Xiaomi POCO F1 gets HD playback, 4k@60 recording support in MIUI 10.3.4 OTA update

When it comes to value for money, there’s almost nothing to beat Xiaomi’s Poco F1. This sub-20k smartphone offers flagship-rivalling performance that you’ll struggle to find in phones that are twice the price. One small niggle though has always been the phone’s lack of support for HD video playback via services like Netflix and Amazon Prime. The world runs on video, after all. The lack of support was pinned to the Poco F1’s lack of WideVine L1 certification. WideVine is a DRM (digital rights management) certificate that, well, certifies that a device is capable of securely playing HD content. In other words, the certification means that it’s almost impossible to pirate content from apps like Netflix and Amazon Prime. The OnePlus 6T also lacked this certification at launch. [caption id=“attachment_6041991” align=“alignnone” width=“960”] The Poco F1 is amazing value for money.[/caption] The issue is that WideVine certification is supposed to happen at the manufacturing level. A device could only be certified via a secure PC before it is shipped. Thankfully, recent changes to how WideVine certification is given out now means that devices can be certified via OTA (over the air) updates, which is what Xiaomi is now doing with the Poco F1. While the update is now available, Netflix still doesn’t support HD playback. Netflix will have to add support for the device, which might take a while. Support was first revealed in a MIUI beta a couple of months ago, but now, at long last, the official update is out to all Xiaomi Poco F1 devices. In addition to WideVine L1 support, the MIUI 10.3.4 Global Stable update adds support for 4k@60 fps video recording, game turbo (software tweaks to boost performance in games), a whole bunch of camera updates and several bug fixes.

Xiaomi POCO F1 specifications

The base model Poco F1 features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC, 6 GB RAM, 64 GB storage, a 4,000 mAh battery that charges via USB-C, a 12 MP + 5 MP dual camera on the rear and a 20 MP unit on the front. The display is a 6.18-inch FHD+ IPS unit with a max brightness of 500 nits.