POCO M2 PRO- A REBRANDED REDMI NOTE 9 PRO?

Poco M2 Pro is the latest from Poco launched on 7th July.It is going to be on sale from the 14th of this month in India via Flipkart.Now the question is why?

Are you confused?I asked why to Xiaomi.Poco from its launch had been a revelation in the smartphone industry specially in India.The Poco M2 Pro will be their third launch.But for me,my expectations have been shattered with this new launch.It will be clear from this post that this phone is a rebranded version of the Redmi Note 9 Pro with minor changes.

Why are Xiaomi doing it? I have no idea.You will find that the Redmi Note 9 Pro is unavailable in Flipkart.Now you will understand why? Let’s go into the details and in such a way you will realise what I am saying.Before that rest assured the Poco M2 Pro is a good phone at the price point but a phone we already have seen.

DESIGN AND BODY

The back looks beautiful with the dual tone colour exactly similar to the Redmi Note 9 Pro global version.The camera module of the Poco M2 Pro is a little different from the Redmi phone but has the similar array of cameras in terms of megapixel count.The front and back are protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 and the frame is plastic.The phone is splash resistant.

The dimensions of the phone are-165.75mm×76.68mm×8.8mm.It weighs 209g.No prizes for guessing the dimensions are exactly similar to that of the Redmi Note 9 Pro.

DISPLAY

The Poco M2 Pro sports a big 6.67″ IPS LCD display with FHD+(1080×2400) resolution.It supports HDR10 and has an aspect ratio of 20:9.The ppi is ~395 and the phone has an advertised maximum brightness of 450nits.

For the price point display is good and the big aspect ratio enables immersive video watching experience.Gaming will also be immersive in the big display.But just to point out the similarities the display specs of the Redmi Note 9 Pro are exactly alike.

OS AND PROCESSOR

Poco M2 Pro features MIUI 11 slapped over Android 10.It should be soon updated to MIUI 12.The usual gesture shortcuts of MI phones are present.

Under the hood is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G SoC which runs on 8nm technology.It has an octa core processor which clocks a maximum of 2.3GHz(2×2.3GHz Kyro Gold,6×1.8GHz Kyro Silver).The GPU is Adreno 618.

Overall this is a very capable processor in the mid range segment but I had hoped of a bit more upgraded one that would go along with the Poco branding.Neverthless you have to be satisfied with this for now and yet again it is the similar SoC used in Redmi Note 9 Pro.

STORAGE AND PRICE

Three variants are available – 4GB RAM +64GB Internal storage priced at ₹13999,6GB+64GB at ₹14999 and 6GB+128GB a priced at ₹16999.

Along with the onboard storage you get a dedicated slot for micro SD card by which you can expand storage upto 512GB.

CAMERA

REAR CAMERA

The Poco M2 Pro houses a quad camera module with a 48MP wide sensor with f/1.8,a 8MP ultra wide sensor with f/2.2 and 119°field of view,a 5MP macro lens with f/2.4 and a 2MP depth sensor with f/2.4.

Ultra Clear Mode, Night Mode,AI Scene detection, Portrait mode and Pro modes are some of the features available.The dedicated depth sensor ensures good Bokeh effects and the macro lens should take care of the close up photos when you feel to take one.

4K videos can be shot at 30fps and 1080p videos at 60fps.Stabilisation is not specified and I don’t think we should expect much from a phone of this range.Slow motion videos can also be captured.

FRONT CAMERA

A punch hole 16MP selfie shooter with f/2.5 is present on the front.It supports HDR and Night Mode for low light selfies.Videos of 720p and 1080p can be captured by the front camera at 30fps.

Before moving on farther don’t be surprised to hear that the camera set-up both front and rear is the same as that of the Redmi Note 9 Pro but this time of the Indian version.

OTHER FEATURES

The Poco M2 Pro features a side mounted fingerprint sensor.3.5mm jack is supported for your eared headphones.Audio is taken care of by the dual speakers.Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and IR blaster is present along with USB Type C support.Z shocker haptics takes care of the smooth touch and vibration sense.

BATTERY AND COLOURS

A mighty 5000mAH battery powers the phone and it comes with the USP of 33W fast charging support.I tell it USP because the Poco M2 Pro advertised the surge in charging before the launch even.The battery or more specifically the fast charging is the difference with the Redmi Note 9 Pro.

Out of the Blue, Green and Greener and Two shades of Black are the colour variants available.

CONCLUSION

The specs prove that the Poco M2 Pro is a very capable and efficient phone for the price point.In fact it can be a good contender in the mid-range segment.But I still am shocked at how a new phone can be launched like an exact copy of a previous phone and from the same company.

Poco after its launch had raised the bar of the phones in its budget section.But very sadly I feel it has lost its way.A rebranded phone is not what one expects from such a brand.

Anyways if you are going to buy a new phone in below₹15000 range you may consider the Poco M2 Pro but I feel the Motorola One Fusion+ will be a better option.

What are your thoughts? Please let me know in comments.