Press F2 to pay respects. New Xiaomi Poco Pro has 5G, top-drawer Snapdragon chippery, 64MP camera

Flagship killer at a lower cost, though €500+ isn't exactly budget

Xiaomi has lifted the lid on the much-anticipated successor to 2018's Pocophone F1 flagship killer: the Poco F2 Pro. The handset, which starts at €500, packs Qualcomm's top-tier Snapdragon 865 platform and a 64MP quad-camera setup.

For the most part, the Poco F2 Pro is almost identical to Xiaomi's Redmi K30 Pro handset, which it unveiled in March, and is still yet to see a formal release outside of China. Perhaps the biggest difference between these two phones is the inclusion of Xiaomi's Poco Launcher 2.0 UI, which runs on Android 10, and comes with features geared towards hardcore users.

Like its predecessor, the Poco F2 Pro uses the latest top-drawer Snapdragon iron, which is accompanied with an X55 5G modem capable of supporting sub-6GHZ frequencies – but not mmWave. Punters can choose to pair this with either 6GB of LDDPR4X RAM and 128GB of UFS 3.0 storage, or 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage.

On the battery front, there's a fairly generous (but not groundbreaking) 4,700mAh battery which supports 30W fast charging. Sadly, wireless charging is noticeably absent, as with its predecessor.

The display is a 6.67-inch FHD+ AMOLED affair, with an under-screen fingerprint reader. Bezels are tight, and there's no notch thanks to the inclusion of a pop-up 20MP selfie camera. Unlike many recent mid-tier phones, the refresh rate is capped at 60Hz, rather than the more fluid 90Hz and 120Hz rates we've seen on other phones in its price point.

The camera array is housed in a circular apparatus, with the star of the show a 64MP Sony IMX686 sensor. This is accompanied by a 2MP depth sensor for bokeh-filled portrait shots, a 5MP macro lens for closeups, and a more general 13MP ultra-wide-angle lens. It can also record 8K video at 30FPS, or 4K video at 60FPS.

On the connectivity front, there's an IR blaster and a physical 3.5mm headphone jack. The Poco F2 Pro also supports Bluetooth 5.1 and Wi-Fi 6. Xiaomi plans to give the Poco F2 Pro a formal UK release later in summer. Pricing is yet to be announced, but in Europe the base model retails for €499, with the 8GB/256GB model costing €599. It wouldn't be unreasonable to expect something around that mark in British pounds. ®