Rumors that the POCO C50 could be launched in India have been floating around for a while. After multiple rumors and leaks, the brand has finally caught the wraps about its new low-end phone. It arrives in the Indian market today and it appears to be just a rebranded Redmi A1+. Yes, another sign of POCO’s usual strategy of rebranding phones. The phone arrives at a very attractive price tag of $78 (INR 6499). However, some sacrifices have been made, some of which will keep smartphone fans away. However, it might be a decent option for the elderly or kids who need a basic smartphone.
POCO C50 specifications
The POCO C50 has a 6.52-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1600 x 720 pixels. It’s nice to see the IPS display here, but since it’s low-end, beware of the thick bezels! The device has a punch hole for the selfie camera – it’s a traditional design for budget phones nowadays. The only downside to this panel is its 60Hz refresh rate. But the processor inside the phone won’t be able to handle a higher refresh rate, so 60Hz seems to be the better decision here.
The POCO C50’s Achilles’ heel is in the performance department. The phone packs the old MediaTek Helio A22 12nm SoC. It is a quad-core 12nm chipset from 2018 that has 4 x ARM Cortex-A53 clocked at up to 2GHz. It may suffice for modest use such as browsing the web and watching media content. But you need to consider the lite version of some apps. The cheaper variant brings 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, while the higher one brings 3GB of RAM. You obviously get a micro SD card slot for storing media files.
Obviously, with limited performance, we get Android 12 Go Edition. The phone runs a proprietary branch of MIUI, like the Redmi A1+. In terms of optics, the POCO C50 packs a dual camera setup. There is an 8MP main camera and a textured depth sensor. On the front, we get 5 megapixels for selfies and video calls. POCO C50 draws its power from a massive 5000mAh battery which charges at 10W. Moreover, the phone has a USB Type-C port, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a fingerprint scanner on the back.
Pricing and availability
It’s probably too hard on my part to say that POCO can be easily skipped. The phone will surely find its audience, after all, some users need a display at this price to get into the world of smartphones. Yes, that’s right, but what’s the point of launching this phone when the Redmi A1+ is already available? It’s the same phone with a different logo. Perhaps the only great show here is the Early Bird show. POCO will have an introductory price of $6,249 ($75) for the base model, and INR 6,999 ($85) for the 3GB RAM version. The first sale will be on January 10, and after the first days, the prices will be INR 6499 ($78) and INR 7299 ($88) respectively. Yes, it’s basically a $3 discount when we convert it into dollars.
POCO C50 is the brand’s first launch in 2023. Now, all eyes are on the upcoming POCO X5 series.