if you are there In the market for affordable Android smartphones, Xiaomi's latest mid-range Poco due is sure to catch your eye. Poco X6 (£319) and Poco X6 Pro (£369) are currently available in the UK, Europe and India, but not in the US. It provides a stacked spec sheet with few weaknesses. Both offer great displays, great battery life, and solid performance, but there are some drawbacks here.
Xiaomi offers a truly vast lineup of smartphones. Not satisfied with his low-priced Redmi sub-brand, he launched the mid-range Poco sub-brand in 2018. There is quite a bit of overlap, as many phones launched in China under the Redmi name have been tweaked and badged as Poco for the European market. The X6 and X6 Pro fall into that category. The word poco means “a little” in Spanish and Italian.
The Poco brand has established itself as a value phone. The X6 and X6 Pro sit at the lower end of the midrange and underperform many of their comparable competitors. Poco X6 is a better choice for those looking for a bargain as they have so much in common. But we'll explain the differences so you can decide if the X6 Pro is worth digging deeper into.
Pokopy in Poko
Photo: Simon Hill
At first glance, Poco X6 and X6 Pro look very similar. The X6 is a little taller, slimmer, and lighter, but the difference is paper-thin. Both have plastic frames with a volume rocker on the top right and a power button below. Only the X6 has a 3.5mm headphone port. The in-screen fingerprint sensor is responsive and there's a camera cutout at the top of the nearly bezel-less screen. Both phones have an IP54 rating, so they're okay in the rain, but not ok to be submerged in water.
Photo: Simon Hill
Flip it over and the X6 Pro is much easier to tell because its back is slightly curved and features a camera module containing four lenses of the same size (although one of them is actually a flash) . The X6 has two prominent lenses on the left side with a smaller third lens and flash. Unless you opt for a more “interesting” finish, the only design element that stands out is the camera module. The Poco X6 Pro comes in black (like my review unit), gray, or, for the brave, a striking bright yellow with a faux leather finish. Poco X6 is available in plain black or blue, or white with a marble effect.
