Xiaomi Poco M4 Pro 4G: 8GB/256GB - Is It Worth It?

by Alex Braham 51 views

Hey everyone! Today, let's explore the Xiaomi Poco M4 Pro 4G, specifically the 8GB RAM and 256GB storage variant. This phone has been making waves in the budget to mid-range market, and we're going to break down everything you need to know to decide if it's the right phone for you. From performance and camera capabilities to display quality and battery life, we’ll cover all the key aspects. So, buckle up and let’s dive in!

Design and Build Quality

First impressions matter, right? The Xiaomi Poco M4 Pro 4G sports a sleek and modern design. The back panel is made of plastic, but it doesn't feel cheap. It has a nice matte finish that helps to resist fingerprints, which is a huge plus for those of us who hate constantly wiping down our phones. The phone feels solid in hand, and the weight distribution is pretty good, making it comfortable to hold for extended periods.

The camera module on the rear is quite prominent, giving the phone a distinctive look. Whether you love it or hate it is a matter of personal preference, but it definitely makes the phone stand out from the crowd. The sides of the phone are flat, following the current design trend, and the power button, which also houses the fingerprint sensor, is easily accessible. The volume rocker is located just above the power button and provides tactile feedback.

On the bottom, you'll find the USB-C port, a speaker grille, and the microphone. The top houses the 3.5mm headphone jack, which is a welcome addition for those who still prefer wired headphones. There's also an IR blaster, which allows you to use your phone as a remote control for your TV or other appliances. The front of the phone is dominated by the display, with a hole-punch cutout for the selfie camera. The bezels are relatively thin, providing an immersive viewing experience.

Overall, the design and build quality of the Xiaomi Poco M4 Pro 4G are impressive for its price range. It looks and feels more premium than you might expect, and the attention to detail is evident. If you're looking for a phone that looks good and feels good in hand, the Poco M4 Pro 4G is definitely worth considering.

Display: Visual Experience

One of the standout features of the Xiaomi Poco M4 Pro 4G is its display. It boasts a 6.43-inch AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate. This combination results in vibrant colors, deep blacks, and smooth scrolling. The AMOLED technology ensures that the display is energy-efficient, which helps to extend battery life. The 90Hz refresh rate makes everything feel more fluid and responsive, whether you're browsing the web, playing games, or just navigating the user interface.

The display has a resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels, resulting in a pixel density of around 409 ppi. This means that the display is sharp and clear, with no noticeable pixelation. The brightness levels are also excellent, making the display easily visible even in direct sunlight. The display also supports DCI-P3 wide color gamut, which means that it can reproduce a wider range of colors than standard sRGB displays. This results in more accurate and lifelike colors.

The viewing angles are also excellent, with no noticeable color shift or loss of brightness when viewing the display from different angles. The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3, which provides decent protection against scratches and minor impacts. However, it's always a good idea to use a screen protector for added protection. The display also has a Sunlight Mode, which automatically adjusts the brightness and contrast to make the display more visible in bright outdoor conditions.

In terms of customization, the Xiaomi Poco M4 Pro 4G offers a variety of options to tailor the display to your preferences. You can adjust the color temperature, choose between different color schemes, and enable or disable the reading mode, which filters out blue light to reduce eye strain. You can also adjust the refresh rate, choosing between 60Hz and 90Hz, depending on your preference for smoothness versus battery life. Overall, the display on the Poco M4 Pro 4G is one of the best in its class, offering a vibrant, smooth, and immersive viewing experience.

Performance: Power and Speed

Under the hood, the Xiaomi Poco M4 Pro 4G is powered by the MediaTek Helio G96 processor. This is a mid-range processor that offers a good balance of performance and efficiency. Paired with 8GB of RAM, the phone is capable of handling most tasks with ease. Whether you're browsing the web, streaming videos, playing games, or multitasking between apps, the Poco M4 Pro 4G can keep up without breaking a sweat.

The Helio G96 features an octa-core CPU with two high-performance Cortex-A76 cores clocked at 2.05GHz and six power-efficient Cortex-A55 cores clocked at 2.0GHz. This allows the phone to handle demanding tasks while also conserving battery life when performing less intensive tasks. The GPU is a Mali-G57 MC2, which is capable of running most games at decent frame rates. However, you may need to lower the graphics settings in some of the more demanding games to achieve smooth gameplay.

The 8GB of RAM ensures that you can run multiple apps in the background without experiencing any slowdown. This is especially useful for those who like to multitask or switch between apps frequently. The 256GB of internal storage provides ample space for storing your photos, videos, apps, and other files. If you need even more storage, you can expand it via a microSD card.

In terms of benchmarks, the Xiaomi Poco M4 Pro 4G scores well for its price range. In AnTuTu, it typically scores around 300,000 points, which is a respectable score for a mid-range phone. In Geekbench, it scores around 550 points in the single-core test and around 1700 points in the multi-core test. These scores indicate that the phone is capable of handling most tasks with ease.

Overall, the performance of the Poco M4 Pro 4G is excellent for its price range. It offers a smooth and responsive user experience, and it's capable of handling most tasks without any lag or stutter. If you're looking for a phone that can keep up with your busy lifestyle, the Poco M4 Pro 4G is definitely worth considering.

Camera Capabilities: Capturing Moments

The Xiaomi Poco M4 Pro 4G features a triple-camera setup on the rear. The main camera is a 64MP sensor with an f/1.8 aperture. This is a high-resolution sensor that captures detailed and vibrant photos in good lighting conditions. The second camera is an 8MP ultrawide lens with a 118-degree field of view. This allows you to capture wider shots, which is great for landscapes and group photos. The third camera is a 2MP macro lens, which allows you to take close-up shots of small objects.

In daylight, the main camera captures sharp and detailed photos with accurate colors. The dynamic range is also good, with well-exposed highlights and shadows. The camera app offers a variety of shooting modes, including portrait mode, night mode, and pro mode. Portrait mode uses software to blur the background, creating a bokeh effect that makes your subject stand out. Night mode enhances the brightness and clarity of photos taken in low-light conditions. Pro mode allows you to manually adjust the ISO, white balance, shutter speed, and other settings.

The ultrawide lens captures decent photos in good lighting conditions, but the image quality is not as good as the main camera. The photos tend to be softer and less detailed, and the dynamic range is not as good. However, the ultrawide lens is still useful for capturing wider shots. The macro lens is also decent, but it requires good lighting to capture sharp and detailed photos. The front-facing camera is a 16MP sensor that captures good-quality selfies. The selfies are sharp and detailed, and the colors are accurate. The camera app also offers a variety of beauty modes that can smooth out your skin and enhance your features.

The Xiaomi Poco M4 Pro 4G can record videos at up to 1080p resolution at 30fps. The video quality is decent, but it's not as good as the photo quality. The videos are sharp and detailed, but the dynamic range is not as good. The phone also lacks optical image stabilization, which means that the videos can be shaky if you're not holding the phone steady. Overall, the camera capabilities of the Poco M4 Pro 4G are decent for its price range. It captures good-quality photos in good lighting conditions, but the image quality is not as good in low-light conditions.

Battery Life: Power That Lasts

The Xiaomi Poco M4 Pro 4G is powered by a 5000mAh battery, which is a large capacity battery that provides excellent battery life. With moderate usage, you can easily get a full day of battery life on a single charge. Even with heavy usage, you should be able to get through most of the day without needing to recharge. The phone also supports 33W fast charging, which allows you to quickly recharge the battery. According to Xiaomi, you can charge the battery from 0% to 100% in just under an hour.

In terms of standby time, the Xiaomi Poco M4 Pro 4G can last for several days on a single charge. This is great for those who don't use their phones very often or for those who travel frequently and don't have access to a charger. The phone also has a variety of power-saving modes that can further extend battery life. You can enable the battery saver mode, which reduces the performance of the phone and limits background activity. You can also enable the ultra battery saver mode, which turns off most of the phone's features and only allows you to make calls and send texts.

Overall, the battery life of the Poco M4 Pro 4G is excellent. It can easily last for a full day on a single charge, and the fast charging support allows you to quickly recharge the battery when needed. If you're looking for a phone with long battery life, the Poco M4 Pro 4G is definitely worth considering.

Software and User Interface

The Xiaomi Poco M4 Pro 4G runs on MIUI 13, which is Xiaomi's custom Android skin. MIUI 13 is based on Android 11 and offers a variety of features and customization options. The user interface is clean and modern, with a focus on simplicity and ease of use. The app icons are large and colorful, and the animations are smooth and fluid.

MIUI 13 offers a variety of customization options, allowing you to tailor the phone to your preferences. You can change the theme, customize the app icons, and adjust the system fonts. You can also enable or disable the dark mode, which changes the color scheme of the user interface to black and dark gray. This can help to reduce eye strain and save battery life.

MIUI 13 also includes a variety of useful features, such as a built-in screen recorder, a floating window feature, and a game turbo mode. The screen recorder allows you to record your screen with audio, which is useful for creating tutorials or recording gameplay. The floating window feature allows you to open apps in a small window that floats on top of other apps. This is useful for multitasking or for keeping an eye on an app while you're doing something else. The game turbo mode optimizes the phone's performance for gaming, improving frame rates and reducing lag.

However, MIUI 13 also has some drawbacks. One of the biggest complaints is the amount of bloatware that comes pre-installed on the phone. Bloatware is pre-installed apps that you may not want or need. These apps take up storage space and can consume system resources. Fortunately, most of the bloatware can be uninstalled. Another drawback of MIUI 13 is the aggressive battery management. The phone tends to kill background apps in order to save battery life, which can be annoying if you're trying to multitask. Overall, MIUI 13 is a decent Android skin that offers a variety of features and customization options. However, it also has some drawbacks, such as bloatware and aggressive battery management.

Pros and Cons

To summarize, here’s a quick rundown of the pros and cons of the Xiaomi Poco M4 Pro 4G:

Pros:

  • Vibrant AMOLED display with 90Hz refresh rate
  • Good performance for the price
  • Large 5000mAh battery with 33W fast charging
  • Decent camera capabilities
  • Stylish design

Cons:

  • Plastic build
  • MIUI 13 can be buggy and has bloatware
  • No 4K video recording

Conclusion: Is It Worth Buying?

So, is the Xiaomi Poco M4 Pro 4G worth buying? Absolutely! Especially if you're on a budget and want a phone that offers a great display, good performance, and long battery life. The camera is decent, but not the best in its class. However, for the price, it's hard to beat the overall value that the Poco M4 Pro 4G offers. If you can live with the plastic build and the quirks of MIUI, you'll be very happy with this phone. It's a solid all-around performer that won't break the bank. So go for it, guys!