Since the launch of its first smartphone – POCO F1 – POCO has focused on offering devices that offer the best bang for the buck. While it started by focusing on the upper mid-range segment to steal the flagship killer crown, it has now expanded its offerings to focus on the voluminous budget and mid-tier segments too. The latest addition in its portfolio is in the form of the POCO M5, a competitively priced, yet loaded smartphone around Rs 12,000. We can go as far as to say that the handset turns the conventional specs-vs-price equation on its head. Here’s how…

Superfast and battery-efficient internals

The biggest highlight of the POCO M5 is its chipset. The smartphone harnesses power from MediaTek Helio G99, which is the most powerful offering in the G series. The octa-core processor features big.LITTLE architecture and is fabricated using a 6nm process to ensure maximum battery conservation. Speaking of clock speeds, two high-end Cortex-A76 cores are tuned at 2.2GHz, whereas the regular tasks are taken care of by six Cortex-A55 cores humming at up to 2GHz. The graphics are rendered by ARM Mali G57 GPU. Then there are MediaTek HyperEngine 2.0 Lite gaming technologies to provide an enjoyable experience while playing one’s favourite titles. Along with the dynamic management of CPU, GPU, and memory, the suite also offers connectivity enhancements. This ensures that one could defer their calls while gaming without dropping the data connection among other things.

The powerful processor ensures smooth usage, and switching between apps is instantaneous too, thanks to up to 6 gigs of LPDDR4X RAM. And if you’re a heavy user with a slew of apps running in the background, then you’d be glad to know that there’s support for Turbo RAM extension of up to 2GB. On the storage side of things, the M5 ships with 64GB / 128GB of UFS 2.2 storage.

An immersive display with smart capabilities 

With mobiles becoming personal consumption devices, it’s important for them to offer a good panel. Well, you don’t have to worry about that with the POCO’s latest. The phone features a 6.58-inch display with a resolution of 2,400 x 1,800 pixels. It offers a high refresh rate of 90Hz, but is intelligent enough to switch between 30Hz, 60Hz, and 90Hz depending upon the task at hand. And if you love gaming, then the POCO M5 makes sure that your inputs are registered quickly with support for a 240Hz touch sampling rate.

A layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 3 acts as a protection against scuff marks. Multimedia addicts would appreciate that the screen is Widevine L1 certified, and the smartphone supports Hi-Res Audio in wired mode. 

Cameras that ably capture the world around you

In the imaging department, the POCO M5 boasts a triple-camera setup. The module is headlined by a 50-megapixel f/1.8 ISOCELL sensor, accompanied by a 2MP macro shooter and a 2MP depth lens. This ensures that you could capture landscape shots as well as portraits or close-ups with equal ease. For selfies, the smartphone gets an 8MP camera up front.

Equipped with a long-lasting battery

The POCO M5 comes with a capacious 5,000mAh battery. Combine that with the power-efficient chipset and smart display, and the phone will easily survive a working day even with heavy usage. Furthermore, it can also be juiced up quickly with support for 18W fast charging with POCO claiming that it’ll go to 100 percent level in less than 2 hours. Interestingly, the bundled adapter is rated at 22.5W.

A design that stands out

Despite packing a beefy cell, the M5 is quite slim at 8.9mm. Design-wise, the handset is quite attractive with a faux leather-like texture at the back. Of course, the texture also promises a good grip and keeps the fingerprints at bay. The splash-proof smartphone is available in interesting colour options of POCO Yellow, Icy Blue, and Power Black. The fingerprint sensor is located at the convenient location on the right side which also doubles up as a power toggle.

With a well-rounded spec sheet, the POCO M5 easily gives the competition a run for its money. Add to that its enticing price tag of Rs 12,499 for the 4GB RAM variant (the higher-end 6GB RAM model will set you back by Rs 14,499), and it’s difficult to ignore this phone. And that’s not it. As part of the Big Billion Day sale on Flipkart, buyers could avail Rs 1,500 discount with the use of ICICI and Axis Bank cards, bringing the price down to Rs 10,999 and Rs 12,999 for the 4GB and 6GB versions, respectively. The POCO M5 will go on sale from September 13th, and consumers would also get additional benefits like free screen protection for six months and a free one-year subscription to Hotstar.