Table of Contents
Positioning
The M-series from POCO are inexpensive (by design) devices designed to give the user comfort in everyday tasks. As a target audience, POCO sees young people who want something bright. For this reason, we are pleased with colored cases.
POCO M4 Pro is the direct successor of M3 Pro. The new machine is better in every way. The IPS LCD screen has changed to AMOLED, the 48 MP camera has grown to 64 MP, and the front camera has grown from 8 to 16 MP, fast charging is now not 18, but as much as 33 watts.
Let’s go over the main selling characteristics:
- Bright design
- Matte back that doesn’t pick up fingerprints
- AMOLED screen with 700 nits, 90Hz refresh rate, Always-On
- Main camera 64 MP + front camera 16 MP
- 33W fast charging and 5000mAh battery
- NFC, FM radio, IR port
Equipment
In addition to the smartphone, the box contains:
- Case
- 33W fast charging with Type-C cable
- The documents
- Clip for the SIM tray
Specifications
- CPU: MediaTek Helio G96 (12nm), Mali-G57 MC2 graphics
- Operating system: Android 11, MIUI 13 shell
- Memory: 6/8 GB / 128/256 GB (LPDDR4X RAM + UFS 2.2 memory), separate microSD slot
- Screen: 6.43 inches, AMOLED, resolution 1080 x 2400 pixels, aspect ratio 20 by 9, dot density 399 ppi, 90 Hz, 700 nits, Always-On, Corning Gorilla Glass 3
- Battery: Li-Po 5000 mAh, fast charge 33 W, 100% in 60 minutes
- Main camera:
- 64 MP, f/1.8, 26mm (wide angle), PDAF
- 8 MP, f/2.2, 119˚ (ultra wide)
- 2 MP (macro)
- Video recording 1080p@30/60fps
- Front camera: 16 MP, f/2.5, (wide angle)
- SIM card: 2 Nano-SIM
- Network and data transfer: GSM 900/1800/1900, 3G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 5, 5.0, A2DP, LE, A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS, NFC, IR port, FM radio, USB Type-C 2.0
- Sensors: fingerprint scanner (side), accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, lighting
- Other: 3.5mm jack, NFC, FM radio, IP53
- materials: glass and plastic
- Dimensions: 159.9 x 73.9 x 8.1 mm, weight 180 g
- Price: from 22 490 rubles
Appearance
You can tell the Poco M4 Pro from the Poco M4 Pro 5G in the photos by the main camera unit. In the 5G version, only the lenses are highlighted, in the younger model, the whole area slightly rises above the body.
The smartphone has flat side edges. But the device lies well in the hand. Here the factor that the screen is 6.43 inches also plays a role. This is slightly smaller than the usual 6.5 – 6.66 inches for most smartphones.
Screen
I all liked the older model Poco M4 Pro 5G, but the IPS screen left me a little puzzled. In principle, it is clear, of course, that it is impossible to meet both 5G and AMOLED, and meet 20 thousand rubles (at the exchange rate for December), but no one forbids dreaming, right?
But the Poco M4 Pro does not have 5G, and, it turns out, there was enough money for a beautiful 6.43-inch AMOLED panel, which also shines at 700 nits (703 nits by measurement). Color accuracy is average – delta E average 7.29. In principle, this is a normal value for this segment.
The rest of the settings are standard for the MIUI shell. There is an Always-On screen, but it is limited to 10 seconds. The screen can be awakened with a tap.
And when you are notified of new messages, the edges of the smartphone screen shimmer. The menu has various animation options.
As a result, a very pleasant screen, which is comfortable to work with on the street. A particularly high margin of brightness is noticeable during daytime photography.
Performance
MediaTek Helio G96, LPDDR4X RAM and UFS 2.2 storage are responsible for performance.
The M-series are smartphones for everyday comfortable use. This includes: YouTube, social media, photo-video editing for Instagram, surfing the internet, playing casual games, etc. For these purposes, the smartphone is ideal. At the same time, you don’t have to wait for the same Genshin Impact to work at maximum settings.
Speaking of performance and gaming, the smartphone has a game mode. Don’t forget to use it. Compare the two performance graphs below. In game mode, the smartphone has almost no throttling.
Camera
The smartphone has a pretty good camera system:
- 64 MP, f/1.8, 26mm (wide angle), PDAF
- 8 MP, f/2.2, 119˚ (ultra wide)
- 2 MP (macro)
We do not take into account the macro module, because 2 MP is still too boring. As for the quality of the pictures, I want to say this. In Russia, the device is sold for 22,490 rubles and more. However, in India, the price of a smartphone is 13,999 rupees, and more recently, 1 rupee was equal to 1 ruble. POCO M4 Pro as a direct successor of POCO M3 Pro shoots as a device for 15 thousand rubles. I decided to clarify this point, because, I believe, not everyone has managed to adjust to the new reality and expect higher quality shooting from a smartphone that costs more than 20 thousand rubles.
Three shooting modes – 0.6x – 1x – and crop at 2x.
Crop, as you know, should not be used. It’s easier to enlarge a photo by posting it on social networks. In principle, I cannot complain about the quality of the main camera. The ideal camera, of course, is suitable for shooting at medium distances. Look, for example, at the photo of a ski boot. The closure, the texture of the sock and rubber on the sole, the snow – everything is very well conveyed.
There is no stabilization in the device (however, this is obvious, given its initial positioning). Accordingly, it is better not to take pictures on the go. Here are two typical examples of photos on the go. I deliberately slowly walked past the counter. You can see the inscriptions, but they are smeared. Another example is that I climbed a hill on a board, that is, I seem to be going along the ski track, but still blurry photos (while I was climbing, I took 5 photos, and all of them).
I liked the selfie camera. In portrait mode, artifacts are noticeable in some areas along the blur line. On the other hand, it’s a sin to complain. There, even against the sun, the camera worked perfectly, and this despite the fact that in this case I was on the move on the lift.
Night shooting at your own expense. And don’t forget to enable night mode in the settings. Below is a dark photo – this is without night mode. And also compare the first 2 photos. I believe you will immediately understand which one was made by hand, and which one was made from a mini tripod placed on the parapet. Just in case, the first photo is from a tripod: sharpness, detail, light – everything is much better. In passing, I will explain that the snow looks like this, because the frost hit and it became covered with a crust. The camera captured the effect quite accurately.
Night mode is suitable for static photos. It takes several seconds to create one frame. If a moving object enters the frame (like the person in the last photo), then it will be blurry.
Examples of video recording on the main and front cameras. The metallic jingle is the lift. In reality, the sound seemed not so loud, but on the video it is loud. The video quality is satisfactory (remember that this device cost 14 thousand rubles a couple of weeks ago).
Battery life
In terms of battery life, the Poco M4 Pro still loses slightly to its older 5G brother. In the PCMark test, the smartphone (at maximum manual brightness with Wi-Fi and mobile network turned on) beat out 8 hours.
Fast charging from 0 to 100% in 60 minutes. In about 25 minutes, my smartphone was charged from 23 to 85%. Comes with a 33W adapter.
Communication options
The device runs on the new MIUI 13. In the near future I will review the new version of the shell and add a link here. But the main points, of course, remained unchanged, so for now, you can check out the review of MIUI 12. MIUI is a good shell with an abundance of features, so be sure to check out the review. It is likely that you will learn something new. And since POCO M4 Pro uses an AMOLED panel, this means that super wallpapers are available to users (there is a video with examples of work at the link!).
The device has NFC, a good GPS system with a compass, there is an infrared port that allows you to control household appliances (although, in my opinion, the option is no longer so relevant, since all remote controls have moved to Bluetooth, or not?).
It is possible to record phone calls. The volume and clarity of voice transmission are excellent. In the settings there are both VoLTE and VoWiFi.
Conclusion
Frankly, writing a conclusion is quite difficult. POCO M4 Pro is a good smartphone. It has a high-quality screen, fast charging, good battery life, a nice screen, and cameras, in general, are not bad. And the price of 220 euros is very fair. Another point is that we now have a new reality in the country.
The dollar on the exchange currently costs 138 rubles, the euro – 148 rubles, and I’m not sure that at the time of the release of the review the price of the device will be the same, since 220 euros is 33.2 thousand rubles. So it turns out that the prices declared on the site now are also super-profitable.
Perhaps, in conclusion, I would like to say that it is good, after all, that another crisis has struck now, when even inexpensive devices provide an excellent margin of performance and quality. If everything happened 2-3 years ago, it would be much sadder.