The Poco M3 was unveiled at a livestreamed event today, and at the same time, Poco Global is breaking out as its own brand independent of Xiaomi. This comes after 6 million Poco phones have been sold in more than 35 global markets, making it a very successful sub-brand. Its latest budget handset boasts an enormous 6,000 mAh battery, a large 6.53-inch display, and a triple camera system headed up by a 48MP main sensor.

Since it starts at $149, the Poco M3 is a decidedly budget affair in contrast to Poco's higher-specced budget flagship offerings. It's powered by a modest Snapdragon 662 chipset with Adreno 610 GPU. The cheapest model comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, while a $169 variant ups the capacity to 128GB.

Specs

SoC Qualcomm Snapdragon 662
RAM 4GB (LPDDR4X)
Storage 64GB (UFS 2.1) or 128GB (UFS 2.2) (microSD expandable)
Display 6.53" FHD+ Dot Drop display
Rear cameras 48MP main, 2MP macro, 2MP depth
Front camera 8MP
Battery 6,000 mAh (18W fast charging)
Headphone jack Yes
Software MIUI 12 for POCO (Android 10)
Other Dual speakers, Hi-Res Audio certified, side-mounted fingerprint sensor, FM radio, IR blaster, DualSIM
Dimensions 162.3mm x 77.3mm x 9.6mm
Weight 198g
Colors Cool Blue, POCO Yellow, Power Black
Price $149 or $169

Triple cameras are on board, but we can probably only expect half-decent photos from the 48MP main shooter — 2MP macro and depth sensors continue to be questionable inclusions on budget hardware. Other notable features include a headphone jack, expandable storage, and dual speakers with Hi-Res audio. Biometrics security is also on board in the form of a side-mounted fingerprint scanner and AI face unlock.

Availability in Europe begins on Black Friday, which means the pricing will be dropped to $129 and $149 for each model, respectively. You grab one from the Poco site, Amazon, AliExpress, or mi.com.