Xiaomi has launched two of its cheapest Poco phones of 2022. The Poco M5 and M5s have just been launched in India as well as a few markets in Europe. The two budget phones are expected to arrive in Pakistan over the next few months.
Let’s have a look.
Design and Display
Poco M5 has a 6.58-inch IPS LCD with 1080p resolution, a 60Hz refresh rate, and a 240Hz touch sampling rate for low input delay. It has your usual Poco design elements, with a large main camera island that extends to the edges of the phone and a familiar Poco Yellow color option. The fingerprint sensor sits on the side.
Poco M5s looks more like a Redmi Note 10 series phone, and that is because it is, in fact, a rebranded Redmi Note 10S. This phone has a 6.43-inch 1080p AMOLED screen, but only a standard 60Hz refresh rate. It is also missing out on the striking Pocophone color options.
Internals and Storage
Both phones are powered by MediaTek chipsets, but the M5, for some reason, has the newer Helio G99 SoC, the first of its kind to be built on a TSMC 6 nm fabrication process.
The M5s, on the other hand, features the two-year-old Helio G95 SoC that we are already familiar with. You can choose between 4 and 6 GB RAM and 128 GB/256 GB storage on both phones.
Both phones will boot MIUI 13 on top of Android 12.
Cameras
There are three cameras on the back of Poco M5, but the M5s has four. The M5 features a 50MP main camera joined by a duo of 2MP snappers while the M5s has a more capable 64MP primary shooter with an 8MP ultrawide camera and the same duo of 2MP lenses.
There is a 5MP selfie camera on the Poco M5, but you get a higher resolution 13MP sensor on the M5s.
Battery and Pricing
The two phones share the same 5,000 mAh cell, but the base model is limited to 18W charging while the M5s has 33W charging support.
Poco M5 has a starting price of only €189, but the M5s is not much more expensive at €209.
Specifications
| Poco M5 | Poco M5s | |
| Chipset | MediaTek Helio G99 (6 nm) | MediaTek Helio G95 (12 nm) |
| CPU | Octa-core (2×2.2 GHz Cortex-A76 & 6×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55) | Octa-core (2×2.05 GHz Cortex-A76 & 6×2.0 GHz Cortex-A55) |
| GPU | Mali-G57 MC2 | Mali-G76 MC4 |
| OS | Android 12, MIUI 13 | Android 12, MIUI 13 |
| Supported Networks | 2G, 3G, 4G LTE | 2G, 3G, 4G LTE |
| Display | 6.58″ IPS LCD, 1080 x 2408 pixels, 90Hz | 6.43″ AMOLED, 1080 x 2400 pixels, 60Hz |
| RAM | 4 GB, 6 GB | 4 GB, 6 GB |
| Storage | 64 GB, 128 GB | 64 GB, 128 GB |
| Card Slot | yes | yes, |
| Main Camera | 50 MP, f/1.8, (wide), PDAF 2 MP, f/2.4, (macro) 2 MP, f/2.4, (depth) |
64 MP, f/1.8, 26 mm (wide), 1/1.97″, 0.7 µm, PDAF 8 MP, f/2.2, 118˚ (ultrawide), 1/4.0″, 1.12 µm 2 MP, f/2.4, (macro) 2 MP, f/2.4, (depth) |
| Front Camera | 5MP | 13MP |
| Fingerprint Sensor | Side-mounted | Side-mounted |
| Colors | Black, Green, Yellow | Gray, Blue, White |
| Battery |
5000 mAh, 18W fast charging | 5000 mAh, 33W fast charging |
| Price |
€189 | €209 |
