Xiaomi launches a budget-focused sub-brand dubbed Poco together with the F1-- a smartphone offering flagship specs, such as a Snapdragon 845 processor, with a mid-tier $300 pricetag.
Initially aimed at the Indian market, the F1 is clearly designed as a OnePlus 6 rival. It features a 6.18-inch 1080p display with an 18:7:9 aspect ratio, Qualcomm Adreno 630 GPU, 6/8GB RAM, 64/128/256GB storage, 20MP front-facing camera, rear-facing 12/5MP dual-camera array and a big 4000mAh battery, making it more advanced than other mid-tier Xiaomi devices such as the RedMi 6A.
The OS is Android 8.1 Oreo with a MIUI skin, and connectivity comes via USB-C port as well as wifi and Bluetooth 5.0. The body features water cooling, and Xiaomi includes a full complement of security features with a fingerprint sensor and face unlock.
Interestingly, such specs come at the cost of other features-- for instance, the display is clad in Gorilla Glass 3 (wheras the material is already at a 6th iteration), the display has larger bezels compared to other devices and construction is in plastic, with the option for Kevlar backing in a special "Armoured" edition. However Xiaomi says this is the point of the device, since it was made for customers with a want for a non-fancy phone with top internals.
So far Xiaomi does not confirm whether the F1 will be available outside of India, where it is available now. However it does sound like a very decent device European customers will be interested in, and the company is pushing further in our part of the world, so an announcement might be upcoming.
Go Poco
