Poco X3 Pro Review: Awesome Gaming Performance on Budget

Poco F1 shocked the world when it launched for a mid-range price while including a flagship chipset. After the F1, POCO couldn’t follow up with a similar mantra until Poco X3 Pro.

Poco X3 Pro price in Nepal is Rs. 31,999 (6/128GB) and Rs. 36,999 (8/256GB). For the price, it brings a flagship chipset and provides an excellent gaming experience.

So, let me tell you all about it in my review of the Poco X3 Pro.

PocoX3 Pro Review

Design

• 165.3 x 76.8 x 9.4 mm, 215 g
• Hybrid Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)
• IP53 dust and splash protection

POCO X3 Pro looks exactly the same as the Poco X3 NFC. The exterior is almost untouched as it still has a plastic back and an aluminum frame.

On the rear, the rectangular camera module sits on top of circular graphics to give it an impression of a circular camera setup. Right below, it has a POCO logo etched on an embossed vertical line.

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On the front, Poco X3 Pro has a hole-punch display with minimum bezels and all-around. The chin is also quite thin and it also gets the IP53 dust and splash protection.

Compared to the Poco X3 Pro NFC, it is slightly thin at 9.4mm and it is also lighter at 215g.

Display

• 6.67 inches IPS LCD
• 1080 x 2400 pixels
• 120Hz
• Corning Gorilla Glass 6

Poco X3 Pro has been slapped with the same 6.67 inches FHD+ IPS LCD display as the Poco X3 NFC. However, the protection has been upgraded to Gorilla Glass 6 now.

The colors are good even though its an IPS panel and the brightness is just good enough.

Then there’s the smoothness of the 120Hz refresh rate but not without a hitch. You will occasionally notice some ghosting while scrolling. Also, the touch response is not flawless on the Poco X3 Pro.

The high refresh rate displays in mid-range phones are not perfect and this is one of the examples. You will easily notice the difference in smoothness if you have used a high refresh rate panel on a flagship smartphone.

Performance

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 860 (7 nm)
• Octa-core (1×2.96 GHz Kryo 485 Gold & 3×2.42 GHz Kryo 485 Gold & 4×1.78 GHz Kryo 485 Silver)
• Adreno 640
• 128GB 6GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM, UFS 2.1

Now, this is where the Poco X3 Pro shows its pedigree. Equipped with the Snapdragon 860 chipset from Qualcomm, Poco X3 is a performance beast.

Along with the 6/8GB RAM, the Poco X3 Pro provides very good performance. It breezes through normal tasks like browsing, UI navigation, and even multitasking.

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But I was surprised by its gaming performance. I enjoyed PUBG Mobile at HDR graphics and extreme fps settings with very minimal frame drops. It manages a very good frame rate even while gaming for more than an hour. Similarly, COD Mobile also runs smoothly at maxed-out settings. To make it even better, the Poco X3 Pro does not overheat while gaming.

Camera

• Rear Camera: 48 MP, f/1.8, (wide), 1/2.0″, 0.8µm, PDAF48 MP, f/1.8, (wide), 1/2.0″, 0.8µm, PDAF
  • 8 MP, f/2.2, 119˚ (ultrawide), 1.0µm
  • 2 MP, f/2.4, (depth)
  • 2 MP, f/2.4, (macro)
  • Video: 4K@30fps, 1080p@30/120fps, 720p@960fps; gyro-EIS
• Front Camera: 20 MP, f/2.2, (wide), 1/3.4″, 0.8µm
  • Video: 1080p@30fps

Poco X3 Pro has a quad-camera setup on the rear with a 48MP main sensor, an 8MP ultrawide angle sensor, a 2MP macro sensor, and a 2MP depth sensor.

Instead of the 64MP Sony IMX 682 sensor on the Poco X3 NFC, the X3 Pro gets a 48MP IMX 582 sensor. Not only that but the 13MP ultrawide sensor has also been dropped in a favour of the 8MP sensor.

NORMAL PHOTOS

The main sensor captures some good photos in daylight with good details and a decent dynamic range. The colors look slightly oversaturated and the Auto HDR doesn’t work well.

The main sensor performs well most of the time with average details.

If you want more detail then you can also capture photos with the 48MP mode but I prefer the normal mode to the 48MP mode.

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ULTRAWIDE PHOTOS

The 8MP ultrawide camera on the Poco X3 Pro is a clear downgrade compared to the X3 NFC.

The ultrawide angle photos have decent details but the dynamic range is not that good. The photos will retain noise even in daylight and the shadows don’t retain a good amount of detail.

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LOW LIGHT

As for the low-light images, they are acceptable with good exposure and nice colors. The night mode helps in fixing the highlights and getting more details in the shadows.

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PORTRAIT AND MACRO MODE

Portraits from the Poco X3 Pro are nice with good background blur. The edge detection is also nice but it is a hit or miss with complex subjects. But the photos might get blown out in high dynamic range situations.

As for the Macro photos, they are barely usable.

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FRONT CAMERA

The front camera is decent at best with good color and contrast.

The detail on the face seems fine but selfies may turn out washed out in some situations. As for selfies portraits, they are on par with the performance of other mid-rangers.

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Video

Poco X3 Pro can capture up to 4k 30fps from the main sensor but the quality is not great. You can notice some noise even in daylight but the dynamic range and stabilization are decent.

The ultrawide angle sensor doesn’t support 4k and the 1080p footage from the ultrawide camera does not look good. They lack detail and the dynamic range is also poor.

Battery

• Non-removable Li-Po 5160mAh battery
• Fast charging 33W

X3 Pro has a 5160mAh battery which is more than enough for a day of usage. Under moderate usage, I was still left with some battery in the tank at the end of the day. But, it was just enough for a day of heavy usage.

On average I was getting around 6-7 hours of screen on time with the Poco X3 Pro.

As for charging, Poco claims that the 33W fast charger can take it from 0 to 100 in just 60 mins. But it took me somewhere around 75 mins to charge it from 0 to 100.

Fingerprint Unlock and Speaker

The side-mounted fingerprint scanner works as well as any phone out there. It is quick and consistent.

Poco X3 Pro gets a stereo speaker setup and it’s a good one. It is loud and the clarity is also fine.

Software

Poco X3 Pro is running on MIUI 12.5 on top of Android 11.

The experience is the same as you find on any Xiaomi or Poco phone. And with that said, there are some new changes with the MIUI 12.5. With this version of MIUI, you get the new split-style control center. But, I prefer the standard one.

Furthermore, it comes with other standard features like raise to wake and double-tap to wake.

Conclusion

Poco X3 Pro is one of the best phones out there if you are a gamer. So, you should definitely buy this phone if you are looking for a phone with top-notch gaming performance.

ALSO READ: Poco Mobiles Price in Nepal: Features and Specs

Things like display and battery are also fine but you can easily get an AMOLED display at this price tag right now. However, its camera performance is not as good as some other phones in this segment. So, if you can sacrifice the camera quality for an awesome gaming experience, you should definitely go for this phone.

What do you think about the POCO X3 Pro? Let us know in the comments.