Poco F5 review verdict: You won't find it easy to find a better phone for under US$500

If you are on the hunt for a thin and lightweight mid-range phone, then you might have found your match: the Poco F5. Xiaomi has managed to create a great mid-range smartphone for under US$500 with only a few points of critique. One deficit is surely its haptics, as the Poco F5 doesn't feature a high-quality glass back. Potential buyers will have to make do with the Xiaomi phone having a plastic frame and back cover with the latter's high-shine surface proving to be a real fingerprint magnet.

The  Poco F5's actual weakness is its uncertain update delivery. Xiaomi hasn't communicated for how long the Poco phone is set to receive software updates - at least, the Poco F5 isn't listed in the manufacturer's Security Center. It will surely receive an upgrade to Android 14, but the manufacturer has made no official remarks surrounding this. In terms of software maintenance, Samsung has shown that more is possible within the mid-range field. Its Galaxy A54 is set to receive four big updates and five years of software updates.

Apart from this, the Poco F5 stood out in our detailed test thanks to its powerful Snapdragon 7+ Gen 2. The Qualcomm chipset offers considerably better performance than comparable mid-range smartphones, such as the Samsung Galaxy A54 5G or the Honor Magic5 Lite. Even aside from its powerful SoC, the Poco F5 impresses with its strong set of features (WiFi 6E, 3.5 mm jack, fast charging, ...), bright 120-Hz AMOLED panel including good color space coverage, as well as long runtimes.

Do you place great importance on a powerful smartphone with an excellent display and you're on the hunt for an inexpensive mid-range phone? Then you can check out our detailed review of the Poco F5 to help make up your mind.