Poco X6 Pro Review: Mid-range Gaming Phone

Xiaomi’s Poco sub-brand has led the way in offering strong performance at a hugely competitive price. While the Poco F-series is all about sticking it to the flagships, the Poco X-series aims to undercut the aspiring mid-range brigade.

The Poco X6 Pro is here to lead the latest assault on the Google Pixel 7a, the Samsung Galaxy A54 and co. With a price of £369, it’s certainly a compelling value proposition, though it also looks rather similar to last year’s Poco X5 Pro at first glance.

However, with a brighter, sharper display and faster performance, it seems as if there have been considerable internal improvements. Let’s take a look at whether Xiaomi has gotten the balance right with its latest affordable barnstormer.

Design & Build

• Reduced bezel size
• Still very plastic
• Upgraded to IP54
• Fingerprint sensor now in-display

For the Poco X6 Pro, Xiaomi has subtly evolved the design language used in the Poco X5 Pro, which itself wasn’t a million miles away from the X3 Pro.

The back of the phone is this time dominated by a large slab-like camera platform that spans most of the width of the phone. This year’s model also raises all three camera lenses, as well as the flash, in identically proportioned rings, arranged in a square configuration.

My model comes in black, and once again it uses an ugly, smudgey, reflective plastic material that neither looks nor feels especially nice. After just a few minutes of handling, I found it to be covered in greasy paw prints.

The Poco sub-brand has always had a way with yellow, and once again the garish yellow vegan leather model seems to be the way to go here. With that said, this signature model is marginally thicker (8.35mm vs 8.25mm) and heavier (190g vs 186g) than the plastic model I’ve been testing here.

Other than those measurements being higher, the Poco X6 Pro has a slightly smaller footprint than last year’s Poco X5 Pro. This can be attributed to the smaller bezel around the display, which is always a good way to make your phone seem more premium. It marks a quite significant move from an 86.8% screen-to-body ratio in the X5 Pro to a 94% one.

Talking of being more premium, Xiaomi has bumped up the water resistance rating from IP53 to IP54, meaning it’s now resistant to water spray from any direction. Given that the Motorola Edge 40 Neo is offering IP68 for less money, that’s not much to shout about.

The subtle but quietly significant design improvements continue with the switch from a side-mounted fingerprint sensor to an under-display one. Again, it makes the Poco X6 Pro feel just that little bit classier than its predecessors.

Xiaomi phones often stand out from rivals with their implementation of an IR blaster, and the X6 Pro is no different. Once again, you can use the preinstalled Mi Remote app to control your Hi-Fi system or TV.

Screen & Speakers

• 6.67in AMOLED
• 120Hz refresh rate
• Sharper ‘1.5K’ resolution

Xiaomi has supplied a familiar-sounding 6.67in 120Hz AMOLED display here. However, look a little closer and there are some notable improvements.

Most notably, Xiaomi has bumped up the resolution to 2712 x 1220. The company calls it a CrystalRes display, and also refers to the resolution as ‘1.5K’ – or half way between Full HD+ and Quad HD+ (aka 2K). It certainly makes for a nice crisp picture, though the difference over good Full HD+ screens isn’t exactly night and day.

Xiaomi has also bumped up the brightness, at least in high brightness mode. Stray outside on a bright day with auto-brightness switched on, and it can get to 1300 nits rather than the X5 Pro’s 900 nits.

Those with long memories and a head for specs will realise that Xiaomi is essentially heading back to the top brightness of the X3 Pro after dropping it down with last year’s model. Still, it’s progress of a sort.

In regular usage, the Xiaomi X6 Pro will still hit around 518 nits, according to my measurements, which is about the same as the X4 Pro. It’s also extremely colour accurate – or at least, it can be once you delve into the Display settings and play around a bit.

With a zippy 2,160Hz touch sampling rate, it’s also a remarkably responsive display for competitive gamers on a budget, which really is the core demographic here.

Xiaomi has implemented dual speakers, just like last year. And once again, they’re extremely crisp and clear for such an affordable phone.

Specs & Performance

• Dimensity 8300-Ultra chip
• Up to 12GB LPDDR5X RAM
• Up to 512GB storage

As we’ve just mentioned, Xiaomi has always positioned its Poco phones as budget gaming specialists. The internal set-up of the X6 Pro certainly continues that strong heritage.

It utilises a new MediaTek Dimensity 8300-Ultra chip backed by 12GB of LPDDR5X RAM. Despite sitting a rung below MediaTek’s flagship Dimensity 9300 chip, it’s still a mighty performer.

While the global model starts from 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, the UK model (like the one I’m testing) gets 12/512GB – all for the same price as the entry-level X5 Pro. That’s outstanding value.

the phone is capable of running Genshin Impact pretty smoothly on the ‘Highest’ graphical settings and 60fps, which most sub-£400 (and many more expensive) phones would struggle to achieve

As is usually the case with these Xiaomi sub-brands, I was unable to run our usual GPU benchmark tools ahead of launch, which is profoundly irritating. All I can say is that the phone is capable of running Genshin Impact pretty smoothly on the ‘Highest’ graphical settings and 60fps, which most sub-£400 (and many more expensive) phones would struggle to achieve.

In CPU terms, the Geekbench results are in, and they’re pretty darned impressive. An average Geekbench 5 multi-core score of 4221 obliterates last year’s Poco X5 Pro 5G, as well as more recent – and expensive – mid-range phones like the Pixel 7a and the Galaxy A54. Meanwhile, the Geekbench 6 scores are similar to those I now get from the Pixel 8, which it should be noted are much higher than those we got during our review period. That’s a flagship phone that costs several hundred pounds more.

This is also a chip that can support on-device Generative AI, like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and indeed the aforementioned Dimensity 9300. If this is all coming across as distinctly flagship-esque, well, that’s exactly how it feels.

Poco X6 Pro benchmarks

Has that calculation paid off? On balance, yes, but it’s far from a home run.

Cameras

• 64Mp main
• 8Mp ultrawide
• 2Mp macro
• 16Mp selfie

With the Poco X6 Pro’s camera system, Xiaomi has mixed things up in quite an interesting way. Out goes the headline-grabbing 108Mp 1/1.52-inch main sensor of the Poco X5 Pro and the Poco X4 Pro, and in comes a smaller and less pixel-packed 1/2-inch 64Mp main sensor.

It’s ostensibly a rollback then, but Xiaomi seems to be calculating that the provision of OIS (optical image stabilisation), in addition to a more advanced processor with enhanced AI capabilities, will result in superior images.

Has that calculation paid off? On balance, yes, but it’s far from a home run.

Getting the Poco X5 Pro out and shooting side by side, there’s a pronounced difference in tone, with the Poco X6 Pro capturing a slightly more natural palette as the X5 Pro tended to pump up the blues on a clear day. I also noticed more visual artefacts with the older phone when zooming in on landscape shots.

Conversely, the Poco X6 Pro snaps were softer and suffered a little more from overexposure.

Given the lack of a dedicated telephoto, the X6 Pro once again crops in on that main sensor, but of course it doesn’t have the same number of pixels to play with as its predecessors. The results remain reasonably clear, however – at least at 2x.

Where the X6 Pro camera is notably improved is in its low light performance, with OIS working hard to keep the phone steady during the necessary extended shutter times. That’s partially offset by a smaller sensor, of course, but identical side-by-side Night mode shots highlighted superior detail on the X6 Pro, even if it’s still short of the best mid-rangers.

The ultrawide camera appears to use the same component as before, though differences in image processing and efforts to match the tone of the main sensor mean that they look quite different when placed side-by-side. Selfie shots from what appears to be the same 16Mp front camera seemed broadly similar too – that is, not too shabby for a cheaper phone.

All in all, the Poco X5 Pro offers an adequate camera system for the price, with valuable progress made in low light performance. Even so, it’s evidently not where Xiaomi’s priorities lie for the Poco line.

Battery Life & Charging

• 5000mAh battery
• 67W charging
• No wireless charging

As has become the norm with the range, the Poco X6 Pro packs in a 5000mAh battery and rapid 67W wired charging. There’s no wireless charging facility, which isn’t too surprising at less than £400.

In truth, the lack of movement on these specs isn’t an issue. Previous Poco X phones had strong stamina and nippy charging speeds, and so does the X6 Pro.

You’ll still be able to get through a full day of fairly heavy usage on a single charge, while lighter usage will get you deep into a second day

You’ll still be able to get through a full day of fairly heavy usage on a single charge, while lighter usage will get you deep into a second day.

The PCMark Work 3.0 battery test resulted in a score of 11 minutes 2 minutes which is a few minutes longer (but broadly in line with) the Samsung Galaxy A54 and the Google Pixel 7a, and several hours ahead of the Motorola Edge 40 Neo.

Charging speeds are stronger than all but the latter rival, racing from empty to 46% in 15 minutes, and to 81% in 30 minutes. You can expect a complete charge in 45 minutes – and all this with a 67W charger that comes bundled in the box which is a bonus.

Software & Apps

• Ships with Android 14
• New Xiaomi HyperOS, but very similar to MIUI
• Three OS upgrades and four years of security

Traditionally, the one common weakness you can count on across the wider Xiaomi range has been its ugly MIUI software. For this year, Xiaomi has scrapped that and brought to bear its new HyperOS.

Except, it hasn’t really. To all intents and purposes, HyperOS appears to be a rebranding exercise and understandably so given MIUI’s bad press. Practically speaking, it’s very much a continuation of the MIUI aesthetic.

Holding the Poco X6 Pro running on Android 14 and HyperOS 1.0 alongside the Poco X5 Pro running on Android 13 and MIUI 14 (which is oddly what the regular Poco X6 is on), the two are obviously cut from the same cloth.

The home screen is nigh-on identical, with the same widget, basic layout, font and app icons. The app tray looks the same, while there’s the same iOS-indebted (and rather convoluted) split notification menu.

There are some subtle layout differences with the latter, especially when it comes to the Control Centre-like screen with its shortcut toggles, but not all are for the better. I appreciated Xiaomi fitting more toggles (or indeed all of the toggles) onto this screen, but I didn’t appreciate the removal of the Settings shortcut.

You get the same suite of bespoke Xiaomi apps, a few Poco-specific apps, a folder-full of rubbish games, and an unwelcome bundle of preinstalled third-party apps. Do you want Trip.com, AliExpress, or Booking.com on your phone? They’re all here, as well as three – yes, three – web browser apps.

As before, you can customise your home screen through the Themes store, and some of those themes are even quite tasteful.

In better news, you will get three new generations of Android OS upgrades as well as four years of security patches which is decent, if not market leading.

Price & Availability

The Poco X6 Pro…