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POCO began in 2018 as an internal Xiaomi project, not as a separate company. Xiaomi already covers budget phones with Redmi and higher-end devices with Mi. Still, it saw room between them: buyers who wanted flagship-level speed for about $300-$400. That was the space OnePlus had built with its “flagship killer” idea.

The new team was led by Jai Mani, a former Google employee at Xiaomi India, with Alvin Tse working on product strategy. The name “poco,” meaning “little” in Spanish and Italian, referred to the small team behind the project. On August 22, 2018, POCO F1 was announced in Delhi with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, 6 or 8 GB of RAM, fast charging, and a polycarbonate body used to keep costs down.

The price in India started at 20,999 rupees, or about $300, while the global Pocophone F1 was available in 65 countries. Sales reached 700,000 units in the first three months, and in Indian online rankings, it beat the more expensive OnePlus 6. Reviewers compared it to early OnePlus models because it brought top-tier performance into a much lower price range.

POCO released no new phone in 2019, and Jai Mani left the company. On January 17, 2020, Xiaomi executive Manu Kumar Jain announced POCO India as an independent brand; the global division followed in November. POCO X2, F2 Pro, X3, X3 NFC, M2, and M3 expanded the range in 2020, often using Redmi hardware. By 2022, POCO added watches and earbuds, while keeping the F, X, and M series structure.