Xiaomi Poco X5 smartphone review – Everything you need?

The Poco X5 is a mid-range device from Poco. It is above Poco’s M series but below the F series . Next to the X5 5G, there is also a better-equipped X5 Pro 5G .

Poco offers the X5 in different versions, either with 128 GB memory and 6 GB RAM or with 256 GB memory and 8 GB RAM. The smaller model currently costs $226 and for more memory, you will be paying just under $50 extra. The X5 is available in three colors: black, blue and green.

All the colors are relatively understated and matte. Our test model is the one with the smaller memory. The back of the Poco X5 is made of plastic.

The camera module extrudes a little – if you type while the phone is on the table, it wobbles ever so slightly. Its build is good – the buttons have a clear pressure point. The phone is IP53 certified, meaning it is at least water-repellent.

The frame and back are both matte and don’t have a tendency to show fingerprints. The device makes noises when you try to twist it. The Poco X5 relies on solid hardware.

Its installed Snapdragon 695 5G isn’t totally up-to-date, but this isn’t any reason to shy away in this price category. A positive aspect is that the phone has an audio jack and that you can expand the storage via a microSD card. The device even has an infrared port and NFC.

The phone also has a dual SIM feature – but only when there is no microSD card installed, as it is a hybrid port. Its USB-C connection only has a USB 2. 0 transmission standard.

The Xiaomi Poco X5 has a built-in microSD card reader which accepts a capacity of up to 1 TB. The device is also exFAT capable. In our test using an Angelbird AV Pro V60 as a reference card, the phone’s transfer rates were decent.

The X5 is a little faster than the Redmi Note 12 and considerably faster than the Telekom T-Phone Pro . However, the Samsung Galaxy A23 is about twice as fast when it comes to transferring data. The Poco X5 comes delivered with Android 12 installed – but directly after setting the phone up, it offers you the option to update it to Android 13.

The manufacturer relies on MIUI 14 as an overlay. After first setting up the 128-GB version of the phone, there were 101 GB available to use. At the time of testing, the safety patch is from 1st March 2023.

Ex works, the phone comes with quite a few apps preinstalled – ranging from Poco apps and Xiaomi and Google software, all the way through to third-party apps such as TikTok, AliExpress, Booking, Amazon, Bing and Agoda. There are quite a few games already installed, too. Thankfully, all of these apps can easily be deleted.

Information regarding how long the Poco X5 will be supplied with software and security updates is not available at present. The Poco phone uses Wifi-5 for its WLAN connection. Using the Asus ROG Rapture GT-AXE11000 as our reference router, transmission worked fine and the rates in our test remained stable.

In terms of speed, the X5 is average for this price range. All the other phones in this comparison delivered similar speeds. When it comes to cellular connection, the phone behaves just as unremarkably.

It is capable of 5G, its coverage is good and all the most important frequency bands are covered. Outside, the Poco X5 establishes a connection via satellite quickly and reliably. Indoors, the connection is a little less stable and its positioning is quite inaccurate.

The Poco has a mono GNSS connection, but it supports SBAS. We tested the satellite connection’s accuracy on a bike trip using the Garmin Venus 2 as a reference device. The Poco X5 did a good job of localizing and it displayed radii well.

In everyday use, navigation using services such as Google Maps should work without a problem. There are no surprises when it comes to phoning on the Poco X5. The tone coming out of the earpiece is clear and loud enough.

Your voice is transmitted reliably – although it could filter out background noise a little better. Phoning using the loudspeaker is fine, too. The maximum volume is sufficient – although the loudspeaker has a tendency to rattle a little bit.

Poco don’t use their own telephone app – instead, they rely on Google software. The app is structured well and doesn’t cause any confusion. A triple camera can be found on the back of the Poco X5.

Its main camera has a maximum resolution of 48 MPix – although, generally it uses a pixel binning method and the actual resolution is 12 MPix. You can use a separate mode to take photos using the full 48 MPix. In good lighting conditions, the photos are nice.

Its color depiction is natural – although, the photos could be a little sharper. There is a steep decline in sharpness in darker lighting conditions and the photos start to appear a little washed-out. The ultra-wide angle lens yields much less sharp and detailed results.

Upon closer inspection, the images are quite grainy and simply can’t keep up with those taken using the main camera. The macro camera has a resolution of 2 MPix – photos taken with this lens are decent if there is enough light. The X5 can record video on all lenses at a maximum of 1080p and 30 FPS.

Video stabilization works fine – although, the images are sometimes quite washed-out and smudged. In controlled lighting conditions, the X5 delivers sharp photos – in the middle as well as the edges. With less light (1 lux), you can still see some detail, but the images suffer from quite a bit of noise.

Color depiction is fine in controlled lighting conditions – but photos have a tendency to be depicted a little too light. This is most noticeable with darker green tones. Not only does the Poco X5 come with a USB cable (USB-A to USB-C), but it also comes with a fitting 33-watt power supply.

The package also includes an instruction manual, a SIM eject tool as well as a transparent case. Ex works, the phone’s screen is also fitted with a screen protector. In Germany (where this review was conducted), the Poco X5 comes with a two-year warranty.

Poco have gone for Google’s GBoard keyboard for this phone, which means that typing feels smooth and you don’t have to worry about many wrong inputs. Even with the screen protector, the screen has a nice gliding feel to it. Touch inputs are reliably recognized – even toward the corners of the screen.

The X5 can be unlocked using its fingerprint scanner in the power button, but you can also do this via 2D facial recognition. Both methods work really quickly and reliably – the X5 can be unlocked at lightning speed every time. A one-handed mode is integrated into the MIUI, which also works every time and makes using the phone with one hand an enjoyable experience.

The X5’s display is 6. 67 inches in size and has a ratio of 20:9. Its AMOLED panel allows for a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz.

Poco advertize the phone as having a maximum brightness of 1,200 nits. In our realistic APL 18 test, we weren’t quite able to reach these numbers – but at 1,035 cd/m², the screen is still nice and bright. This number was achieved with activated ambient light sensor – without this sensor, we achieved a maximum of 432 cd/m².

Compared to other devices in this class, the Poco X5 sure wins some points. Only the new Honor Magic5 Lite managed higher brightness levels and had slightly more accurate colors. Compared its other competitors, the Poco is miles ahead.

However, at 120 Hz, our measurements also showed a constant PWM from a brightness of 54 per cent – presumably this is an OLED flicker. At lower brightness levels, this flickering fluctuated between 151 and 486 Hz. The X5’s settings do offer an option for an always-on display, but it isn’t a true AOD.

The display can be customized, but it isn’t always on – instead, it shows this for a few minutes before the screen completely switches off. Due to the type of screen, it is sure to impress with its perfect black values and great contrast. Its color balance is good all-in-all and deviations mostly lie within an unnoticeable area.

Using ColorChecker, we only saw bigger deviations in some of the gray tones – still nothing too dramatic, though. The Poco X5’s display is bright enough for outdoor use. The phone is indeed much lighter when the ambient light sensor is activated than when it is deactivated – as was determined in our measurements.

The Poco X5 benefits from great viewing angle stability. Colors remain unchanged and you can read content from virtually any angle without any issues. The Poco X5’s Snapdragon is fitted with an Adreno 619 graphics unit – with this, the phone fares well compared to its competitors.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to get all of our benchmarks to run on the X5. Our browser benchmarks showed similar results to those of the other benchmarks. The X5 performed well compared to the average of all the devices we tested and didn’t suffer any mishaps.

Deviations between the individual benchmarks are normal and to be expected. Surfing on the smartphone doesn’t flag up any issues in everyday use. Pages are loaded quickly and you can scroll through them smoothly.

A UFS 2. 2 storage device is built into the Poco X5. It delivers average data transmission speeds – only the Redmi Note 12 is considerably faster in all categories.

While the SoC and graphics unit aren’t exactly high-end components, the Poco X5 still manages to run up-to-date games such as PUBG Mobile smoothly. Unfortunately, you can’t get any better resolutions than HD, and the X5 only manages to reach 30 FPS. In turn, its image refresh rate is stable – which the GameBench measurements show.

Less intense games such as Dead Trigger 2 are easy for the X5 – here, it manages to achieve frame rates of over 100. The phone’s screen and mono speakers both left a good impression and make for a fun gaming experience. The Poco X5 generally remained cool at all times.

Even at full load, we only measured a maximum temperature of 31. 7 degrees Celsius on the front of the device – the back actually only measured 30. 6 degrees Celsius.

Even while gaming, the phone never got hotter than simply being warm to the touch. Unfortunately, we were not able to run the 3DMark Wild Life stress test on this phone. A mono speaker can be found on the bottom of the Poco X5.

At around 93 dB, it sure can get loud. Even at full volume, the device doesn’t vibrate at all. In the mids and highs, the X5 has a balanced and linear tone.

Admittedly, the phone lacks in bass and even in lower middle frequencies. In turn, the Poco phone does have a 3. 5-millimetre jack with a good signal-to-noise ratio of 76.

91 dBFS. You can also easily connect Bluetooth headphones to the device. Its range of supported codecs is wide: SBC, AAC, aptX/HD, aptX Adaptive, aptX TWS+ LDAC, LHDC (1-5).

Our power consumption measurements revealed how expertly Poco balanced the X5. In idle mode as well as at load, the X5 delivered good results and came in just over the class average. The Redmi Note 12 may be a little more frugal in idle mode, but it uses considerably more power at load.

After measuring such good power consumption values, we were surprised to see the runtime results. Compared to all the other devices we tested, the Poco has no chance. Only at full load did the X5 achieve similar runtimes as its competitors.

In all other disciplines, the Poco lay well behind the Samsung Galaxy A23 and the Motorola Moto G53 . Thanks to its 5,000 mAh battery, the phone does still easily manage to last a full day – even if it is used a lot. The Poco X5 5G is a good mid-range device.

It impressed in our test thanks to its immaculate build and complete features including NFC, infrared blaster, expandable storage via microSD and a headphone jack. Furthermore, the smartphone has a bright, well-calibrated 120 Hz OLED screen as well as good enough performance for everyday use and for playing a game or two. The Poco X5 offers a great total package for a mid-range device.

Its main camera left a good impression on us, too. In good lighting conditions, you can take crisp, detailed photos. In darker conditions, the phone nears its limits – but for the price, this is to be expected.

Its ultra-wide angle lens can also be seen as rather something to be used when there is no other option. The X5 may still come with Android 12, but Android 13 is available to download. The software runs smoothly and you can delete the pre-installed bloatware.

The phone never has any issues with overheating. Our only issue with the phone at the moment is its battery life – at least in comparison with its competitors. Other devices such as the Samsung Galaxy A23 or the Motorola Moto G53 deliver much better runtimes from a 5,000 mAh battery.

At this stage, Poco could surely rectify this with an update. The Poco X5 5G with 6 GB RAM and 128 GB storage can be purchased on Amazon for $226. The version with 8 GB RAM and 256 GB storage can be purchased for $272.

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