So I sold off my Poco F2 Pro (6GB+128GB) last week after just about over a month of using it. Prior to that I was using the Realme 6 (4GB+128GB variant) and my usual practice is to sell off my previous phone once I've settled in comfortably to my new phone. Instead, I decided to sell off the F2 Pro and return to the Realme 6 - a downgrade, somewhat, and so I'll explain.
First and foremost, lets start with what I liked about the F2 Pro: -
- For RM1,999 the phone is definitely value for money, particularly seeing it is a 5G-capable phone (not that you can enjoy that now though) with a SD865 chipset. Built quality is solid and the phone feels really good in the hand, with very even weight distribution.
- The AMOLED screen is also excellent as you'd expect it to be, even though it's only a standard 60hz refresh rate. I've pitted it side-by-side with my Realme 6 running on 90hz but on a LCD display, and I found scrolling on the F2 Pro to be
not less smoother than the Realme 6, and when it came to media consumption, there's no competition. I'd pick the 60hz AMOLED over the 90hz LCD any day of the week. The other plus point is there are no punch holes or notches, so you get a full screen experience which is great!
- Speaking of media consumption, the F2 Pro only has a single-firing bottom speaker, which isn't ideal, but to its credit, it is sufficiently loud and the output isn't too bad, but of course you can't expect flagship grade sound quality like you'd get from the iPhones or the flagship Samsungs. Oh - and a 3.5mm headphone jack! That's priceless these days!
- Battery life is good, largely due to a very sizeable 4700mAh battery. Based on my usage (no games), 2-day battery life with 10 hours total SOT is definitely
achievable. However, there are some caveats, and I'll touch on that on the things I didn't like about the phone.
- Charging speed is pretty quick with the generous 33W adapter and cable. I don't particularly track charging speed but from one observation, it hit 60% in just about 30 minutes or so from less than 10% battery remaining.
- Photo output is really good and colours are punchy in good lighting. The macro camera really produces some nice shots. Didn't get to upload the photos here coz the file sizes are really humongous, but there are plenty of sample shots taken by way better photographers than myself on other websites so I guess you guys can just look them up. Indoor and night shots are not great but more than usable.
So, why didn't I keep the F2 Pro and returned to the Realme 6 instead? Coz the things I didn't like kinda outweighed the above
What I didn't like: -
- The optical fingerprint reader was inconsistent for me. Sometimes it would work and sometimes it wouldn't. Sometimes it'd recognise my right thumb and not my left, and other times it would recognise the left and not the right. I unregistered and reregistered my fingerprints a few times, but the inconsistency remained. Did not do a reset to see if it would solve the issue though so am not sure if that would have helped. When the FP reader does work, it's also not comparable in speed compared to other in-display FP readers I have tried. Anyways, it could be just a one off, but I'm just describing my experience with it. Mileage may vary with other users.
- The pop-up selfie camera, while it's cool and has nice LED lights which you can customise, has this one behaviour that concerns me - it pops up automatically when you receive a WhatsApp video call. Even when the phone is in your pocket! It's not a big problem and I guess Xiaomi can easily fix this with a software update - which leads me to the next thing I don't quite like....
- Software updates are few and far between. My last security update was March and as a comparison, my Realme 6 is on June update. Xiaomi does update its individual stock apps periodically, but not the overall MIUI software, which probably is no big deal for lots of people, but that just bugs me
- The overall MIUI experience on the Poco launcher is OK, but not great. Again, software and UI skin is subject to personal preference so I won't dwell too much on it. There are still ads planted in stock apps like Cleaner, File Manager, etc. but they can be disregarded as minor annoyances and nothing more. For me, Realme UI was just more fluid and minimalistic and while I don't mind using MIUI (after all I used a Redmi Note 7 for a year), I didn't enjoy it as much.
- I can't quite place my finger on it, but the standby battery drain is inconsistent and unlike any of my previous SD8-series phones (HTC U11, OP7 Pro and S10 Lite). The overnight battery drain ranges from 3%-5%, which is acceptable but seems not as good as the phones I mentioned above, all of which have smaller batteries. In fact, the standby battery drain is not even as good as the Realme 6, which also has a smaller battery.
- And this is probably the main reason I returned to my Realme 6 rather than sticking it out with the Poco F2 Pro before trying another phone: the signal strength of the phone in my office is rather poor. Granted, my room in the office has inconsistent signal strength from my chosen telco service provider, but it seems to be better and more consistent on my Realme 6. Also, my Realme 6 has the stronger and more accurate GPS signal. I won't be quick to blame either the SD865 or MIUI just yet as this was only an occurrence on one phone so I can't be certain. I'm certain of one thing though, Mediatek has improved by leaps and bounds - the GT90 on the Realme 6 has been exceeding my expectations on every level.
In conclusion, the F2 Pro remains the cheapest SD865 phone in Malaysia at the moment and it certainly isn't a bad buy by any means - especially if you're used to MIUI or if you're a fan - then it's a no brainer.
Jul 16 2020, 04:35 PM
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