[REVIEW] POCO X4 Pro 5G may be the best mid-range photosmartphone for 2022

Hot news LITTLE X4 Pro 5G we received from our partner just on the day of the official performance. Therefore, we are among the first in the Czech Republic and Slovakia to bring you an exclusive review of this expected novelty. Will the POCO X4 Pro 5G build on the popularity of the older X3 Pro?

We will look at this novelty in detail in the review. We focus on overall performance, comfort in everyday use, we test cameras and also endurance.

Where to buy POCO X4 Pro 5G?

The POCO X4 Pro 5G smartphone was provided for testing by an officially authorized dealer of Xiaomi equipment and the ecosystem, Goboo. The phone arrived in 5 days from a Spanish warehouse. In addition, Goboo on the smartphone provides full 2-year warranty and you also have the option of returning the goods within 14 days.

Current coupons for POCO X4 Pro 5G

Technical specifications

Traditional, yellow-black packaging

As we are used to with the POCO brand, this time we also received a smartphone in a black box in combination with a distinctive yellow, which is a kind of symbol of the brand. Inside, nothing has changed and we find a smartphone, a silicone transparent case, paper documentation and a charger with a USB cable.

The box was placed in a nylon envelope with bubble reinforcement, which is also the most common way of packing smartphones. However, nothing was damaged and the smartphone itself was also protected by a transparent foil with basic parameters.

Attractive design

The new POCO X4 Pro 5G is probably made of plastic, which is complemented by a glass back. The POCO brand has really won down to the smallest detail with the design of this model, so compared to the older POCO X3, we have a huge design advancement here.

At first glance, the back, which is inconspicuously similar to last year's flagship Xiaomi 11 Ultra, is particularly interesting, but don't look for a secondary display here. It's just a bigger, design element with the brand logo and cameras.

Overall, the back cover is very attractive and when viewed from different angles, we see as if rays of light. POCO presents this engraved back cover as rays of light that penetrate the night sky. Laser blue, Laser black and POCO yellow are available.

The design was really successful and the smartphone is very different from most other smartphones. At first glance, it resembles more expensive and premium models than those of the middle class. The smartphone has sharp edges this time, which does not contribute much to a comfortable grip in the hand. The silicone case also has sharp edges, so it doesn't hold any better in the case.

Compared to the older model, the POCO X4 Pro 5G is 1.28 mm thinner and 10 grams lighter. It weighs 205 g and definitely belongs among the heavier and larger smartphones, similar to the POCO X3.

Layout of elements

The layout of the individual elements on the body of the smartphone does not deviate from the standard. The left edge is completely blank, while the right is home to a dual volume control button and an unlock button with an integrated fingerprint reader.

The bottom houses the main speaker, USB-C charging port, microphone, and a hybrid slot that can handle 2 SIM cards or one SIM card and Micro-SD format memory card.

The bottom side has a second speaker, microphone, IR sensor and there is also a 3.5 mm headphone port.

AMOLED display with high refresh rate

One of the biggest attractions of this novelty is the AMOLED display with a diagonal of 6.67 ″ and support for the DCI-P3 color profile. The display has a resolution of 2400 x 1080 px, a maximum brightness of 1200 nits and a contrast ratio of 4: 500.

In the middle of the upper part of the display we have shot a selfie camera with a diameter of 2.96 mm, which is quite decent and thus ranks among the smaller shots. Its position and size suit us perfectly.

The sampling frequency of the display is 360 Hz and the refresh rate is up to 120 Hz, but the default value is only 60 Hz. We therefore recommend that you go to the settings as soon as you switch on your smartphone and change the refresh rate to 120 Hz. 60 or 120 Hz are the only options, but the change from 60 to 120 Hz is visible.

This is not the best AMOLED display that flagships have, but for middle-class smartphones, the display is more than decent. It has a slightly cooler color rendering and unfortunately, again we have the option to activate the always-on display for a maximum of 10 seconds. It is not possible to constantly display or schedule the always-on display.

Power and memory

The Snapdragon 4 processor from the American company Qualcomm takes care of the operation of the POCO X5 Pro 695G smartphone. It is an 8-core processor consisting of two Kryo 660 Gold cores (Cortex-A78) operating at 2.2 GHz and six Kryo 660 Silver cores (Cortex-A55) at 1.7 GHz.

It is complemented by an Adreno 619 graphics chip, LPDDR4X RAM and UFS 2.2 storage. We had a version with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage. It is also possible to purchase a weaker version of 6 + 128 GB and there is also an automatic increase of RAM by another 3 GB thanks to fast UFS 2.2 storage.

As usual, we also tested the smartphone in the well-known AnTuT benchmark, where we scored 396 points, which is a very decent result. There is really enough performance and we have nothing to complain about the smartphone for its price tag.

However, if we compare the results and performance with last year's POCO X3 Pro model, it is disappointing. He was the absolute king of the middle class with Snapdragon 860 and UFS storage 3.1 and achieved significantly better results in the benchmarks. For comparison, in our review we measured the score in AnTuT Benchmark at 565 points.

Unlocking options

As we mentioned in the introduction, the POCO X4 Pro 5G has a standard fingerprint reader, which is integrated in the smartphone unlock button on the side.

For us, this method is still more preferred than the reader in the display. It works reliably and quickly, without any inaccuracies. We only experienced problems with wet hands, which is perfectly normal.

There is also a face unlock that works just as well and quickly. Although this is not the safest way to unlock, there is also this alternative.

Decent cameras

POCO X4 Pro 5G will also please with photo equipment, where the old well-known 108 MPx sensor Samsung S5KHM2 reigns. We have had the opportunity to test it in several smartphones such as Xiaomi 11T Pro or Redmi Note 10 Pro. Both of these are among the better in terms of photography, but still don't expect him to take pictures like the Xiaomi 11T Pro.

Let's look at the specifications of all three cameras:

The photographic equipment is complemented by a selfie camera with a resolution of 16 MPx and an aperture of f / 2.4.

The main camera will please you the most

The 108 MPx sensor from Samsung is clearly the best of the three sensors we have here. It combines up to 9 pixels into one 2.1 μm pixel, which significantly increases the quality of the resulting output. POCO presents this sensor as professional with dual native ISO and high dynamitechnical scope.

The photos taken with this sensor are really at a very good level. The color rendering is pleasant, the sharpness is excellent and overall with this sensor you can take very nice photos.

Of course, he takes the best photos in ideal lighting conditions. There is disappointment at dusk or in low light, as sharpness visibly decreases and slight noise appears, especially if you open the photo on an external monitor, not just the smartphone screen.

Wide angle and zoom

Images from the wide-angle camera have significantly warmer color rendering, as is usual with Xiaomi and its subsidiary brands. The sharpness is also worse, especially the dynamirange. This results in several underexposed and overexposed areas in which details are lost.

There is a double zoom, which is created by cropping from a 108 MPx photo from the main sensor. The quality of these photos is quite good.

Night mode, macro and video

The presence of a night mode is also a matter of course, which will brighten up the night photography quite significantly. However, sometimes too much, while some details disappear and the sharpness decreases, or overexposed areas are created.

The macro is very weak and we haven't been able to take any photos that we are too interested in during the whole testing period. In addition, even in sunny weather during the day, noise is visible in the macro photos.

The video can only be shot at 1080p at 30 fps or 720p at 30 fps, which is no win. Optical stabilization is lacking in this price level and video quality is not the best, so the POCO brand did not take full advantage of the well-known 108 MPx sensor, probably due to weaker hardware.

Endurance and charging

Since the new POCO is not a slim and small smartphone, the manufacturer could easily place a large, 5000 mAh battery in it. According to the manufacturer, it should provide enough energy for 2 days of endurance.

We used the smartphone as our "daily driver" for more than a week during intensive testing and in most cases we got a maximum of 1 and a half days at a display refresh rate of 120 Hz. We achieved a 2-day endurance only with weaker use.

When it comes to charging, you will enjoy a fast 67 W charge, which looks like this:

POCO launcher at MIUI 13

POCO X4 Pro 5G also brings us the latest MIUI extension in version 13 with Android 11. We will still have to wait for the latest Android 12. There is also the popular POCO launcher, which is already a typical element of POCO smartphones.

The application menu shows all installed applications in alphabetical order and the 8 most used applications at the beginning. There is also a reading mode, dark mode or sun mode, which immediately increases the brightness in direct sunlight.

We have reservations about the so-called bloatware, ie many applications that are pre-installed, but we do not need them at all. Interestingly, after the smartphone was reset to factory settings, these redundant applications no longer appeared.

Connectivity and stereo speakers

Affordable smartphones also offer very good connectivity. This is also not the case with the news from the POCO brand. We have many manufacturers forgotten a 3.5 mm headphone port, as well as support for a MicroSD memory card.

Wireless technologies include NFC for mobile payments, support for 5G networks, IR or WiFi in 802.11a / b / g / n / ac or Bluetooth 5.1 standards.

They will also enjoy the stereo speakers, which play quite decently and loud enough.

POCO X4 Pro 5G: Final evaluation

POCO X4 Pro 5G is a very interesting, middle-class design smartphone. For a great price of around 250 EUR, it offers a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 processor with support for 5G networks, a 120 Hz AMOLED display with a small space for a selfie camera, fast 67 charging and a 108 MPx main camera.

We used the smartphone during testing as our "daily driver" and we have to admit that it is a very successful and functionally well-balanced model with an interesting rear design. However, it is not a small and thin smartphone, which is associated with a higher weight exceeding 200 g.

Current coupons for POCO X4 Pro 5G

Disappointment comes when compared to the older POCO X3 Pro model, which is clearly a more powerful smartphone, but lacks support for 5G networks, has a weaker camera and does not like the design too much. In this case, the POCO brand relied on cards other than performance, and whether this is the right decision, we leave to individual assessment.