POCO launched its flagship 5G gaming smartphone in India, the POCO F3 GT featuring the powerful 6nm MediaTek Dimensity 1200 5G octa-core SoC, dedicated magnetic triggers for gaming, 67W SonicCharge 3.0 super-fast charging for its 5,065 mAh battery, and also packs an amazing 6.67-inch Turbo AMOLED 120 Hz 10-bit display with a peak brightness of up to 1300 nits. All these specs sound too appealing, however, does it stand against the rivalry under the Rs 30,000 budget? Here’s our POCO F3 GT review.
POCO F3 GT Specifications
- Display: 6.67-inch Turbo AMOLED, 10-bit color depth, Full HD+ resolution (2,400 x 1,080 pixels), 120 Hz refresh rate, 480 Hz touch sampling rate, HDR10+, 1,300 nits peak brightness, punch-hole display, Corning Gorilla Glass 5
- Software: Android 11, MIUI 12.0.3
- CPU: 6nm MediaTek Dimensity 1200 5G octa-core CPU up to 3.0 GHz frequency
- GPU: Mali-G77 MC9 (9-core) Graphics
- Memory: 6 GB OR 8 GB RAM
- Storage: 128 GB OR 256 GB UFS 3.1 on-board, no microSD card support
- Main Camera: Triple Cameras (64 MP primary + 8 MP ultra-wide + 2 MP macro), LED flash, 4K@30fps, 1080p@60fps, 720p@960fps
- Selfie Camera: 16 MP
- Connectivity: USB Type-C, 3.5 mm port (via adapter), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.1, GPS
- Security: Fingerprint scanner (under the screen)
- Special: GT Switch with Maglev Triggers for gaming
- Cellular: Dual 5G network, 2x nano SIMs
- Battery: 5,065 mAh
- Charging: 67W fast charging
- Price: ₹26,999 for 6 GB RAM & 128 GB Storage, ₹28,999 for 8 GB RAM & 128 GB Storage, ₹30,999 for 8 GB RAM & 256 GB Storage
Design, Display, & Build
Since the POCO F1, we saw a significant change in the design, the POCO F3, no wonder is the 3rd generation smartphone in its F series, has shown that it has one of the best designs in its class. It’s a metallic piece of art, its high-quality frames, and matte finish glass body, this combination is rarely found in this segment, everything about the POCO F3 GT design is wonderful.
Rivals out there still use plastic frames and glass-look-a-like polycarbonate back, but POCO F3 GT puts them down with its impressive and solid metallic design, it gives you a premium feel and also looks magnificent.
What’s new here is the dedicated gaming triggers, the POCO F3 GT has GT Switch with Maglev Triggers for gaming, by sliding the two switches, the triggers pop out and gives you additional two buttons for playing games. This is great if you are into gaming and want additional controls to play.
The front side has a punch-hole designed 6.67-inch 10-bit display with a whopping 1B colors. The display has a 120 Hz refresh rate and 480 Hz touch sampling rate as well as 1,300 nits peak brightness and offers a Full HD+ resolution. The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5.
The backside offers a triple camera setup featuring a 64 MP main camera and a flash shaped in a lightning/flash style. The front side has an in-screen selfie camera of 16 MP and a fingerprint scanner under the screen to unlock the phone.
The bottom side has a USB Type-C port, dual SIM tray supporting two 5G SIM cards, microphone, and loudspeakers (stereo) while the other loudspeaker is at the top making it dual speakers for a better audio experience. The top also has a microphone and an IR Blaster for controlling infrared devices.
The right side has two dedicated gaming triggers that can be opened by using the provided sliders, a power button at the middle, and the left side offers volume control with a third microphone on the phone.
Here’s our full unboxing video and first impressions of the POCO F3 GT on our YouTube channel.
Software & User Interface
The POCO F3 GT uses Xiaomi’s MIUI 12 skin with the Android 11 operating system, the security patch level is dated 2021/06/01. The MIUI is almost the same you see on the other Redmi and Mi smartphones, however, a few tweaks and customizations are made for the POCO F3 GT, hence, it’s similar to the MIUI interface, not exactly the same.
About the MIUI 12, it’s loaded with features, new icons, new wallpapers, and the new Settings page. There are several additions in the UI that makes the Android 11 more intuitive. The user interface is clean and neat, less likely to have bloatware. The interface also feels buttery smooth, its 120 Hz AMOLED screen plays an important role in the smoothness, the performance of the UI is amazing and works flawlessly in our usage.
The MIUI 12 is optimized for performance and battery, it’s now smoother and better as compared to older MIUIs. There are new themes that you can make use of, new wallpapers as well. Other features like Game Turbo and Ultra Battery Saver are available in addition to the regular features you will find on the MIUI 12. The Game Turbo on POCO F3 GT is a bit different, it has an interface that wakes up when you hit the trigger sliders simultaneously.
About the pre-installed apps or the bloatware on the phone, you do get a few apps pre-installed on the phone and if you don’t like them, you can simply uninstall them. The apps on the phone are Netflix, Mi Store, Mi Pay, Prime Video, Amazon, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Mi Credit, all can be uninstalled.
Hardware, Performance, & Gaming
In addition to the maglev triggers, the second main highlight of the phone is its CPU, it packs a 6nm MediaTek Dimensity 1200 5G flagship CPU clocked at 3.0 GHz coupled with 8 GB RAM and 256 GB UFS 3.1 in its top variant. The microSD slot is not provided for expansion. The base variant starts at 6 GB RAM and 128 GB storage with all the same features and specs.
The Mediatek Dimensity 1200 is a high-end SoC with 5G support consisting of 1+3+4 core configurations, one high-performance ARM Cortex-A78 core clocked at 3.0 GHz, three performance ARM Cortex-A78 cores clocked at 2.6 GHz, and four power-efficient Cortex-A55 cores clocked at 2.0 GHz. Furthermore, the chip integrates a 9-core ARM Mali-G77 MC9 GPU for graphics application and GPU-intensive tasks.
The new SoC delivers 18% reduced transistor density and 8% reduced power consumption as compared to the Dimensity 1000+. In addition to that, it now comes with faster storage, dual-channel UFS 3.1 resulting in 50% increased read/write speed as compared to a single-channel UFS.
Since it’s a flagship smartphone from POCO, the performance is impressive, it takes on the top high-performance smartphones and manages to come close to the Snapdragon 870 SoC found on the Mi 11X Pro priced at Rs 39,999 and better than MediaTek’s own Dimensity 1000 SoC (realme X7 Pro).
On the performance side, the Dimensity 1200 is recommended for a multitasker and heavy gamer according to our benchmarks’ results. The Geekbench 5 CPU benchmark scores 806 points in single-core and 3,028 in multi-core. Geekbench 5 GPU benchmark scores 5,101 points. The read-write speed of the UFS storage is at a peak of 1,695.87 MB/s (read) and 935.94 MB/s (write).
Cameras
The POCO F3 GT offers a triple camera setup at the back, a total of three (64 MP + 8 MP + 2 MP) with 8 MP ultra-wide-angle lens, and 2 MP macro lens. The front side has a 16 MP selfie shooter making it a total of four cameras on-board.
The camera app is loaded with camera features like Dual Video, VLOG, Clone, Long Exposure, Night Mode, Pro Mode, Movie Frame, AI, along with all the standard modes that you have seen in the MIUI camera app.
About the video capabilities of this phone, you can capture 4K videos at 30fps, 1080p videos at 60fps, and up to 1080p slow-motion videos and 720p videos at 960 fps in super slow motion mode.
The quality of the cameras can be an exception, but it still captures some nice shots as far as we think, check out the camera samples attached below. The quality of the camera is so far good in the daylight, the wide-angle camera is decent while the macro camera seems to be average.
POCO F3 GT Camera Samples
Battery Runtime & Charging
The POCO F3 GT offers a battery of 5,065 mAh capacity with a whopping 67W fast charging support. It uses Xiaomi’s SonicCharge 3.0 charging technology featuring PD3.0 and Quick Charge 3+ that charges the phone in about 42 minutes from 0% to 100%.
The battery performance is solid bad, with MIUI battery optimizations and power-efficient A55 cores, the POCO F3 GT can survive up to 2 days without a hiccup if used moderately. If you game on it more often, you can expect to run a daylong or a little more depending on your playing frequency.
Verdict
The POCO F3 GT has one of the best designs in its class and leaves nothing to be desired, no wonder it’s a piece of art when it comes to design. Performance users take note, it has MediaTek’s flagship SoC, Dimensity 1200 running at 3.0 GHz and for gamers, there’s nothing better than having a premium-looking smartphone with dedicated maglev triggers, a worthy 10-bit AMOLED display, and super-fast 67W charging for uninterrupted gaming. This is the smartphone you should look for in an upper midrange smartphone market.
