If you were looking for the one stop shop to everything the market has to offer but with an affordable price tag, the Xiaomi POCO M3 might be the way to go. It has a robust build, triple cameras, a full HD screen display, excellent battery life for only RM 599 in Malaysia.
Released in November 2020, it should be noted that POCO is actually an independent brand from Xiaomi. Shocked? We were too, but keep in mind that the confusion is there for many since Xiaomi still manufactures everything you see in the POCO. Nonetheless, everything designed is meant to be exclusively for the POCO brand and not a cookie cutter phone copying Xiaomi’s existing devices.
When you buy the POCO M3, you get a yellow outer box encasing the phone along with your typical treats. Along with the SIM eject tool, the USB cable as well as the 22.5W QC3 charger, buyers also receive a transparent silicon case and a screen protector.
Design
As mentioned, the POCO M3 has its own unique design and offers more than you’ve bargained for. The overall build of the device is robust and sturdy. Although made of plastic, the faux leather backing and weight of the phone gives the user the feel of a premium quality design. It also makes it easy to grip and looks a lot cleaner than your regular plastic as it seems to be fingerprint resistant.
The front of the device is a full screen from top to bottom without an inch to spare. It shows off a 6.53” 1080p IPS LCD screen. The front facing 8-megapixel camera is placed dead centre at the top for the best angled selfie. The Gorilla Glass 3 reinforces the build of the phone which easily passed an accidental drop test from the table (Oops! Rest assured, no device was harmed during the writing of this review). Right above the selfie camera, there is a thin grill that serves as the earpiece during calls. The corners of the POCO M3 are curved and the bezels are relatively slim.
On the sides, you have the fingerprint sensor for convenience and the volume button on the right. The fingerprint sensor also acts as the power button. The triple card slot is located on the left side of the device.
The POCO M3’s stereo speakers, 3.5mm audio jack and microphone are housed at the top of the device. The other stereo speaker is found at the bottom along with the mouthpiece and the USB-C port.
Flip the phone on its back and you’ll find quarter of the back covered in dark glass that protects the triple camera and also boasts the POCO logo. The glass makes the design jut out but not in a way that throws the phone off balance and makes it wobble when placed on a table.
The POCO M3 comes in 3 variety of colors – POCO yellow, Cool Blue and Power Black. You can choose to buy the 64 GB or 128 GB variant. It weighs 198 grams and measures in at 162.3 x 77.3 x 9.6 mm.
When it comes to the feel of the POCO M3 in hand, it feels sturdy and has enough heft to weigh it down. The heft and size can be a little unwieldy. Maneuvering the phone with one hand can be a task with its weight making things that much worse. That said, the faux leather finish does give it a little more grip.
Hardware
When it comes to hardware, the entry-level POCO M3 isn’t going to blow you out of the water. However, it does come with a more powerful Snapdragon 600 series processor which should give it an edge over some of its competition. However, that really depends on the software optimisations that Xiaomi has built into the POCO M3. As we already know, MIUI 12 is packed with features that are processor intensive. We’ll see how it performs later on.
Other than the processor, the M3 also comes with a pretty respectable setup when it comes to cameras and even memory. However, it’s on par with the competition when it comes to RAM – something that Xiaomi and POCO could have upped for the longevity of the phone.
Specifications
| Processor | Qualcomm SM6115 Snapdragon 662 Octa-core: 4×2.0 GHz Kryo 260 Gold 4×1.8 GHz Kryo 260 Silver |
| Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) | Adreno 610 |
| RAM | 4 GB |
| Memory | 128 GB (As Reviewed) 64 GB microSD slot |
| Display | 6.53-inch IPS LCD 1080 x 2340 ~395 ppi |
| Operating System | Android 10, MIUI 12 |
| Battery | Non-removable Li-Po 6000 mAh Fast charging 18W Reverse charging |
| Connectivity | Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot Bluetooth 5.0, A2DP, LE USB Type-C 2.0, USB On-The-Go |
| Camera | Main: Triple Camera: 48-megapixel, f/1.8, (wide) 2-megapixel, f/2.4, (macro) 2-megapixel, f/2.4, (depth) Video: Full 1080p HD @ 30fps Front: 8- megapixel (f/2.1) Video: Full 1080p HD @ 30fps (wide angle) Features: Panorama |
| Sensors | Fingerprint (side-mounted) Accelerometer Proximity Compass |
User Interface
The POCO M3 comes with MIUI 12 based on Android 10. This makes it equipped with a streamlined interface. It brings fresh and cool animations and a few new features compared to its predecessor the MIUI 11.
As usual with MIUI, it comes with an array of downloadable themes where you can customize ringtones, fonts and so on.
The home screen provides you the usual folders, widgets and so on that you get from any phone running on Android. The MIUI 12 offers you an app drawer that automatically categorizes the apps into categories such as Entertainment, Business and Tools. Feel free to customize the categories or if you hate the feature, simply disable it.
MIUI 12 comes with the new feature of having a floating app. For example, I can open my messaging app on top of the video I’m currently watching. If you don’t want the app to be floating, then split the screen. The one feature that annoyed me was the holding down and slowly having to slide up on the right to open the feature to close or stop all opened apps when clearing your phone. It’s a double swipe up. First swipe is the menu and second is to close apps. I did not have the patience to learn how to overcome this correctly so it might have been a user issue rather than the device itself.
The UI comes with new privacy options which is always welcomed. Users can remove location and device info when sharing photos and videos. There is also a security app that among others scans the phone for malware and helps clear up space to keep the phone running on optimum level.
The fingerprint scanner that is mounted on the right side of the phone is quick and convenient to unlock the phone with your thumb. For a side mounted scanner, it is impressing in terms of accuracy. However, we advise that you activate the Press recognition method offered by Xiaomi so as to avoid accidentally unlocking the device. This unfortunately happened to me and I sent my boss some questionable gifs via WhatsApp because of it.
Performance
The phone is powered by the latest Snapdragon 662 chipset. The GPU is Adreno 610. The SoC has an octa-core CPU and holds either 4 GB of RAM with 64 GB UFS 2.0 internal storage or 4 GB RAM with 128GB UFS 2.1 storage. Both storage expandable via microSD.
We noticed that there was a slight lag when switching in between tasks which makes us believe that the CPU performance could be bogged down by the optimisations and graphically intensive processes in MIUI 12. However, it is more likely that POCO could have afforded to increase the RAM in the POCO M3 to accommodate its MIUI. The issue is exacerbated if you decide to game on the device.
Gaming
When it comes to gaming, the POCO M3 is a drag – literally. Even though the display boasts a high resolution, there will be significant lags if you set your game above 720p. However, this is expected with the price you pay for an entry-range device. That said, POCO was touting this phone as a go to entry device when it comes to gaming – so there is a little bit of a draw back there. The only highlight here is that the phone does not heat up.
Battery Life
The POCO M3 has a massive 6,000 mAh battery and supports 18W fast charging. We’d recommended that you use the fast charger that it comes with it. If you don’t, a slow or normal charge would take quite a while to completely charge this bad boy. In our time with the phone, the battery life was its main highlight; even with 12 hours of full on usage, the battery lasted for 2 full days on a single charge.
Speakers
You will find stereo speakers at the top and bottom of the device, providing users with a balanced audio experience. Due to this, the loudness of the phone is proven when you play YouTube videos or when you take a call with your Asian mom and put her on loudspeaker. The sound quality does not disappoint.
Display
The POCO M3 has a 395ppi density thanks to its extended resolution at 2340 x 1080 pixels. For being on a budget, the M3, which has a large 6.53-inch display, is a cut above the rest in its price category when it comes to display resolution. If you’re a clumsy individual, fret not, the device is equipped with Gorilla Glass 3.
The display is easy to manoeuvre with the brightness level setting being placed at the normal drop down menu. If you’re stuck in the sunlight the whole day, switch on Sunlight Mode for a brighter display.
Camera
The POCO M3 has a triple camera setup for its main camera. The main sensor is 48-megapixel which is complemented bys a 2-megapixel macro lens and a 2-megapixel depth sensor. This triple camera set up is accompanied by a single LED flash. Before you get too excited, the camera is quite basic even though it attempts to hop on the latest trend bandwagon.
The main rear camera is 48-megapixel with f/1.8 lens, 0.8µm pixels and PDAF with night mode available. The macro camera does not have auto-focus but has f/2.4 aperture with 1.75µm pixels. On the front, you will have your 8-megapixel selfie camera with a fixed focus and f/2.1 lens. When you access the camera app, there is a flash mode, HDR mode, AI toggle and beauty effects and filters for the user to play with.
The pictures are nothing out of the ordinary and we didn’t expect them to be. The camera naturally captures and edits the photos with a soft touch but manages to keep the details needed. Overall, the camera tends to make the colours warmer than in real life.
In its different modes, the portrait seems to be more detailed than the regular setting and the 48-megapixel setting compared to the default 12-megapixel captures more detail. However, The AI tends to make the photos captures a bit off through its high contrast setting.
The camera seemed to work best with natural lighting but failed to impress when we tried to use it at night. It doesn’t capture as much details as compared to when used in the daytime. This became better with night mode on but once again, doesn’t compare to natural lighting.
There’s nothing to boast or say much about the front facing camera. It did the job without any issues but other than that, it seemed to be just a basic selfie camera.
In terms of video captured, there isn’t any 4K or 60fps. All videos are captured at 1080@30fps without stabilization. The colours was average at best and nothing out of the basic ordinary.
A Cut Above but Still Bang for Your Buck Comes With Some Sacrifices
The POCO M3 offers more than its competitors in the market with an affordable price tag. It has quite an impressive array of hardware and built in features that make the RM 599 price tag worth it. Trust and believe that you are getting your money’s worth but the phone is not without its flaws and with that price tag, you cannot expect it to be. It’s not the best phone for gaming but runs smoothly if you adjust some in app settings for a good experience. If you’re on a budget or just cannot see yourself spending four figures on any phone, the POCO M3 may just be your best bet right now!