With each year, phone manufacturers continue to charge more and more for their latest phones, while simultaneously removing more and more features users regularly use, finding an affordable phone that still performs well enough on a daily basis while still offering features users want is getting harder to find.
For the last several years, Xiaomi-owned POCO has been releasing phones that aim to compete alongside companies like Samsung that are chalked full of features while costing significantly less than other companies. POCO’s latest mid-tier offering, the M6 Pro, looks to build upon last year’s M5 lineup while offering improved specs and improved cameras.
Like most POCO phones, the M6 Pro comes with more in the box than most companies typically offer. Included alongside the phone is an included case, pre-installed screen protector, 67W wall charger (although I was unable to test it due to it being an EU charger) and USB cable. While the case and screen protector are nothing worth writing home about, having something included over having nothing at least allows me to keep the phone protected until I am able to get better, should I choose to.
Spec-wise, the POCO M6 Pro I had the chance to review packs a Mediatek Helio G99 Ultra processor along with 12 GB of RAM with a whopping 512 GB of built-in storage, which is exceptionally impressive considering last year’s M5s only had 128 GB of storage and 6 GB of RAM. This year’s POCO M6 Pro also sports a 120Hz 6.67” AMOLED screen. Similar to last year, POCO has thankfully kept the IR Blaster, headphone jack and MicroSD card slot, all features I find very useful on a regular basis.
“POCO’s latest mid-tier offering, the M6 Pro, looks to build upon last year’s M5 lineup while offering improved specs and improved cameras.”
While the POCO M6 Pro lacks any kind of 5G connectivity, with many markets still trying to optimize their coverage, I can’t complain too much about this compromise. At least on paper, the POCO M6 Pro seems to be quite the competent phone, although we will dig into that further.
While the POCO M6 Pro retains the standard candy bar form factor of most phones, the large cameras paired with the shockingly lightweight build surprised me quite a bit. Also, pleasant to see was the lavender/purple coloured phone body. I always appreciate seeing phone manufacturers offering actual colours on their devices, as opposed to the standard affair of black, white or grey phones. While the majority of the phone body is made of plastic instead of the more premium feeling metal and glass, I feel confident enough that the POCO M6 Pro should hold up well for the lifetime of the device.
As someone who previously enjoyed having smaller devices, testing a slew of larger phones has adapted me to having a bigger than average phone in my pocket. So, the 6.67” with 120Hz on this year’s phone was absolutely a welcome addition over the previous 6.43” 60Hz screen on the previous generation of phone I reviewed. Colours were seemingly quite accurate, and the screen was able to get adequately bright, so I could view my phone outside without straining my eyes. The higher refresh rate also felt silky smooth going from page to page when web browsing or even when just gaming.
“The cameras on the POCO M6 Pro are also a very well received upgrade and improvement over the previous generation.”
Gaming on the POCO M6 Pro was surprisingly impressive to me. While playing games such as Asphalt 9 or Genshin Impact, graphics looked impressive and the POCO M6 Pro had no problem at all running them at full speed. Even at maximum settings, I was able to play Genshin Impact with no issues or slowdowns at all, and the phone remained cool to the touch at all times.
The cameras on the POCO M6 Pro are also a very well received upgrade and improvement over the previous generation. Last year I found the cameras to be lacking in many ways, this year I can say that POCO has done significant improvements all around, and I feel they have reached a level I believe is good enough for most users. While it may not be quite on the level of flagships like iPhones or Samsungs, photo quality was reasonably respectable.
In well-lit environments or outside, details were sharp and had true-to-life colours without looking too soft. I’m not one who typically takes pics of their food, but when I tried taking pics of my breakfast while out with friends, the quality of the images would’ve fooled me if someone had said they had taken it with a camera or phone in a much higher class of device.
“For a midrange device, the POCO M6 Pro is a very impressive device with everything it has to offer.”
At night or in low light rooms, the POCO M6 Pro was a bit of a mixed bag. Using the dedicated night mode, while I was able to get some pics that captured what was going on, photos lacked details and were fairly muddy and soft looking. That being said, when using a mini tripod with the long exposure modes, I was able to impressively capture photos that had full detail and looked as if the room had been fully lit up. If POCO could tune the night mode to capture similar levels of detail or offered more settings to tune the night mode for longer exposures, the M6 Pro could start contending with phones like the Google Pixel 7a, Samsung A54 or similarly spec’d phones.
Battery life, something we all depend on with our phones, is above average on the POCO M6 Pro compared to some phones. Coming packed with a 5000mAh, despite the lightweight build, is able to last me up to 2 days of use, provided I do not tax the phone too heavily and stick to less demanding apps. Doing so can get me from 7am on a work day and get me until about 7pm of the following day. While running much more intensive apps or games, I was still regularly able to still get a solid day of use from the phone.
While I am far from what some people would consider a power user of my phone, I still ask a lot of my phone as I see it as a computer away from home. In day-to-day use, the POCO M6 Pro was without a doubt a very competent phone and was able to keep up with all my demands. With everything I threw its way, I did not experience any noticeable slowdowns or problems. For a midrange device, the POCO M6 Pro is a very impressive device with everything it has to offer.
