We recently went to Bangkok, Thailand, to attend the POCO Partners Southeast Asia Forum 2023 with no professional camera in hand. Instead, we relied on the POCO X5 Pro 5G to document our trip and the forum.

This reminded us why the brand’s current sub-flagship continues to be an immensely popular choice among users who are after a premium Android experience as well as good camera performance — even now, more than six months after its release. That’s almost a lifetime in the smartphone world.

The good news is the base 6GB/128GB version of the POCO X5 Pro 5G is currently at its lowest price in the Philippines yet. It’s down to just P13,299 (around $235) from P16,999 ($300), thanks to the POCO Carnival mega sale that’s happening on Shopee, Lazada, and TikTok Shop until August 31. You can get the 8GB/256GB variant, on the other hand, for only P16,099 ($284) instead of P18,999 ($335).

In case you’re interested in finding out what the hype is all about, here are five standout features of the POCO X5 Pro 5G.

Built for on-the-go streaming

There’s plenty to like about the smartphone, but one of the first things that we noticed — and subsequently liked — about the phone is the display. The flat OLED panel has some of the smallest bezels you’ll find in the category, and the fact that it’s not curved means it looks bigger compared to devices that offer a similar screen real estate, such as the HONOR 90 5G, OPPO Reno10 Pro 5G, and realme 11 Pro Series 5G.

It has FHD+ resolution, 10-bit color depth, and a 120Hz refresh rate, which are par for the course for its price tag, but it’s also noticeably bright, offering up to 900 nits of max brightness in the auto-brightness setting and making it legible enough in sunny conditions and bright indoor environments.

Complementing the screen’s high brightness output is HDR10 with support for Dolby Vision content across popular platforms, Netflix included (if you’re subscribed to the UHD Premium plan). The high 1,920Hz PWM dimming, on the other hand, promises less strain on your eyes when viewing the display at low brightness.

Versatile camera setup

The POCO X5 Pro 5G is equipped with a 108-megapixel rear camera that uses the same exact Samsung ISOCELL HM2 /1.52-inch sensor from the previous generation. It is accompanied by an 8-megapixel ultrawide shooter and a 2-megapixel macro camera that sits behind an f/2.4 lens. And though we think the filler camera shouldn’t be there, the inclusion of a wide-angle option is much appreciated and immediately makes the POCO X5 Pro 5G more versatile than some of its midrange rivals that lack such a camera for landscape photography.

The 108-megapixel primary sensor is a pretty capable one, delivering good contrast, natural-looking colors, wide dynamic range, and zero noise in daylight scenes. The resolved details could be better, especially indoors and in dim areas, but resizing your photos down to 12 megapixels usually resolves this.

For video, the POCO X5 Pro 5G allows up to 4K video recording at 30 frames per second with its main camera, in addition to 1080p at both 30 fps and 60 fps. The output looks clean even at 4K resolution, with the highest video bitrate coming in at about 50Mbps for 4K.

Sample shots

Performs as good as any midranger out there

Powering the POCO X5 Pro 5G is a 6nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G 5G chipset alongside up to 11GB of dynamic RAM. Our unit have 256GB of onboard storage, more than enough for our favorite Android apps and documents and media files we need for work. The Snapdragon 778G has been a staple among Android phones in the midrange category for years, and it’s still a strong performer in 2023, as our time with the smartphone has shown (and continues to show).

Our unit handles less intensive games such as Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and Dead Cells without any trouble, while heavier titles like Diablo Immortal and Genshin Impact can run smoothly at Medium detail. We managed an average of 30 fps in Genshin Impact using the game’s default graphics settings. In terms of day-to-day performance, the Snapdragon 778G is among the fastest in the midrange — snappy and responsive and can handle heavy multitasking quite competently — and its benchmark numbers mirror this as well.

Good endurance, fast charging

Thanks to its efficient Snapdragon chipset and relatively high battery capacity of 5,000mAh, the POCO X5 Pro 5G offers all-day mileage on a single charge. We noticed that our unit’s standby battery drain was lower than average as well during our testing. The phone supports 67-watt fast charging and ships with the requisite power adapter to support it.

Going from zero to full takes about 45 minutes based on our experience. That’s quite impressive, especially considering flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S23 series and Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max don’t allow rapid charging at speeds higher than 45 and 30 watts, respectively.

Powerful stereo speakers and a headphone jack (yes!)

The POCO X5 Pro 5G has stereo speakers mounted at the top and bottom, enhanced by Dolby Atmos. The secondary speaker has two outlets — one along the top rail and another front-facing one — for a more surround sound-like effect. The Dolby Atmos enhancement is enabled by default, and we strongly suggest keeping it on, as it helps the speakers produce a richer sound with better quality and bass. We streamed a few episodes of our favorite Netflix shows during our time with the phone and enjoyed the experience.

The POCO X5 Pro 5G has a 3.5mm headphone jack for wired audio, a rarity among phones in this segment. Even better, there are several audio effects that are only available when you plug in your headphones, including the usual settings for virtual surround sound, button assignment, and equalizer adjustment, which only enrich your listening experience.

POCO X5 Pro 5G official product video, just to jog your memory

POCO X5 Pro 5G specs

• 6.67-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate, Corning Gorilla Glass 5
• 6nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G with 5G
• Adreno 642L GPU
• 6GB/8GB RAM
• 128GB/256GB storage
• Triple 108-megapixel main, 8-megapixel ultrawide, 2-megapixel macro cameras
• 16-megapixel front camera
• Side fingerprint sensor
• 5,000mAh battery with 67-watt fast charging
• Dual speakers
• X-axis linear motor
• MIUI 14 based on Android 12
• Colors: Yellow, Blue, Black

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