Poco X6 review

Verdict

The Poco X6 is a solid all-rounder that offers a lovely display, a great camera and a nice design for a very tempting price. Its achievements are overshadowed by the X6 Pro, though, which is a far better performer that can be had for only a small sum extra.

Introduction

After being thoroughly impressed by the Poco X6 Pro, it’s time to put its more affordable sibling to the test. This model shaves £50 off the asking price while retaining some of the features that make the X6 Pro so great, like the lovely display, cameras, speedy charging and premium design.

There is, however, one aspect that makes me nervous. This model takes a big step down in processing power, trading the Dimensity 8300-Ultra for the mid-range Snapdragon 7s Gen 2. This allows the price to come down to just £319, and it might give us slightly longer battery life, but is it a worthy trade-off?

It’s unlikely to be the choice for keen gamers, but with a nice price tag and a well-rounded spec sheet, it could be the right choice for a lot of people. The Poco X6 has been living in my pocket for the last week or so, and here’s what it’s like to live with.

Design 

• Black, blue and white colour options
• IP54-rated, Gorilla Glass Victus
• Headphone socket

The Poco X6 is available in three colourways: black, blue and white. The black and blue options have a uniform gloss finish on the rear, while the white model has a wavy, almost marble-like pattern across the rear panel.

I was sent the black model for testing, which has such a reflective finish on the back that it almost matches the display on the front (when turned off). It looks slick when you first take it out of the box, but it’s a nightmare to keep it looking nice. It’s always covered in fingerprints and smudges, and for that reason, I think a matte finish would have looked better in real-world use.

Thankfully, a matte black TPU case is included in the box, which puts my fingerprint-averse mind to rest. It’s a very plain-looking case, but I think it looks much better than the transparent cases that come with many mid-range devices.

The screen is coated with Gorilla Glass Victus, while the frame and rear panel are made from plastic. Despite the construction, the phone feels very solid in the hand, and at a glance, you could easily mistake it for a flagship device.

The dimensions are identical to the Pro model, as is the button placement, but this model is slightly lighter, tipping the scales at just 181g. It’s very iPhone-like with its flat-sided frame, flat display and rear panel, and I think this adds to the premium feel.

One thing that sets this model apart from its pricier sibling is the fact that it has a headphone socket. Great news if you’re a fan of wired audio.

Screen 

• 6.67-inch AMOLED display
• 60-120Hz adaptive refresh rate
• Up to 1800 nits peak brightness

The Poco X6 has the same display as the Pro model. This panel impressed me at a higher price point, and it’s even more impressive to see it used here. It’s quite large at 6.67 inches and boasts a FHD+ (2712×1220) resolution with a solid pixel density of 446 PPI.

In normal use, it’ll output up to 1200 nits and can boost to a whopping 1800 nits at its peak. This means that you’ll have no trouble seeing it on bright sunny days, and HDR content from apps like Netflix looks brilliant.

The display has an adaptive refresh rate that can automatically switch between 60Hz and 120Hz. It looks super smooth when you’re swiping around the OS, but it’ll shift down to a lower refresh rate to conserve battery when you’re looking at a static page, for example.

It covers 100% of the DCI-P3 colour gamut, and MIUI allows you to tweak the colour rendition to a greater degree than most Android skins. You get three adjustable presets as well as an advanced menu that offers the ability to switch between sRGB and DCI-P3, along with gamma, saturation and contrast sliders for each.

Cameras 

• 64MP f/1.7 main camera
• 8MP f/2.2 ultrawide, 2MP macro
• 16MP f/2.4 selfie camera

The camera array is also identical to the Poco X6 Pro, and again, it’s impressive to see such cameras present on a more affordable model.

The 64MP main camera is the star of the show, but the 16MP selfie camera is also very good. The other two lenses are far less impressive. I found the ultrawide came in handy, especially when taking photos of large buildings, but it lacks detail compared to the main sensor. Meanwhile, the 2MP macro snapper rarely comes into play at all.

Stick to that main camera, though, and you can capture some really impressive shots. The colours are natural without looking flat, and the HDR effect keeps highlights under control without looking cartoonish.

If you need a little more reach, the 2x digital zoom utilises the high-resolution main sensor to deliver an almost lossless crop. It’s not quite as good as having a physical 2x camera, but it’s not far off, either. You can definitely pick out more details that would be missed by the 1x shots.

Just as I saw with the Pro model, the main camera of the X6 does a decent job after dark, too. It exposes well and keeps motion blur at bay. Just stay away from the 2x zoom at night, as it looks significantly worse in low-light conditions.

The selfie camera is a pretty standard offering, but a good portrait mode with accurate subject cutouts helps to elevate it above some of the competition. Just watch out for motion blur, as I experienced more with this selfie camera than usual.

For video, you can shoot at up to 4K 30fps on the main camera, while the selfie and ultrawide cameras are limited to 1080p. However, the selfie camera supports 60fps, while the ultrawide maxes out at 30fps. Videos look good, and the stabilisation is solid if you’re standing reasonably still, but it begins to struggle with the shake from footsteps.

Performance 

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 2
• 12GB LPDDR4X RAM
• 256GB UFS 2.2 storage

As mentioned in the introduction, the biggest difference between this phone and the Pro model is its processor. It runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7s Gen 2, a decent chip, but a big step down from the Dimensity 8300-Ultra found in the Pro.

The RAM and storage speed take a step down, too, but this is something that the casual user is less likely to notice. What’s more important is that you still get an ample 12GB RAM, which is extendable in software, and 256GB to fill with photos, videos and applications.

In day-to-day use, the Poco X6 feels responsive and speedy. Apps open quickly, scrolling is smooth and animations look fluid. There were a couple of instances where an animation stuttered slightly, but these were extremely rare, and I’ve seen similar occurrences on flagship models, too.

It’s only when you get to the more intensive tasks that the difference between the two models becomes apparent. The Poco X6 lags far behind the X6 Pro in benchmarks, and the same is true for demanding games, too. In fairness, I was able to play Genshin Impact without issue, but to maintain 60fps I had to switch to the low graphics preset, whereas the X6 Pro would happily run on the high preset.

If you’re into gaming on your phone, or like to edit videos on the go, you should absolutely shell out the additional cash for the Pro model. However, if you’re mainly just scrolling social media and watching videos, this processor is very unlikely to hold you back at all.

The Poco X6 also provides dual stereo speakers, whereas most phones at this price come with a single speaker. They’re not the most impressive that I’ve heard, and could use some extra bass, but you get some stereo separation which makes things sound far better than a single speaker system.

Software 

• Xiaomi MIUI 14
• Based on Android 13
• Plenty of bloatware

Another differentiator between the standard Poco X6 and the X6 Pro is that this model ships with MIUI 14 rather than Xiaomi’s new HyperOS. In terms of features and aesthetics, the difference between the two is very minor, but there’s a little more to consider here.

MIUI 14 is based on Android 13, whereas HyperOS is based on Android 14. Poco promises three Android OS updates and four years of security updates. So, while the Poco X6 will be getting HyperOS at some point, it’s likely to end up one version behind the X6 Pro in the long run.

Otherwise, the experience is very similar. You still get the iOS-style split notification and settings shade, which can take some getting used to if you’re coming from a different Android skin, but otherwise, things behave normally. There’s an app drawer and a Google Discover page by default, for example.

Just as we saw with the Pro model, there’s plenty of bloatware pre-installed, everything from social media apps to games and proprietary Poco applications. They’re not too tricky to remove, there’s just a lot of it to deal with, more so than I’ve experienced with competing brands.

Battery life 

• 5100 mAh battery
• Up to 67W fast charging support
• Charger included in the box

The Poco X6 has a slightly larger battery than the X6 Pro, and this, combined with the more efficient processor, results in solid battery life. I was expecting the difference to be a tad larger, to be honest, but in reality, you might squeeze an hour or two of extra screen-on time from this phone at most.

Still, it’ll get you through the day easily, just don’t expect to achieve multiple days like you might with the Honor Magic 6 Lite.

On the plus side, the Poco X6 retains the impressive charging speeds of the Pro and still comes with the wall adapter included in the box. This will get you juiced up from flat in well under an hour, while a 50% charge will only take 20 minutes or so.

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