POCO F4 launch: Don't expect a power boost over POCO F3 (Update: Date announced)

Update, June 16, 2022 (12:09 PM ET): POCO has confirmed the launch date of the upcoming POCO F4. You’ll be able to watch a livestream of the event on June 23 at 5:30 PM Indian time (8:00 AM ET).

Original article, June 9, 2022 (05:32 AM ET): The POCO F3 launched in global markets last year, coming as a rebranded version of the China-only Redmi K50. Now, the company has revealed that a successor is on the way soon, but you might want to temper performance expectations.

POCO India tweeted yesterday that the POCO F4 will debut globally soon, albeit without giving us a launch window or specific markets. India seems like a safe bet given that the POCO India account posted about it, but we’re also expecting a European launch given that last year’s device was available there.

Furthermore, the Xiaomi-affiliated brand confirmed today that the POCO F4 will arrive with the Snapdragon 870 5G SoC, adding that it was the “most optimized” processor in the Snapdragon 800 series.

The Snapdragon 870 is a relatively beefy yet power-efficient processor, but it’s worth noting that this is the same chipset we saw in the POCO F3. So those hoping for a major horsepower boost will likely be disappointed.

We don’t know much else about the smartphone, but history tells us that we could be looking at a rebranded Redmi phone. We’re guessing that the POCO F4 will be based on the China-only Redmi K40s, which means you should expect a 120Hz OLED panel, a 4,500mAh battery, 67W charging, and a 48MP+8MP+2MP rear camera system (with OIS on the main camera).

There’s no word on pricing either, but we hope to see an aggressive approach from the brand if this isn’t a major improvement over last year’s phone. For what it’s worth, the POCO F3 had a €349 (~$374) price tag in Europe.