POCO F4 GT review: a gaming phone that aims to the point from 499 € on offer

The message that POCO F4 GT tries to convey is quite simple: the best performance at the lowest possible price , in order to create a satisfactory user experience for any type of user but in particular for those who, with a smartphone, want first of all play .

If you look at it from the perspective of the gaming phone market, the new top of the POCO range (which elsewhere came out as Redmi K50 Gaming Edition) is an interesting product: the latest addition from Qualcomm coexists within the same smartphone, or the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 system on chip , a screen capable of giving satisfactions, a control system that is not unprecedented but curious and some comforts, such as the 120 Watt recharge , which can change (for the better) the user experience .

At 599 euros for the 8/128 version and 699 for the 12/256 version, net of the launch offers that you find in the conclusions, POCO F4 GT represents a valid choice for enthusiasts, even if it is necessary to make some important distinctions concerning, above all , the photographic sector.

DESIGNED FOR PLAYERS

Taken out of the box, the POCO F4 GT does not hide its gaming phone nature. The dimensions of 162.5 x 76.7 x 8.6 mm, the 6.67-inch screen and a weight of 210 grams make it a device that certainly does not rank among the most portable ones ever .

The silver color that was provided to us by the brand is not in itself too flashy, certainly less so than the yellow one, even if some details such as the flash in the shape of a lightning bolt and the rear quirks suggest the desire to create a product. with a rather aggressive look. The alternation of a matte back surface with some shiny details, allows you not to have to worry too much about fingerprints even if I found it a bit too slippery. The cover in the package, however, gives a hand, so I recommend you use it.

More explicit than the ambitions of the phone is the presence of the retractable magnetic triggers which, by acting on the special levers, jump out of the body and give access to an additional pair of buttons, this time physical, to be used within their games. favorites. This is not a new solution, but it is still quite interesting.

Compared to other similar control systems, such as the Air Trigger touch buttons of the ROG Phones, those of the POCO F4 GT have the undoubted advantage that, being real keys, they offer a more tactile experience and somehow close to the one we are used to experiencing with normal gaming controllers. The stroke is very short and they are not ideal if you feel the need to dose the action on the button, but I have found them versatile enough to still be two trusted companions in many games. For example in shooters or in all those situations where you need to press the same command many times.

Having used the latest ROG Phone models and also the Legion Phone for quite a long time, I perhaps lacked the programmability of the touch solutions, which for example give the freedom to divide each trigger in two or to set specific commands based on the gesture that is performed, but these are different experiences, each with pros and cons that fall within the field of personal tastes.

The pop-up buttons can, if desired, also be used to call up functions that are not strictly playful , for example by setting a shortcut to call up the camera, record a video or screen, activate the flashlight and so on. It is not possible to program the buttons to do anything you want, for example by creating macros, but even so it is not difficult to find uses that make them a convenient extra in some rather frequent everyday situations.

The absence of the 3.5mm jack is, in my opinion, felt more than on other occasions since many passionate gamers still prefer wired solutions and have expensive gaming headsets . On the other hand, always from the perspective of those who want to use the phone to play, perhaps online, the presence of an extra microphone on the long side opposite to that of the magnetic triggers, is much appreciated, so that it can be exploited when holding the phone horizontally gripped. , without the risk of covering it. In a similar vein, an extra 6E wi-fi antenna has also been placed, which is not covered by the hands in landscape mode.

PERFORMANCE NOTES, WITH VIDEO GAMES AT THE HEAD

As mentioned, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, a 4nm octa-core SoC that we have already learned about in the past months and which is accompanied, depending on the chosen configuration, by 8 or 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM, takes care of moving the POCO F4 GT and 128 or 256GB of UFS 3.1 for storage. This is not an unprecedented configuration, given that we have encountered something similar on several smartphones released in recent months, just as the possibility, which can still be appreciated by a slice of users, to redirect 3GB of storage memory to so that it becomes a kind of additional RAM.

The results are in line with what we have come to know. And in daily practice the POCO F4 GT proves to be an excellent companion even during long gaming sessions. We have tested it with a good number of titles, from Genshin Impact to Real Racing 3, through Call of Duty Mobile and PUBG New State, always obtaining very solid in-game performances.

More interesting and particular is the choice to focus on a very generous multi-layer cooling system, named by the company LiquidCool Technology 3.0, equipped with a double vapor chamber and some graphite inserts placed in correspondence with the areas that tend to generate more heat. . The result is a smartphone that, even during long gaming sessions, manages to keep the hot spirits of its system on chip at bay rather well and that, above all, is never annoying to hold even when it is held horizontally (and therefore while holding it horizontally). plays).

AUTONOMY, RECHARGE AND TELEPHONE USE

Although the second side USB Type-C socket that we have seen on many gaming Phones, ROG in particular, is missing, there is no shortage of good news thanks to the implementation of a 120 Watt charging system that allows you to completely fill the 4,700mAh battery in about 20 minutes . Considering that the scenario in which you arrive with a completely discharged battery is unlikely, the greatest advantage of such a solution is obviously that of being able to connect the smartphone to its charger in the middle of the day and in a matter of minutes guaranteeing the sufficient amount of recharge to arrive in the evening.

In my opinion, more than the availability of larger batteries, it is precisely the presence of such fast recharges that can change the experience of using a smartphone for the better. If we also add to this the excellent general autonomy, then staying “on foot” will be a very difficult eventuality. In a stressful day they manage to do about 16 hours of mixed use and in general even playing for about 3 hours a day, you can have enough charge for all other activities. On average I have always exceeded the 5 hours of screen on.

As for the telephone part, despite the lack of a physical proximity sensor , the problem that several Xiaomi / Poco devices have brought to light in recent years has not arisen, at least in our experience: both during calls and, for example, when you listen to the vowels, the screen turns off correctly when you bring it to your ear and then turns back on when you move it away. Obviously the accuracy and use is not comparable to that of a real physical sensor but the algorithm is certainly calibrated correctly for daily use. However, without the movement that brings the smartphone to the cheek, you will not have the “proximity sensor” effect.

That said, the quality of the audio on call is good , the double speakers allow you to have a loud speakerphone even if the tone is not very warm and there is a perceptible difference in this compared to higher-end smartphones. Nothing serious anyway!

DISPLAY

The 6.67-inch FullHD + screen of the POCO F4 GT supports HDR 10+, has a refresh rate of up to 120Hz and a touch sampling rate of up to 480Hz: these are not record values ​​but they are more than enough to have. a more than optimal in-game and video viewing experience . Especially because it is accompanied by a good color rendering, rather deep blacks and a 1920Hz PWM dimming system that makes it more comfortable to observe it even in low light situations and prevents any type of flicker.

The maximum brightness of 930 nits also makes it a panel with a good outdoor performance. The frame that cuts out the screen is certainly not among the thinnest on the market but, considering that the idea is to use this smartphone above all to play, it is functional to avoid touches and therefore accidental interactions on the display.

The stereo audio system is characterized by two pairs of speakers, a woofer and a twitter, on each side , capable of generating a good maximum volume without major audio distortions. Many users will still prefer to equip themselves with a pair of headphones or earphones, but the module mounted by POCO still manages to guarantee good quality in the reproduction of multimedia content.

SOFTWARE

As often happens with other gaming phones, even POCO has chosen to create its own interface dedicated to managing options while playing, called Game Turbo . In particular, when a title is launched, by swiping on the left side of the screen it is possible to access an interface with a whole series of options and useful information.

In addition to checking the status of the CPU, GPU and the frame rate of the game currently running, you can select some useful modes such as the one that allows you to clear the memory, disable notifications, record videos and screenshots and so on.

Still from the same interface you can position the two virtual buttons L and R, the ones that are then called up every time you act on the two triggers. And you can also change your voice with some effects. This is not a new software package, since most gaming phones now have similar options, but it remains a very welcome solution.

PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPARTMENT

The photographic sector is certainly the one where the POCO F4 GT shows the most side to possible criticism . The main 64MP sensor is the Sony IMX686, already observed in action in a multitude of other devices such as in the aforementioned ROG Phone 5 (s), accompanied by an 8MP Ultrawide with f / 2.2 aperture and a 2MP f / Macro. 2.4. It lacks some features that many users now aspire to, such as the optical stabilizer.

Taking advantage of the main sensor, the results are, in optimal light conditions, still good especially because you do not notice particular artifacts or noise in the shots. At night things get a little more complex but, if you do not have enormous demands and obviously without being able to compare the results with the latest top of the range of Samsung, Apple, Oppo and company, take home images to publish on social networks or share with friends is far from impossible. The digital zoom reaches up to 10x, a value that already shows the side of too many problems and an excessive loss of definition.

The Ultrawide and the macro do, according to the situations, a job straddling the sufficiency but it is clear that POCO has not focused on photography to make this new entry in its line up an attractive product for the public. The videos, up to 4K at 60 frames per second are equally of good but not exceptional quality and have a yield comparable to that already observed in products equipped with a similar photographic sector.

On the other hand, the front 20MP sensor that takes good selfies and allows you to register with a non-trivial quality can be useful, useful if, for example, you decide to stream during which you play and at the same time you want to show yourself on the screen, to be published. on Twitch or any other platform.

CONCLUSIONS

POCO F4 GT has a difficult goal, that is to put together a smartphone designed primarily to play, with top-of-the-range performance and an attractive price. Among other things, proposing to launch already with the Android 12 and MIUI 13 combo.

The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is a very solid starting point in this sense and a series of attentions, from the magnetic back keys to the very generous dissipation system, manage to create the conditions for a passionate gamer to make it his new reference device. And this is especially true if you decide to take advantage of the pre-launch offers (valid until April 29), which see the price of the 8/128 drop to € 499 (from 599) and that of the 12/256 to € 599 (from 699).

Of course we must keep in mind that there are some objective limits, such as those of the photographic sector and of the rather important weight, but the F4 GT does nothing to hide them and does not try to squeeze the eye to more general users, so it is a question of a product that simply chooses to speak to a rather specific user, managing to give satisfactory answers on the whole.

Several features that make gaming sessions more enjoyable 120 Watt charging very convenient Good value for money (especially with pre-launch offers)

Undertone photographic compartment The 3.5mm jack is missing

VOTE 8.0

POCO F4 GT

599 € 499 PROMO LAUNCH