Xiaomi is a huge smartphone maker in many parts of the world, but not in the US. When the company announced its Pocophone sub-brand, there was some hope it could come to American shores. That doesn't appear to be the case, at least not officially. You can already purchase the Pocophone F1 from several US eBay sellers, but there are a few things to know before you do.

The Pocophone F1 does indeed have top-of-the-line specs. Even with the inflated import prices, the device is a good value. You're looking at around $335 for a phone with a Snapdragon 845 and 6GB of RAM. However, we already know this phone lacks full Widevine DRM support, so it won't be able to access certain media. For example, Netflix won't stream in HD. There may not be any way to fix this with OTA software updates—OnePlus needed physical access to the 5 and 5T to add Widevine.

A bigger issue is the cellular band support. This phone is intended for Asian markets, so your connectivity in the US will be mediocre. There's no CDMA for Sprint or Verizon, but that's no surprise; plenty of unlocked phones lack that. The 3G band support is only optimal for AT&T, but LTE is going to be a problem. The Pocophone F1 has band 1(2100), 3(1800), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 20(800), 38(2600), 40(2300), 41(2500). Band 5 is the only one on that list active in the US, and it's just a supplementary band for AT&T and T-Mobile. You're going to have very poor connectivity with this phone in the US.

If you do want to buy the Pocophone F1, just keep these drawbacks in mind. There are currently three reputable eBay sellers with the phone ready for US shipping. Check the links below. You can also get it from AliExpress if you want to pay more and wait longer (don't do this).