Poco, a sub brand of Xioami, had been teasing the launch of their first ever smartphone Poco F1 in India for a while now. The Poco team had raised quite a few eyebrows with their tall claims that the Poco F1 was the fastest device, and the launch didn’t disappoint. In fact, the Poco F1 tops those expectations with a starting price of Rs. 20,999 for the base variant.

Speaking at the launch event in New Delhi today, Alvin Tse, Head of Poco Global, said, “Poco is an independent brand and hence we get the freedom to innovate. We focus on innovation that matters.” The Poco smartphone will be a made in India product utilising Xiaomi’s existing infrastructure of six factories in India.

The first smartphone from the brand, the Poco F1 boasts of several premium features such as a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor along with ‘LiquidCool’ technology that prevents the phone from overheating. Jai Mani, product head for Poco, claimed that the cooling feature on board ‘dissipates heat 300% faster’. On the other hand, he added that the Snapdragon chipset is 60% faster than the Kirin 970 and 30% faster than Samsung’s Exynos 9810.

However, it is the value for money pricing of the Poco F1 that makes it stand out among its competitors. The base 6GB RAM and 64GB memory variant has been priced competitively at Rs. 20,999. The 6GB/128GB option is being offered at Rs. 23,999 and the top-end model, which boasts 8GB RAM and a whopping 256GB storage retails, for Rs. 28,999. Interestingly, the Poco F1 also has a special ‘armoured edition’ that comes with a kevlar finish at the rear. The top-end armoured edition has been priced at a premium of Rs. 29,999.

What’s more is that the Poco F1 comes with the 4G plus feature, which, according to the company, will offer better 4G coverage and faster Internet speeds. The Poco F1 will be one of the first devices in India to sport this feature. It also gets the infrared face unclock feature that works in less than 0.4 sec, Poco claims. The device is offered in three colours, Rosso Red, Steel Blue, Graphite Black, and there are a couple of additional accessories such as official skins and back case covers that will be available online.

Additionally, the Poco F1 features a custom version of MIUI along with an app drawer via the Poco Launcher. MIUI supports optimisation resulting in quick launching of applications, up to 28% faster in some cases, Jai Mani said. The phone will be shipped with Android 8.1, but Android 9 Pie will arrive later this year.

The first sale of this online exclusive device will begin on August 29th at 12pm via the MI online store and Flipkart. Notably, Poco has partnered with HDFC bank, which is offering a 1,000-rupee discount on all variants during the first sale. The smartphone is scheduled for launch on August 27th in Paris, Jakarta and Hong Kong.

Poco F1 Specifications

The dual-SIM Xiaomi Poco F1 sports a 6.18-inch display with curved Gorilla Glass 3 protection. In terms of optics, the Xiaomi Poco F1 features a dual camera setup. There is a primary 12-megapixel Sony IMX363 sensor with 1.4-micron pixel, dual-pixel autofocus at the back. It is the same sensor that Xiaomi uses in smartphones like the Mi 8. Additionally, there is a 5-megapixel secondary depth sensor from Samsung at the back. The front 20-megapixel camera also has HDR and AI Beautify features, with an IR light that powers the Face Unlock feature. The smartphone is powered by a 4,000mAh battery with 18W charging support and Quick Charge 3.