POCO M5 Review with Pros and Cons: Best Under Rs 15000?

We have a new affordable smartphone from POCO and yes, the POCO M5 4G has its Pros and Cons but still, for the price of Rs 12,499, it’s a good smartphone to consider.

POCO M5 4G Price in India

POCO M5 4G price in India starts from Rs 12,499 for 4GB of Ram and 64GB storage while 8GB of Ram and 128GB storage variant is available at Rs 14,449. The device is available in POCO Yellow, Icy Blue, and Power Black color options.

It will go for sale on 13th September 2022 at noon via Flipkart. For a limited time, you can get Rs 1500 OFF on ICICI Bank and Axis Bank cards along with Free Disney+ Hotstar Mobile 1-year Subscription.

POCO M5 4G Review

Yes, the POCO M5 4G is worth buying, it does have its Pros and Cons but still, considering the Rs 12499, it does offer value. However, if you can spend Rs 1500 more then just go with POCO M4 Pro 4G otherwise, POCO M5 4G is a good option for the price it comes.

These days, we’re not getting good value for money smartphones under Rs 20000, so you will have to compromise one to two features, and in the case of POCO M5 4G, the cameras are not that great and you might not like the waterdrop notch as well.

Related: 5 Best Smartphones Under Rs 15000

Putting all things together, POCO M5 4G is a decent smartphone for day-to-day life, it doesn’t offer extraordinary specs, the design is not appalling, the cameras are weak, and along with that, it’s a 4G smartphone.

POCO M5 4G Pros and Cons

PROS	CONS
Powerful MediaTek Helio G99 SoC	Average Cameras
3.5mm Audio Jack	Unnecessary 2MP+2MP Sensors
Dedicated Micro-SD Card Slot	LCD Display
Widevine L1 Support	No Carrier Aggregation Support
Long-lasting Battery Life	Only 18W Charging Support
	Plastic Build
	Old School Waterdrop Notch
	No 5G Connectivity
	No Secondary Noise Cancel Mic

POCO M5 4G: Display

The POCO M5 4G comes with a 90Hz 6.58-inches LCD display with a resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels and pick a brightness of 500 nits.

The display is not that bad but that waterdrop notch messed up everything, this is the end of 2022, and still, brands are launching smartphones with a waterdrop notch.

On the back side, POCO has used plastic but they have added a leather finish. It’s not actual lather, it’s leather texture.

The frame is plastic which is kind of okay because this Rs 12,499 smartphone, while there is Gorilla Glass 3 on the front.

The display brightness could have been better, the 500 nits do its job but POCO should have provided the 1000 nits for better viewing angles.

Overall, for the price of Rs 12499, the punch hole notch would have been better nevertheless, it’s not the worst display.

POCO M5 4G: Performance

We have recently seen the MediaTek Helio G99 in Infinix Note 12 Pro 4G and the same has been used on POCO M5 4G.

The MediaTek Helio G99 SoC is an upgraded version of the Helio G96. Mediatek has mainly updated the CPU which means, the SoC should provide the batter battery life while the GPU has also gotten a little bit of upgrade.

You will be able to play games like COD Mobile and BGMI Mobile at 40fps which is not bad at all for Rs 12499 smartphone.

Related: 5 Best Smartphones Under Rs 20000

The device runs on MIUI 13 based on Android 12, there are no words from POCO about future updates but going by the record, the phone should get an Android 13 update soon.

By the way, the MediaTek Helio G99 doesn’t support 5G connectivity hence, you will have to live with 4G.

POCO M5 4G is a good smartphone for decent gaming and even for day-to-day usage, you will be more than happy with its performance.

POCO M5 4G: Cameras

We’re going through the trend and I think it won’t stop every soon, yes I’m talking about 2MP+2MP sensors.

The POCO M5 4G comes with a 50MP primary sensor + 2MP macro lens + 2MP depth sensor while there is an 8MP selfie shooter on the front. Both the rear and front cameras can shoot videos at 1080p@30fps.

The device relies on EIS at the same time, it’s an affordable smartphone, so don’t expect smooth videos.

The 50MP sensors take good images under good lighting, there is a little bit of noise along with softness but still, it provides useable images.

The dynamic range is well-balanced, sometimes it does mess up the background but it doesn’t happen every single time.

Related: 5 Best Smartphones Under Rs 25000

POCO has also added a dedicated night mode which works but not the best, when you click an image at night, you will see lots of noise and softness.

The images do come out a bit brighter but it’s not postable on social media.

Back to the 8MP front camera,

The sensor feels like it’s added for showcase only, the details are not there while the dynamic range needs to fix otherwise, you will have to click more than one selfie.

All in all, the front camera needs lots of improvement and I hope, POCO works on it.

Overall, POCO M5 4G has decent cameras and it needs improvement, adding three sensors on the back is not necessary but adding quality sensors makes more sense that the mobile brands need to understand.

Cameras Samples of POCO M5 4G…

POCO M5 4G: Audio

It’s an affordable smartphone and you won’t get everything that’s said, the POCO M5 4G doesn’t have stereo speakers, Carrier Aggregation Support as well as Secondary Noise Cancel Microphone.

The single speaker is not that great, you will be disappointed with its quality.

By the way, the device does have a 3.5mm audio jack along with a dedicated micro-SD card slot.

POCO M5 4G: Battery

The device comes with a 5,000mAh battery with 18W fast charging support and yes, the 18W charger is supplied in the box.

The battery will last for a long time because of the MediaTek Helio G99 processor, if you’re a heavy user then you will have to charge the device between 8 to 9 PM but if you’re a normal user then the battery will easily last for a day.

Now, POCO should have provided the 33W or even 30W charging speed because MediaTek Helio G99 does support that.

In the end, it’s a brand call and brands are here to make a profit, so they will cut some of the features.

POCO M5 4G Review: Verdict

Still, if you have any kind of questions then feel free to comment, I would love to chat with you, and see you there.

POCO M5 4G Full Specifications

Launch Date	5th September 2022
Available From	13th September 2022 at noon via Flipkart
India Price	4GB+64GB: Rs 12,499 6GB+128GB: Rs 14,449
Launch Offers	Rs 1500 OFF on ICICI Bank and Axis Bank cards Free Disney+ Hotstar Mobile 1 year Subscription
Colors	POCO Yellow, Icy Blue, Power Black.
In the Box	POCO M5 4G 22.5W Power Adapter Protective Case Type A to Type-C Cable Protective Film Quick Start Guide SIM Tray Ejector
Display	6.58-inches FHD+ LCD display 240 Hz Touch Sampling Rate 500 nits Pick Brightness Screen-to-Body Ratio: 83.6% 401 PPI density 90Hz refresh rate
Resolution	1080 x 2400 pixels
Dimensions	164 x 76.1 x 8.9 mm Weight: 201 Gram
Build	Glass Front (Gorilla Glass 3) Plastic Frame Plastic Back
Rear Camera	50MP Primary 2MP Depth 2MP Macro Video: 1080p recording at 30/60fps Camera Samples
Front Camera	8MP Front Video: 1080p video recording at 30 fps
Processor	MediaTek Helio G99 (6nm) GPU: Mali-G57 MC2 CPU: Octa-core (2×2.2 GHz Cortex-A76 & 6×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55)
OS	Android 12 – MIUI 13
5G Support	No
Sensors	Side-Mounted Fingerprint Sensor, Ambient Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor, E-Compass, Accelerometer, Virtual Gyroscope, IR Blaster
NFC	No
Audio	Single Speaker 3.5mm Audio Jack Present
Battery	5000mAh battery 18W wired fast Charging Support USB Type-C 2.0
Other Features	Bluetooth 5.3 USF 2.2 Storage LPDDR4X Ram 10-Point Multi-touch Supported Camera2Api Supported Widevine L1 Supported
SD Card Slot	Yes, Dedicated Slot
Weight	201 Gram
SAR Value	Head: 0.851 W/Kg, Body: 0.674 W/Kg
Modal Number	42728
Available at	Flipkart

*images: Hardware Voyage