POCO C3 Review: Triple AI Camera, Powerful Battery & Price in Nepal
Poco C3 might be the smartphone you are looking for in 2020. Released after a long await in October, this device has everything you look for in the price range of around 15000. Amidst the competition of Realme and Xiaomi in the budget phone category, Poco has joined the club now. It stands out from the rest with the chipset with gaming-grade performance, enhanced power efficiency, triple AI camera, large 5000mAh battery, and exquisite design, all at an affordable price. It came shortly after this year’s Poco M2.
Design and Display
The POCO C3 has stuck to the two-tone design on the back same as POCO M2 Pro. The top portion has a smooth glossy finish however the textured pattern on the bottom helps in good grip and is less prone to smudges. There is a 6.43 inches HD+ panel with a screen resolution of 1600×720 pixels ready to provide you a quality immersive experience.
The brightness of 400 nits may not provide enough sunlight legibility but is more than enough to watch videos and read contents indoors. The blue light filter on the display promises to safeguard your eyes during long use. The P2i Barrier protection saves your phone from splashes and spills. Now, a bonus here is “Corrosion proof ports.” It is available in three attractive colors: Matte Black, Arctic Blue, and Lime Green.
The plastic back is very prone to smudges. Poco C3 features a micro USB port and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The phone has narrow bezels but a thick chin and a waterdrop notch to hold the selfie camera. However, it has a thickness of 9mm and is also fairly heavy at 194 grams. There is a SIM tray, that can house two nano SIMs and a microSD card. There is no fingerprint sensor but there is a face unlock feature that works great in well-lit conditions but struggles in the dark.
Camera
The Poco C3 stands out for having a triple AI camera setup in the rear. This is something we do not see too often in this segment. There is a 13MP primary sensor, a 2MP macro camera, and a 2MP depth sensor. The front camera holds a 5MP sensor. The camera app offers you Auto HDR, AI scene recognition, and more. It does a great job in bright light conditions with fairly good details and natural color tone but struggles in low-lighting situations.
The Portrait Mode by both back and front camera works fine but be careful regarding staying still as there is no auto stabilization. Both the front and the back camera can shoot 1080p video at 30 frames per second. The camera setup is above the standard you could expect for this range.
Chipset
Poco C3 has the powerful MediaTek Helio G35 built in a 12nm technology under the hood for consistent performance. It is an octa-core processor with Cortex-A53 units, four of them clocked at 2.3GHz and the other four at 1.8GHz. The chipset is aimed at improved gaming performance with MediaTek HyperEngine Game Technology at an affordable price. The device is also equipped with AI to enable sustained performance and power efficiency. There is a PowerVR GE8320 GPU for better graphical performance. With 3GB/4GB RAM combined with 32GB or 64GB internal storage, multitasking becomes smooth.
One of the exclusive features of Poco C3 is that it runs Android 10 with MIUI 12, which is claimed to be optimized to provide you ads-free experience. During a week of use, we didn’t notice any unsolicited alerts.
Battery
The Poco C3 is powered by the massive 5000mAh non-removable Lithium polymer battery and fulfilling your expectation it provides a whole day backup. With the non-stop usage, including a lot of calls during office hours, texting, music streaming, web browsing and watching videos, it provides 6-7 hours of screen-on-time. With a 10W charging system, it takes nearly two hours to fully charge the battery with a micro USB charger
POCO C3 Full Specifications:
DISPLAY
Type: IPS LCD, 400 nits (typ)
Size: 6.43 inches, 102.1 cm2 (~80.3% screen-to-body ratio)
Resolution: 720 x 1600 pixels, 20:9 ratio (~270 ppi density)
Protection: Panda Glass
BODY
Dimensions: 164.9 x 77.1 x 9 mm (6.49 x 3.04 x 0.35 in)
Weight: 194 g (6.84 oz)
SIM: Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)
PLATFORM
OS: Android 10, MIUI 12
Chipset: MediaTek Helio G35 (12 nm)
CPU: Octa-core (4×2.3 GHz Cortex-A53 & 4×1.8 GHz Cortex-A53)
GPU: PowerVR GE8320
MEMORY
Card slot: microSDXC (dedicated slot)
Internal: 32GB 3GB RAM, 64GB 4GB RAM
eMMC 5.1
MAIN CAMERA (Triple)
13 MP, f/2.2, 28mm (wide), 1.0µm, PDAF
2 MP, f/2.4, (depth)
2 MP, f/2.4, (macro)
Features: LED flash, HDR
Video: 1080p@30fps
SELFIE CAMERA
5 MP, f/2.2, (wide), 1.12µm
Features: HDR
Video: 1080p@30fps
COMMUNICATIONS
WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot
Bluetooth: 5.0, A2DP, LE
GPS: Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS
FM radio
USB: microUSB 2.0, USB On-The-Go
SOUND
Loudspeaker and 3.5mm jack
SENSORS
Accelerometer, proximity
BATTERY
Type: Li-Po 5000 mAh, non-removable
Charging 10W
NETWORK
Technology: GSM / HSPA / LTE
LAUNCH
October 2020
COLORS
Arctic Blue
Lime Green
Matte Black
POCO C3 Price in Nepal:
NPR 14,999 (4GB + 64GB)