back to article Putting the B's in bargain basement, Xiaomi staggers into sunlight clutching Poco X3

Formaldehyde-free matress, knicker and mobile phone maker Xiaomi has emerged from the bargian basement clutching its latest blower - the Poco X3 (NFC). Over the past few years, the definition of a “flagship phone” has shifted to include devices retailing at circa £500, from their usual dizzying four-figure heights. Now we’ve …

  1. Tom Chiverton 1

    What O/S is this ? Will it take Lineage ? Any benchmarks ?

    You probably want to do a full hands on review, this could be on a lot of people's Xmas lists...

    1. Youngone Silver badge

      I wondered the same. I suspect Lineage won't be available for a while, if ever. It depends on Huawei's bootloader policy I suppose.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Did you RTFA?! It's Xiaomi, not Huawei. For heaven's sake.

        1. GiantKiwi

          Not that it matters, because LineageOS takes an absolute age to produce anything for any chinese brand at the moment, as they're trying to dodge use of libraries owned by US companies, which would fall foul of US foreign policy - regardless of whether it's considered as an AOSP or not.

    2. Thomas Kenyon

      It's a Xaiomi, so the OS will be MIUI, basically a near vanilla recent Android build with extremely regular updates.

      1. lybad

        It might be based on MIUI - but Poco is a split off company from Xiaomi, and has always used it's own launcher. Should be available on the Play store if you look for it.

      2. Chz

        As the owner of a Redmi Note 9 Pro, there is nothing vanilla about MIUI. It's certainly a step back from what I was used to with Huawei, as well. It's the most aggravating skin I've used in a while. But it's tolerable. Just.

        The launch pricing seems odd - they're undercutting their own Redmi Note 9 Pro (which was the value leader up 'til now), with better specs. Maybe phasing out the Redmi name for mid-range devices in favour of Poco?

        1. lybad

          MIUI is like every skin - personal preference. I use EMUI and MIUI every day (one tablet, one phone) and can't say I care wither way. But I probably prefer MIUI. Xiaomi tend not to be as aggressive in terms of forcing their own skin on the device owner.

          As I mentioned, Poco is now a separate company from the main Xiaomi line, so they are competing now - and as for the launcher, the Poco launcher is a different beast from the main MIUI one.

          https://9to5google.com/2020/01/17/poco-splits-from-xiaomi-to-become-completely-independent-brand/

    3. bengoey49

      The OS is MIUI. I own the original Pocophone F1 which I use in Asia with local Sim when I am abroad ( in the UK connected to wifi only for emails, WhatsApp etc ). For the price it has been a good phone, still fast with no problems and battery life at 94% after approx two years of light use. It is on MIUI 11.0.9 , security patch 01/06/2020. The drawbacks are :

      1. Bloatwares that you cannot uninstall and some you cannot force stop. Recently I keep getting notifications from the Xiaomi music App. I have turned off the notification from the app in the setting but still getting it everyday.

      2. Limited LTE Bands , it is ok for EU and some Asian countries but not for the US. I noted even the cheapest iPhones and the £349 Google Pixel 4a ( to be launched in the UK soon) have far more LTE Bands.

      I will not buy another Xiaomi phones because of the above if I were to buy an Android phone.

  2. matjaggard

    Are you sure?

    I read £199 too but when I clicked through on AliExpress it was over £700?

    1. Major N

      Re: Are you sure?

      yep. check the official store

      1. This post has been deleted by its author

  3. big_D Silver badge

    Pocco in German...

    means cheap furniture that falls apart when you sneeze...

    I wonder if we'll see an exclusive with the Poco being sold in Pocco stores? Advertising with Oliver Pocher?

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It’s extremely rare to see a high 120Hz refresh rate on a sub-£200 phone.

    so I wouldn't be surprised it this spec was there "in error". Until independently verified.

  5. Ken 16 Silver badge

    Poco mas

    You had me until I saw the screen size. I've got a Mi Play now and my wife has a Mi 9 SE. I don't need a phone bigger than my pocket.

  6. Dave 126

    Formaldehyde-free mattresses - or 'mattresses' as we call them in countries with more robust consumer protection regulation. Still, even some foam mattresses sold in the UK advise buyers to unroll a mattress and leave it to air in a spare room for a few days before sleeping on it.

    Xiaomi's reference boast of being formaldehyde-free is likely just an effort to differentiate themselves from more unscrupulous mattress vendors in their home territory.

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