After unveiling the POCO X5 Series as well as the POCO C55 in India, the company added another smartphone to its portfolio under the POCO F5 Series, this time, a flagship in its category. The POCO F5 5G is the newest addition to its flagship POCO F-Series which was first launched back in 2018. The POCO F5 5G is the successor to the POCO F4 5G and is launched alongside its upper-end sibling POCO F5 Pro.
It is said that the POCO F5 5G is designed to carry forward the POCO F-Series legacy by retaining flagship-grade specifications, we saw the POCO F3 GT and the POCO F4 5G both with high-end specs, now the POCO F5 5G debuts the flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 SoC for the first time in India. Other highlights of the smartphone include a 120 Hz Xfinity Pro 12-bit AMOLED display (68.7B colors), 64 MP OIS camera, and supports 67W Turbo Charging. Here’s more about the smartphone in our POCO F5 5G review.
POCO F5 5G Specifications
- Display & Design: 6.67-inch Xfinity Pro AMOLED Display, Full HD+ resolution (2400 x 1080 pixels), 12-bit color depth (68.7B colors), 120 Hz adaptive refresh rate (30/60/90/120 Hz), 240 Hz touch sampling rate, 1,920 Hz high-frequency PWM dimming, 1,000 nits peak brightness, 16,000+ Automatic Brightness Dimming Levels, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, Adaptive HDR, 5,000,000:1 contrast ratio, 100% DCI-P3 wide color gamut, 93.5% screen-to-body ratio, bezel-less design with a 2.22mm ultra-narrow bottom bezel, IP53 rating, Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection, 7.9mm thin, 181 grams weight
- Software: MIUI 14.0.1 for POCO, Android 13 operating system
- CPU: 4nm TSMC Qualcomm Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 octa-core SoC clocked up to 2.91 GHz (1x Cortex-X2 Prime core, 3x Cortex-A710 based Kryo cores + 4x Cortex-A510 based Kryo cores)
- GPU: Adreno 725 Graphics
- Memory: 8 GB OR 12 GB RAM, LPDDR5, +7 GB Dynamic RAM expansion
- Storage: 256 GB UFS 3.1 internal storage, no microSD card support
- Main Camera: Triple cameras (64 MP + 8 MP ultra-wide-angle + 2 MP macro), OIS (Optical Image Stabilization), up to 4K@30fps video recording, up to 1080p@240fps slow-motion video recording, LED flash
- Selfie Camera: 16 MP f/2.45, up to 1080p@60fps video recording
- Others: Side-mounted fingerprint scanner, Face Unlock, stereo speakers, Dolby Atmos, Hi-Res Audio (Wired & Wireless), X-shocker Haptics
- Connectivity: USB Type-C, 3.5mm jack, Wi-Fi 6/6E (802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax), Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, IR Blaster, GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo, QZSS
- Cellular: 5G network, dual SIMs, dual 5G standby, 12 5G bands support, VoLTE support
- Battery & Charging: 5,000 mAh battery, 67W Sonic Charging (100% in 45 minutes)
- Colors: Snowstorm White, Carbon Black, Electric Blue
- Warranty: 1 + 1 year warranty
- Price: ₹29,999 (8 GB RAM + 256 GB storage), ₹33,999 (12 GB RAM + 256 GB storage)
- Availability: 16th May 2023 at 12 PM on Flipkart.
- Offers: Flat ₹3,000 instant discount on ICICI bank or an exchange bonus of ₹3,000, extra ₹1,000 off in exchange for POCO phones
Design, Display, & Build Quality
About its design, the POCO F5 5G offers a sleek and glossy back, the Carbon Black color, as you can see below, has a Carbon fiber print and follows the trails of the original classic pocophone carbon fiber design. The back looks like a glass design, but it’s less likely to be glass, however, the design feels good, easy to hold, comfortable, and light in weight.
The POCO F5 5G has IP53 certification which means it’s water-resistant (splashproof) and limited dust ingress. It’s about 7.9 mm thin with 181 grams weight. The POCO F5 5G comes in three color variants – Snowstorm White, Carbon Black, and Electric Blue, we got the Carbon Black color as you can see in the images.
The front side has a stunning bezel-less design with a 2.22mm ultra-narrow bottom bezel protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5. The POCO F5 5G equips a 6.67-inch Xfinity Pro AMOLED Display with Full HD+ resolution (2400 x 1080 pixels) and a mind-boggling 12-bit color depth (68.7B colors) which is the first in its segment to feature a 12-bit display.
The display offers a 120 Hz adaptive refresh rate (30/60/90/120 Hz), 240 Hz touch sampling rate, 1,920 Hz high-frequency PWM dimming, and offers a nice 1,000 nits peak brightness with 16,000+ Automatic Brightness Dimming Levels.
Other display features include HDR10+, Dolby Vision, Adaptive HDR, 5,000,000:1 contrast ratio, 100% DCI-P3 wide color gamut, and 93.5% screen-to-body ratio. The display is just incredible and high-quality, it’s bright and crisp, and this is the best display you can get in its segment.
The back offers a triple camera setup that looks similar to the one we saw on the POCO X5 Pro 5G, however, without any bumps, the surface, as you can see, is flat and no protruding shell is found around the rear cameras. The fingerprint scanner is outside embedded in the power button. The phone offers stereo speakers, Dolby Atmos, and Hi-Res Audio support (Wired & Wireless).
Moving to the sides, the right side has a power button that doubles as a fingerprint scanner and volume controls are just above it while the left side area is empty. The top has a 3.5 mm audio jack, a loudspeaker (stereo), IR Blaster, and a microphone. The bottom side offers another loudspeaker making dual stereo speakers, a USB Type-C, another microphone, and a dual 5G SIM tray that supports dual SIMs and dual 5G standby connectivity, however, no microSD slot.
Software, User Interface, & Features
The POCO F5 5G comes with MIUI 14.0.1 out-of-the-box which is based on the Android 13 operating system. The MIUI 14 for POCO is the latest MIUI version from Xiaomi and has been announced in India in February. The security patch available on the phone is dated 1st March 2023. POCO India has confirmed that the POCO F5 5G will receive 2 years of OS upgrades and 3 years of security updates.
The MIUI 14 offers all the native features of Android 13 in addition to the new features seen in the MIUI 14 (Android 13). About the MIUI 14 interface, you will see a bunch of new features which include upgrades in design, better background efficiency, faster processing, as well as longer battery life. Some features you see are MIUI Dialer, added live wallpapers, themes, a new sidebar, and more.
The MIUI 14 for POCO which is based on the Android 13 provides a seamless and intuitive user experience on POCO F5 5G. The UI performance is fast and smooth, no lags were found while using the interface in our initial usage. The 120 Hz display offers a smoother UI experience and UI responsiveness and adds to the overall user experience.
Please note that the display supports an adaptive refresh rate which can switch automatically from 60 Hz to 120 Hz and vice versa depending on the scenario such as low battery life. If you want the smooth and responsive performance of the screen, you might want to switch to the max 120 Hz refresh rate in the display settings. This will enable users to get the highest refresh rate performance on any screen at the cost of battery life.
You get apps installed on the phone, you can get rid of the bloatware if you want if not required. Apps like Amazon, Facebook, Zili, Spotify, Prime Video, LinkedIn, Bubble Shooter Relaxing, Snapchat, Moj, and Netflix, aside from the apps from Google and Xiaomi come pre-installed on the phone.
Hardware, Performance, & Gaming
POCO F5 5G marks the India debut of Qualcomm Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 which is currently the most powerful Snapdragon 7 Series SoC. The POCO F5 5G is the first smartphone in the country to equip a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 SoC. Moving to its specs, the POCO F5 5G is powered by a 4nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 octa-core SoC clocked up to 2.91 GHz (Cortex-X2 Prime core and Qualcomm Kryo cores) paired with an Adreno 725 GPU.
For its CPU, this is a high-end system-on-chip manufactured in a 4nm TSMC process and equips octa-core CPUs clocked up to 2.91 GHz. The CPU setup consists of a 1 + 3 + 4 cores configuration (Cortex-X2 Prime + Cortex-A710 + Cortex-A510). The SoC includes one Cortex-X2 Prime high-performance core clocked at 2.91 GHz, three Cortex-A710 performance cores clocked at 2.49 GHz, and four Cortex-A510 power-efficient cores clocked at 1.8 GHz.
The Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 shares a similar architecture with the powerful Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1. The new chipset in the POCO F5 5G offers fast performance for gaming, streaming, and multitasking. The SoC delivers over 50% more CPU performance and 13% improved power efficiency compared to its predecessor Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 which means the POCO F5 5G has a superior performance in this segment and surpasses many smartphones in its class. For the performance benchmarks, the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 offers exceptional results, with an AnTuTu score of close to 1 Million (~1,000,000 points) which is equivalent to that of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.
Moreover, the SoC is laced with up to 12 GB LPDDR5 RAM, the user gets to choose from either 8 GB LPDDR5 RAM or 12 GB LPDDR5 RAM variant while the storage on the phone remains the same i.e. 256 GB UFS 3.1. The RAM is an LPDDR5 type while the storage is a UFS 3.1 type on the phone. The price for the 8 GB RAM variant is ₹29,999 and the 12 GB RAM variant is ₹33,999.
The storage can’t be expanded via a microSD card while the phone offers RAM expansion tech up to 7 GB, the RAM can be expanded up to 7 GB via its Dynamic RAM feature. We received a 12 GB variant that can be virtually extended up to 19 GB RAM (physical + virtual). The system automatically allocates the required virtual RAM based on the resource requirements.
For gaming, the Adreno 725 surprisingly performs well, games take note, it’s one of the best GPUs that you can use for gaming. Compared to the counterparts from the Snapdragon 778G and other similar variants, the GPU performance has been improved a lot. For cooling, the POCO F5 5G equips a highly efficient VC cooling system that includes a large 3,725 mm Vapor Chamber and 14 layers of Graphite sheets to dissipate the heat.
Cameras
Moving to the other highlights of the smartphone, it uses a triple-camera setup on the back with 64 MP as the primary camera utilizing OIS (Optical Image Stabilization). The other two cameras are an 8 MP ultra-wide-angle and a 2 MP macro. You can see three cameras (64 MP + 8 MP + 2 MP) on the rear side and one on the front, a 16 MP shooter for selfies and video calling.
The camera offers OIS and 2x lossless in-sensor zoom which adds to the camera features. The smartphone flaunts its AI computational capabilities and 4K recording features for exceptional performance and seamless content creation. Due to its hardware OIS support, it creates an edge in the midrange smartphone market where many smartphones lack the support for optical image stabilization, some are limited to EIS (Electronic Image Stabilization).
The camera app offers a bunch of modes and features such as 64MP mode, VLOG, Night, Portrait, Macro, Pro, HDR, AI, Long exposure, Movie frame, Voice shutter, Slow motion, Time-lapse, Short video, Tilt-shift, Time burst, Panorama, AI watermark, Documents, and more. The camera offers new VLOG modes which come in the MIUI 14, and records up to 4K@30fps videos as well as 1080p@240fps slow-motion videos.
The POCO F5 5G camera also offers different Film camera modes including Film Camera KG200, Film Camera H-400, Film Camera C-50D, Film Camera KP160, Film Camera KC64, Film Camera FC400, and Film Camera V-250. These Film Camera modes can be used to capture stunning Film-like shots on the phone.
The photos we took from the 64 MP camera are exceptionally great, you get amazing photo quality from a 64 MP snapper. The camera clicks detailed shots, focuses well on objects, and offers a great bokeh effect. The camera performs impressively in bright daylight and fairly well in a low-light environment. The Night mode optimizes the image for a brighter look in low-light scenarios.
Here are the samples below that we managed to capture from the POCO F5 5G’s camera, we will update this section soon with more shots.
POCO F5 5G Camera Samples
Battery Runtime & Charging
The POCO F5 5G equips a 5,000 mAh battery and offers support for 67W fast charging. For its fast charging, the 67W Sonic charger can charge the phone up to 100% in just 45 minutes as per POCO India, you can expect the charging speeds identical to the claimed figures, assuming that the phone can be charged up to 50% in about 15 minutes for a 5,000 mAh battery as seen on some POCO smartphones such as the POCO X5 Pro 5G. The 5,000 mAh battery ensures uninterrupted usage for longer periods, you can expect as long as 28 hours on voice calls, up to 21 hours of reading, up to 20 hours of video playback, and up to 14 days of standby.
Verdict – POCO F5 5G Review
The POCO F5 5G takes on the flagship smartphones with its new powerful CPU onboard, and it’s truly a flagship killer when it comes to performance for the price it holds (₹29,999). The POCO F5 5G is equipped with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 which has a superior performance in its class, the POCO F5 5G leaves behind many phones at the given price in terms of performance. The POCO F5 5G also comes in a massive 12 GB LPDDR5 RAM variant with 256 GB UFS 3.1 storage which is an overall performance package paired with the Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2.
Aside from its performance, the POCO F5 5G offers a stunning 12-bit AMOLED display paired with stereo speakers, delivers an impressive camera performance, and is aided by a 67W fast charger that charges the phone in minutes. You also get a bunch of MIUI 14 features and perks with all the native traits of the Android 13 operating system. The POCO F5 5G offers an ultra-narrow bezel-less design, is slim, it’s powerful, and has a solid CPU performance, and gaming performance. The POCO F5 5G is a great choice for gamers and performance users and those who are looking for a smartphone in the ₹30K budget.
POCO F5 5G – Where To Buy
The price for the POCO F5 5G starts at ₹29,999 for its 8 GB RAM and 256 GB storage variant and the price for the POCO F5 5G is ₹33,999 for its 12 GB RAM and 256 GB storage variant. The smartphone will be available starting from 16th May 2023 at 12 PM on Flipkart.
POCO F5 5G – Offers
Launch offers include a flat ₹3,000 instant discount on ICICI bank or an exchange bonus of ₹3,000, an extra ₹1,000 off in exchange for POCO phones.
