Bought a Poco M3 128/4 as a secondary phone yesterday for Rs. 26400 as a secondary phone, already using Poco X3 NFC. I'll compare it with phones of similar caliber I have used (mostly Oppo's)
Thoughts?
- Value for money device (9.5/10), I was going for Vivo Y51 as it has an Amoled display but it also has screen turning off issue so skipped it. 400Nits max brightness feels more on par with 440nits, I have used 420 nits, 450 nits and 480nit LCD phones and 560, 600, 800 and 1200 nit OLED display phones so I think I can guess the peak brightness pretty good with my eyes and comparing content side by side
with my Oppo A5 2020's 480nits (brightest 480 nit phone I have used, Even Poco X3's white point seem a bit darker than that).
The color saturation is as good as X3 (I have a matte protector installed on X3 so M3 sometimes feels even better)
2.Performance: (8/10)
For an Snapdragon 662 paired with a 1080p display, performance is great, UI performance is much better than it was on my Oppo A5 2020 with a 720 paired with SD665 (there was slight stutter issue in 12.0.3, perks of Poco launcher, in 12.0.4 it is fixed. same situation as it was Poco X3 on version 12.0.6 to 12.0.7)
- Cameras:
Front cam (7/10): well in Good light front camera is better than what it was on my Oppo, in low light, it is pretty much the same, A5's post processing was smeary type, while M3 retains details with noise).
Main Camera (10/10): 48 Megapixel main Sensor is better than Oppo A9 2020 / A92 / F11 which were close to Rs. 40000.
It beats pretty much every phone with a 48MP sensor in good light, in low light, the colors are a bit washed out but that's if you compare it to other 48MP camera phones between 35-45k price range. I have heard, Poco M3, redmi 9t, note 9 and note 9s pack the same sensor so the difference is only between post processing due to chipset difference and maybe lens quality.
Macro (6/10): I believe it is same 2 Megapixel sensor as Poco X3, it is good but not great as autofocus 5MP sensor on Note 9s/9 Pro.
Portrait Mode (9/10): Edge detection is great as on all MIUI based phones, blur can be adjusted after clicking the picture.
Bugs: None faced yet, stutter issue is solved (Not an issue but I was using it after using that sweet 120hz display on X3 so I felt it) in first update.
Build: (9/10 but subjective to personal choice)
That's where most people may not like this phone. The build is a polycarbonate back like Lumia phones with a faux leather texture. Personally, I like it, it is rugged, won't get scratched like glasstic backs. Within the supplied silicon case, it looks better than my gray X3 NFC in original silicon (which is a bit cloudy so the color / shine of X3's back isn't visible).
There's no mid frame the back surrounds the phone where the frame should be. Unibody like construction is more tough and rugged in my opinion.
6.Niggles:
MiShare (The iDrop like sharing feature compatible between Xiaomi, Poco, Redmi, Realme, Vivo and Oppo devices) is not available. Maybe it'll be enabled in next update. I don't think it is chipset limitation as 662 supports dual band wifi + wifi network sharing is available on M3 as well. And Oppo Share was available on my A5 2020 with a SD665 chipset that I have used to share files between Xiaomi and Oppo Phones.
And it comes with a 6000mah battery and an 18watt charger, charging the battery that big is a slow affair even with 18 watt charger but well. I don't have to charge it all at once. It'll easily last 2 days on a full charge and 40-80 rule charging can be used without plugging it in multiple times daily.
