Android Advisor - UK (2021-08)

ISSUE 88 • ANDROID ADVISOR 47

Oneofthekeychangesyou’llnotice
is a redesignedappdrawer,whichhas
fewerroundedcornersandautomatically
sortsyourappsintodifferentcategories.
The first page still displaysa verticallist
ofeverythingyouhaveinstalled,but
it takesa bitofgettingusedto.The
searchbarhasshiftedtothebottomof
thescreen,butthatfeelsmorenatural
ona deviceofthissize.
The Settingsmenu and notification
shadealsolookverydifferent,butthis
is somethingI quicklygotusedto.
What’shardertoignoreis therange
ofbloatware.ThePocoF3hasits
ownclock,calculator,voicerecorder
andmusicplayer– noneofwhichcan
beuninstalled.
Still,it’snotallbadnews.Therange
ofdynamicwallpapersareimpressive,

while familiar

features like Digital

Wellbeing and the

GoogleDiscover

feedareretained.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Poco phones have

typically sacrificed

slightly on camera

quality in order to

packin premium

specs.Thatworks

onbudgetphones,

butis hardertoacceptatthismid-

rangeprice point.

On the face of it, the F3’s cameras are

much the same as the more affordable

X3 Pro. Both share the same 48Mp main

sensor and 8Mp ultra-wide, but the Poco

F3 bumps the macro camera from 2Mp

to 5Mp and ditches the depth sensor

altogether. This feels like a wise move –

those low-resolution sensors rarely add

much to the camera experience.

In general, photos were very

impressive. The phone performs

especially well with landscape shots,

delivering excellent dynamic range and

vivid colours. This is where the ultra-wide

lens comes into its own, although it’s

useful in a variety of situations.

The software-enabled portrait mode

was another highlight, proving that a

The Poco F3 runs Xiaomi’s MIUI 12 skin over Android 11.