POCO, an independent offshoot from Xiaomi, has just announced a new smartphone in India. Dubbed the POCO M2 Pro, the latest entry in the POCO lineup is geared towards the budget segment. The phone is priced very competitively and offers a premium design, a quad-camera setup, a sizeable battery, and a 33W fast charger.
POCO M2 Pro: Specifications
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Specification |
POCO M2 Pro |
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Dimensions and Weight |
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Display |
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SoC |
Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G:
Adreno 618 |
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RAM and Storage |
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Battery & Charging |
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Rear Camera |
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Front Camera |
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Other Features |
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Android Version |
Android 10 with MIUI 11 for POCO |
The POCO M2 Pro features a 6.67-inch full HD+ LCD with a centered hole-punch to house front camera. The display supports HDR10 content. The back and front are protected by Gorilla Glass 5 while the frame is made out of plastic, which also harbors a fingerprint scanner. Unlike the POCO X2, the display here doesn’t offer a higher screen refresh rate.
Powering the POCO M2 Pro is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G octa-core SoC, featuring 2x ARM Cortex-A76 cores clocked at 2.3GHz and 6x ARM Cortex-A55 cores running at 1.8GHz, coupled with Adreno 618 GPU, up to 6GB of LPDDR4 RAM and 128GB of UFS 2.1 storage. Coming to the cameras, the device features a quad-camera array comprised of a 48MP primary sensor, 8MP ultra-wide-angle lens, 5MP depth sensor, and 2MP macro lens. The front camera, meanwhile, is a 16MP shooter.
The POCO M2 Pro packs a 5,000 mAh battery and supports fast charging via a 33W fast charger that comes inside the box. On the software front, this phone ships with MIUI 11 for POCO based on Android 10. Other notable highlights of the POCO M2 Pro include IR blaster, a 3.5-mm audio jack, bottom-firing speaker, Bluetooth 5.0, dual VoLTE with VoWiFi support, and support for Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC).
If the POCO M2 Pro does sound familiar to you, that's because it is. All of POCO's devices have been rebrands of a Xiaomi device, and this is the same. The POCO M2 Pro is a very close relative of the global Redmi Note 9 Pro, which in turn is a close relative of the Redmi Note 9 Pro Max -- the difference coming in the form of a 48MP camera vs. the 64MP camera. To put it into perspective better, the POCO M2 Pro sits between the Indian Redmi Note 9 Pro and Indian Redmi Note 9 Pro Max, two devices that were very similar to each other to begin with. Curiously, this is the first time that POCO has launched a device in India that already exists in some form. So what does separate POCO from Xiaomi? In previous interviews and interactions, POCO General Manager Mr. C. Manmohan had accepted that POCO does share a centralized product R&D with Xiaomi. It is the other legs of the business, such as the go-to-market strategy and sales that are independent and differentiated from Xiaomi. POCO’s strength apparently lies in the community and its feedback, which is where the team can work and build upon. It remains to be seen how POCO will capitalize on its strengths with the POCO M2 Pro.
Pricing & Availability
The POCO M2 Pro will go on sale starting 14th July via Flipkart for a starting price of ₹13,999 ($187) for the 4GB + 64GB variant. The 6GB + 64GB variant will cost you ₹14,999 ($200), while the top model with 6GB + 128GB will cost ₹16,999 ($227). The device will be made available in three colors.