[POCO M3] Unboxing & First Hands-On Experience

Hello and Greetings to Mi Fans in Malaysia,

How was your Christmas celebration recently? Although some of us just celebrating in our home due to the Conditional MCO, but I believe it was a heart-warming Christmas because we can spend more time with our family. Last few days, I had just received POCO M3 (4GB RAM + 128GB Storage) and I would like to do the unboxing and share my first hands-on experience with you today.

First, let's check out the packaging box for POCO M3 and what's inside.

As you can see in the picture following, inside the packaging box includes the following:

• POCO M3
• 22.5W Adapter
• USB Type-C Cable
• SIM Eject Tool
• Soft Case
• User Guide
• Warranty Card

This is the 22.5W Adapter that included in the packaging box.

This is the USB Type-C Cable that included in the packaging box.

Next, we can take a look at each side for POCO M3 here.

Front view

Back view

Top view

Left view

Right view

Bottom view

That's all about the unboxing for POCO M3. Let's summarize the full specs for POCO M3 before I share my first hands-on experience.

• Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 662 (octa-core CPU up to 2.0GHz, 11nm manufacturing process)
• LPDDR4X + UFS 2.1 (for 4GB RAM + 64GB Storage) / UFS 2.2 (for 4GB RAM + 128GB Storage)
• 6.53" FHD+ Dot Drop Display with TÜV Rheinland® Low Blue Light certification
• Corning® Gorilla® Glass 3 for front display
• 6,000mAh Battery
• Supports 18W Fast Charging (22.5W Fast Charger in-box)
• 48MP AI Triple Camera (48MP main camera, 2MP macro camera, and 2MP depth sensor)
• 8MP front camera with face unlock
• Supports 2+1 card slot (2 nano-SIM and microSD card (512GB expandable))
• Supports 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi
• Supports Bluetooth 5.0
• Supports FM Radio
• Side-mounted Fingerprint Sensor
• Dual speakers with 0.8cc-equivalent sound chamber, Hi-Res Audio Certified
• 3.5mm headphone jack

Let's started with camera for my first hands-on experience. The following are the few photos taken by 48MP main camera.

You can download IMG_20201223_181239.jpg in the attachment for the 48MP version for the above photo.

You can download IMG_20201223_181430.jpg in the attachment for the 48MP version for the above photo.

You can download IMG_20201223_181239.jpg in the attachment for the 48MP version for the above photo.

From my opinion, for the color that produced by 48MP main camera is natural, and not too saturated. For the 48MP version, it's a bit blur when zoom in to the maximum level. The photo quality is good enough for the entry-level segment.

Next, these are the photos that I took with 2MP macro camera.

From my opinion, the quality for macro camera can be accepted but could be better, as the photos is not that clear that expected.

The camera for POCO M3 did provided features such as Document Mode and Kaleidoscope as per introduced during the Redmi Note 9 Series launching, you can check out the kaleidoscope video here.

Last but not least, you can check out the comparison between the normal photo and night mode in the following:

Without Night Mode

With Night Mode

Without Night Mode

With Night Mode

Without Night Mode

With Night Mode

From my opinion, the night mode for POCO M3 did a very good job, as the photos turned brighter when the environment is low light.

Next, we talked about the speakers for POCO M3. It's equipped with dual speakers and it's certified for Hi-Res Audio. The audio output is considered very loud for the entry-level segment.

Then, it's time to test the gaming performance for POCO M3 with PUBG Mobile. POCO M3 is included Snapdragon 662, the octa-core processor that up to 2.0GHz. Although the graphic settings are not much choice, but surprisingly it running smooth through the gameplay when I set Balanced graphic and Medium frame rate (which is the highest graphic settings available for POCO M3). It's really good enough for the entry-level segment where you can play the game smoothly.

You can watch the full video for the full PUBG Mobile gameplay with POCO M3 here.

After the PUBG Mobile gameplay with POCO M3, the phone is warm and not hot, and the battery percentage is dropped about 5% for the 30 minutes gameplay. For me, POCO M3 could be the best entry-level phone that can play PUBG Mobile smoothly in the current market.

As a conclusion, if you are looking for the budget smartphone or secondary smartphone that only take some photos, and not heavy gaming, POCO M3 is suitable for you. For its price range which is RM 599 for 4GB RAM + 64GB Storage or RM 699 for 4GB RAM + 128GB Storage, it's a worthy phone where you can get the cheapest 48MP main camera with night mode, dual speakers with Hi-Res Audio Certification, entry-level phone with Snapdragon 6XX Series, and 6000mAh Battery. You can visit the link here if you are interested to purchase POCO M3.