Xiaomi Poco C31 Review: specs and features, camera quality test, gaming benchmark, user opinions and photos

Xiaomi Poco C31 is not at all what was expected

Fans of Poco, a sub-brand of the famous Chinese company Xiaomi, were eagerly awaiting the September launch of the brand's new products. However, instead of the long-awaited continuation of the X-series, the corporation decided to present to the public a more budgetary smartphone. Does the novelty deserve attention or does the necessity of its existence raise serious questions?

The design of the review hero is not devoid of a number of outdated features. The applied form factor of a 5-megapixel selfie camera called "drop" was not relevant already last year, and a fingerprint sensor did not appear on the side. The display bezels are quite wide around the entire perimeter, but this fact can hardly be considered a disadvantage for a device in the lower price segment. The colors of the rear panels are bright and catchy, and the neat little block of three cameras and the good quality of the plastic used will also be positive aspects of the exterior. The 6.53-inch IPS-screen with a resolution of 1600x720 pixels is unlikely to be liked by the clarity of the image, but the situation is good with the brightness and contrast. Problems with the visibility of the picture will begin only in direct sunlight.

The technical characteristics have not been brought up to modern standards. The Mediatek Helio G35 CPU is a basic processor for the value category, which, together with 3GB / 4GB of RAM and a PowerVE GE8320 graphics adapter, provides a more or less responsive MIUI shell interface based on Android 11. It is quite difficult to detect jams in applications like browsers, instant messengers, photo editors ... Another thing is resource-intensive games. Unfortunately, the most demanding projects (Genshin Impact, Fortnite) will not be available to the buyer. Such Android games either do not start, or function with slowdowns with minimal graphics presets. The volume of internal memory is 32 / 64GB , so it is recommended to expand it with MicroSD cards .

The 13- and 2-megapixel (pair) cameras are slightly better than those of the predecessor C3. On daytime shots, it is possible to see an abundance of small details, the color rendition of which will be close to realistic. Noise appears only on frames with mediocre lighting. The video recording is imperfect, FullHD videos are actually deprived of any stabilization. The 5000mAh battery gives up to 9-10 hours of active screen time, the autonomy is worthy of compliments. There are no other reasons for praise, since there is no NFC contactless payment and stereo sound. As a result, we have a balanced device that, on the whole, corresponds to the price tag, the purchase of which will leave pleasant emotions. But the main competitors are not much inferior to the gadget.