POCO M5 and M5s: New mid-range smartphones unveiled

POCO is going on the offensive and has introduced two new mid-range smartphones only about a month after the M4 5G. The POCO M5 is aimed primarily at those who enjoy mobile games, while the POCO M5s is equipped with a quad camera.

The POCO M5 comes with 90 Hz display

Under the slogan “All-In-Fun”, POCO has introduced two new mid-range smartphones. The POCO M5, with which the brand wants to inspire young technology fans in particular, is the first. It is powered by the MediaTek Helio G99 chipset in the 6nm manufacturing process, which promises a lot of performance with a convincing energy efficiency.

Thanks to an octa-core CPU with two powerful Cortex-A76 cores that clocks with up to 2.2 GHz, as well as an Arm Mali G57 GPU, the device is supposed to offer strong gaming performance in an inexpensive phone.

The SoC is supported by either 4 GB or 6 GB of working memory and 64 GB or 128 GB of system memory, depending on the model, while the latter can be expanded via microSD card.

Game Turbo 5.0 is said to be able to intelligently control the CPU, GPU and memory to deliver a convincing performance even in demanding games. The system automatically detects when you are playing a game and hides messages and other overlays without further ado.

Display, battery and cameras

The POCO M5 relies on a 6.58-inch Full HD+ DotDrop display that comes along with a refresh rate of 90 Hz. Thanks to DynamicSwitch, the refresh rate is automatically switched between 30, 60 and 90 Hz depending on the current application field.

This means that the display uses the best possible refresh rate when gaming, while it is reduced when surfing or watching videos to save power and thus improve the battery life.

Also offered is a 240 Hz touch sampling rate and a “sunlight display” that is supposed to ensure excellent readability of the display even in outdoor use. According to the spec sheet, the display reaches a maximum brightness of 500 nits and a contrast ratio of 1,500:1.

The battery of the 201-gram POCO M5 has a capacity of 5,000 mAh, which should ensure a good runtime in combination with the frugal SoC. Charging is via USB Type-C with a maximum of 18 watts, although the manufacturer includes a 22.5-watt charger in the box.

As for the cameras, you have a 50-megapixel main camera (f/1.8), a 2-MP macro camera (f/2.4) and a 2-MP depth sensor at your disposal on the rear. The resolution of the front camera turns out to be manageable with 5 megapixels (f/2.2).

Otherwise, the M4 supports a maximum of 4G/LTE in dual-SIM mode, Bluetooth 5.3 and NFC and has a 3.5 mm jack, as well as a fingerprint sensor on the side.

POCO M5s: The camera smartphone for the mid-range

Going in a slightly different direction is the POCO M5s, which wants to stand out as a camera smartphone, especially with its photo and video qualities. Here, the manufacturer relies on the somewhat weaker MediaTek Helio G95 chipset (octa-core CPU with a maximum clock rate of 2.05 GHz), as well as 4 GB/6 GB working memory and 64 GB/128 GB system memory, which can also be expanded to a maximum of 1 TB via microSD card.

The manufacturer relies on a 6.43-inch AMOLED dot display with a Full HD+ resolution (2400 x 1080 pixels) and a brightness of up to 1100 nits. However, the manufacturer does not mention details about the refresh rate in this case. Presumably, only 60 hertz will be offered.

The battery also turns out very lush with 5,000 mAh and can be charged quickly with a maximum of 33 watts. Due to the smaller display and slightly weaker chips, the runtime should also be slightly better than in the case of the POCO M5.

The camera setup

The focus of the POCO M5s is accordingly on the cameras. On the rear, for example, 4K videos with 30 frames per second can be recorded thanks to the quad camera. It is composed of a main camera with a resolution of 64 megapixels (f/1.8) and an 8 MP ultra-wide-angle camera (f/2.2, 118 degree field of view), as well as two 2 MP sensors for macro and depth shots.

The front camera, on the other hand, resolves with 13 megapixels and offers an aperture of f/2.4. Also offered is a variety of intelligent and user-friendly photo and movie features such as a night mode, portraits with bokeh effect, and AI-based time-lapse and slow-motion video functions.

The POCO M5s is also equipped via dual-SIM for 4G/LTE only, supports Bluetooth 5.0 and Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, NFC, Face Unlock, as well as a 3.5mm jack and a side fingerprint scanner. The smartphone is also IP53 certified and has two built-in speakers.

Prices and availability

The two new POCO smartphones will go on sale starting September 12 at 1:00 pm. The POCO M5 will be available in stores in three colors and two variants: black, green and yellow and each with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of system memory, as well as 4 GB + 128 GB. However, there is no trace of the third variant with 6 GB of RAM.

The RRP is 189.90 Euros or 209.90 Euros with double the storage. For the sales launch on September 12, 2022 at 1:00 p.m., the POCO M5 will be offered at a promotional price of €169.90 or €189.90 at po.co/de, mi.com/de and Amazon Germany until September 17, 2022 at 1:00 p.m.

The POCO M5s comes in gray, white and blue and has an MSRP of 209.90 euros with 4GB/64GB, or 229.90 euros with 4GB/128GB. Here, too, there is a discount for the sales launch from September 12 at 1:00 p.m., which brings you to 189.90 Euros or 209.90 Euros.