Review Verdict: The POCO X6 Pro 5G reminds us of the brand’s early days in the Philippines with the Pocophone F1, where performance is the top priority with its powerful Dimensity 8300 processor.
Pros
-Powerful Dimensity 8300 processor
-Better display vs X5 Pro
-OIS on main camera
Cons
-Camera bump is unnecessarily huge
-HyperOS feels too similar to MIUI
-No changes to the ultra-wide, selfie cameras
The POCO X5 Pro 5G earned high praises from us last year as one of the best (if not the best) mid-range phones of 2023 with a balanced price-to-specs ratio that covers all of the essentials the typical Pinoy looks for in a smartphone. POCO wants to follow through that success with the X6 Pro 5G, which improves on several key aspects on what made the POCO X5 Pro 5G a hit.
READ MORE:
–POCO X5 Pro 5G Review Philippines: No Compromises
POCO X6 Pro 5G Review Philippines: Unboxing and Packaging Contents
POCO is consistent with the packaging of its phones, and the X6 Pro 5G is no exception. You get the usual black box with all of the branding in the brand’s trademark yellow. The side of the top cover has the key details of the X6 Pro 5G variant we have. Our review unit is a 12GB/512GB variant in black.
The inside of the box contains the usual contents, which consists of the phone itself, a black silicone case, USB-C cable, 67w charger, documentation, and a SIM ejector pin.
POCO X6 Pro 5G Philippines: Design
While it retains the same flat sides for its plastic frame, the X6 Pro 5G has a curved plastic back. It is around 0.2mm thicker than the X5 Pro 5G due to having a larger battery inside. Our review unit is in black, and the glossy finish makes it both a dust and smudge magnet. Using the included case–which has a plain dark grey finish with POCO branding–is necessary to save you from the annoyance of the back panel getting too many smudges.
Compared to its predecessor, the X6 Pro 5G has a larger camera bump that covers the entire top half of the phone. While it may be a trademark POCO design, we find it unnecessary since its triple camera setup is essentially similar to the F5 Pro–and that phone has a significantly smaller and more subtle camera bump.
The X6 Pro 5G uses the same button and port layout as the F5 Pro. These include the SIM tray being at the bottom and the power button not doubling as a fingerprint scanner since you are getting an in-display fingerprint scanner.
POCO X6 Pro 5G Review Philippines: Display
While the X6 Pro 5G has the same display size as its predecessor, POCO managed to trim the bottom bezel further to give it a more symmetrical look across all four sides. The 120hz OLED display is also better with its higher brightness range of 1800nits–which is double that of the X5 Pro 5G’s display.
Aside from being brighter especially when using it outdoors, the X6 Pro’s display supports more colors, which allows it to show HDR10 content better than the X5 Pro. Even if we’re not viewing HDR10 content, viewing KPop content on the X6 Pro 5G is more vibrant compared to its predecessor. Display resolution is slightly higher at 1.5k, making icons and texts appear sharper compared to a Full HD+ resolution.
POCO X6 Pro 5G Review Philippines: Cameras
The X6 Pro borrows the same triple rear camera setup of the F5 Pro, which is led by a 64-megapixel main shooter. While that may sound like a downgrade to the X5 Pro’s 108-megapixel shooter, the X6 Pro has OIS, making it more suitable for shooting videos even at 4K resolution.
In our brief time trying out the X6 Pro 5G’s cameras, the cameras output decent quality images. It may not be flagship killer quality, but they are good enough for the casual user who likes to take photos and videos on the go.
Unlike other mid-range phones that recently launched, the X6 Pro 5G does not employ any in-sensor zoom feature. You only get the regular 2x digital zoom option on the camera app, and the results are fairly good with good detail preservation.
The X6 Pro 5G’s 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera takes decent shots, but there are instances that it tends to overprocess images with saturated colors.
While we wished for a upgraded camera setup that may involve an actual telephoto shooter or a new ultra-wide camera, it’s clear that POCO emphasizes more on performance with the X6 Pro 5G–just like how it was during the brand’s early days with the Pocophone F1.
POCO X6 Pro 5G Review Philippines: Internals and Battery
POCO went all-in with the X6 Pro 5G’s internals. Aside from our review unit having 12GB RAM and a segment-leading 512GB of internal storage, the X6 Pro 5G is powered by a Dimensity 8300 processor.
The processor of choice is significantly more powerful than the X5 Pro 5G’s Snapdragon 778G, and Geekbench tests show that the Dimensity 8300 can give the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 run for its money despite being marketed as an upper mid-range chipset.
Our initial impressions of the Dimensity 8300 has impressed us so far. With gaming, the X6 Pro 5G performing smoothly in running both Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail at the highest graphics settings and with 60FPS enabled. Even with prolonged gaming sessions, the X6 Pro 5G’s thermals are great, with the phone barely heating up after multiple 30-minute gaming sessions.
The X6 Pro 5G is one of the few devices that comes with Xiaomi’s new HyperOS UI. Save for being based on Android 14, HyperOS feels very similar to MIUI on its current iteration. Some of the changes we noticed with HyperOS are new lock screen/always-on display options, a revamped quick control panel, and a few icon tweaks. Xiaomi has big plans for HyperOS, so we expect to see more changes in future updates.
The X6 Pro 5G’s has the usual 5000mAh battery and 67w charging combo that you can find in most POCO and Redmi phones. While we weren’t able to run battery benchmark tests, we were able to use the X6 Pro 5G for a whole day without charging. Our use involved social media and long gaming sessions, which shows that the X6 Pro 5G is a battery champ on its own.
POCO X6 Pro 5G Review Philippines: Wrap-Up and Conclusions
The X6 Pro 5G appears to be a throwback to POCO’s roots in focusing more on performance over everything else especially with its use of a Dimensity 8300 processor. This makes the X6 Pro 5G a very formidable mid-range phone for 2024 especially those who prioritize flagship-like performance.
POCO X6 Pro 5G Review Philippines: Price
The X6 Pro 5G is priced at Php 16,999 for the 8GB/256GB model and Php 19,999 for the 12GB/512GB model.
