POCO India has finally unveiled the POCO X2 and it's definitely a re-branded Redmi K30. The second ever POCO smartphone is not a flagship but, it's still priced well & it does make a lot of sense in India. The specifications are well placed, mostly mid-range and the prices are almost on spot. So, we need to discuss this properly.
Let's go through the highlights here. The biggest highlight is of course the 6.67" 120 Hz IPS LCD Display with support for HDR 10. That is a welcome edition to this price segment. The other improvement comes as the Primary Camera sensor. The Sony IMX686 is the 64 Megapixel successor to the 48 Megapixel IMX586. There are also three other sensors in the back. However, alongside the 8MP wide-angle camera there are two 2MP sensors. One for depth sensing and one for macro. There is also a 20 Megapixel front facing camera, paired with a 2MP depth sensor. This kinda looks like the setup on the Galaxy S10+.
Coming to the more generalized specifications, there is a Snapdragon 730G, 6GB or 8GB RAM options, UFS 2.1 type 64GB or 128GB storage for the 6GB RAM variant and 256GB storage for the 8GB RAM variant. There is a 4500 mAh Battery with support for 27W Fast Charging. Thankfully, the 27W charger is supplied in the box.
So on one hand, POCO brings in premium features like HDR 10, Hi-res Audio, 27W Fast-charging & Liquid Cooling to a compelling price segment. On the other hand, they bring in compromises like a Plastic frame (although the front & the back is Gorilla Glass 5), IPS Display resulting in no under Display fingerprint scanner and 2MP Macro & Depth sensors which are way less practical compared to a dedicated Telephoto camera.
Now, the statement in the title is actually true but, there's a catch. This phone is definitely being marketed based on it's bang-for-buck value. While this holds true for the 6GB RAM variants, the same cannot be said about the 8GB RAM variant. The 6GB RAM with 64GB Storage variant will cost you ₹15999 and if you want the 128GB storage variant, you pay ₹1000 extra (₹16999). These are pretty compelling prices.
However, the 8GB RAM variant with 256GB storage will set you off at ₹19999 which is a lot considering we'll be seeing a lot of Snapdragon 765 series powered devices in that ₹20000-₹25000 price segment in the upcoming months. Alongside covering the compromises of the POCO X2, these devices will also come with 5G support which will be beneficial in the long run. So, the POCO X2 does make sense in India but, only if you buy the 6GB RAM variants.