The POCO F series is the device that started it all for the Xiaomi sub-brand. The Pocophone F1 from five years ago was one of the first true bang-for-the-buck smartphones sporting flagship-grade specs with a midrange price tag. Now that we’re into the POCO F6, was the series able to sustain its good reputation?
Probably because of inflation and other factors, this year’s suggested retail price (SRP) is much higher than it was since the series started. The question is: is the price increase justified? Can it still be considered one of the best bang-for-the-buck smartphones in the market? Let’s find out in our POCO F6 review.
POCO F6 Specs
- Android 14, HyperOS
- Dual SIM, Dual standby
- 6.67-inch 1.5K AMOLED display, 2712 x 1220 pixel resolution, 446ppi
- 120Hz refresh rate, 2160Hz touch sampling rate
- 2400 nits peak brightness
- 1920Hz PWM dimming
- Corning Gorilla Glass Victus
- 3.0GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 octa-core processor
- Adreno 735 GPU
- 8GB/12GB RAM
- 256GB/512GB internal storage
- 20-megapixel front camera
- 50-megapixel (f/1.6, OIS) + 8-megapixel (ultra-wide) rear cameras, LED flash
- In-display fingerprint scanner
- IP64 dust and splash resistant
- WiFi 6, dual-band
- Bluetooth 5.4
- GPS, A-GPS
- USB-C
- Dimensions: 160.5 x 74.5 x 7.8mm
- Weight: 179g
- Colors: Green, Brown, Black
- 5,000mAh non-removable battery, 90W wired fast charging
Design and Build Quality
The POCO F6 looks identical to its predecessor as the camera layout on the back is similar, but with a noticeably thicker camera bump. It’s slightly cleaner now because it no longer has the pill-shaped flash. Instead, there’s a ring LED light that surrounds the small tertiary camera.

It comes in three colorways: Titanium, Black, and the review unit I got, Green. The paint job has reflections that look like they came from a metallic sheet. There’s also a glitter-like effect and it stays clean from fingerprint marks and smudges. Do note that its rear panel is plastic, although I didn’t really have an issue with that.
The back is also slightly curved, making up for the sharp edges of the flat frame. On the upside, the frame does provide a comfortable grip when holding the phone.

It is noticeably lightweight at only 179g, despite its sturdy metallic frame. Also, it’s comfortably thin at 7.8mm even with its flat frame.
For durability, the IP64 dust and splash-resistant rating ensures it will survive accidental water splashes. It also received an SGS 5-star drop resistance certification and has a screen protector on top of the already sturdy Corning Gorilla Glass Victus.

A gray clear case that comes with the package does a good job of protecting the device while also hiding its design if you want a stealthier look.
The bottom line is, the POCO F6 is not the best-dressed phone in its segment as it encourages you to see what’s within. It’s sleek and comfortable to hold, and that’s all most users need.

Up front, there’s the 6.67-inch AMOLED screen with ultra-thin bezels of around 1.3mm on the top and the sides, and 2.27mm at the bottom which resulted in an impressive 94.27% screen-to-body ratio. A tiny punch-hole holds the selfie camera.

Left side is clean, while the right has the flat lock/power button and volume controls. The buttons are really nice to press thanks to their wider footprint compared to others. It’s also clicky and tactile.

The top has the IR blaster, noise-isolating microphone, and stereo loudspeaker.

At the bottom, we have a USB-C port, primary microphone, loudspeaker, and the SIM tray that can house two nano SIM cards. No space for a microSD card.
Display and Audio
The POCO F6 has a 6.67-inch AMOLED display with a 2712 x 1220 pixel resolution, 446ppi, 5,000,000:1 contrast ratio, 100% DCI-P3 gamut, 2400-nits peak brightness, Dolby Vision, and HDR10+. There’s also the 120Hz adaptive refresh rate, 480Hz touch sampling, and 2160Hz instant touch sampling rate.




It also has a bunch of eye-safety features that gained it TUV Low Blue Light (Hardware-level), Flicker Free, and Circadian Friendly certifications.
The display quality is unsurprisingly great. Colors pop while still looking realistic, contrast is deep, sensitive to the touch (especially on games), and the smoothness of the high refresh rate is felt when browsing the interface.

Dolby Vision makes shows on streaming platforms like Disney+ and Netflix look more cinematic. Plus, the Widevine L1 support enables FHD streaming resolution, so content looks even more appealing to the eyes.
Screen brightness is also not a problem when using the device outdoors, even during noon when it’s really bright.

The stereo speakers were also superb. The treble is crisp, the bass is powerful, and the mids are decent. They are also incredibly loud without distortion, which is great for action films. Stereo separation is also good, which is useful watching action-packed shows and when playing games.
Hardware and Performance
Powering the POCO F6 is a 3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3, a chip made specifically for sub-flagship phones like this. It has an Adreno 735 GPU, and an option between two RAM and non-expandable storages: 8GB/256GB and 12GB/512GB. Cooling is done by the LiquidCool Technology 4.0 with IceLoop system that has intelligent temperature control.
POCO F6 Benchmark Scores




It scored great in benchmark tests and the device did overheat after the 20-minute Solar Bay Stress Test. The POCO F6 only got a stability score of 88.3%, which is still impressive for a ray-tracing-based test.
Day-to-day performance was very snappy, no surprises there. The interface and social media apps are buttery smooth, opening apps are fast, and taking pictures is relatively quick.

Now, onto gaming. I played Genshin Impact under Medium (default) settings and had no issues with it. After around 45 minutes of game time, I haven’t noticed any frame drops or overheating.
For PUBG Mobile, I settled for the HD (default) graphics but dialed the frame rate up to Extreme, to which I had a smooth experience with no discernable frame drops. Call of Duty Mobile also had no problems under Very High/Max, Farlight84 on HD/High, Asphalt Legends Unite under High, and Mobile Legends with the highest available settings.






Heating up was also not a problem after more than two hours of playing different games. I also like how the big and smooth display as well as the loud stereo speakers made the gaming experience even more enjoyable.
Game | Graphics Settings |
Call of Duty: Mobile | • Graphics Quality: Very High • Frame Rate: Max |
Farlight84 | • Graphics Quality: HD • Frame Rate: High |
PUBG Mobile | • Graphics Quality: HD • Frame Rate: Extreme |
Genshin Impact | • Graphics Quality: Medium (Default) |
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang | • Graphics Quality: • Frame Rate: • HD Mode: On |
Asphalt Legends Unite | • Visual Quality: High |
Software and User Interface
The POCO F6 runs on the latest Android 14-based HyperOS interface. For the uninitiated, HyperOS is the replacement of MIUI with the intention of unifying Xiaomi phones, tablets, wearables, and even electric vehicles.


Xiaomi obviously took a lot of elements from MIUI, so they didn’t have to start from scratch on this one. For one, the app drawer is comprehensive and lets you easily switch between categories by swiping left. There’s also a search tab at the bottom, so you can instantly find the app you’re looking for.
The Control Center has large icons with customizable orders. But, I’m kind of annoyed that there’s no shortcut to the Settings menu in here. The UI also lacks a quick search window, something that you can easily access by swiping down from the home screen on other devices.


I’m not a fan of the app folders in the home screen that show a bunch of app suggestions. It’s probably a way for Xiaomi to generate some extra income. Thankfully, it can be deleted easily.


Interconnectivity is a feature built-in on the settings that lets you interact with your other Xiaomi devices (phone, tablet, watch, etc.) that are signed in on the same Xiaomi account. It lets you sync notifications, network settings, and clipboard. Screen control is also available.
Xiaomi Share is also here to quickly share files with other Xiaomi phones. For non-Xiaomi phones, you can always use Quick Share (formerly Nearby Share).


There are also a bunch of Always-On Display (AOD) wallpapers built-in. If nothing catches your fancy, it also lets you use your own custom image.
Notification Effects lets you choose between four different styles to light up the edges of the screen, even on standby and when you receive notifications.


The under-display fingerprint scanner was quick and accurate. There are also four different animations you can choose from, two of which look like butterflies. Face unlock also worked well without issues, even in pitch-black rooms as the screen light is enough to detect the face.


You can also use the fingerprint scanner as a heart-rate scanner, which you can access in the Settings > Additional Settings > Heart rate.
Using a sidebar is also an option, giving you quick access to apps and commands. Plus, opening apps from the sidebar launches them as a floating window for faster multitasking.


With more than 100 photos taken and a bunch of large apps downloaded, I was left with 122.1GB of space from the 256GB of storage. 9.4GB were saved for the System and 16.58GB for System files.
There’s also a storage cleaner feature that analyzes the system to look for cache files and other junk. They can all be removed with a press of a button.


There’s also the virtual RAM expansion feature that lets users expand the memory by 4GB, 6GB, and 8GB by borrowing from the storage. It should provide an extra performance boost but, in our experience, the difference is barely noticeable.
Security is a built-in app that analyzes the system and lets you press Optimize so, in theory, it runs faster.

The Game Turbo window can be easily accessed while in-game. It lets you choose between Balanced and Wild Boost performance modes, see real-time fps data, start screen recording, use a voice changer, and run timers.

We’re also a fan of the low battery/charging animation on top of the screen, as it’s not like Apple’s Dynamic Island that many other brands are copying. The animation drops from the top corner of the screen and the lightning bolt icon does a quick spin.


Per usual, it uses Google Keyboard by default, which is the keyboard I prefer as it’s what other brands also use. My fingers feel at home. It is also heavily customizable and has easy access to gifs and emojis.
The camera app looks extra minimalistic with its thin fonts and clean icons. But what matters most is that it works fine and is easy to use.
Cameras
The POCO F6 has a 50-megapixel IMX882 main camera with a bright f/1.59 aperture. There’s also an 8-megapixel IMX355 ultra-wide camera and 20-megapixel on the front for selfies. I thank Xiaomi for sparing us with macro and depth sensors, which probably won’t be missed.

Daytime shots from the 50-megapixel camera are good, but not stellar. Xiaomi could’ve done a better job at handling the colors and the dynamic range tends to save the highlights so much that the shadows are left out. Still, details are sharp and there’s a natural shallow depth of field in some close-up shots.
















Low-light shots look good, though. They are very detailed and contrasty, although the colors still look a little off at times. Turn on the Night Mode and it provides dramatic improvement in the shots, especially in the exposure and dynamic range departments.












The camera app features a 2x button, which crops the main camera for 52mm-equivalent shots that are good for portraits. It lets you focus your attention on the subject by removing distractions from the foreground and the background.




Color rendering, exposure, and dynamic range from the 8-megapixel ultra-wide is the same as the main camera. Barrel distortion is also noticeable. Better image processing could make the photos nicer, but I can’t really complain much for the value it offers.








Finally, we have the 20-megapixel front-facing camera. It takes selfies with a lot of details, even in low light. The colors are fairly accurate and the exposure is decent. Portrait mode also works well, which can be handy if you have a messy background.




While it has a good set of cameras. photography is definitely not the forte of the POCO F6.
Battery and Charging
The POCO F6 comes with a 5,000mAh battery, a standard capacity on most midrange smartphones today. Charging is done via the included 90W adapter.


The battery life is average. In PCMark’s synthetic battery test, it lasted for 13 hours and 6 minutes, versus the average score I get of 14 hours. That’s a loop of different workloads before the battery drops to 20%.
It did get a decent score on our 1080p YouTube video loop test where it lasted for 17 hours and 33 minutes before dropping from 100% to 2%. That’s higher than the average score I get of 17 hours.

For charging, the 90W brick managed to provide 26% charge in 15 minutes, with a full charge taking less than an hour. See our full charging test below:
- 15mins: 0-26%
- 30mins: 55%
- 45mins: 80%
- 58mins: FULL
Verdict
So, is the POCO F6 still worthy of the bang-for-the-buck title? It is. While the design is a little boring, the image processing can be improved, and HyperOS still needs some polishing, the set of hardware it has is hard to beat for the price.

For under Php25,000, you’re getting a device with a flagship-like performance that’s great for day-to-day tasks, gaming, and entertainment. The experience is amped up by the fancy display that’s vibrant and smooth, plus a pair of speakers that provide loud and crisp sound.
Rounding things up are the good battery life that can be fully charged for under an hour — all packed in a sleek, comfortable, and durable body.

So, if you want a fast and reliable device for work and entertainment needs — whether you’re a student, professional, or hardcore gamer — don’t break the bank and consider the POCO F6.
POCO F6 pricing and availability in the Philippines
The POCO F6 8GB/256GB has an SRP of Php21,999 in the Philippines while the 12GB/512GB retails for Php24,999. It’s available on Shopee, Lazada, and select physical stores nationwide.
Pro
- Sturdy build, IP64 rated
- Great performance for all kinds of usage
- Loud, crisp stereo speakers
- Good battery life with 90W fast charging
Cons
- Boring design
- HyperOS still needs polishing
- Image processing could be better