Poco X2 Launched: The Kind of Successor That We’ve Been Hoping For?

The Poco lineup was introduced by Xiaomi back in 2018 and at the time of its release, the Poco F1 made time stand still. It was an instant hit – due to flagship grade hardware offered at a fairly modest pricing. So, that name stuck around for quite sometime and in time its been made into a new entity. Well, over the month or so, we’ve been hearing a lot about Poco’s new upcoming phone.

Well, the rumors have turned out to be true. And it’s not just that particular rumor that’s come true. Do you remember another rumor that indicated that Poco X2 was actually a rebranded K30? Apparently, that is true as well. The Poco X2 is actually the rebranded version of 4G Redmi K30 variant for everywhere else outside china.

Now, the rebranded Redmi K30 aka Poco X2, has just been launched in India for a starting price of Rs 15,999 for 6/64GB variant. If everything goes well, the phone should be launched in Nepal within the next month or so at a price of around Rs 30k-35k. Now, is the Poco X2 the kind of successor that we’ve been hoping for? Well, that’s totally subjective but before we have that discussion, let us first go through its features.

Poco X2: Specs and Features

The X2 is a rebranded edition of the 4G K30 variant that we talked about a couple of weeks ago. The phone doesn’t exactly have bleeding-edges specs or features and is more of a disappointment really. Why, exactly? Well, it’s basically because K30 or Poco X2 was supposed to be the next successor to

Design

Now, the X2’s external layout seems to have changed quite a bit. The rear now features a circular halo that encloses a vertical quad camera setup. Over to the front, the all-display setup has been replaced by a pill shaped dual camera module. Xiaomi mentioned in the launch event, that the all-display setup was removed for further durability.

Also, a side-mounted fingerprint scanner has replaced the in-display fingerprint scanner due to one particular reason- an IPS LCD screen.

Display

Yup, you heard right. The Poco X2 replaces the AMOLED screen setup from K20 by a 6.67” IPS LCD capacitive screen. It sports a 20:9 aspect ratio, 91% screen-to-body ratio, and 1080 x 2400 pixels resolution. But hey, don’t get upset yet, the screen maybe an IPS LCD panel but it’s got a 120Hz refresh rate which makes the setup quite appealing for now. With the 120Hz panel, even the animations are now smooth as a butter.

Apparently, the refresh rate can be switched in between 60Hz and 120Hz. But that does not include the 90Hz, which is kind of a bummer. Not much is known about the screen and I guess for now, I’ll leave that part for the actual review.

Internals

Underneath the glass exterior, the X2 comes with the gaming-oriented Snapdragon 730G processor with 2 major cores clocked at 2.2Ghz and the rest at 1.8Ghz. Pairing the processor with 6/8GB RAM should’ve given the processor a huge boost. And with 128/256GB internals you’ve got a lot of space to work around with.

On the software front, the phone will be getting Android 10 with MIUI 11 on top. As for biometrics, the in-display fingerprint sensor is gone and a side-mounted scanner is placed, which maybe a little less gimmicky but fast and accurate nonetheless.

Camera

The camera side is where things get a little bit interesting. The rear halo shaped design encloses a vertical quad camera array with the primary sensor, the new 64MP Sony IMX 686 sensor. The sensor still uses pixel binning technology whereby 4 pixels are combined to improve low-light photography. The sensor is a little larger which allows more intake of light thus could make up for better photos altogether.

Following that, is the regular 8MP with a 120° FOV, a 2MP dedicated macro camera and a 2MP depth sensor with the exclusion of a telephoto lens this time around. The frontal pill setup encases a 20MP selfie camera with a 2MP depth sensor for portrait shots.

Battery

In order to power up the behemoth setup, the phone comes equipped with a colossal sized 4500mAh battery. This bad boy can handle the entire load pressed by the device with ease and probably get you more than a day’s power in a single go. Even if the capacity empties up, there’s no worries at all cause the box comes with a 18W fast charger that should juice up the phone in no time at all.

Initial Thoughts

The Poco X2 is a pretty solid device. It’s got just the right gears to make it the perfect machine. But still I am a little disappointed with the device. You see, deep down I was kind of hoping that the Poco X2 would be the kind of phone that’d even put the K20 Pro to shame. But I guess we’ll just have to wait for the K30 Pro to make an entrance for that.

Anyways, the phone is still remarkably fine and is definitely worth checking out. Now, at the moment its direct competitor is the Realme X2. Both phones go head to head and the only deciding factor between the two phones is between the screen quality. The Realme X2 provides a Super AMOLED screen with a 60Hz refresh rate while the Poco X2 provides an IPS display with a 120Hz refresh rate. So, which one would be better? Well, that’s subjective. I’d honestly prefer the 120Hz for a more smoother experience, which one would you?