, Whether you look at it from a design, standpoint, performance or feature set. You just cant beat the overall value it offers simply because youre getting more than the competition while paying less. This year, although were still mid way through the year, and there are phones yet to be released in the 2nd half of 2022. We have yet to see a phone that fits this category., But one phone continues to stand out among the crowd and its not a relatively new phone. That phone would be the POCO F3.. Poco is basically an independent brand from Xiaomi, but all the parts and services are still Xiaomi., So technically, POCO F3 is still Xiaomi., But branding aside the F3 that was released back in March of last year, which is by the way a bit cheaper to purchase today, Is still the KING of value. Heres why., So the F3 comes in two variants, one with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage and the other with 8GB and 256GB flash original SRP on screen.. Here in the Philippines, official Xiaomi stores have removed the F3 from their listings.. But if you know where to look for it in Lazada or Shopee, you can get this phone for as low as Php14000 brand new. And if youre willing to deal with 2nd hand sellers you can get it for as low as Php10000, depending on the condition of The device of course. At those price points you could get the newly announced Vivo T1 5G with Snapdragon 778G or the Samsung Galaxy M33, 5G with Exynos 1280 and a 50MP camera, or even the Redmi Note, 11 Pro or POCO X4 Pro with 108MP camera and 120Hz Amoled OR you could get the POCO F3 with Snapdragon 870 and an impressive list of features to back up.

, But in 2022, how does the F3 stack up against the new competition, The ones with squared design and incredibly fast, charging speeds that easily beat your laptop charger? Exactly one year and two months later, how does the F3 fair Well as usual, lets start with the design. This year the smartphone market is transitioning from rounded corners to edgy frames., So the days when phones would feel seamless from all four sides are slowly fading away. In favor of edgier looks and thicker build., But that doesnt mean curved sides are out of date and out of fashion., Even when Im coming from a more expensive iPhone 13 Pro the thin and smooth touch of the F3s curved design remains feeling solid and expensive.. Although the glossy finish is starting to get stale due to the emergence of smooth and matte finishes, it still easily attracts the eye of anyone. Despite attracting more fingerprints than actual eyes., I never felt like the transition from rounded to edgy corners is revolutionary. Instead, it felt like its more of a coming back to the classic design of phones, which, at the same time, let you appreciate both the modern and classic designs of phone builds.. One of the biggest issues of users, though, is the unusable proximity sensor of the POCO F3 or lack thereof. But in my experience, this phone functions normally when in a call., So there you go., The stereo speakers may not be carrying any fancy branding like JBL, but the quality you get out of these speakers remains solid and dependable, especially when theres no headphone jack as an Alternative.

The buttons remain as tactile as on day one, as well as the fingerprint scanner. So design wise. The F3 has held up pretty well. And if you just happen to be looking to experience, edgy corners, someone probably out there – has already made a case for this phone with the same edgy corners from todays phones., Because lets admit it youre definitely going to put a Case on your phone., But one thing youre probably more worried about is how the performance aged for the F3. Well its only been a year, and this phone has received only one major update.. Although POCO took its time to deliver the latest MIUI 13 based on Android 12, its finally here., But if youre expecting major UI changes like Googles Material, You theming thats, not present, here., More or less. The version 13 update is more like a refinement of the software. With more focus on background enhancements than whats on the surface., But for the most part my complaints have been more on the stock launcher like the delay in gestures, not supporting gestures on third party launchers and the reloading of the launcher, almost 90 of the time.. Luckily, one of the comments in the youtube section suggested downloading the latest POCO launcher 4.0, which offers better optimization than the stock version.. If you want to download it for yourself and its only available to POCO users Ill leave the link in the description. But performance wise. Yes, it did solve all the issues that I have with the stock launcher, except for gestures, compatibility with other launchers.

, But there is one catch. Youll lose the ability to change your app icons in the settings.. Well, you can still change the app icons, but you need to do so through the theming system of POCO, which gives you limited options, since it doesnt include the ones found in the play store.. Technically. This is a POCO launcher, but its more like Xiaomis launcher at this point, since you do miss out on icon, support. And Ive said it before between Xiaomi and POCO devices, its usually the Xiaomi launchers that have better software optimization., But the biggest part of why the Launcher performs so well here is because of the chipset. Were looking at the Snapdragon 870, which is two months older than the F3.. What we thought to be just a less expensive alternative to the Snapdragon 8 gen 1 has become one of the go to chipsets of smartphone fanatics out there until today.. In fact, we can still see manufacturers releasing new phones today with the same Snapdragon, 870 chipset, which is a bit more expensive to purchase today due to the effects of the pandemic.. And yes, while there are other chipsets from Mediatek that are newer, that doesnt change. The fact that the chip inside this phone is still the more superior one. It supports all games out there, including the Genshin Impact, all the while keeping the phone at a relatively high but controllable level. Unlike the overheating 8 Gen 1 chip.. Longevity is one of the reasons when purchasing a phone.

, The Snapdragon 870 chip has not only proven it has the best money to performance ratio among other high end chips, but it also has proven its longevity and its value on the market, especially since its now being Sold at a higher price more than a year later., So if youre looking for the cheapest way to own a powerful phone that can play all the latest games today, the POCO F3 should be on the top of your list.. The same applies to the display.. The F3 still has one of the best displays featuring a 6.67 AMOLED, with both support for HDR and 120Hz refresh rate.. The next step here for POCO is to either bump the resolution to 1440p or make LTPO technology available in the next iteration, but we all know thats going to cost more to make. So manufacturers would rather save those features for their flagship models, which they can charge. More to customers., As a result, manufacturers have smaller room for improvement., Like in the case of POCO F4 GT, which may not be exactly the direct successor to the F3, only features more color coverage and Gorilla Glass, Victus protection, which again arent really as noticeable as an Upgrade like a high refresh rate or a better panel technology.. The 4500mAh battery, though, may seem small to some, especially with 5000mAh becoming the norm and 6000mAh being considered a solid two day performer., But so far, unless Im really gaming a lot.

The battery has been a solid 1 1 day and a half for me with a mix of mobile data whenever Im out and about., But for someone whos been spoiled quite a bit by 60W and 120W chargers. The 33W does feel slow to me from time to time, but not to the extent where it would become unbearable. For most of you out, there, 33W is still relatively fast, since a full tank would only require an hour or less depending on what percentage you left. The phone., But nevertheless I would gladly exchange that 120W charger for better features like performance or camera. And speaking of the camera. The one thing you really need to consider here is the quality of photos and videos you get from the 48MP sensor of the F3. Forget about the MP count. Forget about the 108MP phones. Theyre, nothing but numbers to attract you to make. You feel you need it to make. You buy the latest device. Its all about how a phone maximizes the sensor to its advantage. In videos. You wont be able to get the same level of stabilization and resolution here on newer phones without spending a ton of money., For example, the Redmi Note 11 Pro Plus costs more than this phone today, but it still lacks stabilization in 4K recording.. The quality of the 48MP sensor isnt bad per se., Its just that you get a certain look with the cameras on this phone.. The quality you get here, especially photos is contrasty, with some bias to black and brown colors.

, Its basically like theres, a contrast filter applied to every photo. You take., However, that certain look works so well with the built in filters of the camera app., And, I must say, the stock camera app of POCO or Xiaomi has some really nice filters that require little to no edits. If you want your photos to stand, out. Well, thats it., What else is there to say. Just buy a POCO F3. If you want the best value phone today. And as much as possible, I recommend getting the 8GB256GB. That extra 2GB RAM will go a long way and dont rely on extended RAM. Thats, fake RAM., Its not as fast as regular RAM.. And, of course, 256GB storage is starting to be the sweetest spot for mobile devices, especially when theres no expandable slot here.. Have you installed the latest Diablo Immortal That one requires 12GB of space once you downloaded all the resources. And its not even Genshin Impact levels. On the environment., Thats it. Drop a sub or a like if you feel like supporting the channel.

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