Poco X4 Pro 5G First Impressions: This Looks Very Familiar

The new Poco X4 Pro 5G is a sign of the times. It isn't a true successor to last year's Poco X3 Pro, which is still available and boasts of a near-flagship-level SoC but has little else in terms of features. Costs are rising across the industry, and Poco has chosen to introduce a new model with a more modest SoC rather than raise prices. This repositioning of the X-series means that once again, fans looking for a current-day Poco F1 will be left wanting. That might not be a bad thing though, because the X4 Pro 5G aims to be more of an all-rounder than its predecessor. There's just one pretty important fact that you need to know about this phone.

Priced starting at Rs. 18,999 in India, there's no getting around the fact that the Poco X4 Pro 5G is pretty much exactly the same device as the Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G, which we have just reviewed. Poco's version has a different rear panel and there are some slight variations in specifications, which we'll talk about, but the bodies of these phones have the same proportions and dimensions, all ports and buttons are in the same spots with the same designs, and they both come with the exact same charger and USB cable. In fact even the boxes they come in are identical, other than what's printed on them.

The Poco X4 Pro 5G has a 6.67-inch full-HD+ 120Hz Super AMOLED display

The Poco X4 Pro 5G weighs 205g which is 3g higher than the Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G's weight. That might be explained by the oversized camera surround, which extends across the width of the phone. If you look closer though, the camera themselves are all in exactly the same positions, with the primary one raised slightly and even the same “AI” printed over one blank spot.

The back panel of the Poco X4 Pro 5G has a different finish but the idea is the same. This phone is available in the signature Poco Yellow colour as well as Laser Blue and Laser Black. All of them show a pattern of lines somewhat like laser stage lights, emanating from the bottom two corners and waving as you move the phone around. There's also a huge Poco logo on the camera shroud. This is not a brand that goes for subtlety in design, but the black unit that I could look relatively sober in a case.

All specifications match what you get with the Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G, except for the primary rear camera which has a 64-megapixel resolution. We'll have to see whether this is a downgrade in practical terms when we test the Poco X4 Pro 5G in our full review. You still get an 8-megapixel ultra-wide camera, 2-megapixel macro camera, and 16-megapixel front camera.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 SoC makes another appearance here, along with the 5000mAh battery and 67W fast charging support. You also get the same 6.67-inch full-HD+ 120Hz Super AMOLED display with Gorilla Glass 5, plus stereo speakers. This phone supports dual 5G but has a hybrid dual-SIM tray. There's Wi-Fi ac, Bluetooth 5.1, and GPS. There's an infrared emitter on the top as well as a 3.5mm audio socket.

This phone runs MIUI 11 on top of Android 11 and once again, the experience is very familiar. It seems that Poco has chosen to go with an app drawer enabled by default, but everything else looks and feels the same. Hopefully, an Android 12 update is in the works.

The Poco X4 Pro 5G has the same camera layout and body dimensions as the Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G

Poco offers the X4 Pro 5G starting with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage for Rs. 18,999. That's less than what the Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G starts at, and that could work in its favour despite having half the storage. The 6GB RAM, 128GB storage variant costs Rs. 19,999 and there's also an 8GB, 128GB option for Rs. 21,999 in India. These are both Rs. 1,000 less expensive than their Redmi equivalents, which makes sense. Poco also offers discounts for some bank customers and exchange bonuses.

Following its spinoff from Xiaomi, Poco was supposed to be an entirely separate brand focused on the youth market. We've seen situations like this before, and it still doesn't seem to make much sense. There are already multiple models and variants within the Redmi Note 11 family, many of which overlap in terms of pricing. It will be tough to wade through all the options to find what's right for you, and ultimately, it might just come down to which one you find better looking.

It might seem unfair to focus so much on the similarities between these two phones, but these are our first impressions of the Poco X4 Pro 5G, and the facts are impossible to ignore. While we conduct our full review, you can find out most of what you need to know about this phone, other than primary camera quality, in our full review of the Redmi Note 11 Pro+ 5G.