A good mid-range smartphone can cost Rs 25,000 or more but you don’t have to spend nearly that much to get the features you need. After a week of using POCO M6 5G, we found it fast enough for most people, has a bright screen, delivers enough in terms of battery and even has 5G connectivity. And pricing begins under 10K. There are a couple of drawbacks but given the pricing, it’s tough to ask for more from a phone.
Bright display
Coming with flat sides, POCO M6 is a biggish phone but despite the size, it’s not heavy. Weighing under 200g, the 6.74-inch HD+ IPS LCD display shines and at the end of 2023, the debate between AMOLED and LCD no longer sways customer choice. Given the things you can do with the phone, there is no need for anything more than a good-quality LCD screen. There is 90Hz refresh rate and widevine L1 certification, meaning you get full HD on, say, Netflix. Like on most budget phones, there is a decent mono, downward-firing speaker, which can enliven the sound to a degree. Plus, POCO has retained the 3.5mm headphone jack.
Pictures taken on POCO M6 look good under bright sunshine
The back has a shiny finish that reflects light when you hold it against the sun. Even though shimmery surfaces are not my favourite, this one does a good job. In the box is a 10W power brick even though the phone supports 18W charging. At least, POCO is still providing chargers. But I am not a fan of the USB-C to USB-A cable at a time when everything is turning towards the former. Another quibble: the bezels are on the thicker side but I suppose next year we will see these slim down even on budget phones.
Making the phone user-friendly are the dual SIM slots, besides offering a dedicated slot for the micro SD card, which supports up to 1TB. Also present, flicker-free screen tech to ensure a high degree of reading comfort.
Sustained performance
Giving the phone its space under the spotlight is MediaTek Dimensity 6100+ 5G processor. It’s one of the best processors one can ask for on a budget smartphone. Even without throwing benchmark scores at you, I can say that the processor is stable and offers sustained gaming performance. Most games can be played in HD high settings and even after 25-30 minutes, there is hardly any throttling. Sure, if you play for long hours, there will be some drawbacks but what more can ask for from a phone that’s priced around the 10K mark. I can forgive POCO for not giving a gyroscope sensor. There are a number of variants to the phone — 4GB/6GB/8GB RAM and 128GB/256GB storage.
The budget phone comes with an efficient processor but there is some degree of unnecessary apps and games
On top of all this, you get two years of major Android updates and three years of security updates. But I am not happy that Android phones are still being shipped with Android 13. Here it’s based on MIUI 14. Further, there are a number of unnecessary apps and games that come preinstalled, which can be deleted.
In the camera department, it’s quite simple — a 50MP main camera, plus an AI lens. But on the selfie front, it’s only 5MP. There are a number of filters available on the phone and you can take full 50MP snaps. In full sunshine, pictures come out fine but under uneven light, things can be iffy. Video is restricted at 1080p@30fps.
Should you buy it?
If you are on a tight budget and want a phone that works smoothly, and offers good 5G performance, this is it. A good choice of processor makes this phone worth trying out. POCO M6 5G proves that a budget phone doesn’t need to make too many compromises.
