[REVIEW] POCO F2 Pro: This is how a smartphone for year 2020 should look, one that can do everything!

Chinese Xiaomi created a separate sub-brand, including from the POCO smartphone series. Many of you may still remember the legendary Pocophone F1 as an affordable flagship phone. However, it didn’t offer a quality metal body or a stylish pop-up front camera.

This review will introduce you in detail to the POCO F2 Pro, which also became the cheapest flagship smartphone on the market with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chip. Even though it’s basically a dressed-up version of the Chinese model Redmi K30 Pro, we decided to test this smartphone thoroughly.

Where to buy?

We purchased the POCO F2 Pro smartphone from the DHgate shopping portal from the Mi Flagship Store seller, which offers DHL shipping for this smartphone. It guarantees delivery without customs fees, which it also fulfilled—our phone arrived in a fairly quick timeframe.

Our coupons for POCO F2 Pro

We also wrote about our ordering and delivery experience in a separate article. At the time of writing the review, the smartphone price on DHgate was around 430 €, so that’s the final price for you as a customer—and it’s an excellent price tag.

For comparison, the official price for our market was set at 549 €, so thanks to our coupons you can save more than 100 €.

Packaging: Surprises with accessories

The flagship POCO F2 Pro will arrive in a box with standard dimensions. The grey box color is complemented by yellow elements on the lower part of the packaging and also a yellow model name label.

After you open the box lid, you’ll find a paper envelope with the accessories right on top. It includes a pin to eject the tray for two SIM cards (DualSIM), a paper user manual, and also a thick silicone case.

The case is high quality, but it’s cut in an unusual way without the top edge. That section is replaced by only the protruding left and right side edges of the case, due to the space needed for the phone’s mechanical pop-up front camera.

Below that, you’ll find the smartphone itself wrapped in protective film, and underneath it a cable with a USB Type-C connector plus the local fast-charging adapter. The phone supports up to 30W of cable charging with Quick Charge 4+.

Pop-up camera and 3,5 mm audio connector

The smartphone measures 163,3 x 75,4 x 8,9 mm, and the weight of this phone comes in at up to 219 grams—so you’ll definitely feel it in your pocket. Still, there’s definitely an upgrade over the previous generation.

While the predecessor with the label Pocophone F1 was a very cheap flagship smartphone, the same applied to its construction – plastic. In the new generation, POCO F2 Pro brings quality metal materials and protective glass on the front and back, with glossy gradient colors also not missing.

On the front, you’ll find a large—up to 6.67″—display with minimal bezels and no cutouts. We have to admit that this design feels truly premium, and the screen has a modern flagship look.

Above the display sits the earpiece for calls (which also creates a stereo effect when you listen to music or watch videos), and you’ll also find the necessary sensors. The bezels around the display are really minimal and feel very premium.

The top edge is truly interesting in this case. It includes a slot with a motorized front camera, which, during sliding out, is accompanied by a light and sound response. The upper part of this slot aligns the top edge when the camera is retracted and features an indicator LED that lights up, for example, when charging or when you receive a notification.

There’s also an infrared port on the top side for controlling your home electronics (it’s complemented by a software feature in the phone), a secondary microphone that you’ll appreciate, for example, when recording video, and a 3,5 mm audio jack for connecting standard wired headphones.

Dual SIM and the protruding rear camera

The bottom edge is home to the primary microphone, the USB Type-C charging connector, and—thanks to the layout of other components—also a slot for inserting a pair of NanoSIM cards. So the smartphone supports Dual SIM technology (Dual stand-by). This slot does not support microSD memory cards.

You also get a loud speaker placed on the bottom edge. It’s really loud, and its sound is enough for occasional video watching. Plus, it’s complemented by a second speaker above the display, creating a sort of stereo effect.

The left side has virtually no controls. The right side is where you’ll find the buttons for adjusting the volume and the power button for turning the smartphone on or off. The latter is colorfully differentiated in a stylish way—it’s red. The buttons are easy to feel and positioned appropriately for the size of this smartphone.

The protective glass on the back is rounded and smoothly transitions to the side edges. That can look a bit risky in terms of how you grip the device and possible slipping. However, this imperfection can be helped by, for example, the included protective case.

The back panel features a round module with four rear cameras. Below that you’ll find the manufacturer logo and the mandatory recycling information. The rear camera module also includes a powerful dual-LED flash.

All the side edges also include plastic parts that serve as signal passage. However, these are delicate strips that don’t disrupt the device’s design. The manufacturer definitely deserves praise for the way this smartphone has been made.

Beautiful 60 Hz AMOLED

No doubt, today’s flagship smartphones already include panels with higher refresh rates—at around 90 Hz, 120 Hz, or even more, up to 144 Hz. The POCO F2 Pro, thanks to its affordable price, will only offer a standard 60 Hz display.

On the other hand, this smartphone comes with a truly large—up to 6,67” Super AMOLED—display with Full HD+ resolution, which translates to 2400 x 1080 pixels (the competition also offers 2K resolution). The display has an aspect ratio of 20:9, delivers smoothness of 395 ppi, brightness up to 500 nits, and HDR10+ support, plus a protective glass by Corning Gorilla Glass 5.

The display panel itself covers almost 88% of the front, especially thanks to a very thin bezel without a standard front camera. We were happy with the quality of this panel in the newsroom—it offers true-to-life, vivid colors (you can fine-tune them in settings), but also sufficient minimum and maximum brightness.

The viewing angles of this smartphone are really without any issues, and it’s a panel worthy of a flagship device. Naturally, you can feel the lower price considering the refresh rate.

The pop-up camera also got improvements

POCO F2 Pro is basically also a successor of last year’s Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro (Redmi K20 Pro), since it’s based on the Redmi K30 Pro model. Its specialty is a pop-up front camera, which in the new generation got an improvement—namely the option to choose the LED lighting color when the camera pops out.

You can choose from five colors, which is a nice extra especially for geeks. There’s also an option to pick a sound effect when the camera slides out / slides back in.

The cheapest Snapdragon 865

A truly big advantage of this smartphone is the flagship octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor. This chip is practically a privilege of a few hundred dollars more expensive flagship devices—and in this case, the POCO F2 Pro really is an affordable option.

The Snapdragon 865 processor is manufactured using a 7nm process, and its eight cores are configured as 1 x 2,84 GHz Kryo 585 + 3 x 2,42 GHz Kryo 585 + 4 x 1,80 GHz Kryo 585. You also get the Adreno 650 graphics accelerator, which is among the top tier and should handle practically any graphics-heavy game from the Google Play Store smoothly.

We in the editorial team were satisfied with the performance, and the phone didn’t lag even during more demanding multitasking. The good news is that the flagship hardware is complemented by an optimized software layer, which further improves speed and the smooth feel of the device.

Storage: No microSD slot

There are several smartphone variants available for sale. The RAM types also differ. When choosing, you also need to consider the lack of a microSD card slot—so you can’t expand the storage.

Specifically, it’s configurations with 6 GB RAM (LPDDR4X) + 128 GB internal storage (UFS 3.1) or up to 8 GB RAM (LPDDR5) + 256 GB internal storage (UFS 3.1).

As for the technical specs, the winner is the higher and pricier version with LPDDR5 RAM. We tested the cheaper version with 6 GB RAM, and we didn’t notice any significant compromises in smartphone performance—so you don’t need to worry about this variant.

Fingerprint reader: A modern sensor under the display

The fingerprint scanning sensor is located on the front side, under the display. It’s a modern sensor placed in the lower half of the screen panel. We have to praise the scanner’s responsiveness—the sensor reacted very quickly and reliably. Only very rarely did it require you to place your finger again on the second attempt.

Of course, it’s not as fast as with a standard sensor on the back, but the difference is no longer as obvious as it used to be. The sensor, however, surprisingly handled slight moisture or oiliness on your fingers as well. The manufacturer also deserves praise for implementing and optimizing the fingerprint scanner.

Android 10 + POCO Launcher

The smartphone also comes with the current software, specifically Android as an operating system in the version labeled Android 10 (10 QKQ1.191117.002).

From a security standpoint, there’s a security update released for 01.04.2020 available. So it isn’t the absolute newest protection, and you’re missing the May or June security patch from Google. The manufacturer could improve this in one of the next software updates.

The system is complemented by the well-known MIUI graphical overlay, this time in the POCO Launcher version, which is designed specifically for POCO smartphones. The MIUI version code name for POCO is MIUI Global 11.0.6.0 (QJKEUXM). Stable version.

We’ve been happy with the overlay itself for a long time, and practical improvements include a dark mode, the Google Discover panel with news from various websites, as well as an app drawer with all apps—in this case even sorted into different categories like Communication, Entertainment, etc., which is very handy.

The 64 MPx pleasantly surprised me

Xiaomi decided to equip the flagship smartphone of its daughter brand POCO with four rear cameras. They’re placed together with a dual-LED flash in one shared circular module that sticks out noticeably from the device body. Still, the included case in the box can help save it.

The main item is a 64 MPx (f/1.9) 26 mm sensor, which is then complemented by a 13 MPx (f/2.4) ultra-wide-angle sensor, a 5 MPx (f/2.2) telephoto lens that also offers a “macro” mode, and a 2 MPx (f/2.4) depth sensor, whose main job is to deliver high-quality background blur.

Original photos in full resolution are available at the following link.

When it comes to video recording, the phone supports up to 8K resolution (24 / 30 fps), but also 4K resolution (30 / 60 fps). What’s also interesting is super-slow-motion video in 1080p resolution (960 fps) — HDR and panorama are also included.

A real rarity of this device is the motorized front camera, placed along the top edge so it doesn’t interfere with the phone’s display. It offers 20 MPx (f/2.2) resolution, HDR, and the ability to record 1080p video (30 fps). The camera extends quickly, accompanied by a light or sound signal that you can customize.

We were extremely satisfied with the photo quality—especially in daylight. Vibrant colors, depth of field, and even the level of detail meet the standards of a flagship smartphone. Artificial intelligence with its modes also helps a lot, and the “Night” mode significantly improves photos taken indoors or in worse lighting conditions.

Connectivity: 5G comes in

In terms of connectivity, it’s top-tier equipment from a modern flagship 5G smartphone. You won’t miss out on 4G connectivity (channels 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 20, 28, 38, 40, 41) with LTE-A technology, but also 5G connectivity (channels 77, 78 Sub6).

Internet connectivity is handled by dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, along with Wi-Fi Direct technology. For connecting accessories, there’s Bluetooth 5.1, A2DP, LE, with support for aptX HD technology and also aptX Adaptive.

Of course, it also includes an integrated dual GPS technology, along with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO, or QZSS. A practical feature is the NFC chip for contactless mobile payments—for example via Google Pay.

At the top of the smartphone, there’s also an infrared sensor for controlling your home electronics, complemented by software in the form of the Mi Remote mobile app. Charging is done via a USB Type-C connector with USB OTG support, and there’s also a 3,5 mm audio jack. No FM radio.

Decent battery life: 4700 mAh

The POCO F2 Pro smartphone comes with up to a 4700 mAh battery. Despite the higher weight, the standout positive is the above-standard battery capacity.

What’s more, this model is also exceptional thanks to support for up to 30W fast wired charging via the universal USB Type-C connector, with support for the USB Power Delivery 3.0 standard and Quick Charge 4.0+.

The manufacturer focuses in its marketing specifically on fast charging—thanks to the included charger, you can charge your smartphone to full capacity in less than 70 minutes.

In our case, the phone’s battery life regularly went beyond 6 hours of screen-on time. That means not only a full, proper working day packed with activities, but also extra room for a late evening or half of the next day. Battery life is one of the best features of this smartphone.

Our testing included active and repeated use of social networks, hour-long calls, hour-long watching of 1080p videos, occasional gaming, but also repeated payments with the smartphone on a contactless terminal, along with occasional photography.

POCO F2 Pro Review: Final verdict

A smartphone from the parent brand Xiaomi under the POCO F2 Pro name is truly a great flagship model—despite a few compromises you’ll have to make as its future owner.

A powerful processor at the lowest price on the market is very tempting, together with an AMOLED display, a motorized front camera, and a high-capacity battery.

On the other hand, you’ll have to account for a slightly higher weight of the bulky device, but also for the lack of enhanced water and dust resistance. Still, it’s a really great smartphone that we definitely recommend you buy—e.g., using one of our discount coupons.