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POCO M3 Pro 5G Review: Best Budget 5G Smartphone

POCO M3 Pro 5G

The POCO M3 Pro 5G is another budget-friendly 5G ready smartphone that features a 6.5-inch Full HD+ 90Hz display, MediaTek Dimensity 700 5G chipset, and ultra-long battery life, price starts at only ₱8,990.

POCO M3 Pro 5G

The POCO M3 Pro 5G, which was released in June 2021, it's a great option to experience fast 5G connectivity without the hefty price tag. This affordable phone has much more than simply a 5G mobile connection.

POCO M3 Pro 5G Specs

Android 11, MIUI 12
6.5-inch Full HD+ LCD display, 2400 x 1080 resolution, at 404ppi
DynamicSwitch refresh rate (30Hz/50Hz/60Hz/90Hz), 1500:1 contrast ratio
2.2GHz MediaTek Dimensity 700 5G octa-core processor
Mali-G57 MC2 GPU
4GB/6GB LPDDR4X RAM
64GB/128GB UFS 2.2 internal storage
Expandable via microSD
48MP, f/1.8 + 2MP, f/2.4 macro + 2MP, f/2.4 depth sensor rear cameras, LED flash
8MP, f/2.0 selfie camera
Side-mounted fingerprint scanner, Face unlock
Headphone jack, Hi-Res Audio Certified
Dual SIM, Dual standby
4G LTE, 5G
WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band
Bluetooth 5.1
GPS, A-GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, BDS
NFC( select markets)
USB Type-C
5,000mAh battery, 18W fast charging support, 22.5W charger included
Colors: Power Black, Cool Blue, POCO Yellow
190g

Design and Built
The M3 Pro 5G has a premium appearance thanks to its matte glossy finish as well as its solid dark gray color, it's also available in POCO yellow and Cool blue colorways. The back is easy to get fingerprints prints and smudges, which isn't ideal, but fortunately, it comes with a clear cover to address this little issue.

POCO M3 Pro 5G

At the rear, there's a triple camera system with a 48-megapixel primary sensor that's vertically oriented together with the LED flashlight, below is the POCO logo is covered by a black strip.

POCO M3 Pro 5G

It features a well-built plastic frame that cannot be easily bent, as well as curved corners and sides which make it easy and comfortable to hold.

POCO M3 Pro 5G

The hybrid SIM slot on the left side enables two 5G-enabled SIMs or one SIM and one microSD card. To the right side is the power button that also doubles as a fingerprint reader, which is very reliable and fast in unlocking the phone. There's also the volume rocker that has a nice feel when used.

POCO M3 Pro 5G

At the top of the M3 Pro 5G are the 3.5mm audio jack (this is usually found at the bottom), a stereo audio mic with noise reduction for making voice/video calls, there's also the signature IR blaster that can be used to control appliances and other devices that uses IR remote control.

POCO M3 Pro 5G

The Type-C port, main microphone, and loudspeaker are all located at the bottom.

90Hz Display
The M3 Pro 5G boasts a 6.5-inch Full HD+ LCD display, with a 20:9 aspect ratio, it also has Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for protection against scratches.

POCO M3 Pro 5G

The screen features a DynamicSwitch refresh rate of 30Hz/50Hz/60Hz/90Hz, which means it can auto-switch the refresh mode to give the best visual experience. It also features a 360° light sensor that adjusts the brightness intelligently to help reduce eye strain.

POCO M3 Pro 5G

The majority of apps/games on Google Play only support a 60Hz refresh rate, which is disappointing because it can't take advantage higher fluid refresh rate. The MIUI looks beautiful and runs smoothly with the 90hz refresh rate.

POCO M3 Pro 5G

The screen looks great and it can be used even in direct sunlight, with a maximum brightness of 413 nits in manual mode, and up as bright as 536 nits when the outdoor mode is active. It also has a Sunlight mode that auto-adjusts the brightness to strong ambient light when the brightness is off. While the Night mode minimized screen brightness in low light conditions.

Another cool feature is the display in Reading mode. which adjusts the colors and the textures of the items on the screen allowing the eyes to relax. The color scheme also can be easily adjusted from default, warm, cool, or custom-made.

MediaTek Dimensity 700 5G Performance
It looks like Dimensity 700 5G chipset is a popular choice for phone makers in offering affordable 5G enable smartphones. Some of the brands that use the same SOC are realme 8 5G, Samsung Galaxy A22 5G, Oppo A53s 5G, and many more.

POCO M3 Pro 5G

There is basically nothing to complain about in terms of performance on M3 Pro 5G with the Dimensity 700 SoC, it's very capable of running most apps available on the Play Store. It does struggle a little with GPU-intensive games such as Genshin Impact due to its Arm Mali-G57 MC2 GPU, but using the medium settings, makes the gameplay smoother.

POCO M3 Pro 5G

For shooting games such as Call of Duty Mobile, the game can run on medium graphics settings and a high frame rate which is great since it can give more details on the game environment, and gameplay is more fun, too bad the phone does not support higher-touch sampling rate.

POCO M3 Pro 5G

The MIUI interface looks nice with well its simple and attractive icons, background wallpaper, and lock screen. It does come with a lot of bloatware out of the box, which is bad if you have the 64GB variant, but good thing unwanted apps can be easily uninstalled.

POCO M3 Pro 5G

In terms of security, it offers the standard fingerprint reader, PIN, password, and Face-unlock.

POCO M3 Pro 5G

One of the most notable aspects of the POCO M3 Pro 5G is its 5G capabilities; both SIM slots are 5G ready, allowing you to use both Smart and Globe 5G services. In terms of internet speed, 5G connections on Smart networks are extremely fast, reaching almost 150Mbps in our tests in areas where Smart 5G services are available.

Camera
The M3 Pro 5G sports a triple camera system which is the typical set that you can find in a phone in its price range. It packs a 48-megapixel main sensor with PDAF and an f/1.8 aperture lens, a 2-megapixel f/2.4 macro lens as well as a 2-megapixel f/2.4 depth sensor. Upfront, there's an 8-megapixel with, an f/2.0 aperture selfie camera.

POCO M3 Pro 5G

The camera on the M3 Pro 5G is quite good, it can capture great phones during daylight or in places with a lot of light with plenty of details and colors look vibrant and pictures look sharp and have a nice dynamic range. Night shots lose some of their details and sharpness, but they still look good and may be used to share on your social media accounts.

POCO M3 Pro 5G

Overall this budget smartphone comes with impressive cameras, that are normally found on high-midrange devices. Too bad it's only capable of 1080p at 30pfs video recording for both back and front-facing cameras.

Battery Life

The POCO M3 Pro 5G packs a large 5,000mAh, with an 18W fast charge. On our battery drain test, it registered 13 hours and 6 minutes, which is roughly a day's worth of screen-time, with enough battery power left for the night.

POCO M3 Pro 5G

Battery drains faster when connected to a 5G network with high brightness while playing games, or watching videos on Netflix, so expect the battery level to drop significantly. So sometimes it's better to switch to a 4G network to conserve battery power.

Charging is now as fast compared to a 50W Superfast Charger, charging takes almost 3 hours from 3% to 100|% fully charge.

Pros
Nice glossy design
Dual 5G support
90Hz Display
Slim design
Great performance
Great camera
Good battery life

Cons
Back is dirt/smudge magnet
Not AMOLED display
Only 18W fast charge

POCO M3 Pro 5G

Verdict
If you are looking for an affordable 5G smartphone, the POCO M3 Pro 5G is your best choice, it's a well-rounded smartphone with very capable performance and nice cameras. POCO M3 Pro 5G 4GB+64GB version retails for only ₱8,990, while the 6GB+128GB variant is priced at only ₱11,990, it's now available on POCO officially store on Lazada and Shopee. You can also check the realme 8 5G with 8GB+128GB for only ₱11,990.

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