Poco M5s review 2024: excellent all-around phone

The Poco M5s we have here today came out at the same time as the Poco M5. Together, they are a pair of phones for the EU market that cost less than €250. India also got the regular Poco M5, but this Poco M5s didn’t make it there. If we wanted to keep things simple, we could say that the Poco M5 has an LCD screen that refreshes at 90Hz and that the Poco M5s has an OLED screen that refreshes at 60Hz and better cameras all around.

This is why we chose to pay more attention to the Poco M5s, which has more features.Yes, Xiaomi has done it again, which wasn’t a surprise. The Poco M5s is actually a renamed version of the Redmi Note 10S, which came out in Europe and Asia more than a year ago. 

Poco M5s specifications

Poco M5s review: Design and screen

One strange thing about the Poco M5s is that it looks different from the M5, the other phone in the same line. The M5 has a large camera bar that goes from edge to edge across the back of the phone. The M5s, on the other hand, has a square camera module in the top left corner. We thought this was a strange choice, since the M5s has more sensors that could have been used. Both phones have different designs as well. The M5 has a rough, fake leather back that comes in black, green, and yellow. You can buy this phone from its official website

Poco M5s: Camera setup

The Poco M5s has four cameras, the largest of which is a 64-megapixel lens with an f/1.8 aperture. There’s also an 8-megapixel (f/2.2) ultra-wide angle lens with a 118-degree FOV, a 2-megapixel (f/2.4) closeup camera and a second 2-megapixel (f/2.4) depth camera.

A high-resolution 64-megapixel mode, a night mode, an AI-powered picture mode that makes bokeh and depth in the background, and a document mode are some of the most important photography features.

Poco M5s: Software

Now, if you want to take pictures at night, you have to help the phone. I’m not very steady with my hand, especially when it’s cold outside. The camera’s steadiness isn’t very good, so users can’t take clear pictures unless they prop it up on something. To find a good shot, you will have to shoot quickly. The software that comes with the camera is nice because it has a tool that helps users choose the best shot from a group of similar ones. A quick test showed that the tool does pick the best one out of a group.

Poco M5s: Performance

Both of these chipsets are basically the same, but the Helio G99 has a faster clock speed. So, you can expect the M5s to work a little less well, especially when playing games.

If you want pure speed, the POCO M5s doesn’t do well with graphics at the highest level. Even with the graphics turned up, games like PUBG Mobile work fine, but the phone gets noticeably warmer. Worse, every time I start the game, it just shuts down on its own.

Poco M5s: Battery life

Unfortunately, it doesn’t handle heat as well. After an hour of playing games on the phone, it was too hot to hold. Most of the pain at the back can be fixed with a case, but feeling the warm screen was not fun. Also, the battery life isn’t great because the chipset uses a 12nm design. About 20% of the battery life was already gone after just one game.

Final Words

The Redmi Note 10S is being re-released as the POCO Redmi Note 10S. It features a long battery life and 33W charging, great stereo speakers, and sufficient performance for the budget, and its display is a high-quality and vibrant AMOLED.

Photos and videos suffer under less-than-ideal lighting, and the screen only refreshes at 60 frames per second. Surprisingly, it didn’t have a charging cable either. If you’re looking for a budget phone that won’t break the bank but yet delivers solid performance and a pleasant user experience, go no further than the POCO M5s.

Poco M5s review: the good and the bad

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