POCO M3: Big, Bold and Budget-Friendly

POSITIVES

✓ Budget friendly

Can't beat the price

✓ Aesthetically pleasing

Looks and feels sporty

✓ Impressive battery

A whopping 6,000 mAh battery

NEGATIVES

✘ Disappointing cameras

Good on paper, bad in person

✘ Some lag

Occasionally feels slow

✘ Comes with bloatware

A good amount of pre-installed software

Retail Price: $127

Buy on AliExpress

DISCLAIMER: POCO SENT US A REVIEW UNIT OF THE M3 BUT ALL THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ARE OUR OWN

Product Specs +

• 6.53 inch 1080 x 2340p
• 395ppi
• IPS LCD display
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 662
• 4GB of RAM
• 64/128 GB of storage
• 6,000 mAH battery
• MIUI 12 on top of Android 10

Camera Specs +

Rear Cameras

• 48 MP f/1.8 wide
• 2 MP f/2.4 macro
• 2 MP f/2.4 depth

Selfie Cameras

• 8 MP f/2.1 wide

Video

• Shoots 1080p at up to 30 fps

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This is the Poco M3. It’s Poco’s newest entry level budget phone and it sells for less than $200 USD. I’ve been using the M3 for close to a month now and there’s so many things to talk about with this budget-friendly device. Let’s get started.

Build Quality

When Poco sent us the phone to review, I was immediately very impressed with the overall look and feel of the M3. For about $170, the phone feels much more solid than the price would suggest. This textured back in a yellow colorway was a dramatic eye catcher, especially when paired with the stark black window that houses 3 camera lenses and a giant POCO logo. Together, the look of the M3 feels sporty and has a comfortable weight to it. On the right hand side is a soft-click volume rocker with a power button that also functions as a side-mounted fingerprint sensor. On the top of the device is a 3.5 mm headphone jack while the left hand side houses a dual sim card and microSD card tray. The M3 charges using a USB-C port and there’s also dual speakers that are incredibly loud.

When in your hands, the M3 is slightly awkward to hold in part due to its larger 6.53” display. However, thanks to its thinner body shape and textured back material allowing for firm gripping, maneuvering around on this phone is an easy task. Additionally, not only is there a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, Poco has included a teardrop front notch facial recognition sensor. Not many phone makers offer both a fingerprint sensor and facial recognition in the budget space and in this case, both features have worked very reliably for me.

I’m just as impressed with the FHD+ IPS LCD display that Poco was able to include on the M3. With a display resolution of 2340 x 1080p and a 19.5:9 aspect ratio, one of my favorite parts of this phone is consuming media on it. It’s amazing how many features Poco has been able to add to their spec sheet while creating the M3. The combination of size, display, and sound quality allows for a very comfortable media consumption experience. I’ve been able to watch Netflix for hours on the M3 and had no issues whatsoever.

Under the Hood

Despite a solid viewing experience, there are a number of different areas Poco can still improve on especially when it comes to the overall performance. The M3 uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 662 with 4 GB of RAM and has a 60 Hz refresh rate. This particular version has 128GB of storage, but there is a cheaper 64GB option as well that retails for approximately $140 USD. It runs on MIUI12 on top of Android 10. As I mentioned in my unboxing, there’s quite a good amount of bloatware loaded onto this phone with various games and apps including AliExpress and LinkedIn. 

If you’re considering the M3 and you’re hoping to be able to play intensive games on it or you’re expecting a very snappy experience, you may want to ease down your expectations. I don’t think the performance of the device is bad. If you’re buying this phone for a parent or grandparent who checks email, casually shops online and checks social media, this phone is a great option for that. In my experience, there was some discernible lag that made switching between apps feel slow at times. It’s definitely not a deal breaker. I even tried playing Asphalt 8 on here and although it’s not the clearest in terms of graphical experience, nor is it the smoothest gameplay, the M3 is fine for the casual gamer.

I’m also really curious to see what improvements are made to MIUI in the future. There’s a lot of customization options users can make and I can see why a lot of fans enjoy it. There have also been big steps made towards making it a cleaner experience. However, I still think there are many ways to improve the skin and as someone who has become used to using stock Android and near stock Android experiences like OxygenOS, I feel like parts of the proprietary MIUI functions like the App cleaner can be removed from delivery. If people want that option, they can always download it for themselves on the app store.

Battery

By far, the best part of the Poco M3 is the battery life. A whopping 6,000 mAh battery made this nearly impossible for me to kill even after forgetting to charge my phone for a night. I would watch Netflix for three hours, browse social media for another two hours, and use the phone throughout the day and still have plenty of battery life to get me deep into the night. The M3 definitely wins the best battery award of the phones I’ve used so far.

Camera

Finally, let’s talk about the camera. On paper, the M3 has an impressive camera spec sheet. There’s three cameras, a main 48 MP and two other 2 MP sensors for depth and macro. There’s also an 8 MP selfie camera. This camera has to be the most disappointing part of the M3 for me and where this budget price tag truly shows. First, loading up the camera takes quite a while for some reason. There were many instances in which I wanted to take a quick photo of my dogs and because the camera took so long to load up, I missed my shot. On top of that, unless the lighting was just ideal, indoor photos looked overly processed and too saturated. Videos also felt the same way and colors would come out flat while overexposed. As much as I’d want to recommend older people or budget enthusiasts this phone for regular use, the sub-average camera makes it hard for me to say this aspect of the device is great for day to day use.

Overall Thoughts

Honestly, if we took everything but the camera into consideration. The M3 is truly a solid device. For less than $200, there’s so many great features that make this phone worth it and incredibly priced. The battery life alone is an impressive feat in itself and when combined with a good display and solid speakers, it’s fantastic for consuming media on. I really hope Poco continues to improve on features like the camera so that we can see even more great things coming out from this newly independent brand.

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