The POCO X6 Pro 5G remains an excellent mid-range smartphone for 2024, thanks to its aggressive pricing and tech specs.
It’s been half a year since the POCO X6 Pro was launched in January. You’re probably wondering if it’s still worth buying. Here, we presented insights to help you decide if this POCO smartphone is a bang for your buck.
Disclaimer: This article has been written using the Yellow POCO X6 Pro 5G 12+512 GB variant. The device is running Android 14 with HyperOS version 1.0.9.0 UNLMIXM at the time of writing. The views and opinions are expressed solely by the author.
Specifications
The POCO X6 Pro 5G is an upper mid-ranger with flagship-like potential. Of course, the brand cuts a few things here and there to make this smartphone competitive in the market.
Here are what makes this handset a good pick half a year after its initial launch:
Display | 6.67” AMOLED, 1.5K, 120Hz |
Processor | MediaTek Dimensity 8300 Ultra |
Graphics | Mali-G615 |
Main Camera | 64 + 8 + 2MP |
Selfie Camera | 16MP |
Battery | 5,000mAh, 67W |
Connectivity | Dual-SIM 5G, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.4, NFC |
Display
The POCO X6 Pro 5G features a 6.67 inches AMOLED display panel with a resolution of 1220 x 2712 or 1.5K. Despite the flat screen, the bezels are thin and the visuals are gorgeous.
The 120 Hz refresh rate makes everything buttery smooth but it can drain a lot of power. Meaning, browsing on social media apps is like playing a mobile game. Sadly, there’s no 90 Hz option in the Settings.
What you can do is choose 120 Hz under the Display settings and pick which apps should run on that refresh rate in the option below. Some apps that don’t use high refresh rates are TikTok and YouTube.
Dolby Vision and HDR10+ are also what make the display fantastic. You can watch Netflix content at the best possible quality. POCO X6 Pro 5G supports 1080p or higher resolution on Netflix and other streaming platforms, thanks to L1 security level.
Here are the other interesting features of the phone’s display:
- 1,200 nits on High Brightness mode
- 1,800 nits on peak brightness
- 480 Hz touch sampling rate
- 2,160 Hz instant touch sampling rate (Game Turbo on)
- 1,920 Hz PWM dimming
- Sunlight mode
- Corning Gorilla Glass
Audio
Enjoy your favorite games and tunes with stereo speakers on the POCO X6 Pro 5G. Dolby Atmos and Hi-Res engines enhance wired and wireless audio experience when using the phone.
Yet the deal breakers are Immersive Sound and individual volume control for each app. With a powerful processor and big memory, the phone can play multiple apps that produce sound, like a game and a music player.
You can turn the Adjust Media Sound in Multiple Apps under Settings > Sounds and Vibration > Additional Settings. When you press the volume rockers, you can individually adjust the volume sliders for active apps that play sounds.
The Immersive Sound works on speakers and headphones. But on speakers, the POCO X6 Pro 5G analyzes the size of the room and boosts the audio level and quality based on that size. This means you don’t need to max out the speaker volume in a small room.
Performance
The 8-core Dimensity 8300 Ultra processor is what powers the POCO X6 Pro 5G. Using a third-party app, the CPU is configured as:
Cluster | Clock Speed (min to max) |
4 x Cortex-A510 | 480 MHz to 2.2 GHz |
3 x Cortex-A715 | 400 MHz to 3.2 GHz |
1 x Cortex-A715 | 400 MHz to 3.35 GHz |
When the device was first officially unveiled, the chipset scored 1,464,228 AnTuTu points, implying flagship-like performance. When I tested it, it yielded 1,421,379 points. It isn’t a big dip in real-world performance.
Although this chipset isn’t a true flagship, numerous games run incredibly smooth at max graphics settings. Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Honor of Kings, Pokémon Unite, Legends of Legends: Wild Rift, Genshin Impact, Ragnarok X: Next Generation, and Black Clover Mobile are all playable at ultra graphics without issues under stable internet connection.
However, Wuthering Waves and Tower of Fantasy, among others, have minor stutters despite the phone’s chipset and RAM. Poorly written and optimized games usually suffer from such issues even if they’re run on flagship smartphones.
Speaking of games, the POCO X6 Pro 5G comes with Game Space. You can manually add your games here and set specific conditions, including:
- Frame rate: Set the slider between 30 and 120
- Resolution: Choose between 720 and default
- Anisotropic filtering: Set it between 1x and 16x
- Multithreading rendering: Toggle it on and off
- Enhanced visuals: Select between Original, Moderate, Strong, and Extreme modes
You can also adjust the swipe response and tap stability sliders to boost touch controls on your games.
You can swipe from the left to access Game Turbo to quickly access handy tools. By default, all detected games run on Balanced gaming mode. Opt for Wild Boost to get more performance in exchange for more heat and higher battery consumption.
The biggest culprit in the battery drain caused by gaming is the screen itself, followed by the processor. Dimensity 8300 Ultra plus 1.5K resolution will demand power. If you play at 120 Hz at max graphics, expect faster drain and rising temperatures of more than 40℃.
You may experience the back of the phone a bit hot to touch but that’s normal. A passive cooling system is installed inside and when it dissipates heat, expect it to reach the device’s surface.
Don’t be quick to judge without checking temperatures. I personally use DevCheck and BatteryBot Pro for system monitoring, with the latter having notification shade support. You can also try the Thermal Monitor app if you prefer an overlay.
Battery
A 5,000 mAh battery unit is installed in the POCO X6 Pro 5G. It’s typical capacity today but it supports 67 W of rapid charging. This charging rate is already enabled on the provided charger when you buy the phone.
It may take an hour to fully charge the phone from zero percent. But since I don’t drain my battery, it usually takes around 35 to 40 minutes to charge from below 30% to 100%.
The battery may heat up considering the charging rate. Though, I find that POCO’s advertised P2 fast charging chip is working. Based on my observations, the charging speed isn’t always at 67 W and it adjusts accordingly to prevent overheating.
With or without the help of AC, the max temperature observed during quick charging is at 41℃, with the phone in idle.
Camera
The POCO X6 Pro 5G has three cameras on the back and one on the front. Photography is likely the biggest tradeoff of this device. While it can record 4K, it only supports that resolution at 30 FPS max. Steady video is limited to 1080p at 30 FPS. HDR10+ works on 1080p and 4K, however.
Snapping scenes are great with sufficient lighting but if you like zooming subjects, the phone can only do it at 10x. Use the Pro mode for manual adjustments or filters to help set the mood.
Overall, the camera potential is alright for social media and memories. It’s not that strong for live-streaming or vlogging.
Downsides
I love the POCO X6 Pro 5G since my ultimate need is raw performance and this smartphone delivers that for a very reasonable price. Personally, this is my first smartphone that I couldn’t overwhelm even though it’s only a mid-ranger.
Swapping between the first and second spaces are near instantaneous, loading of apps and home screen after a reboot is fast, and launching apps and games is simply impressive.
But, as usual, nothing’s perfect and no matter how much I love this handset, I must live with its weaknesses:
- No LTPO: This intelligently manages refresh rate based on what you’re doing and it can drop as low as 1 Hz to save power.
- No 3.5 mm headphone jack: The legacy audio jack is removed on the POCO X6 Pro 5G. The non-pro version has this port.
- OTG audio limitation: Using a 3.5 mm to USB-C dongle for my headphones doesn’t unlock all audio features.
- Buggy Game Space tweaks: On this HyperOS version, manually limiting a game’s FPS to 90 Hz doesn’t apply when you enable 120 Hz refresh rate. The monitoring tool still displays 120 Hz. The previous HyperOS allows the frame rate limiter.
- No 85% charge limit: This is a handy yet missing tool for users who don’t want to fully charge their phones all the time.
- No sound alert when fully charged: Literally, no sound alert.
- No bypass charging: While I can’t expect true bypass charging, I didn’t realize that the brand won’t add something similar so users can game nonstop. Perhaps, the brand can’t guarantee battery longevity if it wasn’t a real bypass.
- No 4K 60 FPS: No one expects video stabilization for this setting at this price point but 4K 60 FPS is still nice to have.
Verdict
Weighing features and pricing and availability, I’d say the POCO X6 Pro is still a great phone after six months of use. In fact, it remains a strong competitor in the mid-range segment.
If performance is the only thing you’re after, put this on the top of your list. If you’re into mobile photography and quality captures, I can’t recommend this phone.
If you want a nice balance between performance, battery, camera, and display, consider this because of its price tag. If onboard storage is your thing, add this handset to your list because its max variant has an interesting price point.
The table below compares the POCO X6 Pro 5G to some popular models on the market.
Model | CPU (AnTuTu) | Display | Camera | Memory | Battery | SRP in PHP |
POCO X6 Pro 5G | 1,421,379 | 6.67″ 1220p AMOLED 120Hz | 64+8+2MP rear / 16MP front | 8+256GB, 12+512GB | 5000mAh 67W | 16,999, 19,999 |
POCO F6 Pro 5G | 1,540,510 | 6.67″ 1440p OLED 120Hz | 50+8+2MP rear / 16MP front | 12+256GB, 12+512GB, 16GB+1TB | 5000mAh 120W | 26,999, 28,999, 32,999 |
HONOR 200 Pro | 1,488,507 | 6.78″ 1224p AMOLED 120Hz | 50+50+12MP / 50+2MP front | 12+512GB | 5200mAh 100W | 29,999 |
vivo V30 Pro 5G | 911,751 | 6.78” AMOLED 1260p 120Hz | 50+50+50MP rear / 50MP front | 12+512GB | 5000mAh 80W | 34,999 |
realme GT 6 | 1,488,507 | 6.78” 1264p LTPO OLED 120Hz | 50+50+8MP rear / 32MP front | 12+256GB | 5500mAh 120W | 34,999 |
Nothing Phone (2a) | 714,660 | 6.7” 1080p AMOLED 120Hz | 50+50MP rear / 32MP front | 8+128GB, 12+256GB | 5000mAh 45W | 18,990, 20,990 |