ISSUE 88 • ANDROID ADVISOR 53stepdownfromthe5,160mAhcapacity
you’ll find on the Poco X3 and X3 Pro,
andit shows.
I struggledtogeta fullday’susage
outofthedevicewithonlymoderate
usage.Admittedly, 14 hoursis a long
timetobeawayfroma powersource,
butI foundmyselfneedingtotopup
ontwoseparateoccasions.
I thoughtthismightbedownto
thepower-guzzling120Hzdisplay,but
droppingthisdownto60Hzdidn’thave
a significanteffect. The combinationof
4G,highbrightnessandGPSproved
toomuchforthePocoF3tohandle,
butyoucanundoubtedlyekeout
longerwith less intensive usage.
Battery life
Poco F3: 14 hours, 24 minutes
Poco X3 Pro: 11 hours, 25 minutes
Poco X3 NFC: 14 hours, 24 minutes
Realme 8 Pro: 12 hours, 51 minutes
OnePlus Nord: 11 hours, 26 minutes
Moto G100: 12 hours, 11 minutes
Charge in 30 minutes
Poco F3: 72%
Poco X3 Pro: 58%
Poco X3 NFC: 59%
Realme 8 Pro: 82%
OnePlus Nord: 68%
Google Pixel 4a: 51%
Moto G100: 34%
However, benchmarks tell a different
story. With the brightness set to around
200 nits, PCMark’s battery test recorded
an above-average time of 14 hours and
24 minutes. That’s identical to the Poco
X3, and higher than the X3 Pro.
If you do find yourself reaching for
the charger more often, you won’t need
to have it connected for long. The 33-
watt adapter included in the box can get
you 72 per cent in just 30 minutes, and
it was fully charged again within an hour.
There’s no wireless charging, but this is a
worthy alternative.VERDICT
The Poco F3 is a cracking mid-range
phone. Stellar hardware is led by
Qualcomm’s 5G-enabled Snapdragon
870 chipset, which delivers excellent
performance across the board.
That extends to gaming, where the
120Hz OLED display comes into its own.
However, that high refresh rate does
hit battery life, especially when you’re
working with a smaller capacity than
the Poco X3 Pro. The software is also
stillanacquiredtaste,despitebigsteps
forwardfor MIUI in recent years.
A premium design and solid set
of cameras make for an excellent
smartphoneexperience,butthe
strengthof the competition makes it
more difficult to recommend.