I got a Xiaomi Poco M3 and this is what I think of it

 

I wouldn't go into the specs of the phone, you can easily find it online, like Gsmarena.

Anyway, I know nuts about phone (like their chipset and all the technical stuffs) so it's no point I write about them and pretend like I know what I'm saying...LOL 

But I do know what kind of user experience I expect from a phone. So I'll just be sharing about my user experience.

This will be a brief one because I've just mainly used the phone as a music player and for light gaming (Kairosoft games if you know about them). 

I must say I love the look of the phone. The bright Yellow back cover is very attractive and is highly anti-fingerprint. It's good to hold and seems to be anti-slip as well. I know its loud and more "cute" design may not be for everyone, but it does comes in Blue and Black too if you like things "toned down".

The audio jack is at the top of the phone with the dual SIM card + MicroSD card slot at the left side while the volume button and On/Off button on the right side.

Yes, shameless Advertising again :p
Note: Photo is blurry because I didn't get the focus right.

There are speakers both on the top and bottom of the phone. Poco M3 uses a USB C charger and comes with 18W fast charging. I didn't use the power brick as I usually charge my phone overnight, so I can't comment on how efficient it is.

However, it is advertised to charge 25% of the battery in 30 minutes and 46% in one hour.

Starting Up and MIUI OS

I can't say I like the starting up of the phone. It took way too long to boot up the phone. Say a 20-30 seconds just to boot the phone to Home screen. 

The MIUI OS seems to be very heavy on the phone, taking up to 13.43GB and there are a whole load of "useless" (at least to me) apps pre-installed on the phone. They really just take up space and slows down the booting.

The phone also comes "pre-installed" with Ads, they are not intrusive but are kinda annoying. There are ways to toggle them off, and I found a good tutorial >> How to remove ads from Xiaomi phones with MIUI

Fingerprint Unlocking

The fingerprint sensor is on the On/Off button which actually makes it quite difficult when registering my fingerprint but when it comes to unlocking, it's lightning fast.

I actually don't enjoy the sensor being at the side because it slightly hard to reach and also not as convenient as iPhone 7 whereby you just put your thumb on the "Home" button. I ended up still having to pick up the phone to unlock it versus I can just unlock my iPhone while it's on the table.

Display and Brightness

Though limited, there are some option to customise the display like - the "colour scheme" and colour temperature. I thought it's a nice touch.  

I think the screen brightness is good for day to day use, especially for using indoors but if there is some sun, you might need to adjust the brightness level. 

So far, I haven't face a situation whereby I can't see the screen due to being outdoors.

Update: I realise the Poco M3 doesn't have enough brightness in some shows (like Kingdom) with a lot of dark or dimly lighted scenes. You'll have some problem with them even on high brightness. Sometimes, 100% is not enough still.

Music and Video

I enjoyed listening to music on the phone. I've all my audio files saved on the MicroSD card and there is no lag when reading from it. And I love that there are many options for music players - I got a player called "Black Player" which comes with a whole lot of functions like editing the meta-tags, setting the equalizer ...etc.

I also used the phone for YouTube and I must say its great. I feel its no difference from my iPhone, except that I won't be needing an adaptor!

The speakers are loud enough in most conditions even not at max volume. They are a little less energetic in the higher range but they're good in almost all other ranges. Bass is boomy and enjoyable.

Gaming

I didn't actually game intensively on this phone. I've played one round of PUBG (which I finished 11th). I must say, there will be some lag, but not that kind of lag that makes the game unplayable. I've faced worst lag on my iPhone to be honest, so much so that I thought I'm playing the game in 0.5x speed. Also, my iPhone heats up much more than the Poco M3 when playing PUBG.

I've also played hours of "Ninja Village" by Kairosoft and I'm surprised by how smooth the gameplay was. I always have problem with my iPhone heating up after hours of playing any Kairosoft games and then there will be noticeable lag. But I don't seems to have this problem with the Poco M3. 

But let's be fair, my iPhone is quite old already and it has been "abused". 

Updated: Played Mobile Legend on Medium setting and gameplay is mostly smooth (played 2 continuous game), however character introduction animations lags quite badly. No heating problem.

Downloaded Fire Emblem Heroes and Genshi Impact. Took a long time to download and install all the files on initial setup (didn't know why it's so slow as I'm very near to my router and internet connection is good). Phone gets warm to touch after the initial downloading completes.

Genshi Impact runs pretty well but stutters once in awhile. Still playable in my opinion but I didn't progress further into the game (I deleted it after completing the first 2 mission. I don't really enjoy this genre of game). 

I've completed more than 10 of Fire Emblem Heroes story maps already and I enjoyed every part of the game. No stutter and no lag. I've no problem with phone heating up thus far.

PPSSPP works very well on the phone (with slight stutters on some demanding parts of game, but so far I only get stutter in 1 game I played) with no heating problem. I'm talking about playing 3-4 hours straight with games like Gungnir and Itsuka Kono Te ga Kegareru Toki ni: Spectral Force Legacy)

Camera

The Poco M3 have a 48MP rear camera and I must say I like the image quality. Well, I compared it to the iPhone 7 plus and I think the photo is more appealing and vivid. But both the phones have problem with low light - even with the night mode on.

iPhone 7 Plus

Poco M3 "Normal" Mode

Poco M3 Night mode

Battery

I guess the "selling point" of this phone has to be its battery - 6000mAh battery!!

I didn't really keep track of how long the battery can last but I can safely assume that if you're just listening to music for 3-4 hours a day, it can last about 2 or more days on a full charge.

I've on a day, listened to music for 4-5 hours, watched 1-2 hours of YouTube and 1-2 hours of light gaming and I still have more than 65% of battery left. (And No, I don't have the habit to kill app).

Conclusion

Pros		Cons
+ Cool, colourful design		- MIUI OS
+ Anti-slip and fingerprint cover		- Slow booting up
+ 6000mAh battery		- Not for heavy gaming
+ 3.5mm Audio jack		- Annoying Ads (unless toggle off)
+ 48 MP camera		- Unwanted apps preinstalled
+ Cheap		- Fingerprint sensor position
+ MicroSD card expansion

I must say Xiaomi Poco M3 is a really great budget phone. It's slightly under SG$200 (for 4GB Ram and 64GB ROM) and if you add another SG$20-30, you can get the phone with 128GB ROM, which I think is quite worth it, especially if you're a heavy user. Alternately, you can choose to expand the storage with a MicroSD card, up to 512GB. This should be enough for most users.

However, do note that this is a budget phone and there will be trade-offs. You can't expect it to run like the high-end phone that cost twice or more. The Poco M3 works just fine as a day to day phone and qualify as an entertainment device, if you're into music, social media, dramas/movies and light gaming.

Check out Poco M3 on Amazon: Poco M3 Unlocked Cell Phone - International Version