POCO X3

The Xiaomi Poco X3 NFC is a smartphone with a somewhat cryptic name and of which the presence of NFC is absolutely not the only or even the most important thing we should talk about. And 'X3' is also a somewhat unfortunate name because on the back it has 4 cameras instead of 3. But enough nagging, let's see what the POCO X3 is.

Flagship-worthy screen

Xiaomi itself uses these 3 points to describe the POCO X3; a 120Hz DotDisplay, 64MP Quad Camera and a Snapdragon 732G. In itself an excellent summary but what does that say exactly? Starting with the screen. DotDisplay is a marketing term that Xiaomi uses more often and which in itself is not that special. What is special is the high refresh rate of 120Hz. Images are refreshed 120 times per second, which ensures a much smoother image when scrolling. This makes your phone feel faster. Xiaomi applies a variable speed. For example, X3 switches to 90 or 60 Hz during other activities such as gaming, depending on how many animations are shown. That should extend battery life. Though with a capacity of 5160 mAh, it won't be needed any time soon. In most cases, that will be enough for 2 days of use.

Unnecessary versatile camera setup

As a camera system, Xiaomi has used a quadruple sensor. This is a 64 megapixel main camera of the Sony IMX682 type, a 13 MP ultra-wide-angle lens of 119°, a 2 MP depth camera and finally a 2 MP macro lens. Personally, the last one of us didn't have to. It does shoot extreme close-ups, but the lack of resolution makes them useless. We would much rather have seen a zoom lens and otherwise a drop in price. Even with a recommended retail price this POCO X3 gets nothing wrong. The camera has a portrait mode, AI filters and a Video Pro mode with smooth video zoom. Video can be shot in up to 4K but at up to 30 fps. Video is not its strongest point anyway, altho it is usually sufficient for social media.

Main POCO X3 specifications

• Bezel-less 6.67 inch screen with smooth 120Hz refresh rate
• Quad camera with sharp 64MP, wide angle, macro and depth recognition
• Big 5160 mAh battery with fast charging and USB-C charging
• 20MP selfie camera is in small punch-hole
Solid Snapdragon 732G processor with neat 6 GB of RAM memory
• Splashproof, so not completely waterproof
• Room for memory card (slot shared with SIM card)

Ideal as gaming phone

Performance is provided by the Snapdragon 732G. A fine specimen which is only 1 step below the high-end Snapdragon 8xx series. Except for a few hiccups here and there we absolutely must not complain. For this amount it is simply more than you can expect. Gaming is also certainly one of the possibilities and thanks to the presence of stereo speakers is also extra fun. Xiaomi promises improved performance with sufficient frame rates thanks to Game Turbo 3.0. For daily use, the plastic housing is splashproof, has infra-red so the X3 can be used as a remote control and comes with an anti-bacterial cover.