The Xiaomi Poco X6 is a 6.67-inch smartphone with up to 12 GB LPDDR5X-RAM and 512 GB UFS 4.0 storage. It is run by a MediaTek Dimensity 8300-Ultra SoC and its integrated ARM Mali-G615 MP6 GPU. The AMOLED panel is protected by Gorilla Glass 5 and has a resolution of 2712x1220 pixels, resulting in 446 PPI. In addition to supporting HDR10, HLG, and Dolby Vision, the display also offers a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz. The equipment also includes a triple-camera with 64 MP, an Infrared transmitter, dual-SIM with 5G, Bluetooth 5.4 and WiFi 6, as well as a 5000-mAh battery that can be charged using the included 67 Watt charger.
The problem with Xiaomi is that you don’t get OS updates and there is a lack of accessories and service/support locally.
To be fair that is the case with most phones that are not Samsung or Apple.
Nothing does have mail-in service at least, which is better than no service, but also a pain.
In the last 4 years I’ve had the Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite, the Lg V30 and the Sony Xperia 10iii. I basically got them cheap because I couldn’t afford anything about €350.
And while they were good devices, like the X6 Pro will be, I’m always frustrated at being stuck on an older android version, not being able to find phone cases (except on AliExpress but there are junk and you wait months to get it) and no repair services at all. No battery replacements, no screen or back cover replacements, etc. Even the 3rd party repair shops often don’t carry parts for these makes.
They’ll happily give you a 3rd party generic part which looks way worse than the original, but who wants that?
Hence I’ve made a decision that from now on I’m only buying Samsung because they have a 1 hour walk in service centre with genuine parts and the waterproofing is still there afterwards. Plus you get 4 years OS updates and 5 years security updates. And there are TONS of Samsung accessories wherever you go locally as well as online.
With such service I could have the battery replaced once a year, meaning top battery endurance and full waterproofing. Plus the latest OS update and cool accessories like magsafe cases for use in the car with a magnetic holder, diff colour cases for a different look on different days, large availability of chargers, cables etc. Plus if I eventually buy their BT buds then work seamlessly with them.
And they make great tablets, which will do the whole sync thing if you want.
I’d really encourage anyone to think about doing the same and not wasting time and money on these brands with no support.
You just end up buying a new phone every 2 years which is more expensive in the long run.
What about Sony smartphones? What is your experience? I wanted to buy the 10 V because of its compactness and insane battery life
It’s a great phone to be honest. Firstly it’s a beautiful design and the materials are high quality. The narrowness of it is great because it slips easily into a pocket and it’s very light. The tall display means you scroll less but it’s narrow enough to make typing easier.
Haptics are very good. The screen quality is very good and the cameras I’d say are equal to most €$ 500 phones. They do a little post processing but in good light the main camera gives excellent results. The wide angle camera is decent in good light but has slightly less detail than the main camera, but it’s good for landscapes.
The zoom lense is 2x and the quality is ok. Only use it in good light.
Night photography or shooting with the sun at you, eg sunset, is a disaster. Crap low light photos with lots of noise.
The software is actually good. It’s very fast and slick. I run Nova Launcher 8 beta and the animations are lovely and fluid, apps open fast and scrolling is very fast and smooth. I never get lag or anything like that.
Video on 1080p is very nice. I’m pleased with the quality, steadiness and sound capture. In general the cameras are great in good lighting. Easily as good as, if not better than the Nothing 2a for example, which has 50mp cameras.
I also like the placement of the buttons on the right. I can unlock the phone while drawing it from my pocket and I use the Assistant button quite a bit for timers and reminders. I find the button very, very convenient.
Battery life has been great. For the first year I would only recharge every 2nd night with quite a bit of usage. Now after 1 year I do need to charge it once a day, by 11pm I have about 20-30% left. If I barely use the phone, then it will still last 2 days.
I paid €350 and for that price I’d say it’s very good. Would I want to pay €500? Not really.
To me €500 is what the S24, OnePlus 12, Asus ZenFone, iPhone etc should cost and the Ultra’s/pro’s should be €750.
If you can get it for €350 or less I’d say it’s good deal. It’s also IP68 which is rare at this price and I use the headphone jack alot.
The only downside is service/repairs, OS updates and accessories. In the UK this might not be a problem but here in Cyprus there are no repairs that I know of and definitely no accessories. I had to buy my cases off AliExpress and wait weeks for them to come. And after about 2 months they started yellowing because they are transparent.
I hope that helps you with your decision.
Sony phones have absolutely dreadful software support for their price. Even the flagships only get security updates for 3 years and they are among the most expensive phones you can buy.
This is not true. You do get updates unless you buy a cheap device. The poco X6 pro promises 3-4 years of updates.
Can’t talk about accessories but support depends on the region. They provide a service center offline in my region.
Support is an important aspect. Your phone is as good as it works.
Samsung Software support is 1st rate(even on budget phones).
What kind of accessories?
Accessories like phone cases of different types, features and colours, as well as prices. You even get cases with magsafe magnets to use with wireless chargers and phone holders. Also chargers, cables etc
And most tech shops will stock these type of accessories in bulk. But they won’t have Realme cases, or Xiaomi cases, or OnePlus cases, or Vivo cases, or Oppo cases etc. You need to import those from AliExpress…