More than a year has passed since Shiomi introduced the Poco F3 5G and now the next generation Poco F4 5G has begun to be sold worldwide and in Israel as well. The new model gets a more up-to-date design and an update of the photo system so that it now also supports optical stabilization. The battery also gets updated and supports faster charging, but apart from these two major changes, you will not find many other differences between the two.
The camera update is probably the most necessary of the updates that Shiomi brings to the new model, since the Poco F3 cameras did not show exceptional performance. The new generation can therefore be expected to produce better photo results, which is exactly why we took the device for testing.
What’s in the box?
- Poco F4 6GB + 128GB phone
- Flexible transparent back cover
- Pin to remove the SIM drawer
- USB-C adapter for 3.5 mm (for headphones)
- USB-A to USB-C data cable
- Fast Charger (67W)
Poco F4 5G (Photo: Ronen Mendzicki)
Poco F4 5G (Photo: Ronen Mendzicki)
Screen and multimedia
Although this is a newer generation device, Shiomi has not changed the specs of the screen, but that is not a bad thing. The Foucault F3 screen was impressive enough to get me a score of 9 out of 10, and the new generation does not drop from it, and even adds support for Dolby Vision, for those who really need that extra watching movies on Netflix on a phone screen.
This is a 6.67-inch screen, with AMOLED panel + Full HD resolution with 1080 × 2400 pixels, maximum brightness of 1300nits and support for standards + HDR10 and Dolby Vision, which also offers a dynamic refresh rate of up to 120 Hz, with the option of manual setting Between 60 and 120 Hz, and Gorilla Glass 5 protection.
In practice, the brightness is high and satisfying at work both indoors and outdoors, and as in the previous generation, this time too I found high contrast and rich colors and made the experience of using the device excellent. The biometric fingerprint sensor also performs quite well and accurately, and as in the previous generation, this time too it is integrated in the lock button located on the frame of the device.
Added to this are a pair of speakers that work together in stereo, and the two are powerful enough to allow you to enjoy playing or watching movies as long as the environment is not too noisy. The quality of the speakers is also pretty good, but at the highest volume level I noticed jarring in some places (Hey Hey by Eric Clapton for example was ruined for me).
Performance and battery
It is difficult to expect any change when it comes to the same hardware that appears in both generations of devices. The Snapdragon 870 has become popular in Shiomi’s devices and is mainly used so that it can set more and more phones as flagship devices.
While the SD870 does a very good job for gaming and the device in general, the software side still continues to obscure the experience here. This is something I have noticed in many of Shiomi’s devices, and it’s a shame, but until the company introduces a fix for poor memory management, we’ll probably continue to experience difficulties switching between apps and even operating an app in general from time to time.
The battery in the Poco F4 comes with a capacity of 4,500mAh with support for charging 67 watts via a USB-C connection. This is a battery capacity similar to the one we saw in the previous generation and this time too it is a good use experience, with a full working day in light-medium use.
The update that comes to the battery on the charging side contributes to the overall experience of using the device, when within 20 minutes we will get a charge of about 60% of the battery (compared to about 35 minutes on the Poco F3) and within about 45 minutes we will reach a full charge. In the previous generation.
The cameras
Composition of the photo set of the Poco F4 5G:
- Main camera: 64-megapixel sensor, with 1.4-micron pixels (combined with 4 pixels close to 1), optical stabilization (OIS), f / 1.79 aperture key and support for 4K resolution movie at 60 frames per second.
- Secondary camera: An 8-megapixel sensor designed to take 119-degree wide-angle images through an f / 2.2 aperture key.
- Macro cameraMacro sensor with 2 megapixel resolution.
- Selfie camera: 20 megapixel sensor and aperture key of f / 2.45.
Although the previous generation 48-megapixel camera was replaced with a 64-megapixel camera with support for optical stabilization (OIS) in the new generation, we again found the shortcomings of the Foucault F3 camera in the F4 model as well.
The pictures in good daylight look good, although the camera does not cope well with the color red. A decrease in lighting conditions this time also affects the final results and dark areas in the image can also be seen in photography in front of strong lighting sources, when while shooting at night the amount of details decreases significantly.
Photos from the Poco F4 5G (Photo: Ronen Mendzicki)
In the camera app you can find an option to apply the AI mode, it will be able to automatically detect the scenes you will shoot and adjust the shooting settings accordingly, but it is mostly about creating richer and less natural colors, which I personally like less.
The selfie camera shows a performance similar to those we saw in the previous generation as well, with a high level of detail of the subject and not bad separation at all while shooting in portrait mode, although some misses can be seen at the ends of the hair.
Bottom line – what we thought of the Poco F4 5G
Shiomi is trying to mark a ‘V’ on some points with the Poco F4 5G device, in order to be attractive for its price. The AMOLED screen with the high refresh rate does it well, the speakers also do a pretty good job and adding the faster charge to the battery makes the use of the device more pleasant.
One side that Shiomi fails to score is the photography side, and the addition of the optical stabilization does not contribute to the end result we got in taking photos from the main array.
In a market where competition is great, and only expanding, a low price tag and glittering specifications are no longer enough to provide the full experience. If once we were enthusiastic about hardware that should be in flagship models and also reaches for devices at much lower prices, today we are already expecting much more in return for that price, or simply a lower price for what we get.
It’s ok to take advantage of the attractiveness of chipsets like the Snapdragon 870, which is probably much cheaper than the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and still provides great value, but it’s not enough to just display data like OIS on paper when we get disappointing results when we look at the photos we took.
Price: Starting at $ 329 (Approx. NIS 1,340 plus VAT on personal imports, sale until July 16 and then $ 379)
Click here for more information and to purchase at AliExpress
Price in Israel (Official importer): NIS 1,999
The packaging and its contents
Design and construction quality
Hardware and performance
7.9
General score … and not necessarily average
What we loved
- screen
- Battery and charging
- Performence
What less did we like
- Software and interface
- Cameras
- Speakers are slightly jarring at high volume
Where to buy and what are the prices?
- Official importer: 0 shekels
- Open market: 0 shekels
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