The Legend Of The POCO F1: Why Nothing Can Ever Beat Its Value

August 22, 2018, remains one of the most memorable days for tech enthusiasts, all because of an event that no tech-savvy individual could ever forget. It marked the beginning of a new era in the Indian smartphone market. Poco was launched in 2018 as a sub-brand of Xiaomi but the Poco F1 wasn’t just another phone, it was a legendary device that shook the industry to its core.

It packed flagship-grade features at an unbelievable price, not just challenging the competition but completely destroying them all. 

Poco’s confidence in its product was evident through its bold marketing campaign, ‘Do The Math,’ where the T in ‘Math’ resembled the OnePlus logo and took a direct dig at the then-flagship, the OnePlus 6.

Today, the Poco F6 carries forward the legacy of the F1 and the brand continues to grow in India, gearing up to launch the X7 series. However, no successor has managed to replicate the hype and disruption that the Poco F1 created during its launch.

Six years later, we revisit the legend of the Poco F1 and explore why no smartphone has come close to matching its impact.

Probably the most iconic flash sale

When the Poco F1 first went on sale, it broke records right out of the gate. Within just five minutes, the brand sold units worth INR 200 crores, translating to over one lakh devices. That wasn’t just a sale, it was a statement. Consumers flocked to online platforms like Flipkart and Xiaomi’s official website, crashing servers and leaving many disappointed as stocks ran out almost instantly.

Currently, the Poco F1 has about two and a half lakh reviews and an average rating of four and a half out of five. 

What was inside the Poco F1?

What made the Poco F1 truly legendary was its flagship-grade hardware offered at a mid-range price point. It was powered by the Snapdragon 845 chip, which was Qualcomm’s flagship chipset at the time for gamers and multitaskers. To handle thermals, Poco added LiquidCool Technology, a feature usually reserved for high-end gaming phones.

It packed a 4,000 mAh battery with 18W charging support. The rear camera featured a 12-megapixel primary sensor paired with a 5-megapixel depth sensor, enhanced by AI for improved photos while the 20-megapixel front camera was responsible for capturing selfies. 

It ran Android 8.1 Oreo-based MIUI for Poco, a custom skin that was cleaner and faster than the MIUI for Xiaomi and Redmi smartphones. 

It was available in two storage configurations; 6GB RAM with 64GB storage and 8GB RAM with 256GB storage. It also had a 3.5mm headphone jack, stereo speakers and a dedicated microSD card slot. 

Since FaceID was the hottest thing back then, the Poco F1 featured a more cost-effective IR-sensor-based system for face unlock. While it wasn't as reliable as the iPhone X's FaceID, it worked better than those early camera-based facial unlock systems.

Competitors tried but failed

It’s not like the Poco F1 was the only device available in the market at that time. At launch, the Poco F1 faced competition from flagship killers like the OnePlus 6 and Asus ZenFone 5Z, along with budget contenders like the Honor Play and Vivo V11 Pro. While these phones offered premium designs and AMOLED displays, none matched Poco F1’s raw performance and aggressive pricing.

Poco F1 Ka Jalwa Hi alag tha😎

Troll Aisa Karo..
Ki Math yaad aaa Jaye🤣

Kisi Ko Yaad hai?? pic.twitter.com/Qf9AojkYAE

— Vivek Gupta (@fastoye) July 26, 2023

The OnePlus 6 had a glass body and AMOLED display but its INR 34,999 price tag was far higher than the Poco F1’s INR 20,999 starting price. The Asus ZenFone 5Z somewhat came closer in pricing but lacked features like LiquidCool Technology and Poco’s 4,000 mAh battery. Phones like the Honor Play and Vivo V11 Pro focused on design and features yet fell behind in processing power and gaming performance.

Poco F1’s focus on performance-first design made it the go-to device for gamers, power users and even developers who appreciated its bootloader-unlock-friendly approach.

What made the Poco F1 special?

The Poco F1’s pricing strategy was nothing short of revolutionary. India is a price-sensitive market and during 2018-2020, the INR 15,000 to INR 20,000 segment was widely popular among consumers. 

At INR 20,999, the Poco F1 offered a Snapdragon 845 processor that was previously reserved for phones priced above INR 30,000. The topmost variant came at INR 29,999, which still undercut competitors.

Poco’s main focus was on three important factors that actually mattered in a smartphone – performance, battery life and software.

Poco went the extra mile to attract the developer community by allowing bootloader unlocking without voiding the warranty. This move turned the Poco F1 into a favourite among modders that will let them install custom ROMs.

Poco kept listening to user’s demands and kept sending regular updates to the F1 including widevine L1 certification. 

It truly redefined the INR 20,000 to INR 25,000 segment where we now get phones with gaming chipsets from the house of MediaTek and Qualcomm. This segment is now filled with smartphones consisting of curved AMOLED displays, high-resolution cameras, super fast charging and pretty colourways. Sadly, none of them match the oomph factor of the Poco F1 anymore. Even Poco's F6 series can no longer hold a candle to the price-to-performance ratio of the F1! No Poco or Xiaomi phone today can match the impact of the F1! 

And perhaps that’s why the legend of the Poco F1 remains unbeatable.