POCO has become a well-known brand in the Pakistani market, even though it has a limited portfolio. POCO launched the POCO M3 on November 24, 2020, and shortly after that, the company introduced the successor – the POCO M3 Pro. This new phone is an upgrade to the M3 with much improved specs, including a smooth 90Hz refresh rate, a better processor, and an eye-catching design for just Rs 8,000 extra (base variant). In this POCO M3 Pro review in Pakistan, we will go through and evaluate the phone’s specs, camera performance, and other factors.
POCO targeted the Mid-Range market with the M3 series, which was designed to be an all-rounder. Although they do not explicitly emphasize a single form factor, these phones are designed to work well with various screen sizes.
POCO has risen to become the third most often used online brand in the region. Now, the company has returned with its successor, the POCO M3 Pro!
There are a lot of similarities between the POCO phones from last year and the Redmi hardware that is sold at a comparable price. POCO, on the other hand, is concentrating on innovative designs this time around.
Poco M3 Pro Review – Specifications
| Price | Rs. 30,599 4GB/64GB – Rs. 35,5996GB/128GB in Pakistan |
| Processor | MediaTek MT6833 Dimensity 700 5G (7 nm) |
| Operating System | Android 11, MIUI 12 |
| Display | IPS LCD Capacitive Touchscreen, 16M Colors, Multitouch |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 Pixels (~405 PPI) |
| Camera | Rear Camera: 48 MP+2 MP+2 MP triple cameraFront Camera: 8 MP |
| Battery & Charging | (Li-Po Non-removable), 5000 mAh, 18W Fast battery charging, Reverse charging |
| Network & Connectivity | Dual SIM card – 5G |
| Dimensions | 161.8 x 75.3 x 8.9 mm |
| Sensors | Accelerometer, Compass, Fingerprint (side-mounted), Proximity |
POCO M3 Pro Review – Design
The backside of the POCO M3 Pro 5G seems to be brand new. POCO’s “switchblade” design has a blacked-out section on the top left side of the body that resembles the camera module layout on Samsung’s Galaxy S21 series, with a gradient finish on the remainder. Although the rear panel and frame have plastic construction, they are shiny and readily attract fingerprints.
In contrast to the POCO M3, which has a leather-like rear panel, the POCO M3 Pro now has a reflective coating on the back panel. A thin vertical black strip replaces the big rectangular design, which now houses three back cameras instead of one enormous rectangular design found on previous device.
With a thickness of 8.92mm and a weight of 190g, the POCO M3 Pro 5G isn’t too bulky. The power and volume buttons offer excellent tactile feedback, and the aesthetics are good. The phone includes a headphone jack as well as an IR emitter for controlling infrared devices and appliances. On the right side of the frame, the capacitive fingerprint sensor is built within the recessed power button.
The 6.5-inch full-HD+ display has excellent color reproduction and is crisp. Although the phone has an ambient light sensor, it can be slow to adjust the screen’s brightness to the surroundings. Its maximum brightness, on the other hand, could have been higher.
The POCO M3 Pro’s general design is appealing. It’s not as bulky as previous model, which is a plus point. The new Poco M-series phone is available in a variety of colors, including blue, black, and yellow.
POCO M3 Pro Review – Display
A 90Hz display, which is still uncommon in this price range, is a real improvement over the POCO M3 Pro 5G’s predecessor. The smartphone comes with a 6.5-inch Full HD+ LCD screen with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. The POCO M3 Pro defaults to a 60Hz refresh rate, which you must manually change to a 90Hz refresh rate.
It’s great to see POCO bring a 90Hz display to the budget market. The screen also has a dynamic refresh rate, which is much better. This means it can cycle between 90Hz, 60Hz, 50Hz, and 30Hz automatically to conserve energy and offer a more customized user experience. The fast refresh rate is especially noticeable while playing the best mobile games.
We found the display to be adequate for everyday usage. It’s sharp and sleek, and it gets the job done in most outdoor situations. The colors, on the other hand, could have been more vibrant. The contrast is strong, which does not provide a pleasant streaming experience. In addition, the dynamic range is average.
We can safely say that POCO M3 Pro is an absolute staler and comes in the best mobile for gaming in its price category.
Hardware
Another notable change on the POCO M3 Pro is its internal hardware. While the previous iteration was equipped with Snapdragon 662, the POCO M3 Pro phone now ships with a MediaTek Dimensity 700 chipset, including a pair of Cortex-A76 cores and peak download speeds ranging up to 2.77 Gbps. Compared to the Snapdragon chipset, the MediaTek SoC is expected to deliver faster CPU and GPU performance. In addition, the POCO M3 Pro is available in two storage variants- 4GB RAM/64GB storage and 6GB RAM/128GB native storage.
Software and Performance
The POCO M3 Pro has the advantage of using a MediaTek chipset from the latest Dimensity series. POCO has loaded the phone with a Dimensity 700 Processor, which outperforms the Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 chipset utilized in the POCO M3. It has dual SIM capabilities as well as 5G support.
The phone also comes with UFS 2.2 storage as standard. Users can use a micro SD card to increase the internal capacity of both versions. Most customers will be satisfied with both the RAM and storage, but we recommend going with the 6GB RAM option.
When it comes to daily use, the smartphone does not disappoint. It moves between applications, menus, sends notifications, and more with ease. There are no delays or problems while responding to messages, emails, or streaming media.
The smartphone comes pre-installed with MIUI 12.0.2, which is based on Android 11. We are not sure as to when, or if, the Android 12 will be made available for the phone.
Upgrades to navigation gestures, multi-window functionality, Picture-in-Picture mode, and animations for many system actions are among the highlights of MIUI 12. A Security app is also available in MIUI. It can scan the phone for viruses, manage your blacklist, regulate or limit data consumption, set battery behavior, and clear up RAM. It can also control the permissions of your installed applications, allowing you to define the battery behavior of certain programs and impose limitations exclusively on those apps.
We’ve learned that POCO is developing its own software, which will eventually be available on its devices, although this is unlikely to happen fairly soon.
For the time being, you get a good experience, at least better than prior Xiaomi and Poco devices. On the phone, there are fewer bloatware and bugs, which improves your everyday experience.
Poco M3 Pro Review – Camera
While the Chinese company has made aesthetic and internal changes to the new POCO phone, the camera setup has remained the same. A 48-megapixel main camera with an f/1.79 aperture, a 2-megapixel macro camera, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor are included in the new smartphone. A front-facing 8-megapixel selfie camera with an f/2.0 aperture is also included.
We can put up with the fact that POCO didn’t update the camera, even if we think it should have, but what’s more baffling is the absence of an ultra-wide angle sensor on a smartphone that costs Rs 35,599 PKR (upper variant). The wide lens is typically used more than the macro lens by most individuals.
The camera interface is identical to that of previous POCO phones. Photo, Video, Portrait, Night, Panorama, and 48MP mode are all available, but the choices are limited.
The camera’s performance is decent. As its configuration is similar to that of the POCO M3, the image quality, details, colors, and sharpness are the same. The majority of pictures taken in daylight are impressive, but they also lack detail.
Noise may be seen in both regular and portrait pictures taken indoors. Although the macro lens performs well, pictures may have a painting-like appearance. Despite these flaws, the phone’s back camera produces several Instagram-worthy pictures, but it suffers in low-light situations. The details aren’t as good at night, and there are many grains in the photos.
If you are mobile photography enthusiast and are not short on money then do read our take on best mobile camera smartphones, that are available in the market.
Battery
One issue we found with the POCO M3 Pro was how long it took to charge. The phone came with an 18-watt charger that took over two hours to fully charge. The POCO M3 Pro comes with a 22.5W fast charger. However, the CPU only allows for 18W charging. Nonetheless, the POCO M3 Pro takes less time to charge from 0% to 100% as compared to the Poco M3. That isn’t because POCO utilized a different technology or optimized the M3 Pro better. It’s because the battery capacity has been decreased to 5000mAh.
We can see this in two perspectives. The 5000mAh battery should be plenty for most users, but you will be paying more for a downgrade. As a result, you must make a decision. The phone still has approximately a day’s battery life, which is remarkable.
Price
The POCO M3 Pro comes in two different variants. The price for the 4GB RAM and 64 GB ROM version is Rs. 30,499, whereas the 4GB RAM and 128 GB ROM version cost Rs 35,999. The price of the Poco M3 Pro in USD is $205. The sale rate of Xiaomi mobile devices under official warranty is regulated by official dealers and warranty providers.
POCO M3 Pro – Benchmark Results
The Xiaomi POCO M3 Pro 5G, 4/64GB, received a “Single-core” score of 521 points and a “Multi-core” score of 1668 in Geekbench benchmark testing. The Xiaomi Poco M3 4/128GB, on the other hand, received a 321-point “Single-core” test and a 1332-point “Multi-core” score.
POCO M3 Pro Gaming Performance
The Poco M3 pro specs Gaming performance is poor due to the fact that it has an entry-level processor. There is no method to enable HDR graphics with Ultra frame rate in PUBG, and there is no way to enable Ultra frame rate in HD Graphics. Therefore, if you’d like to play PUBG at 40 frames per second, you’ll have to use Balanced or Smooth Graphics. The high screen resolution may seem to be a plus in this class. However, it has a negative impact on gameplay. If you can’t get a game’s resolution dropped to 720p, you won’t be able to play it smoothly. We’re not saying you shouldn’t play games; you simply need to modify your expectations and game settings. The real kicker is that with Balanced Graphics, everything still runs nicely.
Competitors
The Realme 7i, in our opinion, is the Poco M3 Pro’s best competitor for most users. Moreover, the Realme 7i is one of the most enticing phones since it has a 5,00mAh battery with fast charging 30W, which charges to 100percent in 65 minutes. The phone’s performance (with the Mediatek Helio G95 processor) is incredibly fast. The camera quality is good, comparable to that of the Poco M3 Pro.
Another strong competitor is Tecno Camon 17 Pro. We already have compared Camon 17 Pro vs POCO M3 Pro in detail in our article.
In a nutshell
That was all for our POCO M3 Pro review. The POCO M3 Pro outperforms the Poco X3 and Redmi Note 10 Pro to become a competent smartphone for gamers on a budget. The upgrades available for the Poco M3 Pro are likewise aimed at the same audience. The smartphone has a 90Hz display and is powered by an impressive Dimensity 700 CPU. It has an advantage over competitors due to its design and support for 5G.
The improvements, however, come to an end there. The RAM arrangement, software experience, and camera setup are the same as the Poco M3, except for the battery capacity, which has been dropped. All of this makes the Poco M3 Pro a solid choice in this category, but not quite the disruptor you’d expect. Meanwhile do read the POCO M3 review if you have a limited budget.
Still in a nutshell, POCO M3 Pro (upper variant) is amongst the best smartphones under 40,000 category.
[…] if your budget is a little more then do check out POCO M3 Pro which is launched recently and is a very good […]