When a new POCO goes on sale, many eyes are drawn to it and, until now, it was very clear what the different ranges were. The M were the simplest, the X an intermediate range (and highly recommended, tell the X3 NFC that it has burst in sales) and, obviously, the POCO F.

These were the first, with an F1 that many of us still remember as one of the best quality/price phones that have been launched in history. Now we have the POCO F4, which we have already analyzed, and this POCO X4 GT that is in a somewhat complicated position within the family.

It has more battery than its big brother, the user experience also seems better to me and it is even more powerful than the F4, and all that for almost 100 euros less.

However, it also has some characteristics that place it one step below and, precisely, that is what we are going to see in this review of the POCO X4 GT so that you know which one you have to choose.

Sections of the analysis of the POCO X4 GT:

More classic and plastic design, but with a high-speed panel

As always, I’m going to start by talking about the design, but this time the truth is that there isn’t much to say. The images are worth a thousand words and the videos… well, I don’t get the count, but here is a clip where you can see all the angles of the POCO X4 GT:

The truth is that this X4 GT has nothing that makes it different. The F4 has changed its design to have flatter sides and a rear, with a different camera module, but this X4 GT doesn’t remind me of a Xiaomi, it reminds me of the realme (LITTLE, it’s your competition, you have to look at that).

Plastic gets a bit dirty from fingerprints and it is not that he feels of better quality in the hands, but it is “functional”. And it is that, although at first glance it does not stand out, in the hand it seems to me a very comfortable mobile.

It weighs 200 grams, which is not little, but the rounded shapes of the back are nice, the flat sides with the curvature in the corners feel good and the button panel is very well distributed, within reach of the thumb.

The fingerprint sensor is on the side and Xiaomi has totally mastered it as it works absolutely great. It’s fast, it’s accurate, and it’s accompanied by good 2D face unlock.

And eye, what although the F4 did not have a headphone jack, here we do have, at the top, next to the infrared emitter. In addition to being able to connect wired headphones, you will be able to enjoy stereo sound that is not bad.

It distorts a bit at the highest volume, especially in the mids and highs, but it works perfectly for listening to music, videos and series episodes. And, I say, Despite the fact that visually it is one more mobile, in the hand it feels very comfortable.

If we go to the front, we have a screen that, now yes, is one step below that of his brother. It is a 6.6″ FullHD+ panel, but IPS.

This means that the dark mode is only useful if you like it, not to save energy, the colors are not as intense or with as much contrast (although you have several calibration options, something that Xiaomi always works very well) and you have a hole in the screen enough great.

While the one on the F4 was tiny, its diameter is quite large and, furthermore, it has the typical shadow around both the module and at some points on the sides and chin. It is not the best IPS panel that can be mounted, but for viewing content and playing video games it is not bad.

Now, there are two things that need to be mentioned. The first is that we have a maximum refresh rate of 144 Hz with the possibility of setting it to the maximum, 60, 90 or letting the system decide. From my tests, if I let the system decide it will never go to the maximum, so I have fixed it at 144 Hz.

It is a minor bug that, if Xiaomi wants, could be solved by software. What cannot be fixed is the brightness. Outdoors it suffers with an average of XXXXX luxes. It is a fairly low brightness and, of course, you have to expect more from a terminal like this in this regard.

MediaTek is already in the major league also in the mid-range

Now, where Xiaomi has not saved absolutely anything is inside the device. The F series was the one that brought the best hardware at the lowest possible price, but it seems that this X4 GT has turned the tables.

And it is that, honestly, the SoC of this terminal seems to me superior to the Snapdragon 870 in efficiency and performance. It is a Dimensity 8100 (yes, a MediaTek) that we have already seen that performs great on mobiles like the realme GT Neo 3 and that here also comes out to shine.

The numbers in the benchmarks are similar to what we would get with a Snapdragon 888, but the good thing about this SoC is that it is very energy efficient, which helps the battery last longer since the heat takes time to appear.

With games like Genshin Impact either Devil ImmortalYeah, you’re going to feel the heat on the back and part of the screen, but I haven’t noticed a drop in performance in these games due to thermal throttling.

In the test that we do with an application that “squeezes” both the CPU and the GPU, we also have good results, passing the 15-minute test without any problem.

The speed of both RAM and storage memory is very fast and all of this has given me a very good experience with a MIUI that, knock on wood, has not given me headaches.

I am not a lover of the Xiaomi system, particularly. Yes, I like the design and the options it has, but it’s still loaded with bloatware, its own apps still have ads… and Xiaomi is characterized by having a system with little optimization and many bugs.

However, as with the F4, the experience for this analysis of the POCO X4 GT has been perfect. Although I have not used the dark mode, I have put it to test and I have not had a problem with fonts, I have not had battery drain, or crashes… or anything that is out of the ordinary.

I once tried to watch a YouTube video leaving Genshin Impact in the background and got a “game has stopped responding” warning, but nothing else. The rest of the week, the terminal has gone very, very well.

It has a touch… “electric”, you might call it, thanks to both the 144Hz and the speed of the hardware + software. If you do not get a unit with bugs, I think you will be very satisfied in this regard if you decide to buy the mobile.

What if, the proximity system, having no physical sensor, is still a fairground shotgun. Sometimes it works and most of the time it doesn’t. It is a point that we will continue to criticize in each analysis of a mobile that does not carry this sensor.

And the battery is also at a great level. They are 5,080 mAh that with the efficiency of this SoC, and despite the IPS screen at 144 Hz, have allowed me about 7 hours of screen time every day. Sometimes more, other times more glued to 7 if I play or take more photos than necessary, but it is a day and a half of use and the load is fast.

In the box you have a 67 W charger that allows you to fill 50% in XXXX minutes and 100% in XXXXX minutes. Yes, it’s… quite a long time, really, and I expected a few minutes less, but hey, it’s not bad and in the end it’s 5,080 mAh.

A main sensor that meets some squires who do not measure up

When a mobile offers so much (autonomy, experience, decent design and screen and a lot of power) for a price that we can consider below what it should be, the section that pays for the broken dishes is usually the photographic one.

We do not have an exception here, but contrary to what has been said in recent weeks, I think it is not clearly losing compared to what was seen in the F4.

Yes, we don’t have optical stabilization and the aperture is a bit smaller, but we have a bigger sensor, actually, and I really think you’re going to be able to take good pictures with the main one.

I think the results are very similar to the POCO F4 although, obviously, the optical stabilization of the F4 helps to have a little more detail in night photos that need a long exposure, but on a day-to-day basis, they are photos that you will be able to share without a problem.

They are not the best, they have an excessive amount of processing and my opinion is the same as what I expressed in the analysis of the F4, with some problems in the HDR and in the detail in some scenes, but as I say, with the main one you will be able to get very decent photos.

You are not going to use the macro and, in fact, the Xiaomi app continues to hide this function in its menu, so it is a camera, again, that is left over, and the wide angle is… mediocre.

It has chromatic aberration, the colorimetry is different from that of the main and there is an obvious lack of detail both because of the 8 Mpx and because of the image processing, something that is accentuated when the light falls.

And where we notice that there is no optical stabilization is in the video. The one from the F4 seemed like a very good section for its price, but here with 4K30 at most and without stabilization, the videos are going to move a lot.

You will be able to use electronic stabilization by lowering the resolution to 1080p, but it creates strange effects in the image.

Power and experience vs design and screen, the hard fight between the F4 and this X4 GT

And in the end, we have a mobile that is in a somewhat complicated price range because we have an exceptional performance with a very good autonomy and a design that, hey, is not the most original, but it is comfortable in the hand.

The main camera is solvent, the sound is too, and the load is very fast. All this is great for 380 euros, but the screen is the weakest point of the equipment and the one that can make you go to the F4 or other options from other brands.

It lacks brightness, it lacks contrast and it is still an average IPS with a huge hole for the camera.

If this doesn’t bother you and you like POCOs, I think it’s the model you should choose because the Dimension 8100 is a beastbut if you want a rounder mobile in general, the F4 is the choice if you want to stay within the brand.

If you ask me, and after all the assessment that has tried to be as objective as possible, I give a lot of importance to the consumption of content and I would choose the F4. That AMOLED panel seems to me to be one of the best, if not the best, in its price range and it is the one that I would take home, especially since the price difference between the two is not very large.