Review : POCO X4 PRO, the best 2022 mid-range smartphone with lot of value for money

Just unveiled during the 2022 MOBILE Word Congress in Barcelona , the POCO X4 5G smartphone, the succession of the best-seller POCO X3 PRO, is already being reviewed on Planetroid. Each time a new device is launched, POCO scores high on the market. Is it again the case?

The POCO brand has succeeded in making a successful brand name in just a few years. It has become a synonym of quality/performance/price ratio in the smartphone entry level market with its “M” series, of which I tested the M3 and M3 PRO, and mid-range with the “X” series.

The POCO X4 PRO, here in review, is the successor to the X3 PRO launched in April 2021. It features 5G, which was absent from the previous generation, an AMOLED screen, a fair new processor and an improved camera unit. The manufacturer’s slogan is for it : the ACE of the X series.

This would make it the best smartphone 2022 in the mid-range.

Here is my test finding after more than a week of use.

You can read this review of the POCO X4 PRO in french, test en français sur planetenumerique.com

The POCO X4 PRO 5G IN BRIEF

A rather interesting technical sheet with an unbeatable launch price.
POCO has indeed the practice to offer its new smartphones at a low price for a few days. It is not advisable to wait and hope for a better price soon.

I have prepared for this launch the best deals and recommend the European shop Goboo which always offers the best discounts on the products of the Xiaomi family.

Goboo sells the POCO X4 Pro in Europe version including 2 years official warranty, free shipping, 30 days return, official Xiaomi maintenance, …

• The POCO X4 Pro 5G version 6/128GB cost only 249€ via a 20€ discount code to collect on the page against an official price of 299€.
• The 8/256GB version is sold €299 vs 349€ public price by using the same coupon.

POCO X4 PRO 5G, what in the box ?

POCO keeps the same look for its smartphone packages with black and yellow text colours.

In the box, you have the smartphone, its charger, a USB-C cable, an extracting needle as well as a documentation.

A silicone case is provided which is very welcome.

The POCO X4 PRO 5G design side

POCO is changing the look of its smartphone from generation to generation.
The general shape of the POCO X4 PRO follows the trend of the moment with slightly more angular contours than in the past.

The POCO X4 PRO is a rather attractive device in the end. The front of the phone has an edge-to-edge screen. The selfie camera is placed in a centered position in a hole punch.

The POCO X4 PRO is given a new signature mainly through its rear photo unit, which gives the main 108 Mpx sensor a large area on the top.

The frame is made of metal with a back covered in 2.5d glass. The rear of the smartphone produces a nice reflection in the light.

The measurements are 164.19mm x 76mm x 8.12mm and the weight is 205 grams. The POCO X4 PRO is therefore thinner and lighter than the previous generation despite the large integrated 5000mAh battery.

The right edge features the volume button as well as the power button. As usual with Xiaomi and POCO this power button hides a fingerprint sensor.

On the connectivity side, POCO continues to offer a headphone jack 3.5 mm well placed at the top. The charge/sync port is in USB-C format.

The top of the smartphone still offers a discrete infrared port. Via the built-in remote control app, you can control any appliance.

The smartphone’s speakers are in stereo with an asymmetrical position at the top and bottom of the smartphone. The sound is powerful and fairly balanced.

In the end the POCO X4 PRO fits well in the hand without being too massive.

The POCO X4 PRO 5G screen

On the front the POCO X4 PRO offers a nice large 6.67 inches screen with 2400 x 1080 FHD+ resolution.

In 2022, it is difficult to claim a place in the mid-range smartphone market without offering AMOLED technology for the display.
This is a major qualitative improvement compared to the POCO X3 PRO which “only” offered an LCD panel.

So the image quality is there with excellent contrast and deep blacks. The brightness is high (700 nits/1200 peak) for use in full sunlight (when there is any).

For the colours settings, you have the choice of several schemes to adjust it to your taste. An eye protection system is integrated.

The refresh rate of the screen, and therefore the fluidity, is not left out with a maximum rate of 120 Hz. You can select the frequency in the settings and choose between performance and battery optimisation.

The touch screen of the POCO X4 PRO is very responsive (MAX frequency 360Hz) which will please the gamers.

The POCO X4 PRO 5G performance side

The POCO X4 PRO 5G is powered by a SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 695, eight cores (2 ARM Cortex-A78 up to 2.2GHz and 6 x ARM Cortex-A55 up to 1 .8GHz) combined with a GPU Qualcomm Adreno 619.

The new smartphone does not claim to be a “Gamer” smartphone but rather a versatile device in the trendy world of today. It targets a wide audience who is demanding in everything but not ready to invest unreasonable amounts of money in a smartphone.

The Snapdragon 695 is a versatile SoC that has the advantage of opening up communication on 5G networks.
It overheats very moderately even during gaming sessions.

The RAM is, depending on the selecting purchased version, 6 GB RAM with 128 GB storage and 8 GB RAM with 256 GB storage.
The memory is expandable by microSD card up to 1TB if you don’t need the two SIM card slots.

Here is a comparison between the OnePlus Nord N10 5G and the Poco X3 PRO with the GeekBench benchmark. These are three smartphones in the same price range that I have in my hands at the moment (4G only at POCO).

As you can see, the Snapdragon 695 gains in performance compared to the 690 generation but it still falls short of the Snapdragon 860 of the X3 PRO which was only 4G/LTE though. That’s the price you pay for having a more versatile smartphone in the end.

The POCO X4 PRO 5G system side

POCO is Xiaomi and it is quite logical that this smartphone is animated by the application overlay of the Chinese giant, MIUI here in the latest version 13.0.1 POCO edition on top of an Android 11.

The POCO X4 PRO is one of the first smartphones to feature this new MIUI 13 on the EU market. There are small changes in the look, file manager and widget. A new sidebar function makes its appearance as well as anti-fraud security systems.

More globally, it is the performance of MIUI that has been improved with a better memory management and resources distribution. In the end it is a larger smoothness which will be visible mostly on the most modest smartphones of the brand.

To save a few cents, POCO pre-installs some commercial applications on the market that you can uninstall.

DRM wise, the POCO X4 PRO here in test is Widewine L1 certified which means you can enjoy legal streaming apps in full resolution.

The POCO X4 PRO 5G on the Photo side

On the photo side, POCO has reused the recipe for success at Xiaomi. The POCO X4 PRO is armed with a {{big 108 MP}} main sensor combined with an 8 MPX wide angle and a 2 MPX macro lens. This is better than any previous POCO smartphone including the F series.

After some research in the POCO X4 PRO debug files, I can state that the main sensor is a Samsung S5KHM2 ISOCELL, the wide angle one Sony IMX355 and for the macro one GalaxyCore GC02M1.
Does this sound familiar? It’s a combination you’ll find on the REDMI NOTE 10 PRO which is promising.

The main sensor is able to combine 9 pixels into 1 {{Nonapixel}} for an optimised final image of 12MP. You also have the option of forcing the 108 Megapixel mode without it often being useful unless you want to catch a very fine detail.

The photos I was able to take are fully satisfactory. They are correctly exposed, sharp without chromatic aberrations. The HDR works well.

The portrait mode (bokeh effect) is effective.

In the dark, it is of course always more complicated but not bad in the end. There’s a night mode that will enhance photos in extreme conditions.

The 118° wide angle is a little less faithful colour-wise. Its role is naturally more to allow you to take in a wider area in a single shot than to take a perfect picture.

I am less convinced by the macro sensor.

For the selfie part, the camera uses an Omnivision OV16A1Q sensor that is overall efficient.

The POCO photo application is very rich with multiple possibilities. I found interesting the function that allows to capture in video simultaneously the front and rear camera.

The video shoot is limited to fullHD maximum.

The POCO X4 PRO 5G on the network side

It’s hard not to look for a 5G smartphone in 2022. The subscriptions are becoming more and more affordable as well the installation of new antenna increase.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the 5G coverage of this operator is now starting to be wide.

In terms of throughput, nothing like what is theoretically possible with 5G especially as the antennas equipped are still underperforming in my countryside. I was nevertheless able to reach speeds of 80 mbps which I must compare with the 10-15 mbps of an equivalent chip in this area in 4G. You will probably find figures 3 to 4 times higher in tests done in big cities.

I naturally used the smartphone for voice communication without any problems.
I took the opportunity to practice with my Xiaodu Smartbuds pro without noticing any connection problems. The opposite would have been surprising in 2022.
For the GPS, I didn’t notice anything special as I only made short trips.

An {{NFC chip}} is installed which opens up the possibility of contactless payment.

The POCO X4 PRO 5G battery

With a 5000 Mah, the POCO X4 PRO is well prepared to support you for many hours, especially since the latest SOCs are very low on energy.
To analyze the autonomy, I used the PCMARK Work 3.0 Battery Life benchmark. This test is simulating mixed activities of web browsing, gaming, video playback, office automation …

In this exercise the POCO X4 PRO managed to get 19H35 before falling to 20%. Excellent.

The charge is very fast in 67 Watts which allows the device to be reloaded to 100% in about 40 minutes (30 in 8 minutes, 70% in 22 min). Excellent again.

The charger can be used for other devices including laptops.

The best value for money

After these few days of use, I can only confirm that the POCO X4 PRO will score 2022. It is a device that will suit a large majority of consumers looking for a very well balanced product on its different uses and not too expensive for those who will take benefit of the launch price.

It doesn’t lack much to tick all the boxes. I’ll mention the lack of QI wireless charging or waterproof certification.

There are cheaper but often less good products.

At this level of quality ratio or rather versatility price, there is {{almost no competitor}}. The most serious is in fact Xiaomi which competes with its REDMI NOTE series.

This is where the price factor comes in.
At a price of €299 for a 4/64GB version, there’s a bit of competition out there.At 249€ , it’s unbeatable and there’s nothing with Amoled, latest mid-range Snapdragon SoC, good battery and good camera.

The POCO X4 Pro 6/128GB and 8/256GB smartphones in Europe version are sold on the Goboo shop from 249€– including 2 years official warranty, free shipping, 30 days return, official Xiaomi maintenance, …