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Poco X4 GT Review

Poco X4 GT Review
Reviews
04 March 2023
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    Poco X4 GT is probably one of the most geeky smartphones Xiaomi has created in recent times. At a low price, the device has several features like a 144 Hz display and a compelling processor, which users who are interested in this will surely appreciate. But there were no compromises. And certain of them ordinary users can at least not understand. We deal with all the pros and cons.

    Full plastic housing

    Poco X4 GT is a global version of some of the company's smartphones sold in other countries under different names (for example, Redmi K50i). But outwardly they do not differ: our test device is completely plastic, with a matte back surface. In silver, fingerprints on it remain almost invisible. Poco X4 gtDesign:

    • The frames around the display by today's standards (especially the lower one – there is no question of symmetry) are a bit thick. A selfie camera in the shape of the letter is embedded in the panel. An infrared port for controlling equipment and a 3.5 mm jack for wired headphones are in place. The only controversial point from the geeky device's perspective is the inability to expand the storage with microSD cards.
    • In short, everything is standard. They probably went for the total use of plastic to reduce the cost of the device. And also for differentiating it from formally cooler models like the Poco F4.
    • The fingerprint scanner is located in the usual place – on the power button on the side. Works smartly, one finger can be registered in the system several times to improve accuracy.
    • The X4 GT has numerous multimedia speaker grilles, one at the bottom and one at the top. The latter mainly produces high-frequency sounds and plays a little quieter. It turns out a “one and a half” sound, it falls short of a full-fledged stereo effect. But I would rather not find fault, such a setup is enough not to miss a call and watch a video on a social network.
    • And one more thing: there is a slot for a conversational speaker in the device. From it, as expected, the voices of the interlocutors come. But it is not entirely clear whether the earpiece is combined with the top (multimedia) speaker – or is it an independent element. When talking, it feels like the sound is coming, including from the upper grille. However, the effect when everyone around hears your conversation, yet no.

    Decent autonomy

    It's hard to blame the X4 GT for poor battery life. You can count on 6-6.5 hours of screen operation (depending on usage scenarios). For a day without recharging, this will obviously be enough. Example: having charged the device to 100%, I downloaded and installed the current firmware version (MIUI 13.0.5) and ran the Antutu and CPU Throttling Test synthetic benchmarks (twice).

    The charge has dropped to 80%. Given the voracity of such cases (tests are energy-consuming), the result is normal. What about recharging speed? The 5080 mAh battery supports a maximum of 67-watt power adapters. This is included in the kit. It takes about 45–50 minutes to replenish (from 0 to 100%). Not a record, but not a failure either. Moreover, in half an hour, the battery will have time to charge by 75%.

    Screen

    One of the most geeky elements of the whole phone. After all, the 6.5-inch panel supports a refresh rate of 144 Hz. This frequency is usually used in gaming monitors and exceeds what is usually found in today's smartphones (up to 120 Hz). Poco X4 GT

    • Nuances. True, there are several nuances. First: by default, the device has an automatic frequency setting mode enabled. And in this mode, the device simply does not demonstrate more than 120 Hz – both in the shell and in applications. The lower threshold is at the level of 50 Hz. True, the frequency drops to it in rare cases, more often adhering to 60 Hz (until the user starts scrolling desktops or otherwise interacting with the screen).
    • Automatic adjustment. The second nuance: you can set the frequency yourself, you can choose from 60, 90 and 144 Hz options. This is the only way to enable 144Hz at the system level. But some programs (at least most games) will still run at 60 Hz. And those, that support increased frequency (for example, Sky Force: Reloaded) are locked at 120 Hz. That is, 144 Hz can be seen when flipping through desktops and lists (when you scroll through feeds with updates). And subjectively, the difference from 120 Hz in smoothness is hardly noticeable. The transition from 90 to 120 Hz felt stronger.
    • Animations. But it’s worth paying tribute to the Poco X4 GT: both in automatic and in manual modes in places where the increased frequency is felt the most (the same messenger and social media feeds), there are no problems with jerks or twitches of the picture. The animations are smooth – for this we should say thanks to a fairly productive SoC (more on that later).
    • IPS. From the controversial and unusual for the fall of 2022 is the use of an IPS matrix instead of OLED. By itself, it is not a top level, when tilted, the black color turns into a grayish one, and the overall backlight is more noticeable. In addition, more than 600 nits of maximum brightness, you cannot count. Under direct rays (no matter of natural or artificial origin) the panel begins to “blind”.
    • Color rendition. There are no more questions about color rendition. It is clear that it does not stand up to comparison with OLED matrices in contrast, but I will not risk calling the screen dull (and it also has no problems with PWM). And yet, for the average user, For the past few years, having used smartphones with OLED panels (which the manufacturers themselves have taught us to do), returning to IPS may seem like a downgrade.

    Lucky Iron

    Poco X4 GT excels in this aspect. However, this is a merit not so much of Xiaomi engineers, but of representatives of MediaTek – the manufacturer of the Dimensity 8100 chip (technological process – 5 nanometers), on which the smartphone is based. Together with 8 GB of RAM, the device shows, if not flagship, then close to its performance.

    Poco X4 GT  Performance:

    • Antutu. In the Antutu test (v9), the result of the smartphone exceeds 750 thousand points (flagships costing a thousand dollars or more beat out about 900-950 thousand). Focusing solely on the benchmark numbers is not entirely true, but in life the device also shows its best side: I did not notice any roughness (like twitching animation when calling the list of running programs or in the camera application). And in general, the device is stable.
    • AAA. In short, in AAA – games (especially if they are locked to 60 frames), the performance degradation remains unnoticeable longer compared to smartphones that sell even more expensively. In CoD Mobile, at high graphical parameters, there was no regression in about half an hour. In Genshin Impact (according to tests on the network), the phone heats up and accordingly drops the screen brightness and frames faster. But still: the experience in this project is at least as good as in comparison with top-end devices.

    Camera

    The main X4 GT photomodules consists of three sensors: 64 MP (f/1.9), 8 MP (wide-angle, f/2.2, 120 degrees) and 2 MP (macro). Poco X4 GT In general, in terms of the smartphone camera, everything is quite familiar: you can record video in resolution up to 4K (at 30 fps, without switching from one module to another during one recording), there is an automatic HDR- mode when photographing, AI works properly. By default, frames are taken in reduced resolution. Is the image quality outstanding for a smartphone in this class? Probably not. Will the majority of potential buyers be satisfied with the photos? I'll assume yes. In the daytime, when there is enough light, the frames are clear and contrasting. Perhaps even too much. But HDR works as it should. Detailing, as for me, is also enough. Evening shots with the night mode (automatic) turned on do not differ in special elaboration of details, often the background goes into “soap”. The overall color balance is acceptable.

    Summary

    Its main advantage is good performance and, more importantly, stability. For this, it is worth saying thanks to the MediaTek chip, which lowers the frequencies (that is, throttling) not so aggressively, but at short distances (with a conditional 15-minute gaming session) remains within the normal range. Heating is, but not critical. With the work of software (OS, shell), I also did not notice any special problems. Autonomy, albeit not a record, but normal. A day on a single charge (up to 6-6.5 hours of screen) Poco X4 GT draws.

    In general, the device feels closer to the flagship segment, rather than the mid-budget segment. A 144Hz screen is overkill in my opinion. In most use cases, above 120Hz is hard to get. But even this value is sufficient. The use of an IPS matrix is ​​at least debatable. It is clear that such a step was most likely taken to reduce the cost of the phone, but an OLED panel would be preferable. Whom – this can upset an all-plastic case (in a device costing about $500 at the exchange rate).
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