POCO is launching yet another budget smartphone in Malaysia, with the latest device being a stripped-down version of last year’s POCO M4 Pro. The POCO M4 5G gets a different look from its higher-end counterpart with less powerful but still respectable internals for the price.
The phone sports a nominally smaller 6.56-inch 1080p display with a 90Hz refresh rate and a side-mounted fingerprint scanner. The M4 ships with MIUI 13 for POCO based on Android 12 out of the box and comes in Power Black, Cool Blue, and POCO Yellow colour options.
Under the hood, the phone runs on the MediaTek Dimensity 700 chipset with either 4GB or 6GB of RAM and up to 128GB with no storage. Being an entry-level device, you’ll be glad to know it comes with a microSD slot for expandable storage up to 1TB while it can also convert unused storage as additional RAM using Memory Extension. In regards to the latter, it’s unclear how much virtual RAM you can utilise.
The POCO M4 only comes with two sensors on the back: a 13MP main shooter and a 2MP depth camera. Housed within the teardrop cutout of the display is a 5MP selfie camera which also supports AI face unlock. As you can tell from the name, the phone supports 5G as well as dual-band Wi-Fi, NFC, Bluetooth 5.1, and even comes with an IR blaster. Additionally, it also has a 3.5mm headphone jack but only a single bottom-firing speaker.
Powering the entry-level device is the same 5,000mAh battery as the Pro, but the charging speed has been reduced to only 18W. Despite the large battery capacity, POCO did not include any reverse charging capability on the smartphone.
The POCO M4 5G is set to make its local debut on 18 August through the brand’s Shopee and Lazada stores, priced at RM699 for 4GB+64GB and RM899 for the 6GB+128GB configuration. However, from 18 to 24 August, the phone will be sold at a promo price of RM649 and RM799 respectively.
(Source: POCO/Shopee)
