By Riera U. Mallari
POCO phones’ DNA has been all about powerful performance, sleek design and bang for the buck.
So why stray from that winning formula?
The POCO X6 5G is that, and more.
As part of the POCO X6 Series’ global launch, POCO revealed that its new offerings are a “comprehensive evolution” — boasting of substantial performance and user experience upgrades.
We reviewed the POCO X6 5G and were impressed by its powerful processor, long-lasting battery, smooth 120Hz display and good camera system. In this age and time, a lousy camera will doom you a smartphone brand, as young adults crave for phones that will make them look good, while at the same time, snap memorable photos for posterity’s sake.
Design
Teetering between the budget to the low-midrange smartphone segment, the POCO X6 5G is well built and feels nice to hold, even with its plastic back and plastic frame. Lightweight and thin, the unit is comfortable to hold even for long stretches.
The POCO X6 5G has a 6.67-inch IPS LCD, with a peak brightness of 1800 nits, ensuring images are clear and sharp even under sunlight. The CrystalRes 120Hz Flow AMOLED display makes scrolling and animations a breeze. With a super-slim bezel design, while featuring a first-in-series premium quality, POCO X6 offers fully immersive entertainment action, delivering leading flagship-levels of upgraded experiences for enjoying smooth and fluid viewing for social media browsing, video and movie watching.
Performance
Powered by the Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 processor, with a 640,170 AnTuTu score, and paired with 6GB or 8GB of RAM, the POCO X6 5G offers plenty of power for everyday tasks, multitasking or gaming. Add to this an upgrade to a flagship level SoC and the POCO X6 5G delivers outstanding overall best in-class gaming and entertainment experiences to Gen Z users. Light to moderate gaming is a piece of cake, and we were pleasantly surprised at how well it also handled games like Shadow of Legends and Fortnite.
The POCO X6 5G comes with 128GB or 256GB of storage. There is also a microSD card slot, allowing you to expand the storage up to 1TB.
Camera
The POCO X6 5G also boasts of an impressive camera system, including a 64MP main camera with flagship quality OIS in the series for the very first time, ensuring sharp steady images even in low-light conditions.
Photos are hi-res, with plenty of detail, no noise, high contrast, balance and image range that millennials and Gen Z mobile photography enthusiasts will love. (See sample photos)
The triple camera setup features an 8MP ultra-wide and a 2MP micro camera, giving more creative options for capturing magical moments. It offers creative filter mode “Film Camera”, generated by an algorithm to offer a feel of retro or vintage look, and offers a total of 12 filters and 8 frames so that our users can get creative in virtual reality environments and create stunning hi-resolution visuals and video.
Battery life
The POCO X6 5G has a 5100mAh battery — one of the largest batteries in a smartphone. Our unit lasted a day and a half on a single charge from moderate to heavy use. Charging is swift with its 67W fast charging.
Software
The POCO X6 5G runs on Android 13 with MIUI 14 on top. MIUI is a heavily customized version of Android, and can be a bit confusing to use at first. However, it’s packed with features, and you can customize it to look and feel the way you want.
Verdict
The POCO X6 5G is a good budget-to-low-midrange-friendly smartphone that offers a lot of bang for your buck. It has a powerful processor, a long-lasting battery, and a smooth 120Hz display, with a nice shooter to boot. And with a price tag of just P14,999 for a smartphone that has a lot to offer, the POCO X6 5G is a steal.
