Leaked Poco F2 prototype showcases a phone that would have succeeded the Poco F1

Released in 2018, the Poco F1 will go down as a legendary device that revitalized the concept of a flagship killer. For some reason, Xiaomi failed to follow up the Poco F1 with a Poco F2 the year after. The company did release the Poco F2 Pro two years after the Poco F1, then the Poco F3 earlier this year. A new leak, however, has now showcased the device that would've been the Poco F2 in 2019.

This leak comes via Xiaomiui and shows a prototype supposedly intended to be the Poco F2 or the Redmi K20s. In an alternate timeline, the device would've likely have been sold with either of those two brandings depending on the market. 

Interestingly, the prototype sports a hole punch at its top left corner—not a pop-up camera like on the Redmi K20 and Redmi K20 Pro. Hole punches were just getting into trend then and the images show a rather large hole on the display, with an egregious halo around it. A sign of the times. 

According to the source, the phone would've had a FHD+ AMOLED display, just like the other Redmi K20 phones. Of course, it would've been a 60 Hz panel, since high refresh rate displays weren't mainstream then. Other listed specs include a rear fingerprint reader—weird since Xiaomi's AMOLED phones were already adopting in-display readers. A triple camera setup with a Redmi K20-esque design and a Snapdragon 855 complete the provided spec sheet. The phone looks to be running on an AOSP Dev ROM, on Android 9.

Would this have been a good successor to the Poco F1? Almost definitely. The Redmi K20 and Redmi K20 Pro were solid alternatives, however, and in hindsight, this wouldn't have been anywhere near as intriguing as the phone it was to succeed. 

Buy the Poco X3 Pro on Amazon.