Xiaomi Poco F1 vs Oppo F9 Pro: Price in India, Specifications, Features Compared

Poco F1, the first smartphone from Xiaomi's new sub-brand Poco, has been launched, featuring great specifications and a cheap price tag. The Poco F1 has a Snapdragon 845 SoC, up to 8GB of RAM, a dual camera setup at the back, and a display notch in the front. It has been launched in India in three RAM/ storage variants, and the most premium variant (8GB RAM/ 256GB storage) costs Rs. 29,999. With its solid specs, the Poco F1 should give some tough competition to all the smartphones out there in the premium mid-range to even the premium flagship segment. We pit the Poco F1 with the recently released Oppo F-series flagship Oppo F9 Pro, to see which one fares better in price and specifications.

Xiaomi Poco F1 vs Oppo F9 Pro price in India

Xiaomi Poco F1 price in India undercuts the price tags of rivals by a significant margin. The handset comes in three variants - the 6GB RAM/ 64GB inbuilt storage variant is priced in India at Rs. 20,999, the 6GB RAM/ 128GB inbuilt storage model has been priced at Rs. 23,999, and the 8GB RAM/ 256GB inbuilt storage model costs Rs. 28,999. It comes in Rosso Red, Steel Blue, and Graphite Black colour options. There's also an Armoured Edition of the Poco F1 with 'real Kevlar', priced at Rs. 29,999.

Xiaomi Poco F1 vs OnePlus 6 vs Asus ZenFone 5Z

The Poco F1 will be available from August 29 via Flipkart and Mi.com. Launch offers include Rs. 1,000 instant discount to HDFC cardholders, 6TB of data from Reliance Jio with additional benefits up to Rs. 8,000, and a soft-case bundled inside.

The Oppo F9 Pro price in India, on the other hand, is Rs. 23,990, and it comes in Starry Purple, Sunrise Red, and Twilight Blue colour variants. It is up for pre-order on Flipkart, and will go on sale from August 31 on Flipkart, Amazon India, and Paym Mall, as well as select offline stores. Pre-order offers include data bundles from Reliance Jio (up to 3.2TB 4G data, and benefits up to Rs. 4,900 from Jio and MakeMyTrip), a free one-time screen replacement, as well as 5 percent instant cashback on SBI credit and debit cards. Exchange offers and no-cost EMIs are also listed.

Oppo F9 Pro and Oppo F9 First Impressions

Xiaomi Poco F1 vs Oppo F9 Pro specifications, features

Starting with the Poco F1, we must say it looks really good on paper. The Poco F1 runs on MIUI 9.6 out-of-the-box based on Android 8.1 Oreo. It's a speed-optimised version of MIUI, called MIUI for Poco. The smartphone supports dual-SIM slots. It sports a 6.18-inch display with 2.5D curved Gorilla Glass 3 protection, and is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC that's been integrated with LiquidCool Technology. It's available in 6GB RAM/64GB storage, 6GB RAM/128GB storage, and 8GB RAM/256GB storage options, expandable via microSD card (up to 256GB) in a hybrid SIM slot configuration.

The Xiaomi Poco F1 sports a dual camera setup - one 12-megapixel Sony IMX363 primary sensor with 1.4-micron pixel, and a secondary 5-megapixel depth sensor from Samsung. There's a 20-megapixel camera for selfies with HDR and AI Beautify features, with an IR light that powers the Face Unlock feature.

Sensors on board include accelerometer, ambient light sensor, digital compass, gyroscope, and proximity sensor. The Poco F1 is fuelled by a 4,000mAh battery with 18W charging support and Quick Charge 3 (charger bundled in box). Connectivity options in the smartphone include 4G+, VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth v5.0, USB Type-C, 3.5mm headphone jack.

Comparatively, the dual-SIM (Nano) Oppo F9 Pro has rather modest specifications. It run ColorOS 5.2, based on Android 8.1 Oreo with features added like Smart Bar, Touchpal Keyboard, and more. It sports a 6.3-inch full-HD+ (1080x2340 pixels) display with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio, and is powered by an octa-core MediaTek Helio P60 SoC, coupled with 6GB RAM. It offers 64GB of storage with the option to expand further via microSD card slot (up to 256GB).

It also sports a dual rear camera setup -one 16-megapixel primary sensor bearing a f/1.8 aperture, and a 2-megapixel sensor bearing a f/2.4 aperture. On the front, it comes with a 25-megapixel camera that has f/2.0 aperture and HDR capabilities.

Sensors on board include accelerometer, ambient light sensor, digital compass, and a proximity sensor. It measures 156.7x74x7.99mm and weighs 169 grams. The Oppo F9 Pro is powered by a 3,500mAh battery that features the company's VOOC fast charging tech. Connectivity options include 4G VoLTE (on both SIM card slots), Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth v4.2, GPS/ A-GPS, Micro-USB with OTG functionality, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Xiaomi Poco F1 looks great value for the price, but is there a catch? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.