Xiaomi’s Pocophone sub brand debuts with F1 flagship smartphone

Xiaomi's Pocophone debuts with a flagship smartphone, the Pocophone F1.

Xiaomi's new sub-brand Pocophone debuts with its flagship, the Pocophone F1, which will be available in Malaysia starting Aug 30.

The F1 bills itself as a no-frills high performance phone, packing a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, dual cameras and an 4,000mAh battery at a below RM1,500 price range. 

The camera set up consists of a 12-megapixel and 5-megapixel dual AI rear camera and a 20-megapixel front camera, that is said to be capable of facial-unlock even in the dark using an infrared illuminator and infrared camera.

The smartphone which can also be used for mobile gaming boasts LiquidCool Technology cooling system, which Xiaomi claims is 300% more effective than conventional, non-liquid cooling solutions as it allows heat from the CPU to dissipate quickly.

"Poco stands for ‘a little’; we believe in starting small but dreaming big. As a small outfit within Xiaomi, Poco has the freedom to start from scratch, zeroing in on the product choices and technologies that matter," says Poco Global head Alvin Tse.

During the launch in Jakarta, Indonesia, he confirmed the smartphone will be available in Malaysia on Aug 30 in Graphite Black and Steel Blue. 

The F1 will be priced at RM1,237 for the base model with 6GB RAM and 64GB storage, and RM 1,428 for the 6GB RAM and 128GB storage version.

Due to the Sales and Service Tax (SST), from Sept 10 the price will be revised to RM1,299 and RM1,499, respectively. 

Both models run Poco's custom software based on Android 8.1 Oreo, with plans to receive Android P updates soon.