NOTICE: We have created an archive of all major developments related to the Pocophone F1 smartphone. We continuously update this page with the latest Poco F1 news so you don’t need to search for device information daily. Go here to access this page.
Smartphone gaming is the next big thing these days. Game publishers are constantly porting popular titles from consoles and PCs to mobile platforms, thanks to the increasing capabilities of the CPU and GPU,
Cross-platform multiplayer is another key factor that attracts the majority of mobile gamers. Smartphone makers have spotted an opportunity to bring “gaming” phones to the masses. Looking at the sales numbers, it looks like these RGB-laden cyberpunk themed phones are doing quite well.
Fortnite is much more fun when played with the Black Shark + Gamepad 2.0 😁
Learn more: https://t.co/TfhHczadFV pic.twitter.com/ALBlXpX33B
— Black Shark (@blckshrk_global) March 3, 2019
Black Shark was created out of Xiaomi as an independent subsidiary to produce gaming phones. Xiaomi, on the other hand, has incorporated some handy gamer features into their in-house Android skin aka MIUI.
With the launch of the Mi 9, Xiaomi introduced a dedicated “Game Turbo” mode. According to the official description, the mode “predicts gameplay scenes and intelligently allocates resources for complicated scenes.”
Are you a gamer? To have #Mi9.
RT if you want to boost your mobile experience. #Make it happen pic.twitter.com/Gyg6J8xFbN— Xiaomi (@Xiaomi) February 17, 2019
Sounds like a fancy shader pre-cache mechanism, doesn’t it? They probably mix it up with some CPU frequency tweaks so that a short burst phase provides better gaming performance.
The Chinese equipment supplier also shipped a dedicated in-game toolbox that lets you see stats like CPU/GPU usage and FPS count. Additionally, there are options to adjust the touch sensitivity.
Xiaomi has gone a step further and planned to backport these features to their one-year-older flagship – the Mi 8 series. The news came from Li Weixing, the general manager of Xiaomi’s Internet division.
The internal plan, shared by Li, had a number of smartphones in addition to the Mi 8 range to receive Game Turbo functionality in the following months. Surprisingly, Poco F1 (also known as Pocophone F1) was not present in the list.
Some Poco users have reached out to Alvin Tse for feedback. Alvin, the head of Pocophone Global, gave no ETA.
Still looking, can’t confirm any datrs
— Alvin Tse #MiFan (@atytse) March 10, 2019
Believe it or not, MIUI developers have secretly integrated these features into Poco F1 closed betas. When this became not-so-secret news, Alvin assumed responsibility for the company.
We are still planning to improve the user experience even though it is already one of the top rated flagships! #POCOF1 https://t.co/1qfTT8p8Ec
— Alvin Tse #MiFan (@atytse) March 21, 2019
The latest global beta i.e. MIUI 9.3.21 for Pocophone F1 brought Game Turbo mode along with Game Toolbox 2.0.
A surprise for gamers #POCOF1. Game Turbo with cutting-edge detail with even frame rate built into #MIUI Thanks for POCO F1 Deva Team, @atytse @cmanmohan @jaimani @IndiaPOCO @PocophoneGlobal. pic.twitter.com/zi5qy410gd
— Adlin Anouch (@Adlinek) March 21, 2019
The beta version is currently offered to a handful of users, but thanks to the Xiaomi Firmware Updater project, we can share the direct link of the OTA update zip.
- Device: Poco F1 / Pocophone F1
- Code name: beryllium
- Channel: Global Beta (India)
- Version: 9.3.21
- Android: 9.0
- Type: Salvage
- To download: Link
- MD5: eb8cb2202a204a6e2046937127568a45
- Type: Salvage
The OTA changelog, however, says nothing about new features. I guess Xiaomi needs to hire a bunch of new editors. ?
Do you have the beta update on your Poco? Let us know by commenting below.
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