POCO M2 Pro

Poco M2 Pro Verdict

Brand: Poco
Key specs: Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G, up to 6GB RAM, up to 128GB storage, 5,000mAh battery, 16MP selfie camera, Quad AI rear cameras
Price: ₹13,999 (starting)
Rating: 3.5/5Poco’s comeback in the Indian market has been rather unique. After becoming an independent brand, Poco appears to be chasing the mass market. This is contrary to a power users-focused strategy it adopted with Poco F1 two years ago. The comeback phone Poco X2 was not really the elusive Poco F2. And the latest offering Poco M2 Pro targets the sub- ₹15,000 market. The catch is the segment is highly cluttered and dominated by Xiaomi’s Redmi. Realme and Samsung (Galaxy M and Galaxy A) are also in the fray.Not that another alternative in this segment is not welcomed. But as smartphone enthusiasts, we yearn for originality. Poco M2 Pro is a mere rehash of the Redmi Note 9 Pro with some subtle changes and upgrades. And this is exactly what we noticed in the Poco X2 which was an unofficial rebranded version of Redmi K30. Is it negative? Does this strategy work? This will be decided by the box office collections.From the front, Poco M2 Pro and Redmi Note 9 Pro look exactly like each other. The same implementation of side buttons, a punch-hole camera on the top, speaker grilles and Type-C port at the base. The back panel, however, is where Poco has experimented with something different. Inspired by Google’s Pixels, Poco M2 Pro’s back panel has two sections with the bottom half having a diagonal reflective pattern. The square camera module is also smaller than Redmi Note 9 Pro’s. The glass back panel has a glossy finish which means you keep wiping it time to time to remove the smudges and fingerprint. It’s the case with most of the phones with such design implementation.

Poco M2 Pro review: A Redmi Note 9 Pro-lookalike with subtle changes, upgrades

Poco M2 Pro ticks all the boxes for a budget smartphone. But is it the best in this price segment? How different is it from the Redmi Note 9 Pro? Read our review.