Xiaomi Poco F5 and F5 Pro Smartphones Review – The Poco F5 and F5 Proare the newest entry to the Poco F series of smartphones. Like previous entries in the F series, these new smartphones aim to provide killer specs at a friendly price point and disrupt the market that its predecessor Xiaomi Poco F4 once did. Both smartphones feature the latest and greatest chipsets in their respective category. They both come with sufficient RAM and storage and the best possible camera at that price range.
Can the new F5 and F5 Pro change that and deliver the speed and the experience that can live up to the expectations people have from the Poco F series of smartphones? There is only one way of saying that and that is through a detailed review of both the Xiaomi Poco F5 and Poco F5 Pro smartphones.
Table of Contents
Xiaomi Poco F5 and F5 Pro Smartphones Review
Highlights
- The Xiaomi Poco F5 and F5 both feature a 6.67 inches AMOLED display panel with up to 120Hz refresh rate support
- Both Xiaomi Poco F5 and F5 Pro are powered by the 4nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 and 4nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset respectively for a flagship-like experience.
- The two new smartphones run on the latest Android 13OS with MIUI 14 for the POCO user interface.
- The Xiaomi Poco F5 and F5 Pro both feature a 64MP triple-camera system on the back and a 16MP selfie camera at the front.
- The Xiaomi Poco F5 and F5 Pro feature a Li-Po 5000 mAhand Li-Po 5160 mAh battery respectively with the same 67W fast wired charging support for both models.
Design and Display
The design of the Poco F5 and F5 Pro are in stark contrast to each other. The F5 Pro model features a curved design whose edges are tapered in, while the F5 non-pro model features flat sides and a flat back. The curved edges of the Pro model provide a comfortable grip but are more slippery, while the flat edges on the F5 non-pro are less slippery. The side frames of both models are made out of plastic. However, the back panel of the Poco F5 Pro is made out of glass, giving it a very premium feel, but the F5 non-pro model is made of plastic.
While there’s a considerable amount of difference in design and the body of the two smartphones, the display side of things is quite similar on both smartphones. The display of both smartphones features a 6.67 inches AMOLED display panel with up to 120Hz refresh rate, 68 Billion colors, Dolby Vision, and HDR10+. However, the display of the Poco F5 Pro is considerably brighter with 1400nits peak brightness under direct sunlight. The Poco F5 can only get up to 1000 nits of peak brightness support.
On top of that, both feature Dolby Vision and 68 Billion colors, which will give viewing content on phones a pleasure. Also, the display panels of both models are protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and are available in Black and White colors. The Poco F5 also gets a Blue color that is not present in the Pro model. Aside from this, there is an IP53 dust/water-resistant coating available on both devices.
Memory and Internal
Xiaomi has decided to put the greatest processors in the Poco F5 and F5 smartphones. The Poco F5 features the 4nm Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2 chipset, while the Poco F5 Pro features the 4nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+Gen 1SoC. Both chipsets provide a flagship experience and you will have a hard time telling which is faster when using normal day-to-day apps. But in raw numbers, the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 is faster. The Poco F5 and F5 Pro can reach up to a 1×2.91GHz and 1×3 GHz clocking speed respectively. So, you can easily tell that these smartphones can handle anything you run on them.
The Adreno 725 and Adreno 730 GPUs in these chipsets are very powerful and can perform neck and neck with each other. So, games such as Genshin Impact, CODm, and PUBG mobile can be played at smooth framerates with High graphics options. Apart from the chipset, both the phones also have support for 8GB to 12GB of RAM. But the Poco F5 tops out at 256GB of internal storage, while the Poco F5 Pro can be purchased with up to 512GB of internal storage. Both smartphones come with MIUI 14 for POCO interface running on top of the latest Android 13OSand they both support 5G connectivity with near gigabit speeds.
Camera
The Xiaomi Poco F5 and F5 Pro have the same 64MP triple rear camera system, so they produced more or less the same quality. Their main camera featuring the 64MP sensor produced exceptionally good shots with a wide dynamic range, great white balance, saturated colors, and an excellent level of detail. The 8MP ultra-wide camera also managed to capture some amazing pictures with a wide field of view. This excellency also carried over at night. The night mode along with the optimized sensor makes for some amazing night shots.
The portrait mode also manages to capture some great shots and the edges of the subject look quite natural. The post-processing algorithm does its job of clearing out the edges of the subject, allowing for some natural-looking portrait shots. The selfie camera with the 16MP sensor is no slouch either. This 16MP camera managed to capture a good amount of detail with natural colors and even skin tones. Apart from this, you will receive a 2MP macro lens on the rear setup.
When the comes to video recording, both smartphones can shoot up to 1080Pvideos@60FPS from the selfie camera. But, the main rear camera of the Poco F5 and the Poco F5 Pro can shoot up to 4Kvideos@30FPS and 8Kvideos@24FPS respectively. The main camera of both smartphones features OIS and gyro-EIS, allowing for some really stable video recording.
Battery and Others
The Poco F5 and F5 Pro smartphones have Li-Po 5000 mAhand Li-Po 5160 mAh battery capacity respectively. You may believe the extra 160mAh will give the Pro model an edge over the non-pro but that’s not the case. The Pro model also has a more powerful processor, so the battery performance of both models is the same. Both smartphones will easily last about 2 days on normal day-to-day usage. With gaming, however, the smartphone may not last a full day.
But there’s nothing to worry about as both smartphones are equipped with fast charging. Both smartphones have support for up to 67W of wired fast charging. However, Poco went a step further with the Poco F5 Pro and equipped it with 30W fast wireless charging support. Apart from that, the Poco F5 smartphone comes with a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, the newest Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, NFC, an Infrared sensor, stereo speakers, GPS, and a USB Type C port for charging.
Also, the Poco F5 Pro lacks the 3.5mm headphone jack, which the non-pro model has. This sounds strange, but it’s true. Why Poco decided to omit the 3.5mm jack from the Pro model is unknown at the moment. However, you will be happy to know that the Pro model has an under-display fingerprint sensor, while the non-pro model has a side-mounted fingerprint sensor. The price of the Poco F5 starts at $359 (Rs 28,990 in India) approx. while the Poco F5 Pro starts at $460 (Rs 37,490 in India) approx.
Xiaomi Poco F5 Pro Pros and Cons
Xiaomi Poco F5 Pro Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the Xiaomi Poco F5 Pro smartphone.
| Specifications | Xiaomi Poco F5 Pro |
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G |
| Announced | May 2023 |
| SIM | Dual SIM |
| Dimensions | 6.41 x 2.97 x 0.34 inches |
| Weight | 204 g |
| Size | 6.67 inches |
| Display | AMOLED 68B colors 120Hz Dolby Vision HDR10+ 500-1400 nits brightness 20:9 ratio ~526 PPI density |
| Protection/Others | Corning Gorilla Glass 5 IP53, dust and splash resistant |
| Resolution | 1440 x 3200 pixels |
| OS | Android 13, MIUI 14 for POCO |
| Chipset | 4nm – Qualcomm SM8475 Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 |
| CPU | Octa-core 1×3.0 GHz Cortex-X2 3×2.5 GHz Cortex-A710 4×1.80 GHz Cortex-A510 |
| GPU | Adreno 730 |
| Card slot | No |
| RAM | 8GB, 12GB |
| Internal | 256GB, 512GB UFS 3.1 |
| Camera | 64 MP (wide), PDAF, OIS 8 MP (120Ëšultrawide) 2 MP (macro) Dual-LED dual-tone flash, HDR, panorama Max – 8K@24fps, gyro-EIS |
| Selfie | 16 MP (wide) HDR Max – 1080p@30/60fps |
| Loudspeaker | Yes (stereo speakers) |
| 3.5mm jack | No 24-bit/192kHz audio |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, dual-band |
| Bluetooth | 5.3, A2DP, LE |
| GPS | GPS (L1), GLONASS (G1), BDS (B1I), GALILEO (E1), QZSS (L1) |
| NFC | Yes (market/region dependent) |
| Infrared port | Yes |
| Radio | No |
| USB | USB Type-C 2.0, OTG |
| Sensors | Under display fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass |
| Battery | Li-Po 5160 mAh 67W wired, PD3.0, QC3+ 30W wireless |
| Colors | Black, White |
| Expected Price | $460 (Rs 37,490 in India) approx. |
Conclusion
If you want a smartphone with flagship specs but don’t want to pay the premium that flagships usually ask for, then the Poco F5 and F5 Pro smartphones will surely fill your needs. They have the specs and the price to provide an excellent experience and performance. Both smartphones provide sheer power and value in every department at their respective price point that the legendary Poco F4 once did.
However, these days the market is facing fierce competition, and having a clear winner is difficult. Both smartphones clearly offer great value, but it’s up to the customers to choose which smartphone is going to be the one for them to buy. Choose the right smartphone out of the two models depending on your needs and requirements. However, if you are not a fan of Xiaomi, then don’t worry, there are plenty of other smartphones in the market that also provide a similar value and power. Smartphones such as the Vivo iQOO Neo 7 Pro also come with similar flagship killer specs at a similar price point.
