Oppo, the popular phone-maker created a sub-brand, OnePlus that has since become super popular among geeks and the whole tech community. This line of smartphones offered flagship specs at a fraction of the price and the model worked for them. Here comes another sub-brand from popular budget-smartphone maker Xiaomi. The sub-brand name, Poco.

Xiaomi is a popular Chinese brand thats been known for producing quality devices with little compromises, all at a more than fair price. The company is taking this approach a step further, into the flagship territory. The first Pocophone device is the F1, which has flagship features, including a top-of-the-line processor, but will sell for even less than many of Xiaomi’s already aggressively priced devices.

In many developing countries, mostly Asia and Africa where big premium brands like Samsung and Apple face stagnating growth and growing regulation, Xiaomi and many budget brands like Infinix and Tecno continue to do well, especially in India. The Pocophone sets its sight squarely on the OnePlus 6 in both pricing and specifications.

Specifications of the Pocophone F1:

  • 6.18″ Display with a notch
  • MIUI 9.6 (POCO customization) based on Android 8.1 Oreo
  • Snapdragon 845 processor
  • 6GB RAM and 64GB internal storage
  • Dual 12MP + 5MP main camera
  • 20MP selfie shooter
  • 4000mAh battery with USB-C Fast Charging

Pocophone F1 punches way above its pricetag in so many ways, most notable, the Snapdragon 845 processor which is way more powerful than anything used in Xiaomi’s entire device portfolio. Unlike the rest of the glass-on-glass sandwich 2018 flagships, the Poco F1 uses Gorilla Glass 3 over the display and a plastic back.

The phone comes in blue, red, or black with a plastic back or in a special “Armored” edition with a rubbery Kevlar backing. Early hands-on impressions point out that “this rubber lends the phone a cheap, toy-like quality”. The front display spots a thick notch and it has slight bezels on the sides.

Pocophone F1 runs Android 8.1 Oreo with a tweaked version of Xiaomi’s MIUI skin. It’s currently on MIUI 9.6, but will update to version 10 over the course of the next month. It has a USB Type-C charging port and it supports USB 2.0 and Bluetooth 5.0.

Pricing

According to reports, the Pocophone F1 will be priced as follows; The 6GB RAM/ 64GB storage option will go for EUR 420. The Price of the 6GB RAM / 128GB storage option is set at EUR 460.

In-post images courtesy of The Verge.