This week, POCO, the gaming-oriented and global smartphone arm of Xiaomi, launched its F6 series of smartphones. These include the flagship models POCO F6 and POCO F6 Pro. In addition, the company launched its first ever Android tablet, the POCO Pad. True to the company’s roots, these new products pack decent specs at attractive prices. POCO F6 starts at $379 (8+256GB model), POCO F6 Pro starts at $449 (12+256GB model) and POCO Pad starts at $329 (8+256GB). Currently, all of these products are eligible for a $50 early delivery discount.
I had the opportunity to attend the launch and represent GBAtemp. During the event, I had access to the new devices, tried out their exceptional features, and also interviewed Angus Ng, Head of Product Marketing at POCO Global. I asked a few questions about the design of gaming phones, especially regarding physical controls, as well as the obstacles to having decent front-facing cameras on Android tablets. Read on to find out what a representative of one of the most prominent gaming smartphone brands has to share.
POCO F6
The latest POCO series comes in two models: F6 and F6 Pro. These differ in specifications and aesthetics, with the F6 available in black, green and titanium, and the F6 Pro available in black and white. They also differ in price and storage. POCO F6 storage variants are 8+256GB and 12+512GB; while the F6 Pro is available in 12+256GB, 12GB+256GB and 12GB+1TB. The second variant is a rather unique choice for smartphones, especially in this price range.
The specifications of the phones can be found below:
While the specs don’t match flagships like the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, they’re quite aggressive in this price range, and it’s definitely material for everyday use with decent gaming capabilities. In terms of build quality, both the F6 and F6 Pro look and feel like high-end devices. They feel good in the hands, especially with the curved edges, and provide sharp images thanks to their AMOLED displays.
Traditionally, POCO hasn’t focused much on its phone’s camera, but it’s changing that approach with the F6 series. This includes some useful and impressive features, such as the Ultra Night Algorithm F6 Pro, which significantly improves the quality of images in low light conditions. POCO is also jumping on the AI ​​hype-train with some AI features such as portrait editing with AI-generated settings based on your prompts, image background enhancements, and AI searches in your gallery. I found the first option to be quite a nice feature to play with and the results were quite convincing.
POCO’s first Android tablet is the affordable POCO Pad, which features the following specifications:
It was refreshing to see POCO not selling the Pad with marketing gimmicks. It looks and feels like a no-frills tablet as a secondary work/play device. The company can also play it safe as this is their first such device. This might be the best, but the verdict will be shared in the upcoming full POCO Pad review.
Interview with Angus Ng, Head of Product Marketing at POCO Global
After the launch event, I had the opportunity to interview Angus Ng, Head of Product Marketing at POCO Global. Mr. Ng was kind enough to welcome questions and give honest answers. Below you can read the interview, which has been slightly edited for clarity.
GB Temp: Hi Angus, thank you for inviting me to the event and accepting the interview. I would like to focus my first questions on the gaming side. I’d usually associate POCO with gaming phones, but the POCO 4 GT was the last device from the company with physical game launchers. Is there a reason to deviate from this design?
Angus Ng: It’s a really good question and my regional colleagues were confused as to why we removed triggers in the next generation. In fact, we found two things we didn’t think enough about when we released the phone with physical launchers.
First, many games did not allow the use of launchers, and some users complained that their game accounts were banned from using them. This is because the games algorithm would think the user is cheating and we had to rethink the usefulness of the buttons.
Second, when it comes to gaming phones, we’ve found that people really use them as their second phone. It wasn’t a phone that people could buy and use as a daily driver. And because the 4 GT was so focused on gaming, many of its other features were flawed. Like the camera, it wasn’t good enough for everyday use.
So when it comes to gaming on your phone, it worked like a GameBoy that people buy as a second device. We didn’t see a big need to keep the triggers for our users, but we kept everything we thought was good, like cooling, processor and algorithm tuning, without physically strengthening the triggers.
I think it’s a common trend for gaming phones as well. Phones like ASUS have also toned down their gaming design to become more of a regular daily driver phone that can play games really well. However, the heart of the device is still gaming oriented. So I think that’s just the direction of the market.
GB Temp: Thanks for understanding! But is there any chance we’ll see the return of the GT range?
Angus Ng: I’m not saying there’s no chance. But with the way the mobile game market is going, I think the most popular mobile games are still MMOs. With games like Wild Rift, Genshin Impact, and a lot of games that we thought were really popular, there weren’t many scenarios for using triggers. But we could consider “touch launchers” like what ASUS did. We just have to consider how much it will cost our phones and if it’s worth it.
GB Temp: Speaking of ASUS, they have gaming accessories like gamepads that can be attached to their phones. Would that be something you would consider? Or perhaps something like the Xperia Play, which looks like a normal phone, but hides a full-fledged gamepad under the sliding mechanism? While it may be a niche, there is still a demand for physical controls on gaming smartphones because they are better to play with.
Angus Ng: It’s certainly an area we don’t want to close completely. It is something that is still open for discussion within the team. I think as we go down and establish our presence as a brand and also as our phones get more powerful, it’s something that we definitely see as potential. Because I know handheld consoles are getting more and more popular now. This could be a trend for the future, you know, portable mobile gaming devices. We’ll definitely be looking at making our phones a little more gaming-oriented with accessories. I wouldn’t say it’s something we’ll release next year; but maybe who knows!
GB Temp: I would like to see that!
GB Temp: With the recent rise of dedicated handheld gaming devices, and just as an idea, would POCO consider a foldable device where half of the device acts as a controller and the other half as a screen?
Angus Ng: It is good to have such insights from the press. I actually used the Samsung Flip for a month to test it when we discussed the idea of ​​foldable devices. I never liked the Fold because I like using a tablet and I thought the Fold took that away from me; so I thought “No, I’ll use the Flip because that’s more extreme for me than a flip phone”. I thought it was pretty good on a daily basis until I was traveling for the weekend once and realized that the battery was draining too quickly. I thought that was the biggest problem I had with the folding device.
This made me understand that when companies released foldable devices, it was a flex innovation. It hasn’t matured to the point where we all use it and get used to it. I hope one day we can because I have seen the benefits of it. When I closed the Flip, I thought, “Wow, that fits nicely in my pocket!”. But there were flaws: the camera wasn’t good enough, the battery wasn’t good enough, the charging wasn’t good enough. There are areas where you have to sacrifice so much just to flip the phone. We thought that was the problem.
I don’t think these will be problems in the long term as I think they will resolve themselves over time. As it is right now, foldable devices still have a long way to go to give you an experience as easy as a regular phone. Right now they didn’t offer much except that you can flip/fold and enlarge the screen. As a daily driver, you still have trade-offs: it’s heavier, more fragile, and if you drop it, it hurts your wallet because of how much it costs. With so many compromises, we didn’t think the format was finished, but it’s a great example of innovation. I enjoyed it; it’s just that when I went back to a regular phone, I didn’t miss it. So from our point of view we are not ready for that.
GB Temp: Maybe it’s not a question specifically for POCO, but rather for the Android tablet market itself: why isn’t there more focus on a better front camera? Usually on tablets the rear camera is much better, but you don’t really want to take pictures with a tablet. But you want to make video calls with your tablet. So why not invest more in the tablet selfie camera? I think this is a problem with every Android tablet on the market. Can you please share why this was not addressed?
Angus Ng: I’ll be very honest with you: it’s because most tablets made by smartphone manufacturers reuse parts from smartphones. They are not reused as recycled but use the same model; and at the end of the day, there aren’t many great sensors that fit the tablet template. It costs a lot to change because changing the front sensor means it gets bigger too.
It’s a really good question when I think about it. It’s something we focus on when it comes to providing users with a good online dating experience. But at least for the POCO Pad, it’s mostly aimed at entertainment, for younger generations just watching videos or casual gaming, or a work machine that mostly requires typing that’s easy to carry and affordable.
In our higher segments [of future tablets], the meaning of front and back would probably be very similar. We would also incorporate more technology where the camera follows you. Few tablets can do this now, but we see it as an important feature, especially during meetings and business calls.
I think you raised a wonderful concern and I think that was a really good insight!
GB Temp: Thanks so much for answering the questions!
Angus Ng: No worries!
This concludes the coverage of the POCO F6 launch event and impressions. I would like to thank POCO for the invitation and the opportunity to discuss mobile gaming with Angus Ng. I hope this was an informative read and be sure to stay tuned for the full review of the new POCO devices!