Verdict
The Poco M5 is an affordable phone that come with more than enough power for graze and streaming . The low price point does mean that it ’s limited in terminus of play , and it does n’t have the best camera on the market , but it ’s more than serviceable if you ’re looking for a good - time value French telephone .
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
Xiaomi ’s sub - brand Poco launched its M - Series of telephone set back in 2020 , with the Poco M5 coming in as the former mid - range gadget , alongside its older brother , thePoco M5s .
The Poco M5 is a solid affordable French telephone that is brim with features ; a Full HD+ 90Hz refresh rate , a 5000mAh battery and 18W fast - level , alongside a 50MP main camera , all for under £ 200 .
I savour my time using the Poco M5 , especially since I have never used an Android handset before . Here is how I got on .
Design and screen
The Poco M5 comes in three colour : jaundiced , Green and Black . My building block came in Black and I think it had a ripe design , featuring a leather - like back and a camera bar that spans the rear of the phone . This gives the phone a more premium look , despite its affordable price .
Since the back is textured like leather , I never had any issues with fingermark or smudging , and it made the earpiece finger a little durable to the touch sensation , as opposed to received fluid , cheap - feel charge plate . It ’s also much lighter than some of my previous Apple phones , which made it easier to hold and use with just one hand .
In term of port wine , it features a USB - C charge connector and a 3.5 mm audio gob , the latter of which may be a rarity on most premium phones nowadays but is more potential to be found on this oddment of the price spectrum .
The power clitoris also double as a fingermark sensing element , which I found was far more true than using the equipment ’s face unlock option . I was also able to tailor-make the power button to release on certain feature film , like the Camera or Google Assistant , which I really like as it made navigating the machine feel more fluid .
On the front of the gadget , there is a 6.58 - inch Full HD+ straight - screened exhibit with a resolution of 2408x1080p . Like many other Android phones , it features a biff - hole camera , which I do massively choose to the great , wide notch that ’s present on Apple handsets such as theiPhone 14 . What ’s more , it ’s made of Gorilla Glass 3 which offer some protection against bumps and scratches , though there is no officialIP ratingfor this handset .
I thought that the covert was pretty precipitous , with colour coming off as burnished and vivacious . After testing the screen , I witness that it had anitcount of 388.91 which is within orbit of what I would expect for an average handset , though I will say that I sometimes struggled to read the screen during burnished days , and it paled in comparison to theiPhone 12 Mini(which has a nit enumeration of around 625 ) .
There is also noHDR support , so you wo n’t be able to get the most fulgurous results when you ’re streaming Netflix for example . However , I still enjoyed watching video capacity with the Poco M5 , and thanks to the large sieve size of it it does n’t experience too littered – though I would calculate towards a higher - terminal gadget if covert performance is a top priority for you .
Camera
The Poco M5 come with a triple tv camera setup , including a 50 - megapixel main camera ( f/1.8 ) , a 2 - megapixel macro tv camera ( f/2.4 ) , and a 2 - megapixel depth camera ( f/2.4 ) .
Some of the features include a night mode ; AI - power portrait manner , which is designed to make bokeh and depth in the background ; and Pro way , which takes full reward of the 50 - megapixel television camera .
For the damage , I was impressed with the photographic camera . The colours seemed vibrant and it could nibble up a lot of detail especially when I turn on HDR . As you could see from the icon below , the reds and yellows pop , with a lot of detail being captured on the brickwork
Photos in dispirited light were also comely , and I thought that the dedicated dark mood was able to capture some visible radiation and particular in picture show , though I think this is n’t the strongest feature of this television camera .
The macro mode was a morsel of a dashing hopes , and I receive that I could n’t really get as close to objects as I would have liked . It also rarely get together unless I was in very vindicated and bright situations , and I ended up not using it due to the troublesomeness .
turn the telephone set around , I thought that the 5 - megapixel front camera was serviceable and direct some decent selfies , but it lacked the same level of contingent as the rearward apparatus . portrayal musical mode was in all probability my least favourite vista of the camera overall , with pictures come out unnaturally smooth and washed out .
In terminus of video recording , the front and rear cameras can memorialise 1920x1080p and 1280x720p at 30fps . There is a macro telecasting mode and film frame modality , with no option for slo - minute or sentence - lapse .
Performance
The Poco M5 uses a MediaTek Helio G99 , which match an octa - coreCPUwith an ARM Mali - G57 MC2GPU . This atomic number 14 gives the speech sound enough of a performance boost to prevail smoothly , although by nature it ’s nowhere near the same standard as gamy - destruction French telephone from the likes of Apple .
This speech sound get with 4 GB and 6 GB RAM , with options for 64 GB and 128 GB depot , although it does abide expandible storehouse up to 1 TB . In the same nervure as thePoco M5s , it does not come with any reenforcement for 5 G , but 4 G or else .
During day - to - twenty-four hour period use , I receive that it was absolutely serviceable . I did n’t experience any matter while scroll through apps or browse the web , and it had enough power to let me engage in some light gambling , although I did find that intensive game like PUBG took a cost on the equipment and did n’t feel as liquid .
To back up my anecdotal experience I also ran some bench mark tests usingGeekbench 5 . The undivided - Congress of Racial Equality score come out at 547 , while the multi - core execution came out at 1920 . This edged out the Poco M5s – which scored 1847 in the multi - core test – despite its slightly higher price tag , although it does put it below other Poco handsets , like the mid - rangePoco F4 , which scored 3178 .
This French telephone usesAndroid 12but the interface is keep in line by Xiaomi ’s ownMIUI 13 . Some of the interface feel smooth , like the drop curtain - down menu and customisation options within the power button , but it did feel insanely bloated upon first use due to the litany of pre - installed apps onboard . There are multiple downloaded game , seemingly every cryptocurrency app ever made , and random ‘ virus scanner ’ that do hinder the experience .
After some time clean up my home base screen door and curating my own folders it felt less cluttered , although it seems like Xiaomi did n’t put any tangible intellection into the designing of the interface .
I will say as someone that has very little experience with Android devices , I was able to get used to MIUI after a few daytime . I ca n’t say that it feels as dear asiOS , and I imagine those who prefer Graeco-Roman variations of Android , like those found on machine like thePixel 6 professional , will also need some metre to figure out Xiaomi ’s software program .
For browsing , light play and watch video content I opine that this speech sound operate very well , but I would n’t recommend it to anyone who ’s looking for a lot of operation mogul .
Battery Life
The Poco M5 packs a 5000mAh battery and supports fast charging at 18W , with the courser let in in the box .
From my experience , this phone has an telling battery life . I could use it for a few time of day a Clarence Shepard Day Jr. without needing to reload it every dark , and even on heavy - use day it took a while for the battery to drop .
I found that watching one time of day of video content on Netflix drain the bombardment by 12 % while streaming euphony content for an time of day only be me 6 % . While individual use cases will affect the twist differently , the Poco does have heavy stamp battery life , outlasting myiPhone 12 Minion most Clarence Day .
However , the battery fall a niggling curt when it comes to recharge . While degenerate charging is a addition , 18W is nowhere near the fast offer on the market . saddle the machine from 0 % to 50 % take 54 minute , with 0 % to 100 % study 124 minute of arc .
This is n’t a dealbreaker , but it ’s in spades something to keep in head , as you wo n’t be able to quickly charge up your machine before a farseeing - haul journey .
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Should you buy it?
The Poco M5 pack a large screenland that ’s ideal for both browsing and streaming television content . Plus , the reliable barrage think of that it will last you through the day without take .
While the Poco M5 is great for effortless gaming and browsing , it ’s not up to of intensive gaming and does not pack the most potent camera .
Final Thoughts
Overall , I believe the Poco M5 is a great phone for the price , and something to consider if you ’re after a handset that will get you through the day without costing a fortune .
The design is minimal and mature , and while the concealment is n’t the brightest around , it does function well for watching video recording cognitive content and it ’s big enough that it does n’t experience too cluttered to use .
My least pet part of this equipment is the exploiter interface , although after tinkering with it and getting used to it I believe it worked fluidly , and it ’s a wad more customisable than any Apple telephone .
While the camera wo n’t be make headway any awarding , it is perfectly serviceable and find fault up on a lot more detail than I would have look . For the price , this is not something to be written off , and if you ’re not rile about gaming or seeing the high specification then this is a smartphone I would well advocate .
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We test every mobile phone we review good . We habituate diligence - stock tests to liken features in good order and we use the phone as our main twist over the review menstruation . We ’ll always tell you what we find and we never , ever , accept money to survey a product .
FAQs
No , there is no HDR support on the Poco M5 , although user can take pictures in HDR .
It uses a MediaTek Helio G99 processor , with an Octa - Core CPU and an Arm Mali - G57 GPU .
Yes , this handset has a triple photographic camera setup , with the main camera using a 50MP detector and the remain two lens system being a macro camera and a depth detector .
