Poco M2 Pro – Re-branded yet again!

Poco launched their second phone today (for 2020) in India. It is called the Poco M2 Pro. The terrible naming scheme aside, Poco M2 Pro is what the Redmi Note 9 Pro should have been in the first place. It is very confusing as to what Xiaomi and Poco are up to with their phones this year.

Global Redmi K30 was launched in India as Poco X2, and now the global Redmi Note 9 Pro is launched in India as the Poco M2 Pro. All this re-branding makes things complicated, and frankly hurts the brand image of Poco. Let me explain.

Poco’s original brand strategy

Poco was launched as a sub-brand of Xiaomi, back in September 2018. Back then everyone was really happy and surprised with the launch of this new brand and it’s first phone viz. Poco F1. Poco F1 was a true flagship killer and offered something very new and different from what was expected at that price point. That was the main selling point of Poco F1. They launched a phone which was different and unique from other phones in that price segment whilst still offering great value for money.

Naturally people were excited for the Poco sub-brand and what they would bring next to the market. But after the launch of Poco F1 there were some issues. The main lead of Poco at that time, Mr. Jay Mani left the company for some reason and Poco was like a ship without a captain. Maybe because of this, Poco didn’t launch anything new for a long time and even Xiaomi didn’t know what to do next with the sub-brand.

There was a lot of hype from people about Poco and it’s next phone. With just one phone, Poco had created a brand name that only a few can. People were hoping that Poco would some day revive and yet again launch some really different and value for money phones. Well, that day finally came in February 2020.

Poco’s Re-birth

Poco was revived by Xiaomi in February 2020 and they announced that Poco will now operate as an Independent brand. That means Poco is no longer a sub-brand of Xiaomi and will operate as an independent brand which basically means that Poco can compete with Xiaomi in the market. Everyone was excited about this announcement and finally there was a ray of hope for all Poco fans.

But, the first phone that Poco launched as an “Independent Brand” was the Poco X2 which basically is a re-branded Redmi K30. This move didn’t make sense at all, but we were fine with it as Poco X2 is a great phone and offers really good value. People understood that this is a safe bet and maybe in the future we can expect some new phones from the brand like Poco F2 or something.

Re-branding continues

After a successful launch of Poco X2 in India, the brand decided to launch yet another “Re-branded” phone called Poco M2 Pro (which basically is a re-branded Global Redmi Note 9 Pro). This move is very bad for the original brand image of Poco. We all hoped and wished for new and unique phones from Poco, but they are launching re-branded Redmi phones. My question is, “Why did they launch these under the Poco brand anyway?”. They could’ve launched it under the Redmi branding and that would’ve made much more sense.

This re-branding of phones is a safe bet, but one that is going to hurt the brand image severely. This is the second Redmi re-branded phone that Poco has launched in India, and people aren’t appreciating this. The phone is actually pretty good and offers great value for money, but because it is a “Re-branded” version of Redmi Note 9 Pro, it creates sort of a negative vibe around the product. It is high time that Poco launched some new and original products.

Should you buy Poco M2 Pro?

Well if you’re looking for a phone under the price of Rs. 15000 then Poco M2 Pro is in fact a great option.

As I said in the beginning, Poco M2 Pro is what Redmi Note 9 Pro should have been.

Thanks for tuning in, I’ll see you guys around.

Harsh Punjabi

I have always been passionate about technology. Trying out new gadgets like smartphones, laptops, headphones, etc. has always been very fascinating and one fine day, I decided to take this passion and turn it into something substantial. This is how technolobe was born.