POCO F5 Pro vs Galaxy S22 Plus: affordable Xiaomi or Samsung’s “old” top? | Comparative

POCO F5 Pro promises to offer an advanced set, with some savings to become more affordable in price. But to be attractive in the market, it needs to prove to be more advantageous than a top of the line of the last generation, such as the Galaxy S22 Plus.

In this confrontation between Xiaomi’s smartphone and Samsung’s, is the recent model worth more or the flagship of the previous year? You can check the answer in detail here at TechSmart, in this Comparative.

• design
• Multimedia and resources
• Performance
• Battery
• Camera
• Price
• Conclusion

POCO F5 Pro

To begin with, we talk about the design of these devices. POCO has its rectangular camera block with some folds, while Galaxy bets on that module aligned to the side edge to house the lenses. Both have a glass back, but the S22 Plus comes with a metal structure, superior to the plastic used by the F5 Pro.

They provide certification to ensure protection against dust and water, but the Korean’s IP68 provides greater resistance than the Chinese competitor’s IP53. Not to mention his more compact and lighter body compared to his opponent.

Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus

Samsung has inserted Gorilla Glass Victus protection into the lid to prevent further damage from scratches and impacts. Both are similar in the presence of a biometric reader under the screen and a notch in the shape of a hole, located in the center of the display.

The two manufacturers dispensed with the microSD card slot, that is, no storage expansion here. Xiaomi offers Bluetooth 5.3, more advanced than the rival’s version 5.2. At least, sixth-generation Wi-Fi and NFC technology are present in the pair.

The Galaxy leads the way by having the most premium construction, the best endurance certification, and the lightest, most compact body.

Screen

The F5 Pro contains a 6.67-inch OLED-type display, versus a 6.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED on the S22 Plus. In addition to having the largest display, the Chinese one is 12-bit, which allows you to reproduce 68 billion colors. On the other hand, the Korean bets on a higher level of brightness.

These smartphones also offer a refresh rate of 120 Hz, which achieves high fluidity in compatible games and system animations. They support HDR10+, but Dolby Vision is only present on the POCO panel, which also offers a Quad HD+ resolution, for better definition than the Galaxy’s Full HD+.

The two provide protection against scratches, but Samsung’s Gorilla Glass Victus Plus enables greater resistance than the fifth generation used by the competitor.

Xiaomi collects more benefits in this regard. Therefore, she notes the point.

Sound

Both Xiaomi and Samsung put a stereo system in their phones. They take advantage of the call loudspeaker as an additional channel. The difference is that POCO has a third sound output at the top, which allows for a greater immersion in the user experience.

Despite the distinction in the number of audio outputs, the sound power is satisfactory in the pair, as well as the good balance between bass, mids and treble. None of them have a P2-type headphone jack, nor do they come with a compatible accessory in the box.

With the most immersive sound, POCO takes the point this time.

System

The POCO already comes out of the box with Android 13 pre-installed, while the Galaxy has Android 12 out of the box. Xiaomi promises two software updates, against four major updates from Samsung. This means that Korean will still have a longer longevity than Chinese, even with an older native version.

Both the MIUI and One UI of these devices flow smoothly and quickly. The interfaces are also boosted by the high panel ratio, to make navigation smoother. The mobile network will not be a problem for both thanks to the support for 5G technology.

In terms of features, the F5 Pro stands out for the heart rate sensor present in the biometric reader and for the various customization options. It offers side shortcuts, as well as the Edge Screen of the S22 Plus, which has the DeX mode as another strong point, to transform the cell phone into a portable PC.

For superior longevity, Samsung gets the point.

POCO is powered by Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1, an upgraded version of the standard Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 that powers the Galaxy. Does this “Plus” influence the speed tests the most? That’s not what we saw here. The Korean recorded almost two seconds less in total time than his Chinese rival.

In the benchmarks alone, it is possible to see the superiority of the F5 Pro’s platform, with a comfortable victory in AnTuTu and Geekbench. Moving on to games, all the titles we’ve tried run smoothly on these devices, even the heaviest games.

Multitasking performance weighs more in this regard and gives the point to Samsung.

On drums, we have a very different scenario between them. The F5 Pro has a capacity of 5,160 mAh, greater than the 4,500 mAh present in the S22 Plus. In practice, our standardized tests showed a distance of 10 hours of autonomy between the two, with a total of more than 31 hours for the POCO.

When charging, both need less than an hour to reach 100%. But Xiaomi’s 67W adapter takes a few minutes less to complete the process than Samsung’s standard 25W accessory.

So we have an easy point for the Chinese.

We found in these devices a photographic set composed of three rear cameras. POCO’s 64 MP and Galaxy’s 50 MP take good photos during the day, with vibrant colors and a good contrast, but it’s the Korean that has the best dynamic range of the duo. At night, both deliver an efficient night mode to avoid excess noise.

The ultrawide of the S22 Plus also gets the better of the F5 Pro, with better colors and without losing so much sharpness. Samsung is the only one of the pair to put a telephoto lens on its smartphone, with three times optical zoom, for clean photos even of distant objects. Xiaomi, on the other hand, has a sensor dedicated to macros, but it suffers from the low resolution and lack of autofocus.

With the highest quality and most versatile package, the Galaxy scores again.

Photos taken with the POCO F5 Pro

The camcorder of the two is capable of recording in 8K at a maximum of 24 fps, but the most stable option is in 4K at 60 fps. The Galaxy’s image and sound quality is above what POCO provides, in addition to the Korean’s additional features, such as the possibility of blurring the background in videos. At least, both have very agile focus and optical stabilization, to reduce blur.

It’s another point for Samsung.

Photos taken with the Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus

The front camera of these smartphones records good selfies in general, with colors and skin tone right. The S22 Plus makes a difference in dark places, for selfies with more details, and in portrait mode with less flaws in the separation of planes. Samsung even supports front-facing 4K shooting, while Xiaomi sticks to Full HD resolution.

The Galaxy scores again.

Samsung was the only one to launch its device officially in Europe. The Galaxy S22 Plus was available in the country for a suggested price starting at R$7,000. In current retail, Korean can already be found for half the initial price. But the POCO F5 Pro is found by importers in the national market closer to R$ 3,000.

That is, Xiaomi takes the last point of the duel.

The difference in the score was not that big, but Xiaomi was not able to overcome Samsung in this more advanced segment. Even so, the POCO F5 Pro presented its advantages over its rival, such as the screen with more colors and support for Dolby Vision, the more immersive sound and the battery with greater autonomy and shorter recharge time.

On the other hand, the Galaxy S22 Plus proved to be more complete, from its more resistant design, to the set of cameras with better photos, videos and selfies, through to the system with greater longevity and faster multitasking performance. Although it is not the cheapest, the small price difference can make up for the extra benefits that Korean provides.

RESULT

POCO F5 Pro: 4 POINTS

• Screen with more colors and Dolby Vision
• more immersive sound
• Longer battery life and shorter charging time
• Lowest price in the current Europeian market

Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus: 6 POINTS

• Tougher design and premium construction
• Longer lasting system
• Faster multitasking performance
• Rear cameras with better HDR and telephoto lens
• Videos with better image and sound quality
• More detailed selfies at night and better portrait mode

Which of these models best suits your preferences? Do you prefer the positive points of POCO, or do you still think it’s better to invest in Galaxy? Speak freely in the space below.

• The Poco F5 Pro is available from SuperDig for BRL 3,298 and on Amazon for BRL 3,747. The cost-benefit is average and this is the best model in this price range.
• The Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus is available on Mercado Livre for BRL 3,490 and in Magazine Luiza by BRL 4,319.