Capturing Dubai with the new POCO F6 phone

The POCO F6 phones are photographed on the 125th floor of the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building. Benise Balaoing, ABS-CBN News

DUBAI -- At the launch of the POCO F6 series in this city, the brand's Global Head of Product Marketing Angus Ng compared their new POCO F6 phone to the Samsung Galaxy S23 FE.

"When we do find a competitor in the spec range and the price range, our pricing is still much more aggressive, and we outshine them in many areas," he said as he flashed a slide comparing the specs of the Samsung and POCO phones.

In his presentation, Ng noted that the two phones have different processors (Exynos 2200 for Samsung and Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 for POCO F6) and battery chargers (25W wired + wireless charging for the Samsung, and 90W wired charging for the POCO).

Ng also noted that POCO had more RAM, as it offers a 12GB variant with 512 GB of storage (Samsung S23FE is only available in 8GB, but storage can either be 128GB or 256GB).

The POCO also costs P24,999, against Samsung's P39,990. 

But are the two phones really comparable with each other?

Unboxing POCO's newest phone

To find out, I compared the POCO F6 with my own Samsung Galaxy S23 FE--a phone I've been using since February.

Screen size is almost the same for both gadgets, and so is the refresh rate--120Hz. This means the phones are touch-sensitive and quickly responsive, which makes them suitable for gaming.

Both units also have on-screen fingerprint readers, and power buttons and volume toggle buttons on the right-hand side. Both can hold 2 Nanosims, although Samsung's SIM tray is at the top while POCO's is at the bottom.

They both have USB to type-C charging cables, but that of the POCO F6 is thicker. The POCO also came with a 90W wall charger, while the Samsung came with a 25W charger.

The POCO unit also came with a free SIM ejector and a black matte jelly phone case--which makes it easy to hold for gamers, and ensures no fingerprints will be left after hours of play.

A colored phone case also means it won't discolor, unlike transparent cases.

The POCO F6 comes pre-loaded with the complete Google suite, Facebook, Spotify, Netflix, and TikTok.

But it also includes apps like MiVideo, which is similar to TikTok--a vertical video sharing app that also includes "heart" and "share" functions.

It also has an app store called GetApps, which is seemingly redundant to the GooglePlay store. 

It also has a separate app for your downloads, for using as a remote to control your other Mi gadgets at home, for scanning QR codes, for gadget maintenance, for picking your phone's themes, and for connecting you to emergency services.

Its Calculator app, more than doing basic arithmetic, also has a converter function that allows you to convert currency, length, weight, area, volume, time zones, and temperatures. 

It also allows you to quickly compute for discounts when you're shopping, and interest rates when taking out loans or making investments. It also helps you compute your body mass index. 

It also came pre-loaded with 7 games--Bubble aShooter, Block Puzzle, Dust Settle, Crazy Juicer, Jewels Blast, Snake Zone.io, Word Trip, and Tile Fun--which I was able to uninstall.

It has an app called ShareMe, which helps users transfer files via BlueTooth or WiFi. The WeGO Flights and Hotels app, meanwhile, allows users 

It also has an app called POCO Community, where the brand itself and users share updates on how they use their gadgets (kind of like Facebook but exclusively for POCO stuff).

It also has a separate Compass app, which comes with a level. It is not exactly clear who are the target users of this app. POCO's tagline is "Everything you need, nothing you don't"--so maybe somebody does?

Roadtesting the POCO F6 camera

"Even though it’s not our top priority, we still want to offer a great quality camera," Ng said at the F6 series launch. 

The POCO F6 has two Sony cameras: the 50MP main camera with Sony IMX882, and an 8MP ultra wide camera with Sony IMX35.

The Samsung S23 FE, meanwhile has a 12 MP Ultra Wide Camera, a 50 MP wide angle camera, and a 8MP 3x optical zoom telephoto camera. 

When we took the two phones on a Dubai road test, it can be seen that photos taken using the Samsung phone had brighter colors and were more true-to-tone than those taken by POCO. Photos taken using the POCO in this story have a watermark on the lower left hand side. 

Take, for example, this photo of the iconic Palm Jumeirah, and the views from the top of the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building: 

The Palm Jumeirah is a man-made, palm-shaped island which is home to Dubai's top luxury resorts. Benise Balaoing, ABS-CBN News

The view from the 124th floor of the Burj Khalifa. The blue area near the bottom of the photos is the Dubai Fountain, the world's choreographed fountain system. Fountain shows start at 6 p.m. every night. Benise Balaoing, ABS-CBN News

The view 125th floor of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Benise Balaoing, ABS-CBN News

At night, oranges and yellows also seem to glow brighter against the black sky in photos taken by the Samsung phone. 

Dubai's buildings glow against the night sky in these photos taken from the balcony of a hotel room in W Palm Jumeirah. Benise Balaoing, ABS-CBN News

When it comes to indoor photography, the Samsung camera again gives a better image, although both camera phones gave great color contrast between the blues and the reds. 

Tourists take photos at a hallway depicting undersea life before heading to the viewdeck of the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai. Benise Balaoing, ABS-CBN News

But when it comes to portrait photography, POCO F6 seems to be doing a better job at focusing on its subject and bringing light to their faces.

Testing the POCO F6 as a gaming phone

POCO said its newest phone's processor, along with its WildBoost Optimization 3.0 feature, will give gamers smoother gameplay by making the phone more responsive.

The phone has a 6.67-inch screen with a 120 Hz refresh rate and Flow AMOLED DotDisplay. POCO said the phone has artificial intelligence capabilities that give more detailed and realistic game visual effects. 

The phone also has LiquidCool Technology 4.0, which prevents the gadget from heating up so much during long gaming sessions. 

The screen is also made of Corning Gorilla Glass Victus, which makes it scratch- and drop-resistant.

I don't game, so I lent the phone to my friend Paulo, who played PUBG on the phone for about an hour while we ate dinner at a Mexican restaurant. He played at the 120 FPS mode--Ng said POCO F6 is one of the first devices in the world to support the 120 FPS mode for PUBG.

"Like butter smooth talaga," he said when I asked him how gameplay went. He said the phone--both its screen and its back--did not heat up, even though he maxed both its graphics and screen refresh rate settings.

He noted, however, that his game consumed a lot of battery--it went up from 68 percent to 40 percent when he played.

It is worth noting that the POCO F6 is a beast of a phone when it comes to battery power. When it was given to me at 9:26 a.m. (Wednesday, May 22, Dubai time), it was fully charged. I used it the whole day to road test the camera, and my mobile data was on for most of the day for light mobile browsing (mostly checking Google Maps). 

It was still at 45 percent full when I returned to my hotel room for the night.

When I woke up on May 23, it was at 34 percent (I did remember to turn off my data for the night). I used it again for light browsing and taking photos for an entire day. Before boarding the plane back to Manila on May 24, it was at 11 percent. In short, it only needed charging after 2 days of taking pictures and using mobile data.

POCO F6 has a 5000 mAh battery and comes with a 90W wall charger, which the company said can recharge its battery from 2 percent to full capacity in 30 minutes.

When I charged my (understandably) drained phone as soon as I arrived in Manila, it took about 35 minutes to reach full charge. 

Overall, the POCO F6 seems to be a as Ng promised--a quality gaming phone with a good camera that produces satisfactory results for both indoor and outdoor shots. 

The POCO F6 is available in black, green, and titanium. The 8GB+256GB version sells for P21,999, while the 12GB+512GB variety costs P24,999.