an introduction

Xiaomi has a huge selection of smartphones. One of the labels used by the brand is POCO, which is known for its good value for money. Lately we’ve been taking a closer look at the relatively luxurious F4 GT, which is based on the first-generation Snapdragon 8. In this article, we look at two models that are also marketed within this series, but that have different technology: the POCO X4 GT with Mediatek 8100 dimensional chip, and the F4 with the somewhat older Snapdragon 870 from Qualcomm. We were curious about how these three relate to each other and worked on it.

Left to right: X4 GT, F4 and F5 GT.

Sometimes the naming policy of smartphone manufacturers is very complicated. The F4 GT has a “new” first-generation Snapdragon 8 on board, while the model without the sporty plug-in has the Snapdragon 870 and we’ve come across a chip from an entirely different manufacturer with the X4. As we are familiar with POCO, these devices are also provided complete, including case, charger, charging cable and screen protection. With the F4 GT we find an additional feature: an adapter with which you can connect headphones via USB-C.

All three phones have a completely different look. If you put them together with brand name coverage, you wouldn’t say they all belong to the same stable. Until the end is different. The F4 GT has an aluminum rear, the non-GT variant has a glass rear, and the X4 has a plastic one.

Remarkably, the F4 GT has foldable buttons, which you can use as a kind of portable gaming device. These buttons can also be used in other applications. The F4 features a remarkably large flash. Here the camera sensors are integrated into a circular bulge. With this model, the flash light is much larger than the other.

Camera technology has kept the brand somewhat compatible with all three models. You’ll find three sensors on the back, with 64, 8, and 2MP resolutions, respectively. Both F4 models have a 20MP front camera, while the X4 has only a 16MP camera.