Poco X2 first impressions: This new smartphone is not the Poco F1 successor we had hoped for

After almost one and a half years, Poco is back with its second smartphone, the Poco X2. Contrary to speculations, Poco X2 is no spiritual successor to Poco F1.

Why?

Well, the new smartphone does not break the market with a new flagship Qualcomm processor nor does it offer something flagship at the lowest price. It doesn't look or feel rugged. Those were the biggest selling points of the Poco F1 which still is selling online. But does this make Poco X2 a bad phone?

Not really.

Before we hold forth, let's make one thing clear. Yes, it IS a replica of Xiaomi Redmi K30 which launched in China recently. There has been a lot of discussion around the design and many were disappointed with the design of the Poco X2 as soon as the leaked images hit the web.

But think of Poco X2 as a standalone phone instead of a replica. On those grounds, the Poco X2 is not a bad looking phone at all.

The front is dominated by the display with dual punch-hole cameras on the top right corner. Poco X2 comes with a 6.67-inch full HD+ display. The big differentiator here is the 120Hz display which makes UI navigation utterly smooth. App loads are smoother as well. As far as the display quality goes, it has a cooler effect. We browsed and played videos on the device and the experience was satisfactory if not overwhelming.

The dual punch-hole cameras are an acquired taste. But having lived with a variety of cutouts, it's no eyesore for sure. There's a fair amount of bezels around the screens, probably slightly thicker than what you may have seen on official or unofficial renders.

On the back, the Poco X2 has a vertical camera setup housing as many as four sensors. The camera module is placed in a circular patch, which is said to be inspired by coin booths from older times. The design doesn't bring any value addition to the table, but yes, it looks unique. The volume rocker and lock/fingerprint sensor are on the right edge. Both the keys are well within reach. The fingerprint sensor is also quite fast to register and unlock the phone.

One of the big takeaways from the design is that Poco X2 has a more massy look to it, courtesy the glass back panel, same color implementation on the metallic sides and a glossy finish. At the same time, the rear panel is a smudge magnet. It's also a bit slippery. Such a mixed bag design makes a great case for phones that cone with a matte finish.

Poco X2's UI is slightly different from the MIUI that runs on Xiaomi phones. Running on a custom MIUI Global 11.0.3 (based on Android 10), the UI has apps in different categories such as communications, entertainment, photography, games and so on. The "all" section renders all the applications and Android 10's Digital Wellbeing and other key features are also there. The UI felt fluid during our usage.

Over the brief time we have spent with the smartphone, we did try out the quad-rear camera setup. We're bit apprehensive about the camera performance of the Poco X2 though. A couple of casual 64-megapixel shots didn't come out the way we had expected. The image processing is slow while end pictures had uneven brightness levels. The macro camera onboard is quite average. But this is only an early impression, we will need to run a barrage of tests to give you our final verdict.

Poco X2 is running on Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G chipset. So far, it has done well during our usage without any lag or stutter. With up to 8GB of RAM and liquid cooling on board, we don't think performance is going to be a problem for this phone. But yes, those who were hoping for the SD 865 at ₹15,999 will be disappointed. That said, Snapdragon 855 Plus could have also been a good choice for those looking for heavy-duty chips.

So, these are our first impressions. Poco X2 is a decent mid-range phone in its entirety, but not the Poco F1 successor everyone had hoped for. Stay tuned for our detailed review.