Xiaomi and Realme have been fighting it out in the mid-range as well as the affordable flagship mobile segment in India for some time now.
They have garnered a decent response from the buyers, and the market figures show the trend going in their favour. But the competition gets fiercer with the introduction of Poco, which has recently launched the Poco X2 device for under Rs 20,000.
Realme 6 Pro is competing with this device in the segment and we decided to take a closer look at both these phones and tell you which of these offer you better value for the money.
Design
Both brands have opted for a different approach with the design of their devices. Poco has decided to put the rear cameras in the center, something which we’ve seen with the OnePlus 7T in recent times. Realme has stuck to its tried and tested formula of putting the rear cameras on the side. Both the designs split opinions among other users.
But when it comes to the front, both Poco and Realme have used the punch hole camera blueprint to increase the real estate space for the display on the front, but still managing to fit two camera sensors.
It’s hard to argue with the look and feel of both these devices and it’s hard to believe that phones below Rs 20K can have such an appealing design and we doubt if the buyer is complaining. In terms of which of these phones gets our vote for a better-looking design, we’d say it’s a close fight between the two, and there will be takers for both of them.
Display
Poco X2 boasts a 120Hz refresh rate display which comes with FHD+ resolution and an aspect ratio of 20:9. The 6.7-inch display is also HDR 10 compliant. It sports a full view display which offers 395-pixel density.
It gets added durability with Gorilla Glass 5 on the front. The chin below the display has been kept to a minimum which ensures the screen gets adequate room to be used for viewing content and other purposes.
The dual front cameras are there on the top-right of the screen, which is different from how it works on the Realme 6 Pro. (placed on the top-left instead).
Barring that, Realme is also using a 6.6-inch Full-HD+ screen with 2400x1080 pixels but supporting a 90Hz refresh rate. This is the first time when buyers are getting the choice of refresh rates on phones for below 20K and that’ll appeal to them.
Having said that, the fluidity of higher refresh rate to the naked eye will be discernible beyond the 90Hz level but if numbers make more sense to you then the X2 proves to be the one with the better option.
Hardware & Software
This is also the first time when phones in this segment are getting equipped with the ‘700 series’ chipsets from Qualcomm, which was mostly available on phones in the Rs 20,000 to 30,000 segment.
Poco X2 is running on the Snapdragon 730G while the graphics' responsibilities rest upon an Adreno 618 GPU and Poco claims to have added a dedicated cooling system to the phone. The phone is being offered in 3 variants: 6GB+64GB, 8GB+128GB and 8GB+256GB. It also comes with a 4,500mAh battery which also supports 27W fast charging.
Poco might have become an independent brand since the start of the year, but they are still using the MiUi based software (running over Android 10) for the X2. It still shows you ads but you can always disable the notification setting of the apps to make sure they don’t pop-up on the home screen.
Realme 6 Pro comes packed with the Snapdragon 720G processor, paired with 6 or 8GB RAM options, with storage variants up to 256GB which can be further expanded via microSD slot. Realme has loaded the phone with a 4300mAh battery but you get the benefit of charging the device with a faster 30W unit which comes bundled in the box.
For software, you’re getting the new Realme UI which is also built over Android 10 and offers ads. But the company lets you disable ads on the phone.
Camera
Both the brands have upped the ante with the number of cameras being offered on their devices. Poco X2 comes with four sensors at the back, and Realme 6 Pro matches that, as 64-megapixel sensors are now affordable enough to be offered on phones in this segment.
Where Poco X2 comes with a 64+8 megapixel camera and 20+2-megapixel camera on the front. Realme 6 Pro features 6 cameras in total, including dual wide-angle front cameras and 64MP quad rear camera with 20x hybrid zoom capabilities.
We’ll be testing out both the devices and its features to determine which of these offers better value for the sensors onboard.
Which One Worth Buying?
It’s quite clear the mid-range smartphone segment has evolved to offer features that were previously not offered in this price bracket. And one has to commend Poco and Realme to have pulled this off.
Now coming to the main part of the story, Poco X2 and Realme 6 Pro offer quite a lot for the price and even then if you have to nitpick on some of the deficiencies, we would say the latter costs 1K more than the former, and that could be a big difference for buyers.
Both these devices sport design that is acceptable in the market, offer displays with a high refresh rate and come equipped with hardware as well as cameras that punch above their weight. If brand name doesn’t mean a lot to you then Poco X2 and Realme 6 Pro should be on your list and the final decision solely depends on what your exact budget is.
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