POCO M3 Pro 5G Review

Design, build and controls

Even though POCO has positioned itself as a budget smartphone brand, it has also proven that budget is not equal to boring design. On the contrary. Most of its smartphones have a distinctive design signature that makes them clearly POCO. The clever balance of contrast between textures, colors, and shapes on the POCO M3 Pro is no exception. The front is covered with a 2.5D curved Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The 3D curved back has a glossy backplate that impresses with a depth-effect mirroring the text on the layers below the surface. A huge portion of the top left quadrant of the device's back is colored in black surrounding the camera module. It has the POCO logo and "Designed by POCO" sign on it written in metal-like light gray. The model is available in the same colors as its non-Pro version - Power Black, Cool Blue, and POCO Yellow. We are reviewing a Power Black unit. In reality, it is not a real deep black color. Due to the depth effect on the rear shell, it looks more like the dark gray of lake waters on a cloudy day. According to our measurements with a caliper and scales, the POCO M3 Pro is 75.2 mm wide, 161.65 mm high, 9.3 mm thick, and weighs 191 g. In terms of width, it is below average for a smartphone with a 6.5-inch display and a 5000 mAh battery. In terms of depth, it is quite the opposite - the model is thicker than the average for this display and battery size class. If you add in the camera bump, the POCO M3 Pro becomes 10.5 mm thick. In terms of height, this is probably the shortest smartphone with a 6.5" screen and a 5000 mAh battery. The weight of 191 g is average. The silicone case provided in the box weighs 21 g. The front of the smartphone is occupied mainly by the display. The top and side bezels are 2 mm thick. The bottom one is 5 mm thick. The top bezel houses the light and proximity sensors (to the right of the center). There's a thin and elongated earpiece. Centrally positioned within the top of the display, there's a punch hole for the front camera. Its diameter is 4.5 mm. From the Status Bar menu in the Settings, you can opt to show the notch which will hide the punch hole. If you show the notch, you can also choose whether to move the status bar below it or not. At the bottom of the display, there's an onscreen navigation bar. You have the option to mirror the Back and Menu buttons or switch the navigation bar off completely and replace it with gesture navigation for a real full-screen experience. The rear shell is glossy and strongly attracts fingerprints that easily turn into smudges. The camera module is positioned in the top left corner with the three cameras vertically aligned to the left. The main one is surrounded by a metal-looking ring. To their right, you can see the dual-LED flash and a "48MP AI Vision" sign. The camera module protrudes from the surface of the handset with 1.2 mm. Below it, you can see the POCO logo imprinted on the black area we described above. Further down, on the rear shell, there's a 5G sign, CE logo, model code, parent company name, and Designed by POCO inscription. The top frame of the handset houses a 3.5 mm jack, an IR blaster, and a microphone. The bottom frame houses another microphone that's located to the left of the USB Type-C port. To its right, the speaker is located behind a grille with three oval holes. The SIM card tray is located on the left frame. The Volume up/down button is placed on the right frame. The power button that has an embedded Goodix fingerprint sensor is located below it, indented in the frame.