Poco X2 is official: a 120Hz display on a budget with four cameras in tow
Poco recently became an independent brand from Xiaomi but its first phone as such is everything but independent. In a somewhat confusing move, Poco released the Poco X2, which happens to be the 4G version of the Redmi K30 with a different name on the back (and the box, of course). Still, we’ll respect Poco’s decision to call that a brand new phone and treat it as such. So, let’s take a look at it.
Design and display
It’s safe to say the Poco X2 is a good-looking phone. At the front, we get a 6.67-inch LCD display with a 2400×1080 resolution. In the top right corner, there’s a small, pill-shaped hole for the two front-facing cameras, giving it a very similar look to the Galaxy S10+.
Unlike Samsung’s flagship, however, the display of the Poco X2 is flat, which many users prefer. Still, a round hole would have looked better and the added depth camera can hardly warrant the aesthetics sacrifice, but that’s just our opinion.
What’s worth mentioning about this display is its high refresh-rate. And we’re not talking 90Hz here, Poco is going all the way to 120Hz. You already know what that means: smooth scrolling and animations and better gaming experience (if the games you’re playing support it).
The back (just like the front) is covered in Gorilla Glass 5 and comes in one of three fancy colors. The elongated camera bump houses 4 cameras (more about them in a bit) and is surrounded by a circular “halo” similar to that of the Mate 30 Pro.
Overall, it’s a premium-built phone, no doubt about it. But it’s a Poco phone and what’s inside matters even more than the looks, so let’s take a peek.
Poco X2 specs
The X2 is no slouch when it comes to hardware, here’s a quick rundown of its main components:
| Spec: | Poco X2 |
|---|---|
| Display | 6.67″ IPS LCD, 2400×1080, 120Hz |
| CPU | Snapdragon 730G |
| RAM | 6GB (8GB optional) |
| Storage | 64GB (128 and 256GB optional) |
| Battery | 4,500mAh |
If you had no knowledge of the internals of the Redmi K30, you’re probably surprised to see that the chip inside the Poco X2 is not the Snapdragon 865, not even the 855. Instead, we’re getting the best chip from the 700 series, what gives? Well, to be fair, this is the Poco X2 and not F2, so technically, it’s not a successor to the previous Poco phone (there’s no X1, but let’s pretend we haven’t noticed).
Everything else seems satisfactory, we’re happy to see a large battery combined with a 27W fast charger.
We can’t forget to mention that our beloved headphone 3.5mm headphone jack is also on board.
But enough about boring specs, time to get to the feature the X2 clearly outshines the Poco F1: cameras.
Poco X2 cameras
As we said earlier, the main camera assembly consists of four sensors. As is tradition, whenever we hear about a phone with four cameras, we quickly assume that one of them is just for depth of field and the X2 is no exception.
The other three cameras are an unusual combo. We get a main sensor from Sony with 64MP resolution, paired with an 8MP ultra-wide camera and… a 2MP macro lens! The telephoto camera is omitted and with good reason. With a 64MP sensor, you can just crop part of it and offer that as the zoom option with little loss in quality compared to an actual 2x zoom.
Price and availability
The good news is that all that hardware you can get for under $250. The 6+64GB version will cost the equivalent of $225, while the top-specced 8+256GB one gets as high as $280. The bad news is that the phone won’t be making an official appearance in the US, but that doesn’t mean some retailers won’t have units available. If you’re set on getting one, you might have to sacrifice the US warranty in that case.
Overall, the Poco X2 is a decent phone for a great price, but the issue is that it doesn’t have the Poco identity if that’s even a thing. If Poco is to be an independent brand it better start making its own designs, otherwise, it’s only spreading confusion among consumers.