POCO X3 NFC was unveiled last month. Now the smartphone is getting released in countries. It is also launched in Pakistan with a price tag of Rs.41,999(~$257) in a single variant of 6GB RAM & 128GB internal storage. The smartphone literally just blew everyone with the specifications it offered. But with this great pricing, it seemed that the company might have comprised in some aspects. It will be clear only once we have the phone for testing. Here is the unboxing and my impressions of the POCO X3 NFC. I have also tested the device for a few days, hence I can give you a better idea of how the device will perform.
POCO X3 NFC Unboxing
Let’s start with the unboxing of the POCO X3 NFC. The device comes packed in a black colored box, which looks pretty neat. There aren’t many details on the box except for the branding and the emphasis on Google App support. Opening up the box, you will be greeted by a pamphlet having the paperwork, a transparent case, and a sim injection tool. It’s always good to have a case out of the box, thumbs up for that.
Moving further into the box, you will get the device covered in plastic. And below the phone is a 33W Fast Charger with USB Type-A to Type-C cable. The charger has a red accent on the port resembling the chargers which we get with the OnePlus devices. This is all you get in the box. Unfortunately, there were no tattoos or stickers like the European version got.
Design
The device comes in two color options: Cobalt Blue and Grey. I have gone with the Cobalt Blue Color option. The POCO X3 NFC inherits a different, never seen before design language. The POCO X3 NFC comes with a cropped circle module housing a quad camera setup. There is kind of a race track design running below the camera and also features a massive POCO branding. Well, it’s the first time I have ever seen a branding this big. However, the POCO branding changes color depending upon which angle you see it.
The back panel is glossy however made up of plastic. The hand-feel isn’t that premium as of a glass back. However, the device is sturdy. It weighs a lot. 220g to be precise. Well, the device has good weight distribution. However if you are laying down and using your phone, and it accidentally falls down at your face, then get a med-kit ready.
The camera has a lot of controversies. Many people didn’t like the shape, and me too. I wasn’t a big fan of this kind of design. However, it is different. The smartphone companies are launching a lot of phones that we are getting the same design on every other phone. This is different. And to be honest, after putting the transparent case, the phone resembles OnePlus 8T.
On the right side of the device, you will get a side-mounted fingerprint scanner together with the home button. This makes the rear look cleaner as well as the side-mounted fingerprint position is very comfortable. On the left side, you have your hybrid sim slot. The top houses an IR Blaster, a speaker, and a mic. On the bottom, you will find a USB Type-C Port together with a 3.5mm headphone jack and another speaker.
Display
The display is a huge 6.67-inch with a resolution of FHD+. The technology used is IPS LCD and not AMOLED. However, the company has given a 120Hz refresh rate. This is the highest refresh rate you can get at this price in the market. Now, the main question is if the 120Hz refresh rate is a marketing gimmick?
Absolutely not. Coming from a 60Hz refresh rate device, It is a breath-taking experience using a 120Hz high refresh rate. The scrolling is buttery smooth whether it’s a home screen or social media apps. I can assure you after using a 120Hz refresh rate you cannot go back to 60Hz. Talking about the display quality, it is very good. The brightness is satisfactory and is visible in outdoor conditions. The colors are punchy, thanks to software optimization. POCO used very saturated color icons to make it feel like an AMOLED panel, genius!
For the topping, there is a very small dot hole notch. The notch is smaller than on some Realme smartphones at this price range. The bezels are thin and the chin isn’t big as-well. The display is very big and beautiful. No complaints about the display what-so-ever.
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Camera
The POCO X3 NFC uses a quad-camera setup comprising of a Sony 64-megapixel primary, 13-megapixel ultra-wide, and dual 2-megapixel macro and depth sensors. The Sony 64-megapixel shooter is a step ahead of Samsung’s 64-megapixel. The camera setup resembles the one of Mi Note 10 Lite which was priced higher. You get a lot of modes in the camera application including Night Mode, Dedicated 64-megapixel mode, Vlog Mode, Front & Back, Clone, and a lot of filters as-well.
Talking about the videography, the POCO X3 NFC can record at 1080p/60fps and 4K at 30fps. On the selfie side, you will get a 20 MP, f/2.2 sensor that can record at 1080p at 30fps. The front camera isn’t the best in this price range, but it performs well in outdoor conditions. Moving to the GCam support, you can easily download support GCam and it works well with the POCO X3 NFC.
Performance
The POCO X3 NFC comes with Snapdragon 732G processor. It is a newly launched processor and serves as a successor to Snapdragon 720G. Although, the performance difference here isn’t a lot. But still, it slightly improved the chipset. It is based on 8nm architecture making it very power efficient. Thanks to the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, you can get a lot of custom ROM support and also GCam. I got a score of around 270K+ in AnTuTU benchmarks while the company claimed a score of 300,000+.
Coming to gaming, the device can support any game you throw at it. However, the graphic settings for games were not as expected. PUBG Mobile can run at Smooth with Extreme FPS and goes up to HDR on Helio G90T chipset. But the POCO X3 NFC was limited to Smooth with Ultra FPS and goes up to the only HD. However, using the GFXTool fixes the problem and you can enjoy PUBG at 60fps stable.
The phone comes with 6GB RAM making day to day tasks and multi-tasking buttery smooth. I faced no lag using the 120Hz refresh rate, and the chipset can handle the high refresh rate. Though, I will say the many applications are not optimized for the chipset yet. Especially games, even though the chipset is capable.
Battery
The phone comes with a massive 5160 mAh battery. Moreover, there is the support of 33W Fast Charging. You can charge your phone to 100% in just a little more than an hour. One thing to note is that the display is 120Hz. And it should mean that the battery life isn’t as good as low refresh rate smartphones, right?
But that’s not the case with POCO. The POCO X3 NFC adapts the refresh rate according to the sceneries so you will not get 120Hz always but only when the media you’re watching supports it. And with medium usage including social media surfacing and some intensive gaming on Wi-Fi, the phone gave me a screen on time of 6 hours and 19 Minutes. With LTE, it gave me around 5 hours and 30 Minutes of the screen on time. I would say that the battery life is really good thanks to the 8nm based chipset even at 120Hz refresh rate.
Software
POCO X3 NFC comes with MIUI 12 For POCO out of the box. It is based on Android 10 OS. The company promised 3 years of MIUI updates, I hope we also get Android updates on time. The device comes with ads, yes. But you can disable them for settings, and you can get an ad-free experience. The software comes with some bloatware pre-installed. But the features are very good including a native dark mode.
Just after a day of purchasing, I got a software update for system performance and optimizations. I noticed some slow loading times in the camera app, and it seems like an optimization issue. Other than that, MIUI 12 is very stable and is feature-rich.
POCO X3 NFC – Who Should Buy It?
POCO X3 NFC is for those looking for a good performance-centric device. Other than performance, the POCO X3 NFC also doesn’t disappoint in other segments. From the display to the camera, everything is good. The device has some very good stereo speakers, a plus point for IR Blaster, and doesn’t forget the 33W charging. Hence, POCO X3 NFC is undoubtfully a very good device. Some markets including India and China got Redmi K30 (POCO X2), and the upgrade isn’t big. But for European and some Asian markets, the POCO X3 NFC was a device we all were waiting for.
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