Some owners of the Poco F1, the seminal flagship killer from Xiaomi’s new brand Pocophone, are complaining of poor gaming performance and other issues following a jump to MIUI 10.
The latest stable version of Xiaomi’s in-house operating system based on Android 9 Pie may not be so stable after all because if it’s misbehaving on the Poco F1, a flagship in almost every sense, there’s no telling of how weaker hardware handles it in the long run.
That’s especially so because most reports of issues possibly related to the MIUI 10 upgrade started emerging only today, having hit social media and aggregator sites like Reddit after Poco F1 owners were already given the chance to use the new firmware as a daily driver for a while.
One user recently took to Twitter to complain about the phablet getting slow in a matter of weeks following its jump to MIUI 10, voicing their annoyance with the device that’s now said to be in such a poor state that it can’t even run PUBG Mobile without any lag, despite handling it well in the past and the game itself being rather well-optimized across the Android spectrum, especially when it comes to high-performing devices.
At the same time, other owners of the device are complaining about battery drain on Xiaomi’s official forums, with some of them claiming their devices developed a tendency to become extremely hot post-update, even when they aren’t being stressed to the max by demanding 3D games. Insufficient cooling is directly related to energy inefficiency, so the Poco F1 units in question may not be experiencing higher temperatures and a drop in expected autonomy simultaneously but could instead be having trouble with the battery life of their devices precisely because they’re unable to keep them cool.
Needless to say, that’s not a great look for a device primarily advertised as an affordable gaming machine.
Not all affected owners claim their issues started immediately following the jump to MIUI 10; some of those reporting major issues are presently running later firmware versions such as V10.2.3.0.PEJMIXM. Xiaomi representatives said some of the mentioned problems are already being investigated in response to individual reports but no cohesive statement on the matter has yet been issued by the Beijing-based firm.
The Pocophone brand is all about value and so is the Poco F1 meant to outlast its rivals by a significant margin, hence offering maximum bang for one’s money, both in terms of performance and its ability to sustain that very same performance. Up until now, the Android-powered did just that, which is strongly indicative of a scenario wherein the newly reported issues are mostly or entirely software-based.
Xiaomi will be wanting to resolve these problems as quickly as possible so as to proceed with the expected launch of the Poco F2 which is rumored to arrive as early as next month. As the Pocophone brand managed to outvalue the likes of OnePlus and Honor on its first attempt, it’s likely the successor to the popular 2018 phablet will be doubling down on the very same proposition, seeking to capture that niche audience of price-conscious mobile gamers who know what they want but have limited means or willingness to pay for it.