Xiaomi’s sub-brand smartphone, the Pocophone F1, took the mobile industry by tornado back a couple of years, reenvisioning what’s really a budget flagship smartphone should be. The favorable outcome of the smartphone apparently took Xiaomi by a massive surprise, as the company disappointed to offer an iteration in the following year.
Now that Pocophone is away from the shadow of Xiaomi, the now independent brand is slated to continue its vision to sell affordable flagship smartphone for the India market as well as for developing countries. The first device to come from the sans-Xiaomi Pocophone is set to be the Poco X2, and it appears that it could bring an affordable manifesto.
Poco X2 branding and release date
Prior rumors and speculations was that the second-generation Poco phone would be branded Pocophone F2. This doesn’t look to be the case now, as the company announced that its next iteration affordable flagship smartphone will actually be the Poco X2.
Poco did not stressed the reason why it is dumping out F1’s popularity for its inception, but a peek at the early specs sheet proposes it’s because it isn’t designed as a successor to the Pocophone F1.
We do have a confirmed launch date for the Poco X2, scheduled for official announcement on Tuesday February 4, 2020 in India. That said, we are seeing a release date to fall two weeks after the launching.
Design
All indications point to the Poco X2 positioned as a rebranded model of the Xiaomi Redmi K30 4G. A product listing for a Poco handset on India’s BIS certification website reveals that that the X2 has the same model number as the Redmi K30 4G. If that’s the case here, we can expect a smartphone with a punch-hole cutout on the screen display for the dual-lens selfie camera system.
Poco X2 specification
The Pocophone F1 rose to fame back in 2018 thanks to its Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC — the same chipset that powers the flagship devices a couple of years ago — being one of the cheapest smartphone equipped with the said processor. However, if the rumors and leaks were to be believed, the Poco X2 is not quite reaching flagship status in this division.
Given the assumption that the Poco X2 is a rebranded Redmi K30 4G, we’re looking at a handset with a Snapdragon 730G SoC. This processor is designed at the upper mid-range smartphones. The same SD730G chipset that can also found on the Mi Note 10 and Realme X2.
The Pocophone X2 is rumored to offer 6GB/64GB memory configuration as its base model, but we’re certainly expecting more RAM and ROM configurations.
Display
Since the Poco brand targets the masses, and to lower the cost of the smartphone production, the company is sacrificing some of the key components for the performance of the Poco X2. The Redmi K30 4G is equipped with a 6.67-inch LCD dsplay with a pill-shaped punch-hole to house the selfie shooter, so its likely Poco X2 will have it as well.
Poco has confirmed that the new X2 display will have a 120Hz refresh rate for more smooth animations. As for biometrics, there aren’t any LCD-equipped smartphones with an under-display fingerprint reader just yet, so we’re suspecting the Poco X2 will offer a in-power button fingerprint reader.
Photography
As for photography department, the Poco X2 is expected to come up with a 64-megapixel IMX686 sensor on the back panel. Apart from the main sensor, the Poco X2 also feature an 8MP ultra-wide lens, 2-megapixel macro sensor, and 2MP lens for depth field. On the front panel of the Poco X2, expect a 20MP+2MP selfie camera setup.
Battery
Xiaomi a set a statures in years with regards to the battery capacity of its smartphones, and it seems like its will be the case for the Poco X2.
Poco has already end the rumors and confirmed that the X2 will tout fast 27W charging. In fact, Poco has uploaded a video clip showing the X2 charged to 40-percent in 25 minutes.
Xiaomi’s Redmi K30 4G is equipped with a 4,500mAh battery pack so we are expecting the Poco X2 to have the identical component.
Pricing and Availability
As with the retail price tag and release date of the Poco X2, the Pocophone F1’s selling factor was that you got flagship chipset and RAM for $300.
A latest intel suggests that the Poco X2 will begin at 18,999 rupees (~$265) for the 6GB/64GB memory configuration. That said, it would be a quite a steal should it will really get a 120Hz display and a powerful chipset.
As regards with the pricing or availability of the Poco X2 outside the Indian market, there are still no words as of the moment. But hopefully Xiaomi brings the Poco X2 to other key developing markets.
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