Poco M3 Pro 5G review: the most affordable 5G phone

Poco M3 Pro 5G review: the most affordable 5G phone

We finally have a follow-up to the POCO M3 Pro 5G Unboxing. So that we have for today is the review. 

But first, let’s have a quick recap. What can be expected if you were to buy a retail unit of the POCO M3 Pro 5G? As usual, we have a yellow box because, of course, it’s from POCO and we can see it has the 5G label hereat the bottom of the box.

 Actually, this is the cheapest 5G smartphone released by POCO and will be officially launched on June 1st.

Basically, inside the boxyou’ll be having your usual-- you know POCO stickers, paperworks, and USB type C cable and its power brick And now let’s see how the POCO M3 Pro 5G will look when we put on the jelly case This is how it looks like with the case on it The jelly case offers the protectionthat you will be needing And why did I say that? Because it even has the coverfor the USB type C port in case you accidentally splash water or spill any other liquids on it.

 Considering that the phone isa smudge magnet, putting on the jelly case makes a big difference. It’s not as slippery and looks cleaner. Just to set your expectations, especially for those who are watching my POCO M3 Pro 5G videofor the first time. 

Again, this is the first phone in theirM series that supports 5G It’s POCO Global’s first deviceto use a MediaTek chipset And to be exact, it’s the MediaTek 700 Dimensity It’s not a very new chipset,I think I’ve heard it included in another smartphone as well but it’s definitely an upgrade from the previous POCO M3 phone.

 In terms of the design, I don’t really have much complaints but of course,I still would prefer to have brighter colors like yellow so it can stand out more in videos and it’s much more appealing to look at. But then again, of course that’s just the physical appearance the most important part is inside. 

It weighs 190 grams and is 8.9 millimeters thick Actually, I’m more familiar with the phone design-wise. Why? It does look like the Redmi Note 10 From the placement of theheadphone jack, to the placement of the IR blaster, even the speaker, all the way to the UBC port.

 Although, of course [the Redmi]has a matte finish whereas this one is glossy and has a different camera setup. It also has a side-mountedfingerprint sensor and speaking of that, it’s very fast andconsistent most of the time unless when my hands are a bit sweaty, then it has a slightly harder time registering The design of the POCO M3 Pro 5G is two-tone, it has a darker shade of black where the cameras are placed and the POCO brand logois located below it.

 Actually, it almost serves asan optical illusion to make the camera setup seem largerthan it actually is. To make it a little more familiar, the design is similar to the Samsung Galaxy S21. In terms of the size of thePOCO brand logo, you may find it a little bit off (or odd) but if you are familiar with theprevious model of the POCO M3, you will notice that it isabout the same size.

 The difference is that this model is shaped more vertically whereas the other is more landscape. All in all, in terms of design, I appreciated that theytried something different and the design is not that generic,which is good.

 By the way, I also appreciated,like I said in the Note 10 video, that this phone has the headphone jack which is located at the top and the fact that it has an IR blasterand of course with NFC. [Music] Now onto the display, actually, as I mentioned in the first impressions video, at first I thought this phone hadan AMOLED display. 

Of course I thought there would be a level up (or upgrade) from the cheaper POCO M3 model. It has exactly 6.5 inches of the LCD panel and has the refresh rate of 90 Hz. Although the display is only the IPS LCD, I love the fact that the brightnessisn’t lacking in any way. 

The display is very visible even when I go outside, although the viewing anglesaren’t that great. Of course since it is only the IPS LCD display, the colors on the screen area bit washed out, especially if you were to compare it to a phone with an AMOLED display. 

Even though the phone is set to the Saturated mode, it’s still not as vibrant as we thought [it would] be. So if you’re someone who’d rather havea higher refresh rate on a budget phone,than having an AMOLED display, then you might appreciate[this] device more.

 So yes, this is definitely notmy favorite display out of all thePOCO devices. But the fact that this hassmaller bezels and chin, makes it more manageable to useespecially when watching videos. [Music] Now I said earlier that this hasthe Dimensity 700 that is also capable of 5G with 6 GB of RAM. The AnTuTu score is quite decent, it went up to 267,000. 

Actually guys, based on myreal world experience on this device, we shouldn’t base everything on numbers. 6 GB of RAM is actually more than enough. I experience less lag on this device compared to its competitors and in terms of playing games, especially Genshin Impact, it’s a playable game as long asyou’re on the medium to lowest setting. 

But don’t automatically assume that your game play will be the smoothest just because the phone brand is POCO. It’s a casual gaming device especially for games like Mobile Legends, PUBG, COD, Asphalt 9, those are definitely playableon this device and will make yourgaming experience worthwhile.

 Not only [when it comes to] gaming, when it comes to heavy multitasking, I didn’t experience much lag on this device although it did slightly heat up whileI was playing Genshin Impact but not to the point whereit affected my gameplay. On other devices thatI’ve seen run AnTuTu, their scores went past 300,000 which is why I tried running it again [Music] In terms of software, it has the latest MIUI 12.0.5 based on Android 11.

 So yes, you’re definitely getting the latest MIUI software on this device. There’s a few additional wallpapersincluding your usual POCO launcher and if we go to its drop downnotification [menu], you [will see] the WiFi, Mobile data, Flashlight, Mute, Screenshot, Bluetooth, Auto brightness, Airplane mode, Lock rotation, Reading mode, Dark mode, DND, Battery saver, Ultra battery saver, monitor casting, Mi share,floating window, Screen Recorder, Vibrate, Hotspot, Nearby Share, of course the NFC, and the drop down notification menuis very customizable you can edit it and add Focus mode, Bedtime mode, and Mi remote. So yes, you will have almost everything that you will be needing fora smartphone that is for everyday use [Music] In terms of the battery, it has a 5000 milliamp Hour and is capable of up to 18 watts of fast charging.

 It’s your usual batteryand charging capability on a smartphone that isat this price range. It took me almost 2 hours beforethis device got fully charged based on my 1 week of usagewhich is actually not fast enough. It’s not a super fast chargingexperience but, as long as the device lasted mefor more than a day, even when I'm using 5G outside, that’s more than enough for me. Again, we all have different prioritieswhen it comes to choosing a phone. 

[For me,] I'd appreciate a bigger battery rather than having fast charging onbudget to mid-range phones. [Music] [As for] 5G connectivity, you know guys,it’s very simple. If you’re in a place where5G is accessible, if it’s supported in your area, it’s definitely something you should consider before buying a smartphone. The 5G didn’t affect the battery life as I thought it would. However, if 5G is not accessible in your location, I don’t see it as a priority for you to finda smartphone that is 5G enabled.

 Now if you’re looking for a cheap5G option in the market, specifically for smartphonesthat are 10,000 and below and you live in the Makati and Green Hills area where 5G is accessible, then definitely the POCO M3 Pro 5G can be part of your options.

 [Music] Now let’s do the speaker test. This phone doesn’t have dual speakers, just single speakers. [Music] [video] --Pro packaging. When there’s a combination ofblack and yellow on the packaging, we know it’s definitely from POCO. Why is there no ejecting tool? Looks like someone stole the SIM ejector tool In terms of my audio experience, it’s not exactly “WOW” (or super impressive), t’s an expected sound experiencefrom a phone with a single speaker only. But for a casual listening experience,it’s good enough [Music] So ending this video with it’s cameras, let’s start with the main camerawhich is the 48 megapixel f/1.8 aperture, 2 megapixel macro lens, and the 2 megapixel depth sensor. In terms of the set of cameras, I think it would’ve been a better choice if they includedan ultrawide camera on this device For a smartphone with this price point, you would expect that it would havean ultrawide camera. But despite that, if you’re in good lighting conditions, the device will still produce good photos and it has a dedicatedNight mode option as well, although the photos are still a bit grainyeven with this setting. It has less camera features if you were to compare this todifferent smartphones with the same price point. 

And to be specific, we have Night mode, 48 megapixel, Short video, Panorama, Slow motion, and Time lapse. It also has Portrait mode,Video mode of course which is capable of shooting1080p at 30fps and we have Pro mode as well. It doesn’t have a dedicatedOIS or EIS built in so if you’re taking a video while walking, the footage will definitelybe a little shaky but despite that when you usethe POCO M3 Pro 5G on a tripod, the footage will definitelybe more nicer (or better) [Music] For my final verdict, there are a few things thatI really liked about this device and there’s things thatI also didn’t like. [As for the] color choices, I will definitely recommend for youto get the yellow one The chipset that is being used on this devicedespite it being MediaTek, is actually efficient enoughfor you to be able to use the device for your everyday social media [browsing], online class, and even-- you know--a little bit of gaming. The presence of the 90 hertz refresh rate and of course the 5G capability.

 We all know that 5G isn’t cheap which is why I get surprised wheneverbrands release smartphones that have a lower price and 5G enabled. Now for the few things thatI wasn’t fond of about this device, it would have been better if it had thedual or stereo speakers and of course it lacks theultrawide camera.