Xiaomi’s POCO sub-brand made its global debut a few years ago with the arrival of the POCOPHONE F1, a true, flagship killer that literally cost half of the price of most of the flagships released in the same year. It was a great phone, and some may argue it was too great, as POCO’s follow-up releases never really managed to copy the phone’s success in terms of providing insane value and bang-for-your buck. Well, that’s about to change with their new POCO X3 NFC.
POCO is branding the X3 NFC as the true mid-range champion in the Philippines, and it’s hard to argue with the value proposition here. It’ll be arriving with an incredibly aggressive Php 10,990 price tag come September 9, and considering what it packs under the hood, that price is pretty insane.
Here’s what you’re getting with that SRP:
- 64-megapixel main camera – it’s probably the cheapest phone right now to come with Sony’s IMX 682 main camera that has a 64-megapixel sensor. If that wasn’t enough, it also comes with three other cameras as well – a 13-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera, 2-megapixel macro camera, and 2-megapixel depth sensor.
- 120Hz refresh rate – the POCO X3 NFC is the cheapest phone you’ll find in the Philippines today that has a 120Hz refresh rate via its 6.67-inch full HD+ LCD display. While fast refresh rate displays are available in the mid-range market via the Realme 6 and 6 Pro, those phones only have 90Hz refresh rates, not 120Hz, and retail for a little bit more than the entry-level POCO X3 NFC.
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 732G processor – the POCO X3 NFC is the first phone to come with Qualcomm’s new mid-range offering, the Snapdragon 732G. Built on an 8nm manufacturing process, the new processor has a 15% more powerful CPU compared to the 730G, and now has support for the new WiFi standard, WiFi 6. POCO will be offering two variants for the phone, both sporting 6GB of LPDDR4X RAM. The base model for the phone comes with 64GB of UFS 2.1 storage, while the more expensive model comes with 128GB of UFS 2.1.
- Massive battery and flagship-grade fast charging – phones with larger batteries are starting to become more common nowadays, and the POCO X3 NFC is no exception to that. The phone comes with a generous 5,160mAh battery with 33W fast charging via its USB Type-C connector. POCO also throws in a 33W in-box charger in the package as well so you can enjoy that really fast charging solution.
Considering all we’ve talked about already, you can see how much value you’re getting with the POCO X3 NFC. The phone starts with a Php 10,990 price tag for the 6GB/64GB version, with the 6GB/128GB variant getting a slightly higher Php 12,990 SRP.
But you can actually get the phone even cheaper in the Philippines if you buy it during the first 48-hour deal that goes live on Shopee on September 9 and 10, with an early bird discount of Php 1,000, dropping the price of the 6GB/64GB variant to just Php 9,990. That’s an insane price for an already value-packed smartphone. Even better, early buyers will get a complimentary POCO mousepad and a BlackShark Fun Cooler. The 6GB/128GB variant will be getting the same discount treatment, retailing for just Php 11,990 during the same period with buyers getting a free POCO digital pouch and a BlackShark Fun Cooler Pro.