What happens when consumers in a country are well caught up with tech and understanding the nitty-gritty of smartphone devices? You get smartphone companies fighting each other in offering the best specifications at a competitive price. Ultimately, it’s the end-buyer who benefits from the tech giants competing in the market. The OnePlus 11 and 11R are shining examples of similar phenomena and trickling it down to the midrange to budget section we see a bigger plethora of choices that confuse us.
This is where this new offering by POCO, The POCO X5 5G comes into the picture. Entering at an oversaturated price point between the 15 to 25K range, the POCO X5 5G only further confuses the buyers even more. But that’s what we’re here for! We have been using the POCO X5 5G for a day and here are my first impressions of the device!
Display
The POCO X5 5G features a vivid 6’67-inch FHD+ super AMOLED display which gives users an immersive experience. The display produces some punchy colours without straining the eyes during longer-watching sessions. It features what POCO calls a sunlight display which features high brightness. The 2400 x 1080 FHD+ display gets pretty bright at 1200 nits. It features a 120Hz of refresh rate which gives it that smooth hyperrealistic feel. Overall the display is eye candy!
Design
The back design is pretty much similar to the staple POCO design with its branding up top. It’s a plastic back panel that does not scream premium but can be protected using the in-box transparent cover. It features a 3.5mm headphone jack on top and a USB-C type port at the bottom and the standard volume rockers and lock screen buttons on the side. It features a side-mounted fingerprint sensor that is snappy. It is a lightweight device weighing just 189 Grams and 7.8mm in thickness.
Performance and battery
When it comes to midrange performance, the Snapdragon 695 is a no-brainer chip for companies to go to. This 7nm chipset has proven its prowess in several midrange devices and shines once again in the POCO X5 5G. As the model name suggests, it is a 5G device consisting of 7 5G bands which are more than enough for the current scenario of 5G availability. The X5 I am using is an 8GB/256GB variant out of which 36GB is occupied by the system. The battery here is 5000mAh which can be juiced up with a 33W charger provided in the box. During my testing, the device juiced up from 33% to 100% in about an hour and fifteen mins which is not bad. It features LPDDR4X RAM and UFS 2.2 storage which is pretty standard for a midrange device.
Camera
The POCO X5 5G comes with a triple camera setup consisting of a 48MP primary lens coupled with an 8MP ultra-wide camera and a 2MP macro camera. The selfie camera is clocked at 13MP. Here are some camera samples –
Conclusion
The Poco X5 5G is a capable device that ticks many boxes and does so effectively. The Snapdragon 695 coupled with a smooth 120Hz display and a capable camera setup makes this device an easy choice for many midrange consumers out there. At 20,999 for the 8/256Gb variant, the POCO X5 5G is one of the best options in the market right now.