Poco M5 4G summary
Editor’s rating: 3.5/5
Design
Display
Performance
Battery
Camera
Pros
- Classy design
- Long-lasting battery
- Value for money performance
- Good selfie camera
Cons
- Bloatware
- No AMOLED display
- Average rear camera
- No 5G connectivity
- Low charging capacity
POCO recently refreshed its budget smartphone segment in India with the launch of the POCO M5. The smartphone is a decent offering under the budget of Rs 15,000 and it supports 4G connectivity. While all other companies are focusing on building a portfolio of 5G smartphones, the launch of a 4G smartphone seems like a bold move by POCO. On top of it, the device carries the latest generation of MediaTek Helio chipset.
Not only this, but the smartphone also has L1 Widevine certification that allows the user to enjoy shows and movies on OTT platforms at the highest resolution. I got the chance to review the POCO M5 and until now, I have already been using it for more than a week. One thing which I am sure of is that the device is decent in most aspects.
Here I am sharing the full-fledged review of the POCO M5 4G where I’ll pen down all the upsides and downsides of the smartphones experienced while using it for around 10 days. This review will also help you in easily making the buying design regarding the mentioned device.
Poco M5 4G pricing and availability
The 6GB RAM variant of the smartphone along with 128GB internal storage is available in the Indian market at a price of Rs 14,499. The 4GB variant of the device with 64GB internal storage is available for Rs 12,499. The smartphone can be purchased from the online shopping website Flipkart. The smartphone is being shipped in three different colours including POCO Yellow, Icy Blue, and Power Black.
Poco M5 4G Specs
| Specs | Poco M5 4G |
|---|---|
| Software | Android 12 with MIUI 13 |
| Display | 6.58-inch FHD+ 90Hz refresh rate |
| SoC | MediaTek Helio G99 SoC |
| RAM | 6GB |
| Storage | 128GB |
| Rear cameras | 50MP+8MP+2MP |
| Front Camera | 13MP |
| Battery | 5000mAh |
| Charging | 22.5W |
| Size | 163.99 x 76.09 x 8.9 mm |
| Weight | 184 grams |
| Connectivity | 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.2, dual-band WiFi |
Poco M5 4G review: unboxing
The Poco M5 4G came in a yellow suitcase-like structure with Poco branding on it. As soon as I opened the case, I saw the retail box. On the front, the retail box has Pooc M5 written on it, along with Poco branding and Made in India written on the corner. On the back, the retail box has a mention of all features including display, battery, camera, etc. The retail box consists of:
- Poco M5 4G
- Adapter
- USB Type-C cable
- SIM ejector tool
- Protective case
- Warranty Card
- Quick Start Guide
Poco M5 4G review: Design
The design of the Poco M5 4G is way too unique for sure. I got to review the Icy Blue coloured variant of the smartphone it was looking pretty stunning at its price point. The smartphone has flat edges and a waterdrop notch display at the front. The device has thin bezels and a slightly thicker chin which makes it look like just another budget smartphone.
The power button and the volume rockers of the smartphone are situated at the right spine. The fingerprint scanner of the device is doubled up with the power button. The SIM tray can be found at the left spine and the speaker grille and USB Type-C port are placed at the bottom of the device.
Talking about the rear panel, the handset has a leather-back finish all around and a camera island. The camera bump is black in colour with the Poco branding on the right side. On the left side of the island, the three sensors are placed along with a flash for providing better photo quality. Overall, the design of the device gets five out of five from my side as it helps it to stand out from the crowd.
Poco M5 4G review: Display
The Poco M5 4G comes with a 6.58-inch display coupled with a 90Hz refresh rate. The display panel of the device is protected by the Corning Gorilla Glass 3 and it has a touch sampling rate of around 240Hz. At the time of practical usage, the YouTube videos were quite clear and the experience was at par. However, the brightness of the smartphone can be a turnoff for people who are in a habit of using AMOLED display devices.
Not only this, but I also witnessed that the perfect black colour was missing from the screen where required as you will get to see a little light there, which is because of the IPS LCD display. Still, keeping in mind that the smartphone is a budget segment warrior, it all seems justified. I watched The Sandman on Netflix on the Poco M5 4G and trust me when I say that the experience was not bad. Now, at the same time, I can’t say it was very exceptional either.
Poco M5 4G review: Performance
The Poco M4 5G runs on the MediaTek Helio G99 processor which is the latest edition chipset by MediaTek for budget devices. Along with that, the device also has ARM Mali-G57 MC2 graphics processing unit. The performance of the smartphone was better than Helio G96 as I tested it on multiple grounds. It also consists of 6GB LPDDR4X RAM and 128GB UFS 2.2 internal storage. The smartphone also has 2GB of extended RAM feature which is not same as physical RAM.
I installed Apex Legends Mobile on the smartphone and played it at maximum graphics settings. The smartphone got heated after half an hour and the game also started lagging. So if you are a gamer, make sure you take short breaks while gaming so that the performance is not hindered. As for multitasking, the handset was able to handle the stuff pretty conveniently but at that time also, I faced a few heating issues.
The same is the case while watching videos for a long time on the device. However, one thing which I especially wanna mention is that the smartphone has amazing speakers which offer amazing audio output while playing songs and videos. The fingerprint scanner of the handset responds quickly and makes the operation much smoother. Apart from all that, the device operates on the MIUI 13 based on the Android 12 operating system. The OS of the device is user-friendly but ships with a lot of bloatware that is nothing but spoilsport.
Poco M5 4G review: Camera
The Poco M4 5G ships with a triple rear camera setup comprising a 50MP primary shooter, 8MP ultra wide-angle shooter, and a 2MP depth shooter. The rear camera system of the smartphone makes sure that you get quality photographs in all lighting conditions. I used multiple modes of the rear camera system and found satisfactory results in most of them. The 2MP depth sensor fails to provide considerable depth to the photographs though.
The camera delivered some of the best high-resolution photographs clicked by the 50MP mode of the sensor. Nevertheless, I would say that the smartphone’s Night mode was not as good as other alternatives available in the same price range. In the night mode, the camera captured a lot of noise in the photographs that killed the spark.
On the front, the device has a 13MP front sensor for the sake of capturing selfies and attending video calls. I must say that the front camera was quite good but still, it failed to capture the details in the photographs in low or mid-level lighting which is obviously not a good thing. As per the price point of the smartphone, I have negligible complaints about the camera system.
Poco M5 4G review: Battery
The Poco M5 4G draws power from a 5000mAh battery that supports 22.5W fast charging support. At the time of testing, the smartphone took around 1 hour and 45 minutes in getting completely charged. The time taken in getting fully fueled up by the device is a lot and a little bit disappointing. Nonetheless, the battery drainage of the same is quite slow which balances out the lagging charging speed.
While testing it practically, the battery drained up to 12 to 14% while playing heavy games on the smartphone. The drainage went down to around 8 to 10% while watching movies or shows for an hour at moderate brightness. Once charged completely, the battery lasted for around 16 hours during which I played games, watched a movie or two, made a dozen of calls, listened to music on Spotify and used social media apps side by side.
Poco M5 4G review: Should you buy it or not?
Poco M5 4G is all that you need in a budget of Rs 15,000. However, there are a few other devices that outclass it completely. So, if you are someone who wants a budget photography device then Poco M5 is not for you. On the other hand, if performance is something that is your first priority and you also prefer looks and want to get your hands on something classy and unique at the same time, then go for Poco M5 4G without any doubt. It is a user-friendly device that is completely suitable for people who are new to the Android ecosystem or want to scale up their experience.
