POCO X5 Pro- The Best midrange phone ?

The Poco X5 pro is the latest offering from Poco, a mid-range phone, with some good specs on the outside. But will it be as good as it seems, or does it pack serious issues, some of which might be a deal breaker for you, we are here to find out. what are the prosand cons of the device, what alternatives do we have? check everything inthis post.

POCO X5 Pro Specs

Processor	SD 778G (6nm) Adreno 642L GPU
Software	MIUI 14 (Android 12) 2yr Android Update
Rear Cameras	108MP (Samsung HM2) Primary Wide 8MP (Samsung S5K4H7) Ultra Wide 2MP (Omnivision 02B10) Macro
Front Cameras	16MP Omnivision OV16A1Q
Display	6.7-inch 120Hz 10bit FHD AMOLED 500 nits, 900 nits (HBM) 395 PPI, Infinite contrast ratio
Build	Front Gorilla Glass 5 Side Plastic Back Plastic
Battery and Charging	5000mAh , Li-Po 67W wired, PD3, QC4 0-100 in 45 minutes
RAM and Storage	6/8 GB LPDDR4x 128/256 GB UFS 2.2
Wireless Connectivity	5G Wifi 6 Bluetooth 5.2 LE NFC IR
ports	USB Type-c 2.0 3.5 mm Jack
Benchmark	Antutu(v9) : 530000 Geekbench(5.1) : 2900 GFX Bench(3.1) :28FPS

Poco x5 Pro – The Good Things

Primary Camera: The primary sensor is a 108Mp Samsung HM2 Sensor, which is seen in many midranges to upper midrange mobile phones since early 2022. While it is not the best sensor available, this might as well be the cheapest 108MP camera available with a decent processor.

Processor: The snapdragon 778G is a decent midrange processor, and despite the fact that it is currently more than a year old, there are no processors available in the midrange segment, except for the SD 870 that could provide serious competition. It also comes with the Adreno 642L GPU, which is far better than the 610 series GPU found in the 600 series processors

ports and I/O: Another plus point of the Poco X5 pro is its port selection. it has everything from the 3.5mm Jack, and NFC to an IR blaster so you would never want more ports. please note that the USB TYPE-C provided with the phone is only USB 2.0, which is not nearly as fast as the ones with USB 3. x ports.

Poco x5 pro – The Bad Things

Display: You might think the Poco x5 pro has an excellent display, provided that it has a 10-bit 120hz display with Dolby vision support. But an important factor to note is the brightness, while the X4 pro and the note 11 series came with displays that had sustained typical brightness of 700 nits and a peak brightness of 1200 nits, the newer ones only have a 500 nits typical brightness, which is what you would get on a mid-range IPS LCD Display. this will significantly decrease outdoor visibility, and they shouldn’t have traded it for a 10-bit display

UFS 2.2 Storage, UFS 2.2 Storage is not bad in its own right, and is usually enough for low-end phones with 600 series or older processors, the 768G+ supports and is capable of using the UFS 3.1 version which is sadly absent in the device. However, you may not count this one, as most 778G phones come with UFS 2.2 itself.

Camera System: While the primary 108MP camera is brought as an excellent hardware spec, the camera department as a whole, is not that great. For example, the other two cameras are an 8MP ultrawide ( same sensor from like 3 yrs ago), and a 2mp macro (do remember the 9 and 10 pro phones had a 5MP telemacro camera, and for 5k less.). THe smartphone also lacks 4K video recording, And OIS, SO it will not be a very good phone to capture images/vidoes with.

Another camera feature that I rerely see discussed in youtube/reviews are that the 16MP front camera shoots binned down 4MP Photos By default, and is upscaled by software to reach the final 16 MP resolution. This will unavoidably bring unnecessary contrast and oversharpening to the image, if you notice such details

PRICE: The first POCO phone, the POCO F1, created a very good brandname, and loyal fans for the sub company, much like it’s parent company. but since then, a lot of changes occured,and POCO is following every other brand in maximizing the profit, reducing the features and sometimes, even reducing the quality. the phone is sold for 24k, which is much more than what it is worth. For isntance, the mi 11i hypercharge, was a better phone with the same 108MP camera, better display, better build quality, etc, only lacking in the processor by a small margin, 1 yr ago, for the same price.

Verdict : Is POCO X5 pro a good phone for the price?

While the POCO x5 pro is cheap, and packs a powerfull processor, we would not recomment you getting one. no matter what your needs are, there is a better phone. need a powerfull phone, get the moto edge 30, it has a 778G+ a better overall build qulity, display and camera package. ( Software update is crap on both, but atlease stockish in MOTO), or wvwn the MI 11x, which is sometimes available for as low as 23K, which performas much better than this device.

If you can go higher, get a nothing phone 1. for 27K, that phone is a very good deal,if you are not a gamer. it is much like a flagship phone, with many flagship features, such as aluminium sides, symetrical bezzels, OIS, UFS 3.1, etc.

Suggested Poco x5 pro alternatives :

Moto edge 30 – cheaper, faster processor, better software, better build quality

MI 11x -better at everything, except camera

MI 11X pro – Better atr everyting, much faster, and much better display

Nothing Phone 1 – true flagship in everything except the processor

For a longer list, visit our Budget phone selection list : Best Budget Mobile Phone January 2023 – India – Asas Tech