New POCO F3 and POCO X3 Pro flagship phones now official

POCO Global today launched two flagship smartphones – The Real Beast POCO F3 and the new and soon-to-be-coveted POCO X3 Pro.

Sporting the Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 5G Mobile Platform, POCO F3 immediately grabs attention as the brand’s most commanding device to date. POCO F3 is also equipped with a 6.67″ E4 AMOLED DotDisplay with 120Hz refresh rate, as well as the Dolby Atmos audio technology. Powerful yet slim and light, POCO F3 is comfortably in the league with high-end flagships.

POCO X3 Pro maintains the top-notch features that made its predecessor a prime choice for hardcore gamers and techies but boasts an even better performance with one of the most powerful 4G mobile platforms currently on the market: the Qualcomm Snapdragon 860 Mobile Platform. With upgraded speed, storage capacity, and RAM option, POCO X3 Pro takes gaming experience to a level unparalleled at this price point.

“As of Feb 28th, 2021, POCO has shipped a total of 13 million smartphones since the initial launch of POCO F1 in 2018. And specifically, global shipments of POCO X3 NFC alone have surpassed 4 million units within 7 months,” said Kevin Qiu, Head of POCO Global. “This time, we will continue POCO’s success by bringing exactly what you need, and MORE.”

POCO F3 

POCO F3 plays in the big leagues with the brand’s most powerful device yet, powered by the Snapdragon 870 5G Mobile Platform. The device features an upgraded Qualcomm Kryo 585 CPU prime core clock speed of up to 3.2 GHz, which is an industry-leading prime core clock speed. Along with the ultra-fast Qualcomm Adreno 650 GPU, POCO F3 delivers a superb game-play experience.

Paired with LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage, the flagship setup guarantees faster read-write speeds for multitasking. The boosted performance is embodied in its high efficiency 7nm processor as well as the LiquidCool Technology 1.0 Plus which allows the device to deliver sustained peak performance.

POCO F3 meets all the latest benchmarks in connectivity, sporting a Snapdragon X55 5G Modem-RF System for the lightning-fast 5G connectivity with support for the majority of global network bands. The device also supports Wi-Fi 6, putting it comfortably in league with high-end smartphones.

POCO F3’s 120Hz high refresh rate provides unprecedented smoothness when gaming on the large 6.67″ AMOLED display. This beast also features one of the tiniest dots in the industry at just 2.76mm.  Additionally, the 360Hz touch sampling rate and the fine-tuned touch algorithm allows the phone to respond extremely fast to the touch of a fingertip. The MEMC technology, adding up to 60fps, further enhances the smoothness of video content.

The HDR10+ certified display, along with the True Display and True Color features, provides a truly eye-pleasing viewing experience with vibrant, highly accurate colors.  More than that, the upgraded E4 material brings the screen’s peak brightness to 1300 nits, and helps reduce power consumption by 15% compared to the last-generation E3 material.

Crafted from a non-slippery material and measuring only 7.8mm thin and 196g in weight, the device feels comfortable and secure in the hand. At the same time, the Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on both front and back gives the phone sturdy protection.

Rocking a dual speaker setup with a bottom main speaker and a secondary speaker at the top, POCO F3 produces superior, high-definition sound. POCO F3 is the brand’s first device to feature Dolby Atmos sound technology, leveling up the sound quality for a thoroughly immersive experience for gaming, videos, and music, no matter if you are listening through headphones or built-in speakers.

“We, at Dolby, are looking forward to the launch of the POCO F3 series, because not only are we thrilled to extend the extraordinary Dolby Atmos experience to smartphones from POCO, but we are also proud of the spectacular work done by POCO in enabling a world-class entertainment experience on the POCO F3,” said Mahesh Balakrishnan, Vice President of Audio Business, Consumer Entertainment Group at Dolby Laboratories.

POCO F3’s AI triple camera setup and a myriad of crafty, innovative camera features help unleash photography skills. The rear cameras consist of a 48MP main camera with 1.6μm 4-in-1 large pixel, a 119° ultra-wide lens, and a 5MP telemacro camera that supports 3cm – 7cm autofocus. This finely tuned combo allows for stunning high-resolution and detailed images in lightning time, greatly improving the camera’s versatility. The 20MP front camera also supports Night Mode selfie.

Unlike most of dual-mic smartphones, POCO F3 has a triple-microphone setup and comes with Audio Zoom feature. When shooting a video, the dedicated third microphone on the rear allows the device to “zoom in” on the sound along with the image, capturing clear audio of far-away scenes and considerably improving sound reception during filming. Meanwhile, the X-axis linear haptic motor provides short, crisp vibrations to complete the flagship-level entertainment experience.

POCO F3 gets its power from no ordinary battery. The 4,520mAh (typ) battery can be powered up at lightning speed thanks to the Middle Middle Tab (MMT) technology, which routes electric current into the device more efficiently. With the 33W in-box fast charger, the device can be charged to 100% in just 52 minutes.

POCO F3 comes in three colors, Arctic White, Night Black and Deep Ocean Blue, with two storage variants – 6GB+128GB and 8GB+256GB. The 6GB+128GB will retail at PhP 17,990, while the 8GB+258GB version is priced at PhP 20,990 exclusively on Lazada. Consumers who will avail on March 27 will enjoy an early bird offer of PhP 15,990 and PhP 18,990 for the 6GB+128GB and 8GB+256GB respectively.

POCO X3 Pro

POCO X3 Pro features a flagship performance, featuring Qualcomm Snapdragon 860, one of the most powerful 4G mobile platforms currently on the market. This platform features a Kryo 485 CPU boasting 7nm processing technology for peak performance of up to 2.96GHz, along with the Adreno 640 GPU for enhanced graphics rendering. Combined, the platform allows you to enjoy an ultra-smooth, high-quality gaming experience, even when playing processing-heavy 3D games at high settings.

Along with enhanced UFS 3.1, the device offers snappy read and write speeds, so you don’t have to wait long to load files, games and apps. The device also features LiquidCool Technology 1.0 Plus – a cooling solution packing an enlarged copper heat pipe and multiple layers of graphite that work together to reduce the device’s thermal capacity.

POCO X3 Pro retains the stunning 6.67″ FHD+ DotDisplay with a 120Hz refresh rate and 240Hz touch sampling rate, ensuring a super responsive, low-latency gameplay experience. The display uses DynamicSwitch to optimize refresh rate for different applications. POCO X3 Pro’s display has an upgraded protection for daily wear and tear using Corning Gorilla Glass 6.

The latest device stands out with a refined design with three new eye-catching colors. The 3D curved back instantly draws in the eyes with a rainbow finish that beautifully catches the light at different angles, a trendy look that pairs elegantly with the bold chroma POCO logo and a vertical finish line” stripe running down the middle. Plus, POCO X3 Pro sports an easily-accessible and accurate side-mounted fingerprint sensor.

Say goodbye to low-power anxiety – equipped with an ultra-large capacity 5,160mAh (typ) battery, POCO X3 Pro offers a battery life of up to two full days. Built-in MMT technology and a 33W in-box fast charger make sure the device is powered up in lightning time.

Its dual top-and-bottom speaker setup provides a stunning flagship-level sound for streaming and gaming, which paired with the lively vibrations generated from the device’s precisely tuned Z-axis linear motor, made for gratifying gameplay.

POCO X3 Pro acts as your pocket videographer with a complete quad-camera rear setup and a myriad of noteworthy camera functions to explore. A 48MP main camera supporting 1.6um 4-in-1 Super Pixels allows for clear and stunningly detailed images. The 119° ultra-wide camera lens offers Night Mode so beautiful landscape shots or group photos can happen even in low-light conditions. The macro camera and depth sensor complete the outfit by offering extra camera versatility and capabilities.

POCO X3 Pro in the Philippines will come in three colors: Phantom Black, Frost Blue, Metal Bronze with two storage variants. The 6GB+128GB and 8GB+256GB versions will retail at PhP 12,990 and PhP 15,990 respectively, and be exclusively available on Shopee. Early bird price of PhP 10,990 for the 6GB+12GB variant, and PhP 13,990 for the 8+256GB variants shall apply for purchases made on March 24.

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ASUS Vivobook Pro 14 OLED First Impressions: Armed for Content Creation!

03/09/2022

As content creators both for our website and YouTube channel, having a reliable laptop is a must for on-the-go productivity.

With our work consisting mostly of photo and video editing, our laptop not only needs capable specs to crunch processes, but it also needs an accurate display profile that’s close to real-life colors.

This will allow us to effectively color grade our images whether we want to show lifelike colors or experiment with other color palettes.

This is one of the ASUS Vivobook Pro 14 OLED‘s many strengths. But unlike the more powerful but bigger ROG Zephyrus S17 that we recently reviewed, this one can fit in an envelope-sized sleeve.

So we’re looking forward to seeing if we can do our usual editing routine in this smaller package.

We’ll be sharing our full review in a week’s time but for now, here are my first impressions.

The Vivobook Pro 14 OLED (M3401) comes with many similarities with models from the ZenBook line. It has the same sleek and thin profile, subtle accents, and an overall straightforward design.

I like it in its Quiet Blue color for that sort of stealthy appearance that doesn’t demand attention when you’re outside. But there’s Cool Silver as well for a more sophisticated look.


Weighing in at 1.4kgs, the Vivobook Pro 14 OLED is light, and moving from one spot to another is easy — great for sharing content with Vikka or if I need her opinions on my edits.

I also appreciate the number of ports it carries. From a standard HDMI, microSD reader, audio jack, USB Type-C, and a total of three USB Type-A ports, you have most of the connectivity options you need to accomplish work.

The keyboard doesn’t span out the entire chassis so you have extra space on both sides.

It’s interesting to note that the Power button on the upper right corner is the only key that’s recessed to differentiate it from the rest.

This specific key also functions as a fingerprint scanner for that added layer of protection. It also comes with slight accents like this white pattern on the Enter key — it adds a nice highlight and gives character to the laptop.

The touchpad is something I also want to mention since scrolling using it feels really nice to touch. It does say in its little sticker that it’s silky smooth and I didn’t believe it until I experienced it myself.

Additionally, it can be transformed into a Number Pad with a simple press of the toggle at the top right part.

Moving on, the bezels are not that thick but not that slim, either. It does, however, have this webcam up top with its own privacy shutter which is great, especially with the influx of today’s virtual meetings.

I no longer have to manually cover the camera with whatever I find.

I’ve watched a couple of YouTube videos on its OLED display and streamed a few shows on Netflix as well.

The laptop comes with a 100% DCI-P3 color gamut and a PANTONE validated display which together translates to producing lifelike colors and accurate hues.

These have been so far evident with the overall color of the content I’m watching and are especially noticeable on skin tones. They have that warmer, realistic tint to them compared to the greenish hue of LCD displays, in my opinion.

Its 14-inch panel comes with a 16:10 aspect ratio which is something new to me as I’m used to working on a more common 16:9 layout.

I had no problems with that since it worked to my advantage when editing videos, but I found that the taller 16:10 ratio gives you better screen real estate for other things like browsing the internet in multiple windows.

For content creation, it has also provided me with more spaces for my Workstation in Adobe Premiere Pro so far.

And color grading with its OLED display has been easier as I could be confident its colors are accurate.

Blacks are also deep which is expected of an OLED panel so watching movies and even playing games are more enjoyable and benefit from this feature.

In terms of audio performance, I’m always streaming music and its built-in speakers are decent enough for personal use.

Although when watching movies, I prefer being immersed in big sound so I might just hook the laptop up to external speakers using Bluetooth.

Inside, our Vivobook Pro 14 OLED comes with an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX CPU with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 graphics. There’s an option to go for lower-tier AMD processors and NVIDIA graphics cards but this is the top configuration you can get.

Meanwhile, it comes with either 8GB or 16GB RAM and up to 1TB of SSD storage, but what we have here is the 16GB/512GB variant.

One of the unique features of this laptop is that it’s equipped with dual fans for more effective cooling.

With them, ASUS promises up to 50W CPU performance for heavy users using its ASUS IceCool Plus Technology. I still have to put that to the test as I spend more time with it and will include it in the full review.

The Vivobook Pro 14 OLED also boasts fast WiFi 6 connectivity which is able to establish a more reliable internet connection.

This should be especially helpful to us since when we shoot outdoors and need to quickly share all those materials online, we demand a stable connection.

Its battery is rated at 63WHrs which should be enough for a few hours of heavy usage before needing to plug it again.

From the short couple of days that I spent with the ASUS Vivobook 14 Pro OLED, I could already transition from my desktop with only little adjustments.

Of course, I have to charge the laptop every night or so, but in terms of handling my workload, it was able to do so with no signs of stress or slowing down.

The ASUS Vivobook Pro 14 OLED starts at PhP 47,995 for the base model but the configuration with us is priced at PhP 74,995.

You can also avail of its Valentine’s promo bundle — every purchase of the ASUS Vivobook Pro 14 OLED comes with free Wacom Pad Intuos worth PhP 6,300 to further sweeten the deal.

We also have a full review out on the ASUS Vivobook Pro 14 OLED. You can head over here to watch it.

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