JOIN USPoco F3 GT review: Impressive gaming phone
The first-generation Poco F series was launched with big fanfare in August 2018. It came with a powerful processor, big battery capacity, sturdy shell, and yet cost half of what the rival branded phones cost. Poco F1 was an instant success, but for reasons unknown, the company did not come up with a successor in the following year and next too.
After the split from Xiaomi in 2020, Poco started the new solo journey with mid-range Poco X and budget Poco C series models. They too received a good response from the consumers.
Finally, in the second half of 2021, the company introduced the F3 GT, a gaming phone with a special design and capable internal hardware to deliver the goods. Does it live up to the hype, let us check it out.
Design, build quality, and display
Id' like to reiterate what I said in the first impression article; Poco F3 GT is very unique compared to its rivals. It flaunts a gorgeous Slipstream design and features an anti-fingerprint matte finish offering a premium hand-feel experience.
It sports a sturdy aluminium alloy frame with beautifully crafted flat corners and concave curves at the base and chiseled finishes on the sides. It features two sliders on the right side, one each at the top and bottom with power-cum-fingerprint sensor in the center. Using the sliders, users can make the retractable maglev trigger buttons pop up on the sides and use them to play games. When not in use, the sliders can retract the buttons back to their position and they sit flush on the level with the frame to maintain a smooth finish.
The two extra one buttons is a big bonus for mobile gaming enthusiasts. They offer great comfort while playing games such as Battlegrounds Mobile India, Asphalt 9: Legends, and others. We can rest the thumbs and index fingers on top of the frame and play for hours without any issue for fatigue, such as cramps and pain.
Also, the two speakers are placed one each on the top and the base does its job fine. Even the side-mounted fingerprint sensor is blazingly fast and accurately recognises the fingerprint with a low False Rejection Rate (FRR).
Our review unit is a Gunmetal Silver model and it looks beautiful in the sunlight. It is one of the best-looking phones in the upper mid-range class range (Rs 20,000 and Rs 40,000).
Poco engineers have done a fantastic job with dual-tone LED flash, which is shaped in the form of a lightning bolt. Also, the camera's top and bottom cap light red while charging, it looks lovely.
The triple camera module design ll is well protected and the curved capsule design adds value to the Poco F3 GT's design language.
The company offers a transparent silicone cover with a retail box along with a bright yellow Type-C cable charging cable with a cap and a 67W adaptor.
On the front, it sports a bright 6.67-inch full HD+ (2400 x 1080p) AMOLED screen with a pixel density of 395 ppi (pixels per inch). It offers up to peak brightness of 500 nits and supports a 120Hz display refresh rate and HDR10 + content. The display is protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 shield.
I had a good time watching documentaries on the Poco F3 GT. It manages to reproduce darker shades of the black colours well and also, the high refresh rate makes gaming and internet browsing a delightful experience.
Performance
Poco F3 GT houses a 6nm class MediaTek MT6893 Dimensity 1200 octa-core processor (with 5G modem) backed by Android 11-based MIUI 12.5 OS, 6GB/8GB RAM, and 128GB/256GB storage.
It performs flawlessly, never once the device showed the slightest sign of lag-ness and most importantly, Poco F3 GT did not ever over-heated once. I played the Asphalt 9: Legends for close to an hour, which I did only to test the device's heat dissipation capability. It came out with flying colours in our tests. The phone became a bit warm near the camera bump but it never felt overwhelming at all. I have seen phones costing more than Rs 40,000 heat up with just 15 minutes, but the Poco F3 GT excelled in this aspect.
It should be noted that the company has incorporated Aerospace grade vapour chamber cooling tech in the F3 GT. It has 8-layered graphite sheets for faster heat dissipation to keep the device’s temperature 2-degree celsius less compared to phones without this system.
However, while charging the Poco F3 GT with a 67W charger, which by the way comes with the retail box, the phone got more heated. It doesn't matter if you have left the device for charging.
As far as the battery life is concerned, it consistently delivered one and half-day of screen time under normal usage.
By the way, it takes around one hour 10 minutes to fully charge the phone (capacity: 5,065 mAh) from zero to 100 per cent.
Photography
Poco F3 GT boasts triple-camera module--main 64MP (f/1.65) + 8MP (f/2.2) 119-degree ultra-wide-angle lens + 2MP (f/2.4) macro camera with LED flash on the back.
Most of the gaming phones in the market lack proper camera hardware, but Poco has not cut any corners with the F3 GT. It has done an incredible job with the three sensors.
As you can see from the photo samples, they look lovely in normal light conditions. The phone takes really good shots with a bokeh effect even in normal mode. The background gets blurred and yet looks so natural. The white Nandi Battalu (aka Crape Jasmine) looks so beautiful.
Other photos in the wide-angle, macro (close-up), and night modes too look really nice. The phone does a fine job in capture quite an amount of details of the subject and the landscape in the frame.
On the front, it features 16MP snapper and takes decent selfies in all light conditions. The filters and native editing tools of the camera app add value to the photography experience.
Final thoughts
After an agonising wait of two years, Poco introduced the F series phone in India. Having fully reviewed the phone, I am happy to note that the wait seems worthwhile.
Firstly, the slipstream design language is not just visually pleasing to the eyes, but also offers a premium hand-feel experience. The ergonomically placed two extra buttons, one each placed in opposite ends of the right side makes gaming an even over delightful experience.
Also, the camera hardware of the Poco F3 GT is praiseworthy.
Overall, the smooth operational capability with thanks to vapour chamber cooling tech makes Poco F3 GT a compelling phone for games.
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