Xiaomi Pocophone F1 performance review: full throttle at all times

Before we get started, let's take a quick look at the hardware that Xiaomi is bringing to the table here for around $300. There’s a Snapdragon 845 in the Pocophone, currently the most powerful chip on the market. Both models, the 6 GB or the 8 GB of RAM versions, offer plenty of multi-tasking memory. The fact that Xiaomi has opted for a display without a 2K resolution is an advantage in terms of performance because the GPU then has to make a little less effort.

Apps start racing quickly

Slow smartphones, which most users have experienced at one time or another, is one of the most frustrating parts of everyday usage. The most important thing here is the speed at which apps are launched, as well as how well they can multitask. In all these disciplines, there is hardly a smartphone that can hold a candle to the Pocophone F1 in terms of performance. The animations and apps just slide under the fingertips, so it's a real pleasure to operate the smartphone. And it doesn't matter how many apps are running simultaneously, the Xiaomi smartphone just won't slow down.

What's good enough for normal use isn’t always when it comes to gaming. But with the Pocophone F1 it is. Games run without any problems. From PUBG to Dungeon Hunter to Asphalt 9, the Xiaomi smartphone is so fast for games that it's a joy to play. What’s remarkable is that the Pocophone doesn't even get too hot when gaming for long periods. There are many smartphones that warm up much more. This suggests that the cooling system works well and that the performance stays optimum for a long time.

The OnePlus 6 is even faster

In the benchmarks, the performance of the Pocophone F1 can be compared with the competition. Although the OnePlus 6 has the same processor as the Xiaomi smartphone and also no 2K display on the front, the tests yield slightly better results - an indication that the software slows down more with Xiaomi than with OnePlus. The Honor 10, which is available at a similar price to the Pocophone F1, has a hard time keeping up.

Xiaomi Pocophone F1 benchmark results

Xiaomi Pocophone F1 vs. OnePlus 6 and Honor 10

	Xiaomi Pocophone F1	OnePlus 6	Honor 10
3DMark Sling Shot Extreme	3335 points	4073 points	2526 points
3DMark Sling Shot Vulkan	2717 points	3275 points	2845 points
3DMark Sling Shot	3987 points	5583 points	3179 points
3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited	53899 points	62113 points	30954 points
Geekbench 4 Single / Multi Core	2467 / 9085 points	2448 / 8970 points	1897 / 6441 points
Passmark Memory	12112 points	12465 points	13798 points
Passmark Disk	65178 points	73927 points	62015 points

All in all, the Xiaomi smartphone doesn't need to hide its performance, on the contrary. The Pocophone F1 is in the absolute luxury class here, and masters every task in the blink of an eye. In terms of everyday performance, it's faster than the top models from Huawei, Sony or Samsung - and remember, this thing costs a fraction of the price of those.

When do you need the power of your smartphone most? Do you struggle with speed issues?