The POCO X2 is a gaming phone that offers good photographic capabilities and comes at a budget price, says Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com.
The battle for best mid-range budget phones continues as POCO, the Xiaomi sub-brand, launches the POCO X2 as a direct competitor to its Chinese rival, the Realme X2, which was launched in September 2019.
The POCO X2, a rebranded version of the Redmi K30 which was launched in China last December, will be available online in India from February 11.
Let's see what is packed into this mid-range budget phone.
Design and Display
Unlike the plastic-bodied POCO F1, the POCO X2 follows the glass design format.
It is protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 in front and has a curved back.
The finger print sensor is fused into the power button, which is placed on the phone's left side.
The POCO X2 has a full screen 6.67” LCD display with 20:9 display ratio.
The phone's selling point is its display, which has a 120Hz refresh rate, the first phone under the Rs 16,000 price range to offer this feature.
The 120Hz refresh rate should give a smooth gaming and UI experience. But it won't be consistent as it would be dynamically toggled between to 60Hz, 90Hz and 120Hz to conserve the battery.
Again, for gaming, the 120Hz refresh rate will be available only on selected titles, like Shadow Fight 2, Alto's Odyssey, Mortal Kombat, Real Racing 3 and more.
The POCO X2 does not have a notch or pop-up selfie camera. Its dual front cameras are placed in circles in the display; POCO calls it in-screen cameras.
The main quad cameras are placed on the rear top centre of the phone.
Camera
The main camera has the new 64MP Sony IMX686 sensor with an f/1.89 aperture.
We expect it to perform very well as the previous generation 48MP Sony IMX486, which was embedded in flagship as well as budget phones, delivered superb results.
The second, a 2MP macro camera with an f/2.4 aperture, supports auto focus.
The 8MP ultra-wide camera has a 120 degree field of view and an aperture of f/2.2.
The last in the set is a 2MP depth sensing camera for the background blur effects in portrait shots.
The POCO X2 allows you the option of capturing images in RAW, that can be post processed to enhance for exposure and colour attributes.
You can shoot video up to 4K resolution and slow motion up to 960fps.
Camera shakes are taken care by the Electronic Image Stabilizer (EIS).
The front 20MP camera is supported by a 2MP camera for depth sensing that allows you to shoot portraits with bokeh or background blur.
Hardware
The POCO X2 is being marketed as a gaming phone on a mid-range budget.
It is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 730G SoC based on the 8nm process, which is designed to deliver higher performance at low power consumption.
Plus, it is embedded with Adreno 618 GPU to boost the gaming experience while keeping tap on power consumption.
The heat generated while gaming and usage is taken care by POCO's LiquidCool technology.
To back the processing, the phone will be available in three variants as 8GB+256GB, 6GB+128GB, 6GB+64GB RAM (memory) + ROM (storage). It will be priced at Rs 15,999, Rs 16,999 and Rs 19,999 respectively.
The phone also supports storage expansion using microSD in a hybrid SIM slot.
Battery
The phone is embedded with a 4500mAh battery that can be charged from 0 to 100 per cent in 68 minutes using the 27W fast charger included in the box.
Ports and Sensors
It has a Type-C port for charging and data transfer.
It also retains the 3.5mm audio port to connect your old ear/head phones.
The POCO X2 also includes the IR blaster, which was missing in the POCO F1.
Verdict
This is a gaming phone that has good photographic capabilities and comes at a budget price.
With the starting price of Rs 15,999, its looks and its specifications, the POCO X2 is a steal deal.
