Does Poco M6 Pro 5G warrant an upgrade over Poco M5?

The Poco M6 Pro 5G is an incremental update to the Poco M5. And in fact, at a starting price of Rs 10,999, which is Rs 1,500 more than the Poco M5’s starting price, the M6 Pro does bring some meaningful upgrades to the table, such as 5G, a newer chipset and a tweaked design. So, the question is — should you buy this new budget phone from Poco, or does it even warrant an upgrade over the Poco M5? Let me try to answer this for you.

Design-wise, the Poco M6 Pro does a bunch of things right when compared to the Poco M5. Gone is the curved textured plastic back in favour of the premium glass rear, which is now flat. The raised camera island on the Poco M5 is now flush on the Poco M6 Pro, although the camera rings are slightly protruding. The Poco M6 Pro also features IP53 dust and splash resistance, something that isn’t there on the Poco M5.

The side frame and button placements feel the same. However, the display now features a hole-punch design instead of the tear-drop notch, which is a welcome addition. And coming back to the buttons — they have superb tactile feedback, and the fingerprint reader is embedded in the power button. Fast and responsive, as one would expect from physical sensors. Other than this, the type-C port and single-speaker placement at the bottom remains the same. As well as the headphone jack and IR blaster at the top.

Also note, the Poco M6 Pro features a hybrid SIM slot, which is good. However, in the budget segment, I was expecting to see dual SIM slots along with a dedicated slot for storage expansion. Overall, when it comes to the design, the Poco M6 Pro does not give you the feel that you’re holding a budget phone. The build is solid, you get IP53 protection and the flat design plus the glass back does add up that bit of premiumness, which makes the phone feel more like a Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000 device. And yeah, one more thing, why isn’t there a yellow colour Poco?

Apart from the slight increase in size, i.e. from 6.58” on the Poco M5 to 6.79” on the Poco M6 Pro, the display specs on the newer model remain the same, i.e. you get an IPS LCD display with a 90Hz refresh rate, Gorilla Glass 3 protection, and slightly bumped up brightness from 500 nits on the M5 to 550 nits on the M6 Pro.

And specs aside, the M6 Pro offers quite a decent panel for its price. I found the Poco M6 Pro’s panel to be quite vibrant despite it being an IPS panel, and I think most people are going to appreciate this, since the colours do look visually appealing. Brightness-wise also, the phone has got you covered indoors. However, using the phone outdoors under harsh sunlight isn’t the best experience. But, again, there’s not much to complain about considering the price. There’s also a single bottom-firing speaker, which admittedly, doesn’t sound as rich and full as a stereo setup would sound, but it still gets the job done. So, overall, with the well-tuned panel and speaker, the multimedia experience is good for the price.

The Poco M6 Pro is powered by the new Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 chip, coupled with up to 6GB RAM and up to 128GB storage. There’s MIUI 14 atop Android 13 with a promise of 2 years of future OS upgrades + 3 years of security patch updates. Software-wise, MIUI 14 is packed to the brim with features and offers a similar look and feel to how you’d see MIUI on a high-end Xiaomi phone. However, because of the entry-level chip and slew of bloatware, the experience isn’t quite the speediest. I mean, for general usage and scrolling, the software feels quite responsive with a slight stutter or frame drop here and there. But, put some load on it, and you see the phone struggling to keep up. But again, it’s a budget phone, so this much leeway can be given.

Okay, the 5,000mAh battery performs quite admirably. Poco is also providing a 22.5W charger in the box, although support is capped at 18W. Battery consumption-wise, since it is a budget phone, you get a modest display, the processor is not resource hungry, and so, the endurance on this phone is great, and on some days, I was even able to hit a day and a half on a single charge. Overall, keeping the price in check for general tasks, the Poco M6 Pro performs quite well. The battery life is good and you’re also getting the option of 5G, for those who fancy it. That said, handling hard-hitting tasks isn’t the Poco M6 Pro’s strong suit, but again, at a starting price of Rs 10,999, Poco isn’t targeting performance enthusiasts here.

The Poco M6 Pro features a 50MP primary rear camera coupled with a 2MP depth sensor. This is minus the macro camera on the M5. The front is graced with an 8MP lens, which on paper, is again an upgrade over the 5MP lens on the M5. The photos captured from the 50MP primary sensor under decent lighting conditions did impress for the most part when it came to details and wide dynamic range. However, HDR performance could be a hit or miss, so consistency is something that the Poco M6 Pro struggles with. In terms of night photos, again, if there’s a decent amount of artificial light around, you can expect passable results that are okayish in terms of colour and contrast. Also note, there’s no dedicated night mode on the Poco M6 Pro.

Summing up

Taking everything into consideration, first up, if you have a Poco M5, you don’t need to upgrade to the Poco M6 Pro 5G unless and until you really want the 5G experience. Because, while the design and chipset are new, they are not revolutionary upgrades over the Poco M5. As for new buyers looking for a budget 5G smartphone, I think for the Rs 1,500 increase over the Poco M5, the two notable changes on the Poco M6 Pro are the updated design — as the flat persona along with the glass back looks and feels quite good, and of course, the 5G connectivity. So, if you are looking for a phone that has decent performance, looks good, has superb endurance and has 5G, the Poco M6 Pro is a solid buy for about Rs 11,000 right now.