Pocophone F1 - The new flagship killer?

biebiebie

Hmm I don't get it about the Amoled screens?

I've used both LCD and Amoled and much prefer the latter. Just personal choice I suppose.

BTW the Pocophone doesn't have a particularly bright screen either. Not saying it's bad, but it's certainly not the brightest (going by reviews)
Same goes for the Redmi Note 5.
Fine once you're indoors or on a dull day.
But you might struggle somewhat in bright direct sunlight (yep I know we're in Ireland!)

Anyhow best of luck with your purchase.

If I hadn't of bought the Redmi already then I'd be on the Poco bandwagon too... Brilliant phone for the money.

Roll on the Pocophone F2 in 2019... Strong contender for my (budget) upgrade!

OldMrBrennan83

biebiebie wrote: »

Hmm I don't get it about the Amoled screens?

I've used both LCD and Amoled and much prefer the latter. Just personal choice I suppose.

BTW the Pocophone doesn't have a particularly bright screen either. Not saying it's bad, but it's certainly not the brightest (going by reviews)
Same goes for the Redmi Note 5.
Fine once you're indoors or on a dull day.
But you might struggle somewhat in bright direct sunlight (yep I know we're in Ireland!)

Anyhow best of luck with your purchase.

If I hadn't of bought the Redmi already then I'd be in the Poco bandwagon too... Brilliant phone for the money.

Roll on the Pocophone F2 in 2019... Strong contender for my (budget) upgrade!

Amoled screens are better but theit weak point is that they get a lot of burn-in which you won't see with LCD, so if you're going to navigate a lot then LCD is better. I've Samsung's that are ruined with Android Auto and Google Maps.

god's toy

biebiebie wrote: »

Hmm I don't get it about the Amoled screens?

I've used both LCD and Amoled and much prefer the latter. Just personal choice I suppose.

BTW the Pocophone doesn't have a particularly bright screen either. Not saying it's bad, but it's certainly not the brightest (going by reviews)
Same goes for the Redmi Note 5.
Fine once you're indoors or on a dull day.
But you might struggle somewhat in bright direct sunlight (yep I know we're in Ireland!)

Anyhow best of luck with your purchase.

If I hadn't of bought the Redmi already then I'd be on the Poco bandwagon too... Brilliant phone for the money.

Roll on the Pocophone F2 in 2019... Strong contender for my (budget) upgrade!

Thanks!

Yep for sure, learned that over a few Samsungs displays a few years back.... Maybe newer Amoleds are better but once (or twice in my case) bitten...
As said it will be in the car after a few months so if its as good as the redmi thats there now, I guess it will be fine. In the end its really just updating the OS, cpu and ram for the car device is what i'm doing more than replacing my OnePlus 5t

biebiebie

Ah right the ould Amoled burn in, I understand now.
I suppose I didn't have that issue myself, but can understand if you have sat navigation on a lot during the day.

PS I'm somewhat jealous of you Poco owners!

Dunne_bkill

biebiebie wrote:

BTW the Pocophone doesn't have a particularly bright screen either. Not saying it's bad, but it's certainly not the brightest (going by reviews) Same goes for the Redmi Note 5. Fine once you're indoors or on a dull day. But you might struggle somewhat in bright direct sunlight (yep I know we're in Ireland!)

I've a RN5 and came from an S7 edge. The screen isn't as bright on full brightness but I never have any issues reading what's on my screen. The auto adjust works perfect. I was skeptical about this before I purchased and to be honest it hasn't bothered me one but, don't even notice it.

banie01

Regarding the screen brightness.
I've been spoiled for readability in bright light over the last few years by sticking to Samsung flagships.
My wife is running a pocophone for the last week and we were out for a jog a couple of days ago and I was very surprised at how vibrant the display was in direct sunlight.
For an IPS panel, it was v.good. I'm basing that on prior experience of Sony Xperia's and their becoming unreadable.

Roberto_gas

grindle wrote:

Can anybody who has this talk about the image stabilisation or lack thereof on the camera?

grindle wrote:

I hate shaky-hand videos more than most things.

It has no OIS...and also no EIS on 4K video afaik...

Mark Hamill

sioda wrote: »

Is this really an issue on a screen so small

If you use chrome cast or the like to play Netlfix on a tv from the Pocophone, is it still restricted to lower resolutions? (540p, I think was mentioned).

marti9t9

Mark Hamill wrote: »

If you use chrome cast or the like to play Netlfix on a tv from the Pocophone, is it still restricted to lower resolutions? (540p, I think was mentioned).

I doubt it. When you cast, all you're really doing is telling the TV to go and stream it using its Netflix app. Unless you're using screen mirroring in which case it would be poor quality. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

The Soup Thief

marti9t9 wrote: »

I doubt it. When you cast, all you're really doing is telling the TV to go and stream it using its Netflix app. Unless you're using screen mirroring in which case it would be poor quality. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

That's the way I've understood it. When using Netflix through a Chromecast, your phone's just the remote. All the streaming is between the Chromecast/TV and the internet.

I've replaced the Poco launcher with root-free pixel launcher - soo much better. Lovely phone. All should buy at least one

marti9t9

The Soup Thief wrote: »

That's the way I've understood it. When using Netflix through a Chromecast, your phone's just the remote. All the streaming is between the Chromecast/TV and the internet.

I've replaced the Poco launcher with root-free pixel launcher - soo much better. Lovely phone. All should buy at least one

Well Jel. Is it massive in the hand? what phone did you come from?

The Soup Thief

Roberto_gas wrote: »

It has no OIS...and also no EIS on 4K video afaik...

Video is fine - a YouTube video I saw demonstrating ois on the Xiaomi mi8 was not noticeably different from video with my F1, but steadiness is probably in the eye of the beholder!

corks finest

god's toy wrote: »

Well you can add me to the ranks of Poco F1 owners. After much back and forth Ive Just popped in an order. OnePlus is not getting my cash for taking away the headphone jack dagnabbit!


So the plan is, after a few extended months of play time its going to be my fulltime go-to sat-nav as the old Redmi Note 3 is slowing and Google maps keeps closing on it now... my OnePlus 3 and 5T are working fine but I don't like Amoled screens being always on like mapping use so this should fit the bill perfectly .

Would love amoled

The Soup Thief

marti9t9 wrote: »

Well Jel. Is it massive in the hand? what phone did you come from?

It's not a small phone but it really isn't as big as I'd feared. I had a Moto G5 for the past year after my Nexus 5 battery gave up (I couldn't source a replacement that didn't suck). The G5 has a smaller screen but really isn't much smaller a device. The change in bulk has been very easy - if anything it feels thinner, and more solid than the G5, which itself was fairly well made for a budget phone.

The plastic back is a bit unimpressive, but it's the front I look at mostly - all the back needs to do is not smash, so thumbs up for plastic there.

Bootloader unlock was (anticlimactically) easy; ir face unlock and fingerprint recognition still works (had to reprogram it obviously).

My wife thinks it's really nice and she usually hates my gadgets, so that's as close to an endorsement as you'll get

The Soup Thief

corks finest wrote: »

Would love amoled

Yeah, me too, tbh. I've had a few oled and never really noticed much burn in, though I been see how if it were always on as in a satnav set up, it would suffer. Saying that, this is as good an ips screen as I've owned. One of the reasons I like oled is that you can read them at night without lighting up the room. This screen has a really good brightness range - goes nice and dim, staying readable.

marti9t9

@The Soup Thief. Where did you get your root-free pixel launcher? Play store or just download the APK. Since you unlocked the bootloader I'm guessing you will install a new ROM?

biebiebie

The Soup Thief wrote: »

Video is fine - a YouTube video I saw demonstrating ois on the Xiaomi mi8 was not noticeably different from video with my F1, but steadiness is probably in the eye of the beholder!

Have you tried Open Camera?
For the Redmi Note 5 Pro anyhow, Open Camera offers stabilisation for 4K video.
Maybe it's the same for the Pocophone?
Worth a try anyhow.

(Video stabilisation is off by default in Open Camera as far as I remember. Just enable it in the settings)

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.sourceforge.opencamera

The Soup Thief

marti9t9 wrote: »

@The Soup Thief. Where did you get your root-free pixel launcher? Play store or just download the APK. Since you unlocked the bootloader I'm guessing you will install a new ROM?

Got it from XDA a couple of days ago https://www.xda-developers.com/rootless-pixel-launcher-google-play-store-pixel-bridge/
I'll probably root and install a custom ROM when something decent appears, but there's not much development yet. Just didn't want to end with lots of pictures etc on the phone then have to do a factory reset in order to unlock the bootloader and muck around

The Soup Thief

biebiebie wrote: »

Have you tried Open Camera?
For the Redmi Note 5 Pro anyhow, Open Camera offers stabilisation for 4K video.
Maybe it's the same for the Pocophone?
Worth a try anyhow.

(Video stabilisation is off by default in Open Camera as far as I remember. Just enable it in the settings)

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.sourceforge.opencamera

Haven't used open camera for ages! I just downloaded it and was a bit overwhelmed by the complexity, but couldn't see any ois settings. I did see a few links on tinternet to EIS tricks using Google photos, which is all pretty impressive

marti9t9

The Soup Thief wrote: »

Got it from XDA a couple of days ago https://www.xda-developers.com/rootless-pixel-launcher-google-play-store-pixel-bridge/
I'll probably root and install a custom ROM when something decent appears, but there's not much development yet. Just didn't want to end with lots of pictures etc on the phone then have to do a factory reset in order to unlock the bootloader and muck around

That's forward thinking!

biebiebie

The Soup Thief wrote: »

Haven't used open camera for ages! I just downloaded it and was a bit overwhelmed by the complexity, but couldn't see any ois settings. I did see a BN few links on tinternet to EIS tricks using Google photos, which is all pretty impressive

Settings > video settings > enable video stabilisation

The Soup Thief

biebiebie wrote: »

Settings > video settings > enable video stabilisation

You're dead right!
Sorry about that!
Just tried two videos, one with ois selected, the other not. I couldn't really see a lot of difference ðŸ™

ED E

The Soup Thief wrote: »

You're dead right!
Sorry about that!
Just tried two videos, one with ois selected, the other not. I couldn't really see a lot of difference /QUOTE]

Playing back on your phone you wont. Play it on your desktop and you will.

The Soup Thief

ED E wrote: »

The Soup Thief wrote: »

You're dead right!
Sorry about that!
Just tried two videos, one with ois selected, the other not. I couldn't really see a lot of difference /QUOTE]

Playing back on your phone you wont. Play it on your desktop and you will.

Just tried that. Sorry, I'm just not getting it

tedpan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzZgO1xCJ7Q

The verdict..

RunDMC

In China, they tend to use QR codes for payment a lot. You scan the QR code on the bill or till to process the payment automatically. The had it widely before contactless payment became a thing.

R

god's toy

tedpan wrote: »

The verdict..

Yep about what I expected as its the OnePlus story from a few years back round again .
.. ah the fun we had back then with having waiting lists and all... Fair play to yabadabado for my first OnePlus 1 invite code in 2014, and his and others hard work in the few years after for yet more code giving and managing the most wanted lists.. lol

Cant wait to get my F1

corkie

Pocophone F1 Teardown - I found LIQUID inside!

As someone mentioned on reddit: -

"they are calling a simple heat pipe "water cooling". Just your standard marketing bollocks."

marti9t9

Looks like I'm going to be stung with customs! Why me! Letter through the door today asking for a receipt of purchase so they can calculate it. Raging.

MOH

marti9t9 wrote: »

Looks like I'm going to be stung with customs! Why me! Letter through the door today asking for a receipt of purchase so they can calculate it. Raging.

From where?

marti9t9

MOH wrote: »

From where?

Sunsky.

tedpan

marti9t9 wrote:

Sunsky.

Oh no that'll be a big bill as it's over 150e.

I only buy from eglobal as the charges are included.

marti9t9

tedpan wrote: »

Oh no that'll be a big bill as it's over 150e.

I only buy from eglobal as the charges are included.

Anyone know how to calculate it? Revenue.ie is pretty confusing.

I read a guy used Sunsky several times with no issue once you selected PostNL as the delivery method. Once bitten. How can eglobal sell it for same price but not charge duty. How does that work?

Subcomandante Marcos

marti9t9 wrote: »

How can eglobal sell it for same price but not charge duty. How does that work?

No.idea but Gearbest have a similar thing once you pick "Irish express" or something as delivery method. They have an arrangement with An Post and customs. No idea how it works but it's all above board.

MOH

marti9t9 wrote: »

Anyone know how to calculate it? Revenue.ie is pretty confusing.

Probably 23% VAT plus whatever handling fee whoever delivers it charges (10-15 quid). Not sure if duty applies?

tedpan

marti9t9 wrote:

Anyone know how to calculate it? Revenue.ie is pretty confusing.

Yeah, it's horrible. You will have to pay VAT on the full amount.(23%) As it's over 150e you will also have to pay import duty(not sure the %) then a processing fee of around 10e so on 300e it could easily be 100euro

The Soup Thief

Subcomandante Marcos wrote: »

No idea how it works but it's all above board.

Frankly I'm not entirely convinced it is. I posted earlier in the thread about eglobal's slightly dodgy sounding arrangement, which at least had the backstop (pardon the vernacular) of a commitment to pick up the tab if you get billed. Sunsky explicitly state they don't accept responsibility for taxes

@marti9t9 Bummer! Really sorry to hear about this. You could always look into returning it, if the bill is crazy. There'd be the price of return postage, but it might be something to consider

marti9t9

MOH wrote: »

Probably 23% VAT plus whatever handling fee whoever delivers it charges (10-15 quid). Not sure if duty applies?

Sent them invoice. Email reply from them. €295@23% + 10 handling. No duty. €78 total.

marti9t9

The Soup Thief wrote: »

@marti9t9 Bummer! Really sorry to hear about this. You could always look into returning it, if the bill is crazy. There'd be the price of return postage, but it might be something to consider

I'll pay it. I knew it was a risk. I'll try console myself by thinking that if it gets released officially in the EU that it will probably still cost more than I paid.

D'Peoples Voice

marti9t9 wrote: »

I'll pay it. I knew it was a risk. I'll try console myself by thinking that if it gets released officially in the EU that it will probably still cost more than I paid.

Irish revenue commissioners are a joke.:rolleyes:
A few years ago, for my birthday, a friend sent a present from Mexico for me. Unfortunately she was preoccupied with family issues at the time, and only remembered to send my present at the last minute. To ensure it got to Irland on time, she sent it via express post.

When it arrived to my address in Ireland, i had to pay tax to the courier :mad: Knowing that there was no tax on gifts, i contacted the revenue commissioners and they confirmed that yes there is no tax on gifts, but then went on to say that while i wasn't charged tax on the gift, i was charged tax on the "cost of the express post".

So, not only did my friend pay more for express post, but the Irish revenue commissioners had me pay more as a result. Thankfully the value of the gift was greater than the combined cost of the express post she paid and the tax i paid.

god's toy

marti9t9 wrote: »

I'll pay it. I knew it was a risk. I'll try console myself by thinking that if it gets released officially in the EU that it will probably still cost more than I paid.

Read somewhere the EU price will be 400 euro so you still saved.

Used eglobal myself as they cover the bill...it's still 'processing'...

marti9t9

@D'Peoples Voice

They're a joke alright.

@God's toy

Someone I know, modified the invoice PDF down by €100, sent it on to customs and they only paid €55. Bold boy.

alec76

marti9t9 wrote: »

How can eglobal sell it for same price but not charge duty. How does that work?

I've bought over dozen phones/tablets etc from eglobal.EU
Never paid VAT or other tax duty .
I am pretty sure though , the only agreement they have, it is brown envelopes at UK customs , nothing more
. Same applies to Gearbest with Irish Express delivery.

marti9t9

alec76 wrote: »

I've bought over dozen phones/tablets etc from eglobal.EU
Never paid VAT or other tax duty .
I am pretty sure though , the only agreement they have, it is brown envelopes at UK customs , nothing more
. Same applies to Gearbest with Irish Express delivery.

That's good to know for future reference!

alec76

marti9t9 wrote: »

That's good to know for future reference!

Always add insurance if you buying from Eglobal or Gearbest ( it is only €3-9 , depending on value, it is covers lost or damaging goods in transit ) otherwise, you'll get sweat feck all if anything happens. There is always Paypal dispute of course...

The Soup Thief

marti9t9 wrote: »

That's good to know for future reference!

Of the Chinese importers I know, eglobal are the only ones who explicitly state in their t's and c's that they'll pick up the tab if there's any excise bill.
The others state that it's the buyer's responsibility

alec76

It is €285 for Poco1 and €366 for Mi8 at eGlobal.
Hard choice to make really.
€366 for MI8 Original Global version , not Chinese flashed with global ROM( ie all packaging in English , fully Complied with EU regulations , CE stated at the box and rear cover of the phone) .

The Soup Thief

alec76 wrote: »

It is €285 for Poco1 and €366 for Mi8 at eGlobal.
Hard choice to make really.
€366 for MI8 Original Global version , not Chinese flashed with global ROM( ie all packaging in English , fully Complied with EU regulations , CE stated at the box and rear cover of the phone) .

The mi8 looks really nice with that amoled screen and nfc, though you're sacrificing some battery life and SD slot - restricted to 64gb with that mi8. Also the mi8 pro will be out soon with a v fancy in screen fingerprint reader, if that's your thing (wouldn't use it much though with the ir face unlock). Slow bootloader unlock code too.
Choices choices!

alec76

I won't be worry about battery life , AMOLED screen always use less power , so despite battery capacity difference, real life experience would be almost similar.

god's toy

alec76 wrote: »

I won't be worry about battery life , AMOLED screen always use less power.

*Provided you use dark wallpaper, dark modes in phone settings and apps where possible. Otherwise you could end up using more.
Xiaomis default interface has a white background unless you skin it.