If you are looking for an all-rounder then POCO F4 5G has you covered

At the end of the year, there is a good chance that POCO F4 5G will be among the best mid-segment phones. Enough features have been packed into the phone to make most rival devices feel old. A spiritual successor the POCO F1, the new device offers a good balance of power and power efficiency, be it in way of processor or battery. And this is also a phone that can handle gaming very well.

Some may dismiss this as a variant of Redmi K40S. So be it because the phone is almost flawless and worth your hard-earned cash. The two features that I liked most about the phone are display and choice of processor.

Power play

You get Snapdragon 870 which is a time-tested chip known for striking a good balance between offering sustained performance and keeping the battery alive long enough to last a day, even if you throw the darnest of tasks at the device. Almost any game can be played without the phone throttling and even after playing demanding titles for one hour or so, the phone will only be warm to the touch. Chances of experiencing frame drops are negligible while benchmark scores are among the best. Helping the show are LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage.

What good is the processor without a fantastic display? It’s a big 6.67-inch FHD+ AMOLED panel with 120Hz refresh rate and 360Hz touch sampling rate, meaning you get a fluid touch experience. Even though it’s a biggish phone, weight has been kept below 200g and at the same time, it’s a sleek set-up. Sure you get plastic on the side but that doesn’t compromise the design. On the front is Corning Gorilla Glass 5.

If you are into streaming content on mobile phones, this is a great choice because there is support for Dolby Vision and HDR10+ out of the box, which is something most phones in this price range cannot boast of. The HDR performance is also tops while bezels have been kept to a minimum. And did I say that you get 1,300nits of peak brightness? Taking the display experience a few notches higher are the stereo speakers that offer good bass, clarity and punch.

Camera punches above its weight

At first I thought compromises have been made to the camera to make the display and chipset shine. That’s not the case. The main 64MP primary camera comes with OIS, ensuring you get steady pictures and videos. Colours are more or less true to life while HDR performance is stunning, brining out enough details from the shadows. I also like the fact that the 8MP ultra-wide works equally well with excellent distortion correction algorithm. There is hardly any colour shift between the two lenses. And I enjoyed taking portrait shots and videos using this phone. Shooting 4K@60fps is a pleasure while audio capture is perfectly acceptable, ensuring enough reasons for vloggers to buy the device. There are some excellent camera tricks to keep you entertained. I am not getting into the 20MP selfie camera as things are acceptable. It’s also important to point out that auto-focus on all the cameras is better than on rival devices.

Should you buy it?

There is no reason why you shouldn’t. The only quibble I have is the absence of a microSD slot. Otherwise, you get easily seven hours of on-screen time. Plus, there is IP53 rating and two years of warranty. So far security updates haven’t disappointed. And there is a 67W power brick in the box to juice up the 4,500mAh battery. If you are looking for an all-rounder then POCO F4 5G finds a place on the winning team of the year.

At a glance

Device: POCO F4 5G

Price: Upwards of Rs 27,999 (Nebula Green and Night Black); there are special offers which will bring the price down; available via Flipkart starting June 27 at noon

High notes

•  Among the best screens in mid-segment
•  IP53 protection
•  Power efficient chipset

Muffled notes

•   No microSD slot