Pocophone F1, what the best mobile in quality-price ratio?

What first draws attention is his name. And Pocophone does not seem very suitable for the Spanish-language markets. Even more so if the second brand of Xiaomi t

WORLD
27 November 2018 Tuesday 20:30

Pocophone F1, what the best mobile in quality-price ratio?

What first draws attention is his name. And Pocophone does not seem very suitable for the Spanish-language markets. Even more so if the second brand of Xiaomi the company itself is referred to as Little, to dry. However, the name refers to what it costs the terminal, which is the opposite of what much it offers. Because the F1, which has served to present in society to Pocophone, is one of the strong candidates to be considered as the smartphone with the best price-quality ratio on the market. Without a doubt, this device redefines what the user can expect to change a little over 300 euros.

Analysis and evaluation

Zigor Aldama

MORE INFORMATION

Pocophone F1, available on Amazon

it Is logical to ask where is the trick. How is it possible for Xiaomi to offer services of phone of 700 euros for the half? The response that the brand offers is simple: remove what is superfluous to focus on the power. The reality, however, is more complex. On the one hand, the company has committed never to exceed the 5% on the profit margin of their mobile devices, to serve as a hook for customers to then be tempted by the devices of its broad ecosystem of intelligent electronics, where that margin is significantly higher. On the other hand, it is obvious that the finish of the F1 and some of its features are not at the level of other flagships more expensive.

TECHNICAL specs

Screen: 6,18 inch FHD + LCD IPS with ‘notch’, format 18:9, and a pixel density of 403 per inch

Processor: Qualcomm SDM845 Snapdragon 845 with 8 cores at a maximum frequency of 2.8 Ghz.

RAM: 6/8 GB

Storage: 64/128. Expandable with microSD cards

Graphics: Adreno 630

Cameras: Back with dual sensor: The main has a 12-megapixel camera with a pixel size of 1.4 µm and an optical speed f/1.9. The secondary side has a sensor of 5 megapixels. Flash dual-LED. Without an optical image stabilizer.

Front of 20 megapixel with brightness f 2.

Battery: 4.000 mAh with quick charge Quick Charge 3.0 18W.

operating System: MIUI 9 to Pocophone, based on Android 8.1

Size: 155,5x75,3x8,8 mm

Weight: 180 g.

Connectivity : Wifi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wifi Direct, DLNA, hotspot, Bluetooth 5.0, USB type-C 2.0, localization (GPS, Galileo, Glonass, BeiDou), jack 3,5 mm, radio FM.

Sensors: - infrared for facial recognition, fingerprint sensor, accelerometer, gyroscopic sensor, sensor, geomagnetic, barometer, proximity sensor, sensor hub.

Other: face Recognition, stereo speakers, dual SIM.

The Pocophone F1 is not a brick, but the quality of their materials is quite different from that used in early swords such as the Mi 8, which borrows the front panel. The frames of the screen 6,18 inches is significantly thicker, both in the upper and lower ends as at the sides. That makes me think that it was not necessary to include the controversial ‘notch’ that has been popularized by the iPhone, the notch in the upper part, which serves to accommodate the various sensors and that only makes sense when the frames are extremely thin. Fortunately, the operating system allows you to ‘hide’ this peculiar eyebrow.

on the other hand, the F1 also adds a millimeter to the thickness of the body of My 8, which gives her an air of somewhat coarse. Finally, from behind, the standard edition replaces the glass and metal, materials that have conquered the ranges more ‘premium’, by a plastic lid. It is not anything serious, especially if you are going to protect with a case, but it is one of the elements that Xiaomi has decided to save.

however, in THE COUNTRY we have tested the ‘edit armored’, which changes the plastic with a piece of Kevlar that has an appearance much more attractive. In addition, bearing in mind that it is the material that is used in bullet-proof vests, deserve to be left exposed without covering with a case. It has a very pleasant touch and is “resultona” to the view. Yes, who subject to damage it you can use the transparent plastic housing which includes free mobile.

Pocophone has also reduced costs on the screen. The terminals of the higher-end Xiaomi opt for the panels to OLED, but the F1 has remained in an LCD of IPS. Despite that, the FHD resolution+ is maintained and the result is very good. Good contrast, vivid colors, a brightness that reaches levels very notable, and wonderful angle of view. But, if anything, comes on the glass of the front: it is a Gorilla Glass, yes, but in the third generation. And we're already on the sixth. So it is best to protect it with a sheet of plastic or tempered glass to not get scratched.

Among the rest of the components, it is difficult to determine where it has achieved the Pocophone save the euros that separate you from the flagship much more expensive. This is a mobile that does not offer extras such as water resistance, wireless charging, or optical zoom on the camera dual. And, as happens in many other smartphones of chinese brands, also includes NFC chip, becoming more popular and with more and more applications.

Power to spare

Where Xiaomi does not repair in expenses is in the brain of the F1. It is the most powerful on the market: Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, with eight cores that work at a maximum frequency of 2.8 Ghz., and 6 or 8 GB of RAM. In the section of internal storage, we have two versions: a 64 GB or 128 GB, which are expandable with a MicroSD card located in the second slot of the dual SIM.

COMPETITION

Honor 10: The terminal star of the second brand Huawei may be the one that gets closest to the Pocophone F1 in benefits, although their price is slightly higher. Account with a similar design, but with finishes of the highest quality and a back cover that changes color with the light and that leaves no one indifferent. The camera also offers superior results. However, it is clearly down on power.

Xiaomi Mi A2: Xiaomi becomes itself the competition with this terminal of the line Android One. Something more economical than the Pocophone, bet also has a magnificent relation quality-price. Although its power is a step below the F1, the camera delivers images to your height and has the appeal of an operating system without customizing something baroque of MIUI.

Oneplus 6 : Are competition because they share the same ‘brain’ and a company policy similar, but the flagship of OnePlus requires an outlay considerably more bulky. However, it offers qualities far superior in all areas, especially in the materials and in the camera. It also includes faster loading, and splash resistance.

Moto G6 Plus : Motorola, property of the also-china-based Lenovo continues to offer ‘smartphones’ interesting in the medium range. The G6 Plus is far enough from the Pocophone in issues of processing speed, but its dual camera is similar -even something more light - that of the F1 and the design is something more particular. As it happens with My A2, the operating system is also more close to the Android Pure.

if that is not enough, and perhaps thinking of a public adept at video games, Xiaomi has included a system of liquid cooling that allows you to maintain the temperature of the device at bay, even when it requires the maximum power for a long time. Something that also helps the top of the Kevlar of the ‘Armored Edition’. In short, there is no application that resists it. Even working with a dozen programs open, the system is fluid and does not register any kind of delay.

pleasant Surprises

Interestingly, although My 8 does not have a stereo speaker, the F1 yes it includes. Using the headset for the calls to complement the one that is located on the lower right side, and that greatly improves the multimedia experience, especially when watching videos and playing games. Something similar happens with the radio and the jack of 3.5 mm for the headphones: your older brothers have already gotten rid of them, to despair of many users, but the F1 keeps.

Also surprisingly the battery of 4,000 mAh. Not only because in our test lasted a day and a half of intensive usage, but because it adopts a quick load of 18W. While brands such as Apple do not include free-of-charge chargers are required for this type of technology even in terminals of € 1,600, the Little offers the Quick Charge 3.0. It's not the fastest -in our test has reached a 37% capacity in 30 minutes, but fulfills its function with dignity and be grateful when we are in a hurry and have little time to plug in the mobile.

Finally, among the surprisingly positive of the Bit F1 is your operating system. It is the MIUI that Xiaomi designs based on Android 8.1 -is expected to soon upgrade to 9-, but it has specific functions that dissociate themselves from the motley chinese style and bring it closer to the simplicity of the Android pure. That makes it a little less customizable than their brothers of the first brand -without deleting very interesting features such as the cloning of applications to use two accounts simultaneously - but that is also of use more simple.

Like many other manufacturers, Pocophone adopts the navigation gesture for those who want to get rid of the three buttons iconic of Android, and what is true is that it is intuitive: slide the finger from the bottom edge up to return to the home page, we repeat this gesture, but stopping the finger to half-screen to access the multi-tasking, and slide from the sides toward the center to go back.

it is Not that their cameras are of bad quality but neither come close to the other flagships. Zigor Aldama

we can Also use a different fingerprint -the sensor is very fast and accurate - to unlock applications that we have identified as ‘private’, or make payments online. The facial recognition, which uses the same infrared system that the My 8, it is also fast and effective. But, for some reason, does not work when the phone is set to Spain. So you have to choose any asian country can be activated, which does not lead to any practical difference. However, the company assures us that in the next update of the system will be available for all markets.

Camera without boasting

If there are elements that are increasingly important in any smartphone, these are your cameras. And, unfortunately, here Pocophone also has saved a little. Is not that they are of poor quality, or much less, but neither come close to the other flagships. Not even those who ride the Xiaomi.

The main account with two targets located on a vertical. One of them is paired with a sensor of 12 megapixels and with a lens bright-f 1.9-, while the second has 5-megapixel camera and an objective f 2. The first is the one that takes the picture, while the second has as a function to capture additional information that allows you to create the effect of ‘bokeh’ in the portrait mode. This means that any zooming you do will be digital and not optical so the quality will suffer. However, the results in the full light of day are good, and the same thing happens with the portraits. In addition, the artificial intelligence system detects the type of intake, and correctly choose the settings that you require.

Photo a day and night with flash taken with the Pocophone F1. Zigor Aldama

With little light, the story changes. The F1 does not have an optical stabilizer, so that the possibility that the photos blurred considerably increases. To compensate, the device increases the sensitivity and, therefore, falls the definition of the images. Of night, for example, it gives the feeling that they have been excessively blurred, surely a decision that the ‘software’ takes to balance the shot and avoid the noise -points - in the image. Fortunately, the manual mode allows you to control all the variables and take the photo at the taste of the user.

In the section: ‘selfi’, the Little F1 yes that comes well served. With a lens f 2, and a sensor of 20 megapixels, the self-centeredness is captured to perfection. Although it doesn't have two front lens, the Portrait mode is also very accomplished. Finally, in the section of video, the Pocophone gives good results, but not particularly noteworthy. The stabilizer-mail that trims a little bit of the decision to remove the shivering works well, but not in 4K resolution. In any case, the cameras do their job with dignity.

THE BEST, THE WORST AND CONCLUSION

best: On the whole, the price-quality ratio. More specifically, the power, the autonomy of the battery, and the detail of keeping the radio and jack for headphones.

What's worst: The design is somewhat coarse, and with the notch ‘notch’ and the lack of NFC chip, used increasingly in payments.

Conclusion: The Pocophone F1 responds to the promise that Xiaomi did in his day, to democratize the technology. Makes available to a broad public the processing capacity and the power that before were reserved to those who could devote a minimum wage, or more, to the purchase of a mobile phone. For this reason, and although it is far from being a perfect device, it has the potential to open a new era in the mid-range.

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