For a very reasonable price, Poco makes a rather attractive proposition with its C65. A smartphone whose ambition is to provide the essentials while maintaining a good level of comfort despite some sacrifices.

For a very reasonable price, Poco makes a rather attractive proposition with its C65. A smartphone whose ambition is to provide the essentials while maintaining a good level of comfort despite some sacrifices.

Most smartphone manufacturers tend to favor mid-range, high-end and premium models, where it is easier to make margins without necessarily selling large volumes. Very beautiful devices equipped with the latest technological innovations and sold, in fact, at a high price. Also, for those looking for a smartphone simple enough to carry out most daily tasks without spending a fortune, the choice becomes more restricted or, at least, less attractive, the difference in level between entry-level and mid-range smartphones of range being generally quite impressive.

Poco, Xiaomi’s very mainstream brand, is going against this trend. There are generally mobiles that take advantage of Xiaomi’s advances from its mid-range models but are marketed at a significantly lower cost. The all-new C65 is a perfect example of this trend. The mobile has a large screen and very acceptable photo modules all wrapped in a design in the current trend and above all priced at less than 150 euros. For this price obviously, you will have to accept some compromises. We were able to test this Poco C65 for several days. Here is our verdict.

Poco C65: a large size with an all-purpose design

This Poco C65 is part of the large smartphone category. See instead. At 168 mm high and 78 mm wide, it is larger than a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra but a little thinner. Those with small hands may therefore have a little difficulty handling it easily. For the design, Poco did not reinvent the wheel. The chassis of the device is made entirely of plastic. Which allows it to display a “reasonable” weight of 192 g.

Flat tenches blend in with current trends, without extravagance. On the top, there is a mini jack socket to plug in a wired headset (not included) and even enjoy FM radio thanks to it. A device that is increasingly rare today.

The left edge houses the SIM card drawer which hides a nice surprise. Two nanoSIM card slots are offered plus a microSD memory card slot. Enough to have two telephone lines in addition to the possibility of expanding the storage space (the device is available in two versions: 6-128 GB or 8-256 GB).

On the right edge are the traditional volume and power buttons. The latter also serves as a fingerprint reader. He is rather reactive.

Finally, at the base of the device, nestles the USB-C port for charging accompanied by a speaker grill. This is the only sound output on the device and it does not demonstrate high quality. This is a mono sound with a very metallic tone that is not recommended for listening to music or the soundtrack of a film or series.

The back of the device adopts a metallic blue color in our case (it is also available in black or purple colors). At the top, two clearly visible photo sensors compete for the spotlight, encased in a large rectangle with a mirror effect.

Given the floor price, no 5G connection on this model. You will therefore have to make do with 4G as well as WiFi 5. No waterproofing either. IP53 certified, the device is simply dust and splash resistant.

Poco C65: a large screen but no HD

For the display, this Poco C65 thinks big. It is based on a 6.74-inch LCD screen covered in Corning Gorilla glass. A very large panel therefore but for which you will have to settle for a definition of 1600 x 720 pixels with a resolution of 260 ppi. It therefore lacks a little finesse compared to the vast majority of current smartphones but remains very readable. If you are a fan of streaming video, you will not be able to view your content in Full HD. On the other hand, this LCD panel offers a refresh rate capable of rising to 90 Hz. We therefore benefit from fairly fluid animations.

If the colors are well calibrated (a quick change through the settings allows you to opt for more or less saturated colors), the brightness is on the other hand a little weak. Poco thus announces 450 nits as standard with a peak at 600 nits. In direct sunlight, the screen may be difficult to read.

Poco C65: a processor that is running out of steam

Technical sheet

To liven up this entry-level model, Poco has equipped it with a SoC which is not of the latest youth: a MediaTek Helio G85. An 8-core chip, engraved in 12 nanometers, which is celebrating its third birthday. It is associated with 8 GB of RAM in the version we had in our hands, which can be extended to 12, 14 or 16 GB by drawing on the storage space available. But let’s not kid ourselves. This SoC is really reaching the end of its life as shown by the various benchmarks to which we submitted it.

On a daily basis, it is therefore not uncommon to encounter some slowdowns or latency times when switching from one application to another or applying certain settings. You shouldn’t ask too much of him. As for games, it’s not his cup of tea.

The Poco C65 runs Android 13 equipped with the in-house MIUI 14.0.7 software overlay, the style of which is obviously very close to the version present on Xiaomi smartphones. Its handling is quite pleasant. What is less so is the number of apps added by default. A good twenty in total including quite a few games. This is one of the counterparts of a floor price.

Poco C65: successful daytime photos but difficult at night

For photography, this Poco C65 uses two sensors. A first wide-angle module of 50 Mpx (f/1.8) and a second module of 2 Mpx (f/2.4) dedicated to macro. A minimalist choice (we would have preferred to have an ultra wide-angle module, more useful on a daily basis) but which doesn’t come off too badly. On the front, the selfie camera offers a definition of 8 Mpx (f/2.0).

During the day, the wide-angle module produces fairly sharp shots. The exposure is correct as is the colorimetry. The photos are captured in 12.5 Mpx but it is possible to disengage the device to take advantage of the 50 Mpx of the sensor (goodbye to the 16:9 format). Overall, the results are satisfactory even if the smoothing applied can sometimes be a bit aggressive.

The device offers a digital zoom of 2x to 10x but the quality is really not there.

Portrait mode is surprisingly quite effective with clean clipping, even if the subject is not a human.

The macro mode with its dedicated sensor does well. We would have appreciated being able to activate it from the shortcuts pane at the bottom of the screen but you will have to look for it in a drop-down menu. Not very practical.

When the light fades, the Poco C65 is not really at ease. The focus slips and the rendering turns out to be quite noisy. Night mode fixes things a little but it’s not a panacea either.

Poco C65: decent autonomy but charging that is much too slow

Armed with a 5000 mAh battery, the Poco C65 fits into the standard adopted by the vast majority of current smartphones. Its Helio G85 SoC is not the most efficient and its large screen could weigh it down, but this is not the case. The smartphone easily lasts a little over a day and a half in typical use. This is very satisfying knowing that models sold much more expensive struggle to achieve this score.

On the other hand, it is on the recharge time that the disappointment points. Poco provides a 10 W charger in the box. A good initiative but in reality the smartphone is capable of handling an 18 W Power Delivery charge. With the charger delivered, you have to wait a very long time to find a full charge: 2h10. It’s really very long. With a more powerful charger, the delay drops to 1h30. We only recover 25% of charge in 30 minutes. Conclusion: it’s better not to miss the time to recharge if you want to go back for a day of wandering far from an outlet.

Poco C65: should you go for Poco’s affordable mobile?

With the C65 Xiaomi, through its Poco brand, proves that an entry-level and relevant smartphone for less than 150 euros is possible. The device manages to deliver decent shots (as long as the light is right), offers comfortable battery life and real viewing comfort with its beautiful 6.74-inch screen. Obviously, for the price, 149 euros (169 euros in the 8-256 GB version tested here) you have to settle for an all-plastic case, an LCD panel, 4G and WiFi 5 and a processor quite old which can be a little lagging behind in certain areas. Nevertheless, the Poco C65 remains a completely acceptable proposition for small budgets. A smartphone that does not disappoint and that we would like to see the competition tackle while maintaining a price that is as aggressive as ever.