The Xiaomi Poco M4 Pro is like other Poco phones in that it has a high level of all-around multimedia skills for a low price. Even though the name suggests otherwise, the Poco M4 Pro is not just a Poco M4 Pro 5G without the next-generation network connectivity.
From the method it watches to how it works, from the camera to the CPU, it’s a very different package. Let’s not beat around the bush: the Poco M4 Pro is the better phone than its 5G brother, and anyone who doesn’t need the fastest network speeds should choose it.
Design & Build
The Poco M4 Pro looks like a flagship phone, just like the Poco M4 Pro 5G. If you quickly looked at the phone lying face down on a table, you might think it was worth three times what it was being sold for. From the 5G model, it’s interesting to see how Poco has changed the back. And I’m not just talking about how shiny and reflective the finish is. The 3G model has a camera module that sits vertically inside a flat black block.
The 4G model, on the other hand, has a camera module that is much longer and takes up most of the phone’s width. Not all of that is a camera, and the module still seems to be in the same vertical strip in the top left corner. But it makes the phone feel more balanced when you put it down on a flat surface. It’s thinner and lighter than the 5G model, at 8.1mm thick and 179.5g.
Screen
The Poco M4 Pro’s screen is very different from the one on the 5G model. It’s slightly smaller at 6.4in instead of 6.6in, but it’s still not small, and it has the same Full HD+ resolution of 2400 x 1800. Both screens can be set to 90Hz, but the default is 60Hz. The M4 Pro also has a tough sampling rate of 180Hz, which makes it great for fast-paced action games because it is responsive.
But the most interesting thing about this phone is the switch to an AMOLED screen, which is the first of its kind in Poco’s M-series. This makes the Poco M4 Pro screen much more vivid than the LCD on the Poco M4 Pro 5G, with a wider range of brightness, deeper blacks, and brighter whites.
It gets 100% sRGB, 87.5% Adobe RGB, and 100% DCI P3 in the default Vivid mode, which is a good result. You can get a better, more natural sound by switching to Standard mode. This will give you a Delta E of 1.05, which is very accurate, instead of 3.49, which you get in Vivid mode. In this case, the closer to 1, the bigger, so you can see a clear difference.
Specifications and Performance
The MediaTek Dimensity 810 runs the Poco M4 Pro 5G, but the MediaTek Helio G96 runs the Poco M4 Pro. The 12nm process used to make this chip is older and less efficient than the 6nm process used to make the other chip. The Redmi Note 11S and the Realme 8i both use the same processor.
The M4 Pro’s SoC seems to have a much faster CPU than its 5G brother, with an average Geekbench 5 multi-core score of 1836, which is much better than the 5G’s score of 1582. On either hand, the Poco M4 5G chip seems to have a slightly better GPU.
All of our GFX Bench benchmark tests showed that it was faster than the Poco M4 Pro by a few frames per second. In the natural world, there isn’t much variance between them. The M4 Pro feels nice and smooth but not as smooth as a flagship phone.
There is a model with 8GB of RAM, but the one I’m testing only has 6GB. The Poco M4 Pro can use Xiaomi’s Dynamic RAM Expansion Technology, which can loan 3GB of internal storage from the 128GB or 256GB of ROM for extra memory. There is a microSDXC slot for adding more storage when we talk about storage.
Cameras
The Poco M4 Pro has a triple-camera system led by a 64Mp sensor. This is the first time a sensor of this kind has been used in the M-series. For the record, the 5G model has a 50Mp sensor. The camera takes 16Mp pictures with 4-in-1 pixel binning, but if you want to go all out, you can take 64Mp pictures instead.
A 2Mp macro sensor and an 8Mp ultra-wide sensor support this main sensor. Yes, the second one is just as useless here as it is everywhere else. The picture quality is pretty good, at least when there is enough light. There isn’t a lot of overprocessing of the colors, so they look nice and natural. Since this phone doesn’t have a telephoto lens, the main sensor is used to zoom in.
If you don’t look at the photos too closely, a higher number of megapixels helps because there isn’t as much of a detailed drop. This could be a place where you want all 64Mp. The 8Mp ultra-wide sensor lacks detail, which is expected, but the tone isn’t completely different from the main sensor, which is a big plus. At this end of the market, it is more likely to get too much exposure.
Battery Life and Charging
A 5000mAh battery runs the Poco M4 Pro. That’s nice and big, but it’s also not too different from other phones in this price range. As with other low-cost options, it can last a full day with heavy use and up to two days with light to moderate use.
Interestingly, the Poco M4 Pro did slightly better in our standard battery test than the M4 Pro 5G. In the PCMark Work 3.0 battery test, which simulates how a phone’s battery works under a steady but mixed truck full, the Poco M4 Pro seemed to last 10 hours and 56 minutes, while the 5G only lasted 10 minutes and 39 seconds.
Apps and software
MIUI 13 runs on top of Android 11 on the Poco M4 Pro. It’s still not the most attractive Android skin, with its ugly icons and full-page notifications that appear every time you install an app. It’s easy to use, though, with Google Feed on the left and a split between the control center and the notification pane, like on iOS.
This can be taken down according to your preference, of course. MIUI’s biggest strength is that you can make it your own. The Themes app is like a storefront for custom home screens and icon packs that go with them. This could give your phone a whole new look.
Price and Availability
The Poco M4 Pro is now available, with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage starting at £189. The price of the 8GB/256GB model is £249.
- 6/128GB – £189/€219
- 8/256GB – £249/€269
This puts the price of the Poco M4 Pro close to that of the Poco M4 Pro 5G. But keep in mind that you get more storage and RAM for the same price.
Conclusion
Compared to the Poco M4 Pro 5G, the Poco M4 Pro goes in a surprising new direction. Even though you might lose 5G, you get much more. It lets the first AMOLED screen and the first 64Mp main camera be added to the series.