Pocophone F2 rumor roundup: What we expect to see

The Xiaomi POCOphone F1 dropped in August 2018 and was a big hit. Not only did it offer a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor and other high-end specs at an incredibly low price, but it also drew favorable comparisons to the original slate of OnePlus phones — the flagship killers. Now it’s time to think about the follow-up, presumably called the POCOphone F2.

Based on the success of the POCOphone F1, a POCOphone F2 seems inevitable. However, very little is known about the F2, which is odd considering how close we are to August 2019, which is when we would naturally expect Xiaomi to launch the new device.

Even though we don’t know too much about the POCOphone F2, we still have enough info to get a rumor hub going. Check out all the rumors we’ve heard so far below!

Be sure to bookmark this page and check back often as we will continually update it with new information as we find it.

Pocophone F2: Name and release date

The POCOphone F1 — also known as the Xiaomi POCO F1 in certain countries, such as India — was the very first entry in a new sub-category of Xiaomi phones. Since it was the first of its kind, there’s no history to go on to make educated guesses as to what’s coming next.

As an example of what we mean, with the Samsung Galaxy S10, we had nine previous generations of the device to reference for clues. We don’t have that luxury with the POCOphone.

Still, it seems like a very good bet to assume the next entry in the line will be called the POCOphone F2 and the Xiaomi POCO F2 in certain areas of the world. It seems that Xiaomi was pretty deliberate in putting the F1 signifier in the title of the phone, so F2 seems to be a natural choice. However, we have no solid information to prove that’s the case.

As far as a release date goes, the POCOphone F1 launched on August 22 last year. We can only assume that Xiaomi would choose a similar date to launch the follow-up in 2019, although we have no solid info yet for a launch date, either.

Design

To keep the price down for the POCOphone F1, Xiaomi cut a lot of corners when it came to the design of the device. Notably, the phone had a plastic build rather than the ever-present glass construction of pretty much every major flagship of 2018 (and 2019, at that). The phone also had a very large chin, an LCD panel instead of OLED, and a huge display notch.

We can only assume that Xiaomi will need to continue to cut some of these corners on the POCOphone F2 in order to keep the price down. However, it could bring in some nice changes now that technology has advanced a bit.

For example, a small, waterdrop-style notch would be much more cost-effective now as opposed to the iPhone X-style notch on the F1. In fact, we’ve seen one render that reportedly shows the POCOphone F2, and it has a waterdrop notch:

The render also shows off a much smaller chin, a triple-lens camera setup on the rear (the F1 only had two), and an in-display fingerprint sensor. However, a reliable source for this render isn’t apparent, so it should be viewed with very heavy skepticism.

Since we have so little to go on as far as the POCOphone F2, it might seem like Xiaomi is doing a great job at keeping everything super secret. However, there are multiple rumors floating around that we’ve already seen the design of the POCOphone F2 — it’s just that it’s called the Xiaomi Redmi K20.

Supposedly, Xiaomi might simply rebrand the K20 or the K20 Pro as the POCOphone F2. If that ends up being the case, this is what the POCOphone F2 would look like:

Now, we have no solid information that the POCOphone F2 will simply be a rebrand of the K20. However, it’s difficult to escape the rumor, which leads us to believe it could be a possibility.

If that does end up happening, POCOphone fans would likely be very excited, as the Redmi K20 and K20 Pro are getting some heavy buzz at the moment.

Specs and features

There were three high-end features of the POCOphone F1 that — combined with its price — made the phone stand apart from its peers. Those three features were the processor, the battery, and the camera.

As such, it’s a very solid bet that the POCOphone F2 would have the same caliber of specs in those three areas.

That means we should expect a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor, a battery with at least 4,000mAh of juice, and a rear camera system where the primary lens is a 48MP sensor. It’s also not out of the realm of possibility that the rear camera would have three lenses — see the leaked render above for a possible setup.

Elsewhere, it’s likely the POCOphone F2 would come with at least 6GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage, as that’s the starting configuration for the POCOphone F1. The highest-end version of the F1 came with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage, so it’s possible Xiaomi could offer several iterations with the F2.

The POCOphone F1 also had a microSD slot, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and USB-C charging. It’s a sure bet USB-C will stick around for the F2, but the headphone jack and the microSD slot could get dropped. However, POCOphone fans would likely be pretty upset if those features didn’t make it to the F2, so chances are good they will stick around.

Price

With the POCOphone F1, the price of the device was practically a feature. At a starting cost of $300, you were getting three of the year’s major flagship specs at the price of an entry-level mid-ranger.

It is very likely Xiaomi will keep the POCOphone F2’s price as low as possible while still offering several 2019 flagship specs. However, how cheap can Xiaomi realistically keep the device and still offer high-end features? Will the company take another page from the OnePlus playbook and incrementally raise the price with every new iteration?

To put it into perspective, here are the original list prices of the POCOphone F1:

Those prices breakdown as follows:

• 6GB/64GB — 20,999 rupees (~$306)
• 6GB/128GB — 23,999 rupees (~$350)
• 8GB/256GB — 28,999 rupees (~$423)

It’s not out of the realm of possibility, but it’s very unrealistic to think that Xiaomi will offer a POCOphone F2 for $300 in 2019. It’s more likely that each of those prices will go up by $50 or so. Xiaomi could surprise us, but our money is on the POCOphone F2 starting at a significantly higher price over the F1.

What do you think about the rumors we’ve assembled so far? Let us know in the comments!

NEXT: Pocophone F1 vs OnePlus 6: Can POCOphone steal the crown?