POCO F4 Unboxing, First Impressions, Camera Samples

We share our unboxing and hands-on experience of the POCO F4 that arrived in the Philippines back in June 2022.

POCO F4!

Back in June, the POCO F4 arrived in the Philippines alongside the POCO F4 GT.

It came with a 6.67-inch Gorilla Glass Protected E4 AMOLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate. Inside is the 4nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 octa-core processor, Adreno 650 GPU, LPDDR5 RAM, UFS 3.1, and 4,500 mAh battery with 67W fast charging.

At the back of the phone is a 64MP f/1.7 main camera with a 1/2-inch sensor, 8MP 119-degree ultra-wide camera, and 2MP f/2.4 macro with an LED flash. On the punch hole is the 20MP f/2.45 front-facing camera.

In the Philippines, the POCO F4 starts at PHP 20,990 for the 6GB/128GB model.

Let's dive in.

Unboxing/Accessories

Box

Like recent POCO devices, the POCO F4 came in a matte black box with yellow branding and yellow text. 

Box inclusions

Inside the box are the phone, SIM ejector tool, screen protector, 67W charger, silicone case, USB Type-A to Type-C cable, and documentation.

There are no included earphones in the box.

Build Quality/Design

slim bezels?

The POCO Phone F4 is stunning in person. The front and back panels are made of glass while in between is a lightweight and solid polycarbonate frame. These materials make the phone slim and lightweight but make it prone to fingerprint smudges on both sides.

The POCO Phone F4 is stunning in person!

Both the front and back panels curve to making the phone easier to hold.

Bright and vibrant?

In front, you will see the Gorilla Glass 5 protected 6.67-inch 120Hz E4 AMOLED screen with 360Hz touch sampling rate, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, and 2400 x 1080 resolution. Around the panel are slim bezels with the chin bezel being noticeably thicker than the rest. The panel has a punch hole that houses the front-facing camera.

The brand did not specify which cooling technology was in the device.

Top and bottom

On top, are the IR blaster, speaker grill, and microphone while on the bottom are the speaker grill, USB-C port, microphone port, and SIM tray.

SIM tray

The SIM tray can house two nanoSIM cards. It also comes with a rubber gasket that could indicate a form of water and dust resistance.

Inside is a large 4,500mAh battery 67W fast charging.

Left and right

On the left side is a smooth surface while on the right side are the volume rocker and the power button that doubles as the fingerprint scanner.

The phone measures 163.2 x 75.95 x 7.7 mm and weighs 195 grams.

Rear cameras

At the back of the phone is the 64MP f/1.7 primary camera 1/2-inch sensor with PDAF and OIS, 8MP f/2.2 119-degree ultra-wide camera, and 2MP f/2.4 macro with an LED flash.

While in front is the 20MP f/2.45 selfie shooter.

First Camera Samples

Daylight 1x

Daylight 2x

Daylight ultra-wide

In daylight, the rear cameras captured sharp and detailed images with vibrant color and decent contrast. It is worth noting that the ultra-wide has obvious distortion that may be a concern for some people.

Indoors 1x

Indoors 2x

Indoors ultra-wide

Indoors, the 1x and 2x maintain the image quality as in daylight but the ultra-wide camera is noticeably softer because of the increase in noise.

Daylight selfie

Indoor selfie

The daylight and indoor selfies are sharp and detailed with good color. However, we had hoped it would be brighter.

POCO F4 Specs

Display: 6.67-inch Gorilla Glass 5 protected E4 AMOLED screen w/ 120Hz refresh rate, 360Hz touch sampling rate, HDR10+, Dolby Vision, FHD+ 2400 x 1080 resolution at 395 ppi

CPU: 3.2GHz 4nm Snapdragon 870 octa-core processor

GPU: Adreno 650

RAM: 6GB/8GB LPDDR5

ROM: 128GB/256GB UFS 3.1

Back Camera: 64MP f/1.7 1/2-inch w/ PDAF, OIS + 8MP f/2.2 119-degree ultra-wide-angle + 2MP f/2.4 macro + LED flash

Selfie Camera: 20MP f/2.45

Battery: 4,500mAh w/ 67W fast charging

OS: Android 12 w/ MIUI 13

Connectivity: WiFi 6, 5G, 4G LTE, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC, GPS (L1 + L5), dual SIM

Sensors: Accelerometer, light, orientation, proximity, gyroscope, sound, magnetic

Others: Side-mounted fingerprint sensor, face unlock, IR Blaster, stereo speakers, Dolby Atmos, LiquidCool Technology 2.0 system, X-axis linear vibration motor, USB-C, Colors: Moonlight Silver, Night Black, Nebula Green

Dimensions: 163.2 x 75.95 x 7.7 mm

Weight: 195 g

Price: PHP 20,999 (6GB/128GB), PHP 22,990 (8GB/256GB)

As of the moment

More POCO to come?

The POCO F4 is looking to be a value-for-money pick with a starting price of PHP 20,999.

It has the ever-reliable Snapdragon 870 with a beautiful E4 AMOLED screen, LPDDR5 RAM, and UFS 3.1. 

Let's not forget about the 4,500mAh battery with 67W charging.

We also so that the main camera can take wonderful photos but we also noticed that the selfie and ultra-wide camera may potentially suffer in low light situations.

We will have to see how they perform as we run more tests. 

Stay tuned for our full review that will come soon.

What do you guys think?