Xiaomi Mi 6 vs OnePlus 3T vs Honor 8: Price, specifications and features compared

Here’s how the Xiaomi Mi 6 fares against its competitors.

Xiaomi launched the much- anticipated Mi 6 smartphone in China this week. With a strong focus on camera and performance, the new flagship smartphone is the successor to the last year’s Mi 5. Competing against a slew of top-end smartphones, we pitted the Xiaomi Mi 6 against the OnePlus 3T and Honor 8 both of which fall in the same price bracket. Here’s how it fares against the competition.

Pricing and availability

First things first, the Xiaomi Mi 6 has been announced in China and there is currently no word on its global launch. Nonetheless, if we look at the China prices, we get a fair idea of how much it could cost in India whereas the other two smartphones – OnePlus 3T and Honor 8 are already selling. The Xiaomi Mi 6 prices start at RMB 2,499, which roughly translates into Rs 23,500. The OnePlus 3T and the Honor 8, on the other hand, are priced at Rs 29,999. Additionally, the Xiaomi Mi 6 is available in a Ceramic edition with 18-karat gold camera rim. The premium variant costs RMB 2,999, which is approximately Rs 30,000.

Display

Amongst the competing devices here, the Xiaomi Mi 6 features the smallest display size. It is equipped with a 5.15-inch display while the OnePlus 3T features a 5.5-inch display and the Honor 8 sits between the two with a 5.2-inch display. Displays on all three smartphones offer full HD resolution. Although there is a growing trend of larger display sizes, with some going beyond 6-inches, if one looks at ergonomics, any size from 5-inches to 5.5-inches is practical for the everyday usage. In terms of design, the Xiaomi Mi 6 and Honor 8 bear striking resemblance to each other with 3D curved unibody design.  The OnePlus 3T, a variant of the OnePlus 3, features a metal unibody design.

Processor

Coming to one of the highlights of the Xiaomi Mi 6; it is one of the first smartphones to feature the newest Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC under the hood. The other popular smartphone currently released with the chipset is the Samsung Galaxy S8, which costs significantly higher than the Xiaomi Mi 6. Additionally, the Snapdragon 835 SoC is reserved for the international markets.

Although the newer chipset is yet to undergo real-life tests, it is considered to bring in significant improvements over the older Snapdragon 821 SoC. Also, the Snapdragon 835 SoC has been built using the 10nm fabrication process which is said to bring in more efficiency without heating up the device. The OnePlus 3T which is currently the hot favorite in terms of performance-centric smartphones is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 SoC. The Honor 8, on the other hand, is equipped with Huawei’s own Kirin 950 octa-core chipset. ALSO READ: Xiaomi Mi 6 vs Xiaomi Mi 5: What’s different?

In terms of storage, both the Xiaomi Mi 6 and OnePlus 3T feature 6GB of RAM, while the Honor 8 packs 4GB of RAM. The default storage on offer with the Xiaomi Mi 6 is either 64GB or 128GB, with no option to further boost it. The OnePlus 3T and Honor 8, on the other hand, pack 64GB and 32GB of internal storage respectively, along with an option to use a microSD card for storage expansion up to 128GB.

Camera

Hopping on the bandwagon of dual camera smartphones, the Xiaomi Mi 6 brings in more camera prowess with a pair of 12-megapixel rear cameras. With a camera technology similar to the Apple iPhone 7, the dual camera module on the Xiaomi Mi 6 features one telephoto lens and a wide-angle lens with 4-axis OIS for DSLR-like photo output. Up front, the smartphone packs an 8-megapixel camera.

The OnePlus 3T doesn’t pack a dual camera module but features a higher megapixel count both in terms of front and rear camera. It is equipped with 16-megapixel cameras at both ends. ALSO READ: Xiaomi Mi 6 dual-camera official samples surface online

The Honor 8, on the other hand, also features a dual camera setup with a pair of 12-megapixel cameras. One of the lenses is an RGB sensor that allows one to capture rich colors, while the other lens is a monochrome sensor which helps in capturing more light with increased sharpness.  On the front, the Honor 8 features an 8-megapixel camera.

Battery, software, and connectivity

All the three smartphones are fuelled with similar battery capacities with fast charging technologies. The Mi 6 packs a 3,350mAh battery with Quick Charge 4.0, the OnePlus 3T houses a 3,400mAh battery with Dash Charge, while the Honor 8 packs a 3,000mAh battery with fast charging capabilities. All the three smartphones feature USB Type-C ports for charging and data transfer. However, the Mi 6 also supports audio through the same port, unlike the other two smartphones listed here. This basically means that the standard 3.5mm headphone jack is absent from the Mi 6.

In terms of connectivity, all three smartphones are 4G VoLTE enabled and support dual SIM. The Xiaomi Mi 6 also gets onboard dual Wi-Fi of better connectivity and stereo speakers. ALSO READ: This is Not a OnePlus 3T Review

Additionally, all the smartphones feature fingerprint sensors. The Xiaomi Mi 6 features an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor that is embedded beneath the screen while the OnePlus 3T packs it beneath the front home button. The Honor 8 has a dedicated fingerprint sensor which is placed at the back.

On the software front, the Xiaomi Mi 6 runs the latest Android 7.1.1 Nougat out-of-the-box with MIUI 8 running atop. The OnePlus 3T and the Honor 8 run Android 6.0 Marshmallow with Oxygen OS and EMUI 4.1 layered atop respectively.

If one looks at the specs on the sheet, the Xiaomi Mi 6 seems to have an edge over the competitors in terms of latest processor and price point. While the Xiaomi Mi 6 does bear a resemblance to the Honor 8 in terms of design, it packs a lot of powerful features which make the other smartphones pale in comparison. The Xiaomi Mi 6 is yet to be launched in India and it is unclear if the company will launch the Snapdragon 835 version. It will be interesting to see how Indian consumers respond to Xiaomi’s new flagship smartphone.