Introduction
POCO as a brand is still at infancy-stage and its product lineup is yet to reach a reasonable level, but it has begun to churn out some smartphones (even if they are a replica of a smartphone still being sold). Poco has done a big deal to become a separate brand of its own, let’s see how much of work they are putting in making that happen.
POCO M2 Pro is a budget phone to put Poco’s hat in the budget-segment here in India as it tries to become one of the well-known brands in the market
Prices in India, Variants, Availability
Poco has nailed this area perfectly with their on-point and aggressively priced storage variants of the M2 Pro. The Poco M2 Pro starts at ₹13,999 for the 64GB variant with 4GB RAM and goes up to ₹15,999 for the 128GB storage option. Poco has chosen Flipkart as its exclusive medium to sell the device to the customers and at the time of writing, there were a number of offers on the Poco M2 Pro including an exchange offer which will effectively bring down the price of such a low-priced device even more.
Box Contents
POCO M2 Pro comes in simple yellowish packaging with standard contents in the box:
- POCO M2 Pro Device
- USB Type-C Cable
- 33W charger
- SIM Ejector tool
- Transparent Protective case
- User manual and warranty information
Specs at a glance
The Poco M2 Pro is similar to the Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro but comes with a few differences of its own, these are given in the specifications below and will be highlighted more in the review subsequently.
- Display: 6.67″ IPS LCD panel, 1080 x 2400 pixels, 395ppi
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G (8nm), Octa-core processor with Adreno 618 GPU
- Memory: 64GB/128GB (expandable)
- Storage: 4GB/6GB
- Software: Android 10 with MIUI 11.0
- Rear cameras: Quad camera setup (48MP+8MP+5MP+2MP)
- Selfie camera: 16MP
- Battery: 5000mAh
- Build: Corning Gorilla Glass on front and plastic back
- Weight: 209 g
- Dimensions: 165.8 x 76.7 x 8.8 mm
Now, let’s move ahead and see how well does the above tracks in real-life usage and if the smartphone is as good as it looks.
Design and Build
The build of Poco M2 Pro is good and has a premium feel and a bit of heft to it. The front and back is pretty much scratch-resistant thanks to the Gorilla Glass 5 front and back, but Poco also provides a standard TPU case and pre-applied screen guard to further avoid any scratches. The design is strikingly similar to the Redmi Note 9 Pro with some subtle differences such as the Poco branding on the M2 Pro for instance.
The M2 Pro is a bit on the heavy side due to the battery, it took quite some time to get used to the device. The power button is a bit recessed and is placed conveniently on the right side of the phone which makes unlocking the device very easy while using one hand only. The volume buttons are placed on top of the power button of the device which makes it unreachable in one-handed use. Interestingly, the device also has an infrared sensor for additional functionality as a remote control for devices such as TV, AC, etc.
The Poco M2 Pro comes in the following colour options Out Of The Blue, Green and Greener, and Two Shades of Black. Out of these, the Blue and the Black look good on the device.
Display
The Poco M2 Pro comes with a decent IPS LCD display panel which is a 6.67-inch panel and has a hole-pinch cutout for the selfie camera. The display itself is good with the colours when viewed from a straight point. This can be tweaked a bit from the settings app. The display is bright enough to use under sunlight thanks to the 480nits of peak brightness of the panel. Also, there is HDR10 support on the display which makes this display one of the best under ₹20,000 to view media content on.
The only thing that this phone misses out on is a 90Hz panel which would have made this smartphone smoother to operate but this is just one of the factors where Realme 6 comes out on top.
The screen itself is strong and resistive to scratches and stuff thanks to the Gorilla Glass 5 glass front but daily usage may take a toll and a screen guard may be required to help with that.
Performance
The performance churned out by the M2 Pro is just fantastic considering the price-point. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G is more than up for the task and this shows up while using the device. The RAM management is too aggressive but pinning the apps helped to keep the most used apps in the memory. Even with a heavy skin like MIUI, the phone did not stutter or lag for even a second.
Read: Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro Quick Review
The gaming experience on this device takes us back to reality and reminds us that this is just a budget phone. The performance in games like COD Mobile, Asphalt 9 is great and we were able to play for an hour straight but on medium to high settings only. Besides that, the Poco M2 Pro is great at taking calls, surfing the web, scrolling endlessly on social media sites, and binging on content. The storage is also fast on this one with UFS2.1 storage which is a bonus boost for the performance.
Software
One thing to note is there are no ads to be seen on this device as is the case with most Xiaomi devices. Also, MIUI 12 is very well optimized to run on this device which is great from a performance standpoint.
Cameras
The rear cameras are a set of a quad-camera setup similar to the Redmi Note 9 Pro but the main sensor is swapped out for a 48MP sensor. There is the same camera app as the Redmi Note 9 Pro which means almost similar camera performance can be seen in the Poco M2 Pro. The only difference made by Poco here is the availability of Night Mode in the selfie camera. The video recording on the Poco M2 Pro is a great experience with the presence of PRO mode and the ability to shoot in LOG format, which helps us grade the colours of the video in post-production.
The photography on the M2 Pro is a mixture of some hits and some misses. The rear camera’s performance in daylight is great as the shots captured are great with a balance of sharpness and colour in it.
The depth and the output of the macro mode okay-ish photos. In low-light, the primary camera struggles to output photos with optimum exposure and details. The night mode also doesn’t help with this and fails to make things better.
Battery
The Poco M2 Pro has a massive battery, one that is long-lasting even with any kind of usage. The 5000mAh battery easily lasts an entire day with some charges spaced at a period of a day and a half at some points in our usage. The phone handled our media content binging spree pretty well and the gaming test went great as well. The bundled 33W charger ensured fast charging times and charged up to 50 per cent within 30 minutes. The great thing about the charging in this device is that it did not heat up at all (the device was not in use at that time).
But in conclusion, the performance offered by this device is greatly complimented by the battery backup provided in this smartphone which makes this phone easily undergo any kind of heavy usage and still some charge is remaining in the battery.
Audio, Connectivity, Biometrics
Poco M2 Pro comes with a pretty loud speaker on the bottom but you might feel the overall sound output levels to be lower than expected. The earphones plugging in is supported by the USB Type-C port as well as the 3.5mm audio jack, which is rarely found these days in the mid-range devices.
Keeping up with the trend, Poco M2 Pro features a side-mounted fingerprint scanner which doubles as a power button on the right side. This is very common in a lot of mid-segment devices and quite comfortable to use. The face unlock feature just adds to the security of the device.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- 5000 mAh battery, 33W fast charging
- 120Hz refresh rate display
- P2i splash-proof coating
Cons:
- Same design as Redmi Note 9 Pro
- FHD+ display instead of AMOLED
Poco M2 Pro is a great smartphone for those who want to buy one that is huge on features and a bit less on the pricing. The M2 Pro’s performance, battery, and display are the areas where it shines bright while the camera department is in need of some work to shine. There is some polishing needed to make the cameras usable in any type of lighting.
The display is large and bright to watch content, play games and surf the web easily. The performance is butter smooth; any task thrown on it can be easily handled by the Snapdragon 720G.
The battery is huge and can last very long in any type of usage. The fast charging is great and gets you up and going in no time.
The cameras are okay in daylight be it photos or videos, but the low-light and night mode performance keeps us wanting better from the Poco M2 Pro but some tweaks in the camera’s algorithm can fix it via a software update.
In conclusion, the Poco M2 Pro is a testament that Poco is really trying to make a mark on the market and is making a name for itself. While the Poco M2 Pro is a great attempt to do this, the whole rebranding a smartphone thing will make the market more diverse but will also fail to make Poco separate from Xiaomi, its parent company.
There are many great things in this device and we are hoping that Poco works on all the aspects of the smartphone in the next generation of this device.
