I got the Poco F4 (6/128 version) this week, have been updating the phone. Here are my thoughts:
1. I am a casual user, mainly using phone for communications, surfing, watching videos, navigating and occasionally taking photos. No gaming The device is snappy and covers all my needs. MIUI is quite convenient to configure to my usage style (Less icons, more focused use cases. E.g. Scanner is available on the Quick Settings so that if I need to scan a restaurant QR code, I can quickly do so)
2. Provided phone cover is lightweight. I bought another casing but it's much heavier, decided not to use it.
3. For $288 with 1 year warranty, this is a no-brainer. Not sure if Poco will have one more discount before releasing F5, but I think most casual users should save some money and get F4 instead.
4. A downside was that MIUI came with a lot of bloatware. I managed to find a program called Universal Android Debloater which is pretty useful for removing most junk.
https://github.com/0x192/universal-android-debloater
Take note that the "Recommended" options for removal includes some useful programs (e.g. Maps, Chrome, Messaging). I have excluded those when removing. I use open-source alternatives from F-Droid for those. That keeps the phone even snappier.
5. Battery life is about 2 days with regular usage, I actually suspect I could go 5 days without charging if I minimize my usage.
6. I got the glass protector and looking to replace the existing plastic protector one of these days...
If there are any recommendations for optimising this phone further from others, please share!