Does The Poco M3 worth your money?
Poco is a Company under the name of Xiaomi, and when the first Poco phone was introduced it quickly captured the attention of consumers around the globe. The very first Pocophone is the Poco f1 with remarkable performance and spec that is comparable to a Flagship with a price of mid-range.
Over the years the Pocophone continued to gain popularity as considered by many as a Flagship killer from Poco f1 and Poco f2 pro. In the year 2020, Poco released the new Poco X3 which has the specs and performance of a midrange with a price that is comparable to a budget phone.
At the year-end of 2020, they released their first budget phone called the “Poco m3” which has a good spec despite a low price.
Before it was officially released it became popular on social media and many are waiting to get the new Pocophone, but the question is, does it worth it? how about its performance? let’s find out in our full review of a budget phone Poco M3.
Poco M3 price
First the price? there are two variances of Poco m3 the one with 4GB RAM, and 64GB of storage at a price of $145.59, and the other one with 64GB of RAM and 128GB of Storage at a price of $166.42 booth support an SD card for expandable storage, just a little bit advice if you take a lot of photos and videos you should choose the one with 128GB of storage because it is now 2021 and files are getting bigger and bigger, so it is wiser to choose the one with 128GB internal.
Poco m3 Design
For the Design, it looks like this………
Nah not that one but this one.
The front appearance is just okay just like some other phones, with a full display and a teardrop notch for the camera, but at the back it’s different.
The appearance at the back has a big rectangular accent that envelopes its triple camera, its back design was so unique and familiar at the same time, because of its color and design, it looks like a character in a game Among Us.
When you look at the right side of the phone you will find its volume rocker, a power button, and a side-mounted fingerprint reader at the same place.
On the left side, you will see its sim card tray that supports a micro SD and a dual sim, but it may differ in some other countries.
On the bottom side of the phone, you will find its stereo speaker, a mouthpiece, and its USB-Type C for faster charging.
At the top of the phone, you can find its 3.5mm headphone jack and an IR blaster that can be used as a remote control for your TV and some devices.
A screenshot of the Poco M3 (Mi remote), that I used for my TV.
The Poco m3 comes in three different colors one is what they called a Poco Yellow, the other one is Cool Blue, and the third one is Power Black.
Although the biggest drawback is that the backside of this phone is made out of plastic, sure many phones this year are made out of glass, while the Poco M3 is made out of plastic for the reason of cost-cutting.
It is their own strategy why the Poco M3 maintain a budget price while giving the consumers the best possible specs and price in their new smartphone.
Display
For the display the Poco m3 has a 6.53 inch Dot display with a Full HD resolution of 2340 x 1080, to protect its display from some scratches the Poco m3 has a Corning Gorilla Glass 3 at the front, but putting additional layers of protection like tempered glass may help to avoid some scratch on the screen of the phone.
The Colors are accurate and vivid and outdoors the display is fairly visible at maximum brightness.
Poco M3 Case
Cameras
The Poco m3 has a triple camera at the back and one selfie camera at the front,
The Rear main camera has 48MP with f/1.79 aperture, which can give better details when Zooming in, but in order to access the 48MP, you should use pro mode rather than classic mode by taking pictures.
The camera works in good favorable conditions and with good lighting. but the dynamic range is not that great but just okay.
The only thing that I personally don’t like, was the processing, as I’ve noticed that the image processing of this phone was so aggressive that may lead to an over-saturated photo, and sometimes for me, it feels like some photos are so warm in colors.
In order to correct its color I prefer to use its pro mode, I also try to use third-party camera apps like the Gcam camera mods and the result are better compared to its stock camera.
Below are photos captured using its camera and I also add some photos that are taken from Gcam camera mods.
Sample photos from Poco M3 camera.
The image is taken from the Poco M3 stock camera.
Macro shots from Poco M3.
Camera Comparison from Poco M3 stock camera and Gcam camera mods.
This photo is taken from Poco M3 stock camera apps.
The photo was taken from Gcam camera mods that I’ve used in the Poco m3, the colors and white balance are more accurate compared to the Poco m3 stock camera.
Night Mode using its stock camera.
Using the Nigh sight in Gcam camera mods, the details are more preserved compared and you can also see the clouds in the dark sky.
Performance
For the performance? well, it’s not the fastest phone that you can buy for sure and it is not as snappy as some mid-range and flagship, but in my own opinion it is just fine when you are used to some fast Smartphones like some flagships you might complain about Poco M3 performance, but if your not, and used to some budget and Mid-range phone, it’s completely fine for the price.
Gaming Performance
For gaming, this phone surprises me, honestly, at first, I didn’t even expect that this phone will perform well in a game like Lifeafter By NetEase.
If you are not yet familiar with that game, you will need a really good phone like some mid-range and flagship with 6 to 8GB of RAM to play the game smoothly, but the Poco M3 handles this game very, you can play the game smoothly from lowest to a high setting like an Ultra HD mode on Life after.
But if you are playing this game in a highly competitive mode like PVP where many players gather and fight each other, you need to adjust the setting to medium or low setting to ensure its smooth performance.
Benchmark result
Battery
For the battery, this android phone packs a large 6000 mAh of battery.
I test the battery of the Poco M3 for gaming and the battery life was good as expected.
I start playing Lifeafter at 90% of its battery and after 3 hours of gaming, I just manage to drain its juice to 60%, thanks to its massive 6000mAh battery.
For light to moderate uses, It can last for a day with ease.
If you are a hardcore mobile gamer and the massive battery is not enough for you, the Poco M3 has a 22.5W charger out of the box that can charge the battery from 0% to 100% in 2.59 hours.
Final Verdict
Does Poco m3 worth your money? for me its a big YES !, for spending just $145.59, you have a 6000mAh battery, Qualcomm Snapdragon 662, 4GB of RAM, 64/128GB of internal storage, an IR blaster that can serve as a remote control, a headphone jack.
In terms of value for the money, this phone is the best budget phone that you can buy today.
