Poco F5 series launched: Flagship power, premium features for under $500

Poco’s F series generally offers plenty of bang for your buck, bringing great performance, smooth OLED screens, and more. Either way, they’re among the most well-rounded mid-range phones you can buy.

Now, after a few weeks of teasing, the Xiaomi-affiliated brand has finally launched the Poco F5 and F5 Pro. And those looking for power on a budget should add these phones to their watchlist.

Poco F5: Flagship power

The Poco F5 is effectively a rebranded version of the China-only Redmi Note 12 Turbo, which was the first phone with a Snapdragon 7 Plus Gen 2 processor. Needless to say, this is the first phone in global markets to offer this chipset.

Our own benchmarks with a reference device show that the Snapdragon 7 Plus Gen 2 can beat some Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 series phones when it comes to sustained performance, while CPU performance is in the same ballpark too. Just don’t expect peak GPU performance on par with last year’s flagship phones.

Other core specs worth knowing include a 6.67-inch 120Hz OLED screen (FHD+, Gorilla Glass 5), a 5,000mAh battery, and 67W wired charging via a bundled charger.

Don’t expect a flagship-level camera system, though. The phone packs a 64MP main camera with optical image stabilization (OIS), an 8MP ultrawide lens, and a 2MP macro camera. Otherwise, a 16MP selfie camera is available up-front.

Poco F5 Pro: Two firsts for Poco

The Poco F5 Pro is effectively a rebranded version of the China-only Redmi K60, albeit with one major change. That is, the K60’s 5,500mAh battery makes way for a still large 5,160mAh battery.

In any event, the Poco F5 Pro still retains the original phone’s Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor. This should beat the vanilla model when it comes to classic GPU benchmarks, while Poco adds that it uses “LiquidCool 2.0” tech to keep temperatures under control.

The Poco F5 Pro also brings a QHD+ screen (OLED, 120Hz) and wireless charging (30W) for the first time in Poco’s history. These features are a rarity on upper mid-range phones and on some flagship-level handsets, so we’re glad to see them here. But you’ve still got 67W wired charging if you prefer speed above all else.

Poco’s Pro variant also brings a 64MP+8MP+2MP triple rear camera system, although the main camera supports 8K recording here. Meanwhile, a 16MP camera is available up-front for selfies.

Other Poco F5 series features worth knowing include Bluetooth 5.3, an IP53 rating, the MIUI 14 for Poco skin, and dual speakers. However, the Poco F5 also brings a 3.5mm port while the Poco F5 Pro offers an in-display fingerprint sensor (the F5 sticks with a side fingerprint scanner).

Poco F5 series pricing and availability

Like the idea of the Poco F5? Then you can buy the base 8GB/256GB model for $379 (early bird pricing of $329). Fancy the Poco F5 Pro? This will set you back $449 (early bird pricing of $429) for the entry-level 8GB/256GB option. Either way, you can buy the phones from today (May 9) via a variety of retailers, including Amazon and Xiaomi’s online store.