If you’ve been hearing about the POCO F4 GT, you might have been learning more about its gaming capabilities than anything else. It’s understandable, though. The POCO F4 GT is basically a rebranded Xiaomi Redmi K50 Gaming Edition phone, but for the market outside of China. Is mobile gaming all that this phone is ever good for?
I can simply tell you, of course not. There is more to this phone than that. And for our non-gaming readers just looking for a powerful sub-EUR 600 / PHP 30,000 phone, you might want to read this one.
If you want to see what you get with the phone, check this out:
Staying productive on the go
I’m more of a casual gamer myself, so the top-of-the-line gaming-related specs on this phone don’t appeal to me that much. But if you reframe that into thinking of this smartphone as packing in a premium chipset at a price tag that’s almost half of the other devices carrying the same processor, it seems more attractive.
The kind of race-y geometric lines on the back of this phone (POCO lent us the Knight Silver option) isn’t something I’d go for. But it is definitely less flashy than other gaming phones by POCO’s competitors. And I like that because if you want a more professional, sleek, yet subdued-looking device that you can easily game on, this might appeal to you.
One thing I don’t like about the design is that it’s kind of a smudge magnet. The moment I took it out of the box and took some photos and hands-on videos, I had to wipe it down relentlessly. Use the included jelly case for your sanity, or just live on the (smudge-filled) edge if you like.
Going back to the specs, the POCO F4 GT is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor, making this the most affordable option with this configuration. You get a maximum of 12GB of RAM and 256GB of non-expandable storage. It seems like a waste for a gaming device to not have expandable storage, though.
This configuration means I don’t have to worry about the phone slowing down or hanging while I work. Of course, it can handle simple email, research, and browsing, but also it can take video editing I do on apps like CapCut. If you want to use it as your mobile productivity machine, it passes that bar easily. Outside of games and camera use, there aren’t too many demanding tasks on a smartphone. So, I wasn’t expecting any issues with day-to-day use, and the POCO F4 GT proved me right.
LiTT Tip #1: The 120W charging isn’t available by default. You will need to enable that in the Settings. Head to Battery and tap on the Battery option. And then select the Boost charging speed option. Just enable this feature to take advantage of this ridiculously fast charging.
LiTT Tip #2: If you are like me and like turning your phone face down while working, you can still get your notifications on the POCO F4 GT. There is a notification light on the back where the camera module is located. To enable this feature, head to Settings, scroll down to Special Features, then LED Light. Just enable it from there. You can select which apps will support the feature.
Being entertained
Gaming isn’t the only way to stay entertained. I’m more into listening to music and podcasts or watching shows and films. And the POCO F4 GT is an excellent device for this. You get a big 6.67-inch flat AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and 480Hz touch sampling rate. For the refresh rate, you can go by the default option that toggles between 60Hz and 120Hz or force it to use one or the other refresh rate. It’s a pleasant, snappy experience to navigate the phone, anyway.
I like the colors on the screen. They seem pretty accurate with good viewing angles, and you get extra features like HDR10+ and support for Widevine L1, which means you can watch shows on services like Netflix up to Full HD.
POCO also opts to include a quad-speaker setup, with the pairs placed on the top and bottom of the phone (or left and right when you’re holding the phone horizontally). It can get loud, but I’ve heard louder. I like that the sound is fuller and clearer, though. I can see how enjoyable that would be when gaming. The company did not include a headphone jack, which isn’t a surprising omission. A concession POCO made is including an audio adapter with the phone.
Capturing memories
The POCO F4 GT is also a decent smartphone for capturing your favorite memories. During my testing, I’ve used this phone a lot to help with different unboxing videos and other content you might’ve seen on our social media accounts. And I’ve been plenty happy with the results. Of course, it works best when your scene is well-lit. Although sometimes, even in those circumstances, the colors come a bit weird due to some post photo processing. So, make sure to take multiple shots to get things right.
Check out the TikTok in-app test here.
You can see it struggle a bit when you’re in low light, especially if you’re trying to take hand-held night shots. You need a steady hand because it’ll require a few seconds depending on how dark your area is, or just invest in a tripod to help you out. I’m not particularly blown away by the selfie quality on this phone. They’re usable for social media, and you get good enough details. But I’m not going to be too critical, given this isn’t the strength of this phone. I still think the POCO F4 GT carries a respectable camera setup that you can use.
For specs, here’s a quick recap of what you’re getting:
- 64-megapixel main
- 8-megapixel ultra-wide
- 2-megapixel macro
- 20-megapixel selfie
Maybe because this is a powerful phone, but I haven’t had any problems with continuous recording on the POCO F4 GT. The camera app hasn’t crashed on me, or the phone heated up to an alarming degree while I recorded with it. It has been a pretty smooth experience shooting with it, which I’m pretty happy about.
You can actually use the pop-up triggers on the POCO F4 GT beyond gaming. You can actually use it as a shortcut to features like opening up the camera or starting a screen recording. Too bad that it’s missing the option of becoming the camera’s shutter. That would’ve been an excellent addition.
LiTT Tip #3: One way to conserve battery or at least help keep the phone cool is shooting with the screen off. To enable this feature, open your Camera app. Tap on the three lines/burger menu on the top right. Then tap on Settings. You will almost immediately see the Shoot with the screen off option.
What’s lit and what’s not?
What’s lit about it?
- Has a less aggressive “gamer” look
- Top-of-the-line specs at a more affordable price point
- Big display
- Quad speaker setup
- Complete accessories, including a headphone jack adapter
- Full sound coming from the speakers
- Decent camera setup for average users
- Love the extra functionality added to the pop-up triggers
What needs the extra spark?
- Definite smudge and dust magnet
- No expandable storage
- Speakers could be a bit louder
- No headphone jack for those looking for the port
- Hoping for better low-light photo quality
- Wished the pop-up triggers also worked as a camera shutter
Final thoughts
When someone asked me to describe my experience with the POCO F4 GT, I really did describe it as overkill, at least for my use case. But I can also see that appealing to other people who just want to max everything out without maxing out their budget. Yes, there are still compromises, as mentioned above. But if those aren’t deal breakers for you, this is definitely one of the best finds you’ll get in 2022 so far. And you don’t even have to be really into gaming to appreciate it.
The POCO F4 GT retails for EUR 599 or PHP 27,590 for the 8GB + 128GB variant and EUR 699 or PHP 30,990 for the 12GB + 256GB model.
Buy the POCO F4 GT from Lazada HERE. *
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