The Poco F1 is set to hit Europe but it will leave its "flagship killer" title behind in India

Last week, Xiaomi shook the smartphone world with the launch of its new device, the Poco F1. We’re massive fans of the F1, as it may very well be the enthusiast’s ideal phone—a combination of performance-oriented, no-nonsense specifications and an unbeatable US$300 price tag making it one of the candidates for phone for the year. Xiaomi is set to bring the F1 over to Europe on August 29 but fans of the device in the West may not be thrilled.

The F1 that will be sold in Europe will likely be the exact same model sold in India, although there’s a chance the European model sees a few extra LTE bands. What makes it an unexciting launch—relative to the Indian model—however, is its price tag. According to Roland Quandt, the F1 will be sold in Europe with a heavier 399 Euros MSRP. For some perspective, the base F1 in India has an MSRP that translates to about 260 Euros. That represents a hefty 50% price differential across both markets.

There are reasons for that, of course. Most notable would be the fact that Xiaomi manufactured the F1 in India, so production costs would be much lower. The company would have to pay to transport the devices to Europe. There’s also the fact that the EU has some hefty product taxes and other such costs that must be factored in.

Of course, an extra 140 Euros on the device’s price tag is still a shocking proposition, and one that takes the F1 from a must-buy to just another interesting device. At a 399 Euros price point, devices like the Nokia 7 Plus, Honor 10, Honor Play, and OnePlus 6 all offer, debatably, more value.