Poco F3 GT Review

Poco F1 is the first smartphone in India to have the Poco brand. It offers excellent value for money and is an easy choice for those looking specifically for performance, especially gaming. Although Poco has become an independent company and has launched a range of smartphones since then, there is no real successor to Poco F1.

The company has launched the Poco F3 GT in India as the next model in the F series and is also focusing on the performance of this smartphone. Isn’t the Poco F3GT the new go-to smartphone for gaming on a budget? Or are you looking for alternatives? I tested the Poco F3 GT to find out.

Poco F3 GT design

The Poco F3 GT has a large 6.67-inch display with thin bezels on the sides. It has a metal frame that gives it a premium look and feel. The four corners are flattened and the upper and lower sections of the frame are designed to make it convenient to place the F3 GT in landscape mode. To the right, there are two sliders in the frame, which are pushed inwards to engage the two “maglev” trigger buttons. These can be used for gaming and they offer good click feedback. Poco also placed the power button on the right. It is easy to reach and has a fingerprint scanner, which makes it easy to unlock the smartphone. On the left are the volume buttons and the third microphone.

At the top of the phone is the grille for the second speaker, as well as the secondary microphone and IR emitter, which is a common sight on Xiaomi smartphones. At the bottom of the frame is a SIM tray with a USB Type-C port, a bottom-firing speaker, a primary microphone and two nano-SIM slots.

You get Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection on the front and back, which should withstand daily use. The Poco F3GT has a triple camera setup on the back, followed by a lightning bolt-shaped LED flash. This camera module also has RGB lighting and is slightly protruding. It has a metal trim around it that helps prevent lenses from scratching. Poco delivers the case in the box.

The Poco F3 GT weighs 205g, which makes it slightly lighter. It is IP53 rated which means it is splash resistant.

Poco F3 GT specifications

The Poco F3 GT has powerful hardware. It is powered by MediaTek Dimension 1200 SoC and is available in 6GB and 8GB RAM options, both with 128GB storage, 8GB RAM and 256GB storage option. For this review I have a mid-spec variant with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. The large 6.67-inch AMOLED display has full HD + resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. HDR10 + is supported and the panel has a touch sampling rate of 240Hz, which increases to 480Hz when game mode is enabled.

In addition to 5G, there is support for 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth 5.1 and dual band Wi-Fi. It also works with five satellite navigation systems. The Poco F3 GT packs a massive 5,065mAh battery and comes with a 67W fast charger in the box. The charger is larger than normal and has a bright yellow cable with an L-shaped Type-C connector. This makes it easy to play games or watch content while the phone is charging.

In terms of software, the Poco F3 GT runs MUI 12.5 on Android 11. My unit has a June Android security patch but got an update to the July patch during the review period. The Poco F3 GT comes with many pre-installed apps such as Amazon, Facebook, GetApps, LinkedIn, Netflix, Prime Video and some Google apps. I found GetApps and themes to be a bit spammy by pushing notifications regularly. Other than this annoyance I have no issues with the UI and it is easy to use.

Poco F3 GT performance

Dimensity 1200 SoC can handle anything you throw. I can load multi task and huge apps on this smartphone without any problems. The 8GB RAM unit I had during the review period showed no slowdowns. High 120Hz refresh rate makes scrolling through menus and lists in the app much smoother. There is also DC dimming, but it only works when the display refresh rate is set to 60Hz.

Poco’s side-mounted fingerprint scanner is fast and requires only a single tap to unlock the device. Facial recognition is also quick on the Poco F3 GT. The large AMOLED display has good viewing angles and is as bright as it looks outside. The stereo speakers on the device enhance the video viewing experience.

Poco’s RGB lighting around the phone module starts when the phone is charging and game mode is enabled. It also pulses to show pending notifications and incoming calls. I put this phone through the benchmarks and it did well. On AnTuTu, the F3 GT scored 6,11,051 points. In the single-core and multi-core tests of the Geekbench 5, it scored 855 and 2,709 points, respectively.

The Poco F3 GT also maintained the GFXBench’s car chase and T-Rex benchmarks at 38fps and 117fps, respectively. These scores are higher than the same price OnePlus Nord 2 (Review) I recently tested.

When it comes to gaming, I played Battlefield Mobile India (BGMI) on the Poco F3 GT and it defaults to HD graphics preset and high frame rate. The game can be played without delay or stuttering in these settings. The physical trigger buttons of the Poco F3 GT make gaming more attractive, as well as the stereo speakers. I played the game for 20 minutes and noticed a 3 percent battery drop. The device also warms up a little to the touch.

The battery life on the Poco F3 GT is very good and stays on my phone for a day and a half without plugging in the phone. In our HD video loop test, the Poco F3 GT was able to work for 17 hours and 36 minutes. When it ran out of juice, the supplied 67W fast charger could charge up to 72 percent in 30 minutes and took 47 minutes to fully charge.

Poco F3 GT cameras

The Poco F3GT has a triple camera setup on the back, a 64-megapixel primary camera, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera and a 2-megapixel macro camera. It has a 16 megapixel shooter for selfies.

The camera app is very straightforward and easy to use. It has a quick toggle for AI scene detection and HDR. It is very easy to switch between different shooting modes and it also allows you to activate the filters before taking a shot.

Daytime shots have good detail, but the F3 GT sharpens them, making them look artificial. The dynamic range is acceptable but not great. With an ultra-wide angle camera you can capture a much wider field of view but the image quality is not as good as with the primary camera. The output is not as crisp compared to the primary camera, it is best to use it only when needed.

The close-up shots taken with the Poco F3 GT have good detail and the phone applied a smooth depth effect. Similarly for portraits, edge detection is great and separates the phone background properly. It also allowed me to set the background blur level before taking the shot.

The macro camera on the Poco F3 GT allows you to stay close to a subject but it is possible to block light with a smartphone if you are too close. Macro shots have good detail and even small text is visible on the coin, but the output is limited to 2 megapixels.

Low light camera performance is definitely average. AI detects low light and sets up the camera accordingly. This increased the brightness in the image, making the artificial reflections look weird. Photos taken with Night Mode look more natural.

Selfies taken with the Poco F3GT are crisp despite being a bit sharp. Selfie portraits have good edge detection and can detect faces even when wearing smartphone masks.

Video recording for the primary camera is topped at 4K 30fps. Footage shot during the day is stabilized at 4K as well as 1080p. Footage shot in low light is flashy in output.

Poco F3 GT Price in India

Poco F3 GT starts at Rs. 26,999 for the base variant with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. The Poco also comes with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage option for Rs. 28,999, 8GB RAM, 256GB storage variant priced at Rs. 30,999.

Verdict

If you are looking to play games on your smartphone, the Poco F3 GT is a good companion. It has an AMOLED display with physical trigger buttons, stereo speakers and a 120Hz refresh rate. On the other hand, if you want an all-rounder in this price segment, check out the OnePlus Nord 2.