Poco X4 GT 5G

One minute review

The Poco X4 GT is a budget gaming smartphone that ticks many boxes. It sports a flat 6.6-inch 1,080 x 2,460 resolution IPS panel with a 144Hz refresh rate suited for high-end gaming. This experience is complimented by a 5nm MediaTek Dimensity 8100 chip clocked at 2.85GHz alongside either 128GB or 256GB of storage and 8GB of RAM. On paper, this combination is good but in practice, the smartphone is not always smooth and snappy. It tends to struggle to keep up with the full 144Hz refresh rate of the panel when multitasking making for frame drops here and there alongside intermittent memory management flaws perhaps due to MIUI 13 running on top of Android 12. However, when it comes to core gaming and thermal management, the Poco X4 GT is sound.

A big sacrifice on the Poco X4 GT is its camera. The triple-camera setup barely inspires you to take photos because of its lower-than-average colour reproduction capabilities and quality. But oddly, it tends to do a decent job with low-light photos even with the ultra-wide-angle camera, if you can get past the inherent quality drop. What is undoubtedly the best feature of the smartphone is its battery life. The 4,500mAh cell will give you worry-free performance lasting up to 2 days with intense usage on 5G, which can spoil you. Moreover, the 67W charging brick included with the device tops up the smartphone to full in about 50 minutes.

If you are in the market for a budget gaming smartphone that is tailor-made with all the right specifications, the Poco X4 GT should be your choice. It offers a good design, future-proofing thanks to 5G and an extremely competitive experience at its Dh1,249 price tag.

The Poco X4 GT is meant to be a budget smartphone with a twist. It may not have all the bells and whistles of a smartphone at its Dh1,249 price point however it does exceedingly well in areas pertaining to gaming. For instance, its 144Hz refresh rate display or incredible battery backup are factors that could influence potential gaming enthusiasts on a budget to buy this device. But does it offer the entire package?

Design

From a looks perspective, the Poco F4 5G is attractive. It features a nice back however it is not the best when it comes to build quality despite the hefty 200g and 8.9mm build. The front has Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection however both the back and frame of the smartphone are made of plastic. Thus, the in-hand feel of the device is not great. We noticed as well that the side-mounted fingerprint scanner which also doubles as the power button feels extremely loose and cheap, which is not good for longevity. However, the actual scanner’s functionality is sound with fast and accurate unlocking.

Otherwise, the Poco X4 GT supports dual-SIM and houses a 3.5mm headphone jack for audio consumption. The latter is especially useful for gaming enthusiasts who tend to use wired headphones. Another staple of any budget Poco device is the IR blaster, which also finds its way onto the smartphone. But unfortunately, there is no provision for any IP rating on the smartphone, unlike the Poco F4 5G.

• Design: 3.5/5

Display

On the front, the Poco X4 GT sports a flat 6.6-inch 1,080 x 2,460 resolution IPS panel with a whopping 144Hz refresh rate. Aside from its supper snappy performance, you also get Dolby Vision and HDR10 support which complements multimedia consumption. However, the colours on the panel are not as vibrant as a typical AMOLED display. Moreover, you will often notice colour shifting when you view the panel at an angle as well as lower general brightness. Because the display can only go up to 650 nits, outdoor usability is difficult which is even more pronounced under Dubai’s current sunny weather. 

Indoors though, you can take full advantage of the buttery smooth display. Some may say that 120Hz is more than enough for smooth performance however the extra smoothness the 144Hz panel provides really makes a difference. For scrolling through pages or playing games involving split-second responses, you will appreciate this higher refresh rate. But sometimes, we felt like the onboard processor was being a bit of a bottleneck in terms of general performance. This is because every so often, we had slight pauses in animations and transitions which seemed odd, especially at such a high refresh rate.

• Display 3/5

Specifications and performance

Inside, the Poco X4 GT packs a 5nm MediaTek Dimensity 8100 chip clocked at 2.85GHz alongside either 128GB or 256GB of storage and 8GB of RAM. On paper, this configuration is good and in practicality, most of your multitasking is manageable. For instance, you can easily switch between multiple applications or even have floating windows like Google Maps run fine on the smartphone. However, performance is not always smooth. Given the Poco X4 GT tries to deliver the 144Hz refresh rate, the experience stutters at times. Moreover, 8GB of RAM seems large on paper but in practice, memory management could be better.

We think the latter could also be due to Poco’s MIUI 13 software. While adequately responsive, it is not a clean representation of Android 12. For those who are already used to it, it will not be much of a burden. However, for new adopters, getting past the bloatware and pre-installed applications will be a challenge. There are other nuances in the software like forcing users to read an on-screen message for a set number of seconds before allowing them to agree to it, a rather confusing dialer experience and a considerable lack of Material UI.

But all of these, in our opinion, do not take away from the impressive gaming package the smartphone offers. Playing games like Apex Legends or Call of Duty: Mobile, we did not find the Poco X4 GT to be limiting in any aspect. In fact, the higher refresh rate display felt extremely responsive in such cases. An average gaming session lasted anywhere between 20-30 minutes and during that time, the smartphone also did not show any signs of overheating which is a big positive. 

• Specifications and performance: 3.5/5

Camera

One area that is toned back on the Poco X4 GT is its camera. You find a triple setup with a 64MP primary, 8MP ultra-wide and a 2MP depth sensor. We never found ourselves reaching out for the camera on the smartphone because the images it produces are a hit or miss. Sometimes, it manages to capture a scene well but during most other times, it tends to oversaturate pictures. This means rarely will you find an image from the smartphone that depicts the actual scene.
However, this trait is a boon for the Poco X4 GT when it comes to night photos. Here, the camera’s tendency to do exactly that results in sharper looking and brighter night images. The night mode option is also plenty fast and assisted by ambient light, you can capture some good images. Of course, if you were to use the ultra-wide-angle lens, you see a drop in quality and the introduction of noise in the picture.

Given the lack of optical image stabilization (OIS), we do not recommend filming too much video with the device especially when on the move. However, the 20MP selfie camera seems to produce some good results, especially in good lighting conditions.

Image 1 of 8

• Camera: 2.5/5

Battery

Equipped with a 4,500mAh battery, Poco X4 GT has incredible battery life. Even when pushing the smartphone to its limits, the battery refused to give up, lasting easily for up to two days of heavy use. This translates to approximately 10-12 hours of screen time with 5G and WiFi enabled. 

Typically, when gaming, a smartphone tends to draw its most power from its battery. However, even after long sessions, the Poco X4 GT managed to maintain a good level of battery backup. This is significant because this means you will not have to carry a portable power bank if you intend to game on the move

On the rare chance that the battery on the smartphone runs out, it can easily be topped up thanks to the included 67W charging brick. This gives you a full top up from 0-100 per-cent in just 50 minutes, which is extremely impressive for a budget smartphone.

• Battery: 4/5

Should you buy the Poco X4 GT?

Buy it if...

Don’t buy it if…