Poco X3 Pro unboxing, first impressions & camera test

The Poco X3 NFC from last year was a good surprise for those looking for a well-rounded smartphone on a budget. It wasn’t necessarily the best-looking phone n the category, but Poco checked all the right boxes, delivering just the right hardware to make the phone one of our favorite budget-friendly smartphones of 2020.

To build on that success, Poco has unveiled the X3 Pro with an upgraded Snapdragon 860 SoC from Qualcomm which should deliver significant improvements in performance and new sensors for the main and ultrawide cameras on the back of the phone. The base model with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage comes in at €249, making it a steal when compared to many other budget-friendly smartphones.

As the leaked images suggested, the Poco X3 Pro looks identical to the Poco X3 NFC, sharing the exact same display, battery and every external design feature down to the bottom speakers, mic hole and placement of the 3.5mm headphone jack. The included case that comes with the Poco X3 Pro fits the X3 NFC like a glove which is a bit surprising since the Qualcomm and MediaTek variants of the LG Velvet have slightly different exterior designs despite technically being the same phone.

The performance of the Snapdragon 860 has been fairly impressive when you consider the price of this phone. For reference, the SD860 wedges itself in between the SD855+ and the SD865 from last year. Battery life will likely take a hit when compared to the Poco X3 NFC since the SD732 used inside that phone is a lot more efficient, but the 5160 mAh battery should still hold up nicely with this upgraded chipset.

We’re only been using the Poco X3 Pro for 2 days now, but we thought we’d share our unboxing of the smartphone and our first camera test as well.

Poco X3 Pro specification

Display: 6.67-inch FHD+ LCD DotDisplay
- Refresh Rate: 120Hz refresh rate, 240Hz touch sampling rate
- HDR 10
Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 860
RAM: 6GB or 8GB
Storage: 128GB or 256GB
Front Camera: 20MP, f/2.2 aperture
Rear Cameras: 48MP (main), 8MP (ultra wide), 2MP (macro), 2MP (depth sensor)
Battery: 5,160mAh
Charging: 33W fast charging via USB-C
Security: Side-mounted fingerprint scanner, AI Face Unlock
Extras: 3.5mm Headphone Jack, NFC, IR Blaster, Dual Speakers
Software: MIUI 12 for POCO, based on Android 11
Colors: Phantom Black, Frost Blue, Metal Bronze