Poco X2 Unboxing and First Impressions: A New Legacy?

Finally, the Poco X2 has arrived. The Poco F1, launched about a year and a half ago, created immense excitement, and we spent all of last year talking about its successor. While the Poco F2 didn’t launch, the X2 is here. We are unboxing it to give you our first impressions and tell you everything about this new device.

Unboxing the Poco X2

The Poco X2 comes in a black box, similar to the Poco F1, with “X2” written on top. The back highlights key features like the dual in-display cameras, a flagship 64MP quad-camera setup, a Snapdragon 730G processor, and a 4500mAh battery with a 27W charger included in the box. The variant we have is the Atlantis Blue with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.

Inside the yellow and black themed box, you first find the phone itself. Along with it, there is documentation and a soft TPU case. Digging deeper, you’ll find a large 27W fast-charging adapter and a USB Type-C cable. The included TPU case has an average build quality, which is decent for an in-box accessory.

Design and Build: A Familiar Face

There has been a lot of talk about the Poco X2 being a rebranded Redmi K30, and upon first glance, they look very, very similar. In fact, they are exactly the same from a design perspective, with only a few minor differences. The branding at the bottom of the blue variant says “Poco,” while the purple Redmi K30 has “Redmi” written on it. Similarly, the camera housing on the Poco X2 says “Designed by Poco,” unlike the Redmi’s branding. The Poco X2 is available in three color variants: Blue, Purple, and Red.

The phone features Gorilla Glass 5 protection on both the front and back. The blue color looks shiny and beautiful. The circular camera housing gives the illusion of a raised or indented surface, but it is actually a completely plain surface. One thing to note is that the camera module protrudes by about 1-2mm, which will cause the phone to wobble when placed on a flat surface without a case. In terms of in-hand feel, it’s a tall phone and feels a bit heavy, weighing in at 208 grams.

Ports, Buttons, and Slots

Looking at the ports and buttons, the bottom of the phone houses a 3.5mm headphone jack, a USB Type-C port, a microphone, and the speaker grille. The left side has the SIM card tray, while the top features an IR blaster and a secondary microphone. On the right side, you’ll find the volume up and down buttons and a side-mounted fingerprint sensor that also functions as the power button. The Poco X2 comes with a hybrid SIM card slot.

Display: The 120Hz Experience

The Poco X2 features an IPS LCD display, not an AMOLED panel. Its main highlight is the 120Hz high refresh rate, which Poco calls “RealityFlow.” This makes the user experience incredibly smooth. It’s important to note that you can only choose between 60Hz and 120Hz; there is no 90Hz option in between. The display also supports HDR10, which enhances the dynamic range when watching videos, making for an immersive multimedia experience thanks to the slim bezels and a high screen-to-body ratio.

Performance and Specifications

Under the hood, the Poco X2 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G processor paired with the Adreno 618 GPU. It is available in three variants: 6GB/64GB, 8GB/128GB, and 8GB/256GB. The device uses UFS 2.1 storage. In terms of performance, the AnTuTu score for this device is around 285,000, which is higher than the roughly 265,000 score of the Redmi K30 we tested. This places the Poco X2 in the premium mid-range category.

Gaming performance on the Poco X2 is really good. You can play PUBG on High and HD settings, Call of Duty on max settings, and Fortnite on medium settings. We didn’t notice any major frame drops during our initial testing. The phone also comes with liquid cooling technology, which Poco claims helps keep the device from overheating during long sessions.

Battery and Charging

The device is equipped with a 4500mAh battery. This should comfortably last a full day with heavy usage and up to a day and a half with moderate use. The phone comes with a 27W fast charger in the box, which can charge the battery to 50% in about 30 to 40 minutes.

Camera Setup

The Poco X2 boasts a quad-camera setup on the rear, featuring a 64MP Sony IMX686 primary sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide lens, a 2MP macro lens, and a 2MP depth sensor. On the front, there is a dual-camera setup with a 20MP primary sensor and a 2MP depth sensor for better portrait effects.

The MIUI 11 camera app is feature-rich and user-friendly. Based on our initial impressions, the photos taken with the Poco X2 look good, with nice colors. The typical yellowish tint sometimes seen in Redmi phones was not noticeable here. Photos taken in night mode also came out well.

Software and Features

The Poco X2 runs on Android 10 with MIUI 11 on top, but with the Poco Launcher. The fluid OS, combined with the popular Poco Launcher, makes for a great user experience. While there are some pre-installed apps, many of them can be uninstalled. Ads are still present within some apps, but their frequency seems to be reduced compared to older devices. The phone comes with the December security patch and includes a dark mode.

Connectivity and Sensors

The phone includes all the necessary sensors, plus an extra IR blaster which is useful for controlling appliances with the Mi Remote app. For security, it has a side-mounted fingerprint sensor and face unlock, both of which work well. The device supports dual 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi calling, and has Widevine L1 certification for HD streaming. The SAR value is 1.08 W/kg for the head and 0.620 W/kg for the body.

Audio Quality

The Poco X2 has a single bottom-firing speaker. The volume and audio quality are both average. However, the overall multimedia experience is quite decent, primarily due to the excellent display.

Final First Impressions

Overall, I like the Poco X2. I don’t mind it being a rebranded phone, as long as the pricing is right. The Poco X2 competes with the Realme X2, which has very similar specs. For the Poco X2 to be a true successor to the value-for-money legacy of the Poco F1, its pricing is crucial. If it launches at a competitive price, it will be a really good premium mid-range smartphone.