The Pocophone brand is often associated with performance on the cheap, and that's probably the apt description for the latest phone we have for review - the Poco F3. It's more than that, though - it's like a flagship on the cheap, or as this other company would have called it - a flagship killer.
The Poco F3 is jam-packed with top-notch features starting with its beautiful glass body with a sturdy plastic frame. The F3 has a 6.67" AMOLED screen with 120Hz refresh, one of the fastest platforms available today - the Snapdragon 870 5G chip, loud stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos, a versatile triple-camera setup, and a large battery with fast charging.
 
The design of the Poco F3 belies its relatively affordable price tag. It looks and feels like a phone that’s more than twice its price, due in part to a glass front and back. The latter is one of the key design upgrades over the Poco X3 Pro, although it does still have a plastic frame.
 
This makes it extremely reflective, to the extent that I could easily use it as a personal mirror. That’s only a problem on the silver model I tested – it's also available in black, blue or white if you’d prefer. Fingerprint smudges weren’t really an issue, and being equipped with Gorilla Glass 5 meant I was comfortable using the phone case-free.
 
I’d still recommend throwing one on, though – the rear camera module protrudes significantly from the back of the phone, making it difficult to use face up on a table otherwise. The silicone one included in the box does a good job of making this flush, even if it takes away from the attractive design to some extent.
I’ll explore camera performance in more detail later, but there’s not too much else to report when it comes to rear design. Thankfully, the X3 Pro’s huge logo has been swapped out for a much more discreet one here.
 
However, you probably won’t be looking at the back of the phone much. Flipping it over reveals a stunning 6.65in AMOLED display, another big upgrade over the X3 Pro. It’s still limited to Full HD (1080x2400), but more than makes up for it with rich, vibrant colours and an excellent level of detail.
It also supports refresh rates up to 120Hz, making for a buttery-smooth experience. You can only choose between this and 60Hz in Settings, but the display can dynamically adjust according to what you’re doing. This should help regulate battery life, something that is negatively affected when selecting 120Hz. Combined with a 360Hz touch sampling rate, gaming on the Poco F3’s screen is about as good as it gets on a mid-range phone, short of buying a dedicated handset like the Red Magic 6.
 
The display is flanked by some extremely slim bezels, giving the device an impressive 85.9% screen-to-body ratio. A hole-punch 20Mp selfie camera is centrally located at the top of the phone – a very natural position for face unlock, which works well. However, I much preferred the other biometric unlocking option. The side-mounted fingerprint scanner is built into the power button, and it’s extremely fast and reliable. My experience with under-display sensors has been hit-and-miss so far – I wish more phones would adopt this feature instead.
 
The Poco F3 is a cracking mid-range phone. Stellar hardware is led by Qualcomm’s 5G-enabled Snapdragon 870 chipset, which delivers excellent performance across the board. That extends to gaming, where the 120Hz OLED display comes into its own. However, that high refresh rate does hit battery life, especially when you’re working with a smaller capacity than the Poco X3 Pro. The software is also still an acquired taste, despite big steps forward for MIUI in recent years.
 
A premium design and solid set of cameras make for an excellent smartphone experience, but the strength of the competition makes it more difficult to recommend. Many people will find everything they’re looking for in the Poco X3 Pro, a device that retails for around £100/€100 less than the Poco F3. Unless you value an OLED display, slightly better cameras or a glass back, the cheaper phone might be a better bet.