get all the Android 11 goodies including improved gesture-based navigations, Digital Wellbeing, and others. The Poco M3 Pro 5G’s performance has been fair with the benchmark tests.
In the Geehbench 5’s single-core test, the device scored 557 points, while in the multi-core test it logged 1,573 points. In the Sling Shot Extreme test on 3D Mark, the device achieved 2,406 points. Lastly, in the PC Mark’s Work Performance the device managed to achieve 8,464 points.
Poco M3 Pro 5G: Packs All You Need?
The Poco M3 Pro is designed for budget-conscious consumers who need a 5G-ready handset. If we speak of the pricing, the base model with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage option is priced at Rs. 13,999, while the 6GB RAM model can be purchased at Rs. 15,999.
This is competitive pricing which lands this device against the likes of the Realme 8 5G, the Realme Narzo 30 Pro 5G and the Redmi Note 10S. The pricing here is definitely an edge over the rivals in addition to the 90Hz display and a 5,000 mAh battery.
GENERAL |
| ||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ANNOUNCED |
| ||||||||||||||||||
BODY |
| ||||||||||||||||||
DISPLAY |
| ||||||||||||||||||
PROCESSOR |
| ||||||||||||||||||
STORAGE |
| ||||||||||||||||||
CAMERA |
| ||||||||||||||||||
MULTIMEDIA |
| ||||||||||||||||||
BATTERY |
| ||||||||||||||||||
CONNECTIVITY |
| ||||||||||||||||||
NETWORK SUPPORT |
| ||||||||||||||||||
MORE FEATURES |
|
The phone has a 5,000 mAh battery with support for 18W fast charging.
The phone is offered in three colors such as Cool Blue, Power Black, and Poco Yellow.
It has a 6.5-inch display with an FHD+ resolution and a punch-hole cutout.
Features like 90Hz display, 5G connectivity and powerful mid-range chip make it the best buy under Rs. 15,000.
The smartphone features 1080p IPS LCD display with a 90Hz refresh rate.
The Realme 8 5G and the Moto G 5G can be considered as the Poco M3 Pro alternatives.
There is a triple camera module at the back side that offers a 48MP primary camera sensor and also supports Night Mode, time-lapse mode.
Yes, the storage of the smartphone is expandable up to 1TB via a microSD card slot.
Yes, the smartphone packs the MediaTek Dimensity 700 chipset which is capable of handling day-to-day usage and gaming as well without any issue.
Yes, the smartphone supports 5G network.
Rating a smartphone is a tedious process and a lot of parameters have to be considered before judging the overall performance of the device such as display, camera, processor, RAM, storage, battery, and the pricing.
So, here are how these specs will affect the real-life usage of a device and why how we meticulously consider each of these points to rate a smartphone.
Cameras have evolved a lot over the last few years and multi-camera setup is a new norm. We consider various parameters like MP count, aperture size, pixel size, image stabilization to rate a camera system of a smartphone out of 5. Any device that scores more than 3.5 can take good photos and videos and if a phone scores over 4, then it will be one of the best camera smartphones in the market.
Though battery seems like an underrated feature and we look at the battery capacity, fast charging supporting technology, and even the wireless charging capability is also taken into consideration to rate smartphone's battery capability.
The display is the face of a smartphone. And there are a lot of parameters like the panel technology (IPS LCD, OLED, TFT) and other parameters also taken into consideration like the resolution, pixel density, and refresh rate.
A smartphone could have great specs, but if it is not priced well then you might not get the best value-for-money. So, we compare a smartphone with the contemporaries to rate the value-for-money of a device out of 5.
This aspect is decided on various sub specifics, such as availability of microSD card slot, the amount of RAM the device offers, processor capability, and the network support. This parameter has more weightage when compared to other departments.