Poco F3 goes official w/ Snapdragon 870, 120Hz AMOLED, €299 pricing, more

Damien Wilde | Mar 22 2021 - 6:00 am PT

The next Poco-branded flagship smartphone has now arrived with the unveiling of the Poco F3, one of the first smartphones to market with the more affordable Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 5G chipset.

This smartphone is more focused on the high-end of the Poco lineup for 2021, with the F3 taking a sizable jump over the Poco X3 NFC and X3 Pro — which was also released during a live-streamed launch event. Despite a shared lineage, the Poco F3 seems to have been influenced by the Xiaomi Mi 11 at least at first glance.

At the front, the 6.67-inch FHD+ AMOLED display includes a 120Hz refresh rate and 360Hz touch sampling rate. Inside, the Poco F3 comes packing the brand-new Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 chipset, which is built upon the 7nm fabrication process. This chip offers some very minor performance bumps over the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 from 2020 but offers more affordable 5G-connectivity than the Snapdragon 888.

Other internal hardware on offer includes faster UFS 3.1 storage, with the Poco F3 being made available in 6/128GB and 8/256GB configurations. Unlike the Poco X3 Pro, there is no microSD card expansion available here. There is also a 4,520mAh battery tucked away inside the F3 that also includes 33W fast charging but lacks Qi wireless charging. That said, a 33W USB-C charge brick is included in the box.

We mentioned some similarites with the Xiaomi Mi 11, the rear camera setup shares a layout, but the Poco F3 packs in a triple camera array that relies on a 48-megapixel main sensor rather than a 108-megapixel option. That is flanked by an 8-megapixel utlra-wide-angle and 5-megapixel telemacro lens. The selfie camera clocks in at 20 megapixels.

While we can’t say for certain, the Poco F3 could be the perfect appetizer for an even more powerful Poco F3 Pro, although there is no evidence yet to suggest that a “Pro” model will come to market. Until that time, the Poco F3 is available priced at €349 for the 6/128GB configuration or €299 with early bird pricing. The 8/256GB option will start at €399 or €349 with early bird pricing. You’ll be able to pick up the Poco F3 in three colors: Arctic White, Night Black, and Ocean Blue.