This week, POCO, Xiaomi’s gaming-focused and global smartphone arm, launched its F6 smartphone series. This includes the flagship models POCO F6 and POCO F6 Pro. The company also launched its first-ever Android tablet, the POCO Pad. Staying true to the company’s roots, these new products offer decent specifications at attractive prices. The POCO F6 starts at $379 (8+256GB model), the POCO F6 Pro starts at $449 (12+256GB model) and the POCO Pad starts at $329 (8+256GB). Currently, all of these products are eligible for a $50 early bird discount.
I had the opportunity to attend the launch and represent GBAtemp. During the event, I had access to the new devices, tried out their standout features and also interviewed Angus Ng, Head of Product Marketing at POCO Global. I asked some questions about the design of gaming phones, especially around the physical controls, and about the barriers to decent front cameras on Android tablets. Read on to find out what the rep behind one of the most prominent gaming smartphone brands has to say.
POCO F6
POCO’s latest line is available in two models: the F6 and the F6 Pro. These vary in specifications and aesthetics, with the F6 model available in black, green and titanium and the F6 Pro available in black and white. They also differ in prices and storage. Storage variants of the POCO F6 are 8+256GB and 12+512GB; while the F6 Pro comes in 12+256GB, 12GB+256GB and 12GB+1TB. The latter variant is a fairly unique option for smartphones, especially in that price range.
Specifications of the phones can be found below:
Although the specifications are not that of flagships like the Xiaomi 14 Ultra, they are quite aggressive within this price range and certainly material for daily drivers with decent gaming capabilities. In terms of build quality, both the F6 and F6 Pro look and feel like high-end devices. They feel good in the hands, especially with the curved edges, and deliver sharp images with their AMOLED displays.
Traditionally, POCO hasn’t paid much attention to their phone’s camera, but with the F6 series they are changing this approach. This includes some useful and impressive features, such as the F6 Pro’s Ultra Night Algorithm, which significantly improves the quality of photos in low light. POCO is also jumping on the AI hype train with a number of AI features like adjusting portraits with AI-generated settings based on your prompts, expanding the background of images, and AI searching your gallery. I found the first option to be a fun feature to play with and the results were quite convincing.
POCO’s first Android tablet is the affordably priced POCO Pad with the following specifications:
It was refreshing to see POCO not overselling the Pad with marketing buzz words. It looks and feels like a simple tablet as your secondary work/entertainment device. The company may also be playing it safe as this is their first such device. This may be for the best, but a verdict will be shared in the upcoming full review of the POCO Pad.
Interview with Angus Ng, Head of Product Marketing at POCO Global
After the launch event, I had the opportunity to interview POCO Global Head of Product Marketing Angus Ng. Mr Ng was kind enough to answer questions and provide honest answers. Below you can read the interview, which has been lightly edited for clarity.
GBTemp: Hello Angus, thank you for inviting us to the event and for agreeing to the interview. I’d like to focus my first questions on the gaming side. I normally associate POCO with gaming phones, but the POCO 4 GT was the company’s last device with physical gaming triggers. Is there a reason for this design shift?
Angus Ng: It’s a very good question and my regional colleagues were confused as to why we removed the triggers in the next generation. Actually, we ran into two things we hadn’t thought about enough when we released a phone with physical triggers.
First, many games did not allow the use of the triggers and some users complained that their gaming accounts could no longer use them. This is because the game’s algorithm would think the user is cheating and we had to reconsider the usefulness of the buttons.
Secondly, when it comes to gaming phones, we’ve found that people really use them as their second phone. It wasn’t a phone that people could buy and use as a daily driver. And because the 4 GT was so gaming-focused, many of its other features were lacking. For example, the camera was not good enough for everyday use.
So in terms of gaming on your phone, it acted like a GameBoy that people would buy as a second device. We didn’t see a huge need to keep the triggers for our users, but we kept everything we thought was good, like the cooling, the processor, and the algorithm tuning, without the physical boost of the triggers.
I think it’s a common trend with gaming phones too. Phones like ASUS have also toned down their gaming design to make it look more like a casual daily driver phone that can game very well. But the core of the device is still gaming-oriented. So I think this is just the direction of the market.
GBTemp: Thanks for the insight! But is there any chance we could see the GT line make a comeback?
Angus Ng: I don’t mean to say there isn’t a chance. But given the direction the mobile gaming market is moving, I think the most popular mobile games are still MMOs. With games like Wild Rift, Genshin Impact, and many of the games we thought were very popular, there weren’t many scenarios to use triggers. But we could consider “touch triggers” like what ASUS has done. We just have to consider how much cost this would add to our phones and whether it is worth it.
GBTemp: Speaking of ASUS, they have gaming add-ons like gamepads that can be connected to their phones. Would that be something you would consider? Or maybe something like the Xperia Play that looks like a regular phone but hides a full gamepad under a sliding mechanism? While it may be a niche, there is still a demand for physical controls on gaming smartphones as they feel better for gaming.
Angus Ng: It is certainly an area that we do not want to completely close off. It is something that is still open for discussion within the team. I think as we continue to establish our presence as a brand and also as our phones become more and more powerful, we certainly see that as a potential. Because I know portable consoles are becoming more and more popular now. This could be the future trend, you know, portable mobile gaming devices. Making our phones a little more gaming-oriented with add-ons is definitely something we’ll look into. I wouldn’t say it’s something we’ll release next year; but maybe, who knows!
GBTemp: I’d like to see that!
GBTemp: Given the recent rise of dedicated portable gaming devices, and as an idea, would POCO consider a foldable device where half of the device acts as a controller and the other half as a screen?
Angus Ng: It’s good to get such insights from the press. I used the Samsung Flip for a month to try it out while we discussed the idea of foldable devices. I never liked the Fold because I like using a tablet and I thought the Fold took that away from me; so I thought, “No, I’m going to use the Flip, because for me that’s more extreme than a foldable phone.” I thought I was doing pretty well every day until one time I went on a weekend trip and realized the battery was dying too quickly. I thought this was the biggest concern I currently had when it comes to foldable products.
This gave me the insight that when companies released foldable products, it was a form of innovation. It has not yet been developed to the point where we all use it and have become accustomed to it. I hope we can do that one day, because I have seen the benefits of it. When I closed the Flip, I thought: “Wow, this fits nicely in my pocket!”. But there were flaws: the camera wasn’t good enough, the battery wasn’t good enough, the charging wasn’t good enough. There are areas where you have to sacrifice so much just so you can turn the phone around. We thought that was a problem.
I don’t think this will cause any problems in the long run as I think these will be resolved over time. At this point, foldable phones still have a long way to go to give you an experience as convenient as a normal phone. Right now they don’t have much to offer other than you can flip/fold and make your screen bigger. As a daily driver you still have compromises: it’s heavier, more fragile, and if you drop it it hurts the wallet because it costs so much. With so many compromises we didn’t think the format was ready, but it’s a great showcase of innovation. I liked it; it’s just that when I went back to a regular phone I didn’t miss it. So from our point of view we are not ready for it.
GBTemp: Perhaps it’s not a question specifically for POCO, but rather for the Android tablet market itself: why isn’t more attention paid to having a better front camera? Usually on tablets the rear camera is much better, but you don’t really want to take pictures with your tablet. But you do want to make video calls with your tablet. So why not invest more in the selfie camera on tablets? I think it’s a problem with every Android tablet on the market. Can you explain why this has not been addressed?
Angus Ng: I’ll be very honest with you: that’s because most tablets from smartphone manufacturers reuse parts from smartphones. Not reused as in recycled, but they use the same model; and ultimately, there aren’t many great sensors that fit the template of tablets. It costs a lot to change that because replacing the front sensor means they get bigger too.
It’s a really good question when I think about it. It’s something we focus on when it comes to providing users with a good online meeting experience. But at least for the POCO Pad, it is mainly aimed at entertainment, for younger generations to just watch videos or casual gaming or a work machine that mainly requires typing, easy to carry and affordable.
On our higher segments [of future tablets], the importance of the front and back would probably be very similar. We would also integrate more technologies where the camera follows you. Not many tablets can do that at the moment, but we see it as an important feature, especially during meetings and work calls.
I think you raised an amazing concern and I think that was very good insight!
GBTemp: Thank you very much for answering the questions!
Angus Ng: No problem!
This concludes the coverage of the POCO F6 launch event and impressions piece. I would like to express my gratitude to POCO for the invitation and for the opportunity to discuss the mobile gaming landscape with Angus Ng. I hope it was informative and stay tuned for the full review of the new POCO devices!