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Talk about disrupting the market… yet again. POCO, an independent brand born out of Xiaomi, has priced its latest 5G phone aggressively.

(Update, June 6: Our review of the POCO M3 Pro 5G is up!)

Launched just today, June 1, in Southeast Asia, the POCO M3 Pro 5G gets a suggested retail price of P8,990 (roughly $188 converted) in the Philippines, making it the most affordable 5G-ready handset locally. That’s for the model with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. Stepping up to the 6GB/128GB version costs P11,990 ($251) — and hey, that’s still insanely budget-friendly.

If you buy the POCO M3 Pro 5G on June 3, June 4, or June 6 from Lazada Philippines, you can get any of the two variants at lower prices, with the base selling for P7,490 ($157) and the one with the higher memory configuration retailing at P9,490 ($199).

The POCO M3 Pro 5G has a lot going for it besides having access to the latest generation of mobile network. It’s equipped with a MediaTek Dimensity 700, a chip fabbed on a 7nm process and has two Cortex-A76 CPU cores clocked at 2.2GHz, six Cortex-A55 cores, and Mali-G57 MC2 graphics.

The smartphone’s 6.5-inch full-HD screen boasts a 90Hz refresh rate for a smoother gaming experience, for one. With DynamicSwitch technology, the display can automatically switch between 90Hz, 60Hz, 50Hz, and — in the future through an over-the-air update — 30Hz, allowing the front panel to adapt refresh rate to content while saving power.

SEE ALSO: Watch Xiaomi’s 200W wired, 120W wireless charging in action

The POCO M3 Pro 5G likewise features a 48-megapixel triple rear camera, an 8-megapixel selfie shooter, a 5,000mAh battery that supports a maximum of 18 watts of fast charging, a power key that doubles as a fingerprint sensor, and Android 11-based POCO UI. It ships with a 22.5-watt in-box charger.

Interested? You probably are. Then you might want to catch POCO Global head of product marketing Angus Ng’s first livestream show on e-commerce site Lazada. Details can be seen below.

Join @anguskhng first Livestream show on Lazada at 23:30 (GMT+8) on June 2!
Join and win:
Livestream only special voucher!
A smart band that comes with every purchase!
100 POCO T-shirts and hats for all the lucky participants!
Two #POCOM3Pro 5G!
and more!

— POCO (@POCOGlobal) June 1, 2021

POCO M3 Pro 5G specs

• 6.5-inch FHD+ LCD DotDisplay with 90Hz refresh rate (DynamicSwitch technology), 91% screen-to-body ratio, Corning Gorilla Glass protection
• 7nm MediaTek Dimensity 700 octa-core processor with built-in 5G modem
• 4GB/6GB RAM
• 64GB/128GB UFS 2.2 storage, expandable up to 1TB
• Triple rear cameras: 48-megapixel main, 2-megapixel macro, and 2-megapixel depth-sensing
• 8-megapixel front camera
• Side-mounted fingerprint scanner
• 5,000mAh battery that supports 18-watt fast charging
• IR blaster
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• NFC
• POCO UI based on Android 11
• Colors: POCO Yellow, Cool Blue, and Power Black

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