Pocophone F1 tested by DxOMark: Do you get what you pay for?

The Pocophone F1 rightfully made headlines in 2018, offering flagship power at a mid-range price. If there’s one area where it’s still lagging behind, however, it’s in the camera field, as we noted in our review.

Now, camera testing company DxOMark has put the phone to the test, giving it an overall score of 91 points. This puts it ahead of the original Google Pixel, the iPhone 7 duo, and the Nokia 8 Sirocco. But it lags behind the likes of the iPhone 8 series, Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8 and Galaxy Note 9, HUAWEI’s 2018 flagships, and Xiaomi’s own Mi 8 and Mi Mix series.

The POCOphone F1 attained a photo score of 92, with the firm praising its autofocus performance, color reproduction, and “nice flash pictures.” But the website also noted the lack of detail compared to other flagships, especially in low-light situations.

Furthermore, DxOMark criticized the quality of zoom (the POCOphone F1 doesn’t have a telephoto secondary camera), as well as depth errors when using bokeh-related modes. The company also found photos would occasionally have a “misty white haze” when using HDR (seen above, left), while the Xiaomi Mi 8 didn’t have this issue at all.

The smartphone delivered a video score of 90, owing to “fast and accurate” autofocus, effective stabilization, and good color reproduction. But the reviewer docked points due to “fairly limited” dynamic range, a lack of fine detail in all conditions compared to top performers, and excessive noise in low-light situations.

The testing firm concluded that today’s top-performing smartphones are a step ahead of the Xiaomi-backed device in several ways (HDR, low-light performance, zoom, bokeh). But it still called the phone an attractive purchase for the price — it only costs ~$320 after all.

NEXT: Samsung Galaxy M20 review — Finally a credible threat to Xiaomi