Xiaomi's subsidiary Poco unveiled the company's first ever phone dubbed as Poco F1 in New Delhi on 22 August 2018.
Poco F1 comes with a truckload of features and an aggressive price-tag, which might very well disrupt the premium flagship segment, which is dominated by OnePlus, Samsung and Apple.
The new Poco F1 sports a sturdy polycarbonate shell on the back with a dual camera and a fingerprint sensor below it. On the front, it flaunts a 6.18-inch full HD+ display with a notch on top housing an advanced 20MP camera with IR sensor for face unlocks capability, even in the dark environment.
Under-the-hood, it houses Snapdragon 845 octa-core, Qualcomm's most powerful and fastest processor to date and it is backed by the Liquid Cool technology and the newly introduced DSP architecture with AI performance that's three times higher than the previous generation. Supported by up to 8GB LPDDR4x DRAM, Poco F1 can render the most demanding games at high FPS for an unparalleled gaming experience, the company claims.
As far as the camera is concerned, it comes with feature-rich 12MP (Sony IMX363, F1.9, 1.4μm) + 5MP AI dual camera, Dual Pixel Autofocus, HDR, Multi-frame Noise Reduction, more than 200 AI scene detection, AI Beautify, AI portrait mode.
On the front, it features equally impressive 20MP sensor with 1.8μm pixel size, 4-in-1 Super Pixel, F2.0 aperture, HDR, AI scene detection, AI Beautify, AI portrait mode and Infrared illuminator + infrared camera for the Face Unlock feature.
Poco F1 comes with big 4,000mAh battery, which is enough to last a whole day if not more under mixed usage. It also supports Quick Charge 3.0 technology.
Besides the standard models, the company announced special Poco F1 Armoured Edition with a back panel made of DuPont Kevlar. The super-tough, heat-resistant material is widely used in the aviation industry, the military, and high-end cycling. Its textured surface gives POCO F1 a unique appearance and provides a comfortable grip, the company claims.
All-in-all, the Poco F1 is shaping up to be a flagship killer phone and will redefine the budget premium market, just like the Xiaomi Mi 3 series debut in India in 2014.
Poco F1 launch and price details:
Poco F1 is also available with polycarbonate backs in Graphite Black, Steel Blue, and Rosso Red. Poco F1 will retail at Rs 20,999, Rs 23,999, and Rs 28,999 for the 6GB+64GB, 6GB+128GB, and 8GB+256GB respectively. The Armoured Edition comes in a single 8GB+256GB configuration and will retail at Rs 29,999. Poco F1 will go on sale on mi.com and Flipkart on 29th August 2018, starting 12:00 PM.
As part of the promotional launch offer, Poco F1 consumers are entitled to avail Rs 1000 instant cashback with HDFC credit and debit card. This will essentially bring down the price of Poco F1 to Rs 19,999, Rs 22,999, and Rs 27,999 for the 6GB+64GB, 6GB+128GB, and 8GB+256GB respectively, and Armoured Edition to Rs 28,999 for the first sale. This makes POCO F1 the world's most affordable phone with Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 smartphone under Rs 20,000. Poco F1 also comes with Jio offer with up to Rs 8000 worth of benefits and 6TB of high-speed data.