POCO F4 GT

Review

POCO F4 GT is a smartphone with gaming connotations and it does not hide it at all. Sliding triggers on the side are immediately noticeable, but its biggest advantage turned out to be something else...

Rich in buttons

At first glance, you can guess what type of smartphone it is. There are delicate undercuts on the glass panel forming the back wall, creating an "aggressive" pattern, and in addition to the LED backlight in the camera frame, which also serves as a notification LED, there is another lightning-shaped LED next to it. On the side of the phone it is even more interesting - next to the standard switch we find two gaming triggers that can be pulled out of the housing using the two sliders next to it for a better feeling. In fact, the feel of these keys is good, the travel is quite good, but are additional ejecting mechanisms needed? I'm not sure, and this is another component that can break on a smartphone. There is also the switch button, which in my opinion could be a bit higher. It's got a decent fingerprint reader - I really like them, and the POCO F4 GT was no exception.

Flawless display

The screen is a key component of any smartphone. This one has a diagonal of 6.67" and is covered by Gorilla Glass Victus glass. In the center of the upper edge we find a hole for a selfie camera - it had to be somewhere in the end. As befits a gaming device, it is AMOLED with 120 Hz refreshing, unfortunately set rigidly - we can have either this or 60 Hz and nothing in between, but we have HDR10+ support.

Overall, the POCO F4 GT screen doesn't lack anything - it has a good maximum brightness, a good minimum brightness, and works in all conditions. The system includes options typical for Xiaomi related to adjusting the colour balance to our needs and preferences, there is also a dark interface mode and eye protection against harmful blue light.

Triggers not only for playing

Speaking of the system - we are dealing here with the familiar MIUI overlay. POCO only changed the launcher a little, while the general principle of this interface is typical - whoever had to deal with phones from the Xiaomi stable will find it here without any problems. When it comes to personalization options, we have quite a lot of room to show off - in the interface you will find cute animated wallpapers, an additional sliding side panel, the ability to launch apps in floating windows and a "second space". Inevitably, the smartphone found additional menu items for managing the notification LED and the already mentioned pull-out triggers. These triggers can be assigned different sound effects, animations and even different actions! In addition to being useful in games, after configuration, you can use them to turn on, for example, a flashlight or mute ringtones. It is a pity that among the available options I did not find the possibility of using one of these keys as a shutter trigger.

Another fiery Snapdragon

The phone is gaming, so what could we find inside if not the Snapdragon 8 generation 1? Unfortunately, this is not an improved version with a plus in the name - so we have both very good performance and quite "good" heat emission. In winter, as it found, but in summer this smartphone was able to warm up quite specifically. When it warmed up, throttling was unfortunately quite noticeable - not only on the benchmark readings, but even while playing. Generally, it is quite fun to play, but not for long, because unfortunately the warmth will start to disturb us after some time.

The processor is accompanied by memory in two variants - 8/128 and 12/256 GB, with a difference of about 100 dollars between them. If you decide to buy POCO F4 GT, I definitely recommend this more expensive variant - additional RAM will certainly be useful for games, and memory for data is good more, especially since it cannot be enlarged with a microSD card.

Fast charging

Good performance, screen, triggers - this can be expected from a gaming smartphone But what made me happy the most was the 120-watt charge! With the included charger, we can fully charge the smartphone in less than 20 minutes. The exact charging time, of course, depends on the initial battery level and in part also the degree of heat, but in the end, a minute or two won't make a difference. With such incredibly fast charging, it shouldn't even bother you that the 4,700mAh battery isn't the most powerful possible. Either way, a normal POCO F4 GT will last for a whole day. Intensive gaming will drain the battery faster, but the phone will last up to 4 or 5 hours with the screen on. When it comes to charging, it is worth paying attention to a small detail - the charger plug. It has the shape of the letter L, which allows for more convenient charging of the phone while playing. The cable is still in the way, but a little less than if it were straight.

Admirable speakers

I said that I liked charging the most, but the speakers of this phone made me equally happy. These are stereo speakers, and not just any... there are two outlets, but a total of four drivers, and they sound really great. Firstly loud, secondly clean, and thirdly they even try to make some bass. We have (holding the phone, of course, in the right way, horizontally) even a sense of quite a wide stereo and the depth of this sound. I think that POCO F4 GT I can safely call one of the best-playing smartphones on the market. The only downside is the lack of a minijack, but this is a smaller minus than usual, because we came across a smartphone with speakers suitable not only for connections.

As for the calls, I have not experienced any problems in terms of their quality, although it must be noted that quite a lot of sound comes out and everyone around us can hear what our interlocutor is saying. You just have to turn down the volume on the headphone speaker a little while talking to maintain discretion. The proximity sensor also works a bit nervous. When we hold the phone a little carelessly, the screen unfortunately lights up and we can, for example, turn on the mute of the microphone with our ear, or even suspend the call - I had such cases too.

Besides, in terms of connectivity it is very smooth. WiFi works fine, we even have WiFi 6 support. There is of course NFC, there is Dual SIM - nothing is missing. In addition, we also have an infrared transmitter - with the help of the built-in app, we will use the smartphone as a remote control to control the TV, BlueRay or even air conditioning.

Photos with no surprises

When it comes to photography, I have the impression that once again we are dealing with a gaming standard - the main camera is 64 Mpx, next to the wide-angle 8 Mpx and 2 Mpx, in this case just for the macro. A bit better than a typical gaming smartphone is the front camera with 20 Mpx.

The cameras are generally average. Daytime shots are pretty good, but we can easily see the difference between the photos taken with the main camera and the wide-angle camera. Those from a wide angle have weaker reproduction of both details and colours. The darker the worse - while the night photos from the main camera are still suitable for viewing, the wide-angle camera is better to let go in the evening.

It's a bit of a shame there isn't a telephoto lens here, but well, you can't have it all. It is true that the manufacturer offers a double zoom on the main photo console, but remember that it is a digital zoom, so even with a double zoom there will be some degradation of details. It's better not to try any further enlargements.

When it comes to portraits, it's fine. The software sometimes gets lost and cuts the edges not very precisely, but it depends a bit on the model and a bit on the background on which the model is standing. The less complex the background, the more hairless the model, the better it will be. The selfie camera is quite decent and does not give many reasons to complain, but it is worth using HDR, because there is a tendency quite typical for front cameras to burn through the background, especially when, for example, we take a shot against a blue sky. If we want to get blue, there is no need for HDR. At night, the photos will be so-so - there is a night mode, but it does not go crazy.

It is no less average when it comes to movies, although you can record in 4K, even in 60 frames. The picture is quite smooth, the sound is also not that bad, and the digital stabilization does its job (optical stabilization is not available, unfortunately). This is about the main lens - the wide-angle can also be recorded, but only in Full HD, and the overall quality will be much weaker.

A good proposition for gamers

As I judge POCO F4 GT As I mentioned, we have a choice of two memory versions - 8 and 128 GB for $ 429, 12 and 256 GB for $ 529. Of course, there are promotions and I definitely recommend hunting for them, because prices can sometimes drop quite significantly, but if I were to buy this phone, it would be for games, and then I would definitely prefer a more expensive variant with more RAM and internal memory. But would I buy this phone at all? If I were a mobile gamer, it would be very possible. POCO F4 GT can convince with lightning-fast charging, a decent screen, additional triggers, good performance and very nice speakers. However, if I were looking for a smartphone for everyday use, I would look for something that offers better photographic opportunities, of course at the cost of giving up these gaming accessories. For this reason, it is not my first choice telephone, but the device is actually quite nice.

Source GSMchoice.com