Not so long ago, for about 1000 PLN, you could at best buy a decent smartphone to survive the year with. Now, such an offering is enough to survive Ragnarok.
A few years ago, Xiaomi was snatching customers' hearts and conquering market shares from the competition. Or vice versa. Lately, however, they've started acting like big shots – as if they no longer remember who they were hunting reindeer with recently, and they only make phones for the board. But if the soul of good old Xiaomi from bygone days could be captured in a single, contemporary series of devices, it would definitely be Poco smartphones.
Admittedly, Xiaomi doesn't fully admit to it and pretends it's a completely separate entity, but, by Thor, I recognize Xiaomi when I see it! Poco phones are absurdly cheap for their capabilities and well-thought-out for their audience – people looking for absurdly cheap phones to last for years 😉
The standard price of the Poco M4 Pro 5G is 1099 PLN and – if we take that into account – it's hard to find fault with it, because everything in it is at least good. Except for the battery – that's outstanding! 5000 mAh is enough for two full days of browsing Insta... work. Two full days of work. Even for someone addicted to their smartphone, like me.
And do you think it's easy to work non-stop for two days with a bright, over 6.5-inch 90 Hz screen and stereo speakers? Exactly. And it has to, while you sit comfortably and watch movies on it. Admittedly, it's a shame the screen is LCD IPS and not the AMOLED I love, but in my favorite price range of "around a thousand," AMOLED is still a rarity.
Besides, it's partly my laziness, but I used this model non-stop for over two weeks. Even though a herd of tempting flagships awaited me, I didn't have the heart to betray it and give it horns. Although for a Viking, that's actually a compliment. And since I didn't feel like it, it means the Poco M4 Pro 5G must work perfectly – flow through the interface as smoothly as a drakkar, and bravely take on even the most demanding games. And that's exactly how it is! For a phone at this price, it performs excellently.
I could want a bit more from the camera, because the main and wide-angle are "only" okay, but the M4 Pro will be the fulfillment of Viking-influencer dreams! Selfies show every detail of a carefully maintained beard, and the skin, after a Saturday bath, seems smoother than ever. Why take pictures of others when you look so divine?
To complete the package, there's also Dual SIM (for two Mobile Vikings cards, of course), NFC for contactless payments, and a few treats from the past. In ancient times, when Odin himself walked our lands, Vikings listened to songs through wired headphones and transmitted them via infrared. And the M4 Pro, with its mini-jack and infrared, beautifully honors this tradition.
The Poco M4 Pro isn't the most beautiful smartphone in the world. It won't blow you away with a multitude of amazing features. You won't pick up a date with it (although spectacular selfies won't hurt). But it's a very versatile phone that should appeal to virtually everyone, and which is unlikely to arouse your bloodlust after a few years of use. And demanding anything more from a device for a thousand zlotys would be like secretly stealing venison from the chief – temporarily satisfying, perhaps, but very unwise in the long run.
If you prefer an AMOLED screen to 90Hz, and a decent main lens to a better selfie camera, it's worth checking out the Realme 8 Pro. And for gaming fans, the Poco X3 Pro is a bit better tailored. For those undecided who want a bit of everything – the M4 will be great, however.
