POCO F4 vs Galaxy A73: which premium mid-range wins? | Comparative

And we have another duel between premium intermediaries, this time we put the Galaxy A73 to face the Poco F4. On one side a cell phone with a powerful 108 MP camera and on the other one with a more powerful processor and battery that recharges much faster. What is more important? Which one will win our duel? That’s what you’ll discover in this TechMarkup comparison.

• Design and connectivity
• multimedia and software
• Performance
• Drums
• cameras
• Price
• Conclusion

little F4

Samsung Galaxy A73

We start with the design and before talking about the differences in the appearance of each device, it is necessary to point out that the two are practically the same size and thickness. With the difference that Poco is a little heavier. If you only care about what is most comfortable to wear, then the choice will be more complicated.

The Galaxy has a plastic finish on the sides and back, while the Xiaomi bets on a frosted glass back to give a premium phone feel, but its sides are made of plastic. To compensate, Samsung has included IP67 certification in the A73, which guarantees greater protection against water than the rival’s IP53 certification.

Both sport a large bounced block for the cameras on the rear. In the case of Poco, we have the three cameras arranged in a circle. The bottom only houses the dual LED flash and mentions the OIS present in the camcorder. The Galaxy, on the other hand, has a more discreet block in the same color as the rear and makes better use of the area by housing its four cameras.

The front of both is flat with a thin bezel around the screen and features the same front edge. The selfie camera is in a hole centered at the top of the screen. While the Galaxy brings the biometric sensor integrated into the display itself, Xiaomi decided to insert the fingerprint sensor in the power button on the right side.

On the connectivity side, we have sixth-generation Wi-Fi on both, as well as NFC and 5G. The difference is for the most current Bluetooth on the Poco, as well as the extra of having infrared to use the cell phone as a remote control.

It’s a difficult duel and each one has its pros and cons, so we’ll give each one a point at the beginning.

Screen

The Poco features a 6.67-inch panel with a resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels and AMOLED technology with a refresh rate of 120 Hz and Dolby Vision support, something that Samsung has been avoiding in its cell phones for betting on rival technology.

The Galaxy A73 has a 6.7-inch screen with the same Full HD+ resolution and 120 Hz refresh rate. What changes is that we have a Super AMOLED Plus panel with the same brightness level, but better color calibration. The Galaxy just lacks support for any special HDR to get the most out of streaming services.

The Poco F4 will also please gamers for having a touch sensor that responds to 360 Hz, which helps to reduce latency in the response time of competitive games. Last but not least, both screens have glass with Gorilla Glass 5 protection.

We will give point on canvas to Poco F4.

Sound

There is stereo sound on both devices with Dolby Atmos to boost the experience with music, movies and games. The Galaxy has more powerful sound, but ends up distorting when the volume is at maximum; the highs are more evident, while the mids are lost and go unnoticed.

The Poco’s sound is less powerful, but in return it delivers better sound quality with well-balanced bass, mids and highs. None have a P2 input for headphones, but Xiaomi sends an adapter in the box so you can connect any headphones you have to the phone’s USB port.

So, point for Xiaomi in sound.

software

Both come out of the box with Android 12, with the difference that the Galaxy comes modified by One UI 4.1 and Poco by MIUI 13. Which do you prefer? We can say that both have a wide range of features, high customization potential and good fluidity for everyday use.

Samsung’s differential is in the software support with the guarantee of four Android updates for the A73, in addition to five years of security updates, despite not having been delivering patches monthly here in Europe. Xiaomi does not guarantee so many years of updates and does not always meet the update schedule for its devices.

We will score the Galaxy in software.

Which will be better in performance? The Poco F4 draws more attention because it comes with a beefier chipset, the Snapdragon 870. It is not exactly top-of-the-line hardware, but it is above the intermediate Snapdragon 778G present in the Galaxy A73.

In our multitasking-focused speed test we saw no difference in performance between the two. So if you only care about which one is faster, you don’t have to worry about the Galaxy’s least powerful processor.

Now if numbers in benchmarks matter to you, you’ll get higher scores with Poco. And in games? Both run the heaviest games at maximum graphics quality. The differential of the F4 is in the lower response time of the screen and in the more efficient dissipation system that reduces heating.

Point for Poco in performance.

The Galaxy has a larger battery, with 5,000 mAh against the rival’s 4,500 mAh. The result of this is that the Korean model delivers superior autonomy when both are used with the screen at 120 Hz. The difference was small on our standardized test, and both manage to spend all day away from power outlets.

The Poco’s advantage is in the 67W charger against the Galaxy’s only 15W. This makes the F4 take much less time to have its battery full, needing only 40 minutes against the rival’s two hours. With such a big difference in recharge time, there’s nothing to worry about with the lower autonomy of Xiaomi’s intermediary.

So, point to both.

The Galaxy A73 draws more attention in the photographic part for having a 108 MP sensor against one of only 64 MP. But we have already seen in other comparisons that the camera with the highest resolution is not always the one that records the best photos. In the case of the A73 we even see potential, but the hardware limits what the sensor is able to register.

Overall, we get close quality with both devices, whether with the main camera or the ultra-wide. The wider camera takes good daytime photos and suffers in dark places. The Galaxy has higher resolution macro and captures sharper photos, while neither has an error-free portrait effect in more complex scenarios.

As none stands out clearly, we draw.

Photos captured with the Poco F4

The Galaxy A73 also has a higher resolution sensor on the front. It brings 32 MP to register more details in selfies, but this does not show a clear advantage against the rival that has a sensor of only 20 MP.

In daytime selfies we can say that the two are close in the quality of the photos, colors, details and skin tone. As for night selfies, we see little advantage in the Poco F4 for capturing clearer images with less noise and superior sharpness.

So we give Poco a point.

Photos captured with the Galaxy A73

Finally, we have the camcorder. Both record in 4K, but the Galaxy is limited to 30 fps and its rival even records at 60 fps in this resolution. Both have good stabilization, with the focus a little more agile on the Chinese model, but the Samsung one captures cleaner sound and with superior clarity.

The advantage of the Galaxy lies in the front camera that is capable of filming in 4K. Xiaomi continues to insist on limiting its intermediate devices, even the most expensive, to recording only in Full HD with the selfie camera.

Thus, we give one point to each in camcorder.

The Galaxy A73 was launched in April 2022 in Europe for R$3,800 and is currently found for less than R$3,000. The Poco F4 arrived on the international market in June and can be found via importation for around R$ 2 thousand on sites like AliExpress, without considering taxes. If you prefer to buy on national sites, it can be found at retail for just over R$3,000.

As we are comparing an imported product with another with a local guarantee at a similar price, we will give the victory to the Galaxy A73.

Currently, it is already possible to find the cell phone at the AliExpress retailer.

• POCO F4 — find the smartphone here

If you were in doubt whether to buy the Galaxy A73 or import the Poco F4, now you know that Xiaomi’s is the best deal. It has a more premium look, more complete connectivity, a screen with Dolby Vision support and lower response time, superior performance in benchmarks and heats up less in games, its battery recharges faster and is even better for night photos.

The Galaxy A73 is not far behind and as we have a cell phone that is even cheaper if you intend to buy it here, you will get a device with water resistance, with greater support for Android updates, which provides greater autonomy, captures better macros and records videos in 4K with the front. So it’s up to you to decide which points are most important, but it’s clear that both are great mid-range phones.

RESULT

Little F4: 8 POINTS

• Better finish and connectivity
• Display with Dolby Vision support and 360 Hz touch sensor
• Better balanced sound and free P2 adapter
• Higher performance in benchmarks and lower heating in games
• shorter recharge time
• best night camera
• best night selfies
• Better focus and stabilization

Samsung Galaxy A73: 6 POINTS

• Better design and water resistance
• Software with greater update support
• Longer battery life
• best macro camera
• best front camcorder
• best investment

• The Poco F4 is available on Amazon for BRL 3,059.
• The Samsung Galaxy A73 5G is available at Magazine Luiza for BRL 2,725.