Indian smartphone market has recently witnessed some hot launches in the 5-inch category. Here's comparing three new 5-inchers priced under Rs 15,000 — Xiaomi Mi 3, Asus Zenfone 5 and Huawei Honor 3C.
Xiaomi Mi 3
The 8.1mm-slim Mi 3 handset boasts of toughened Gorilla Glass and an aluminium magnesium alloy frame that's coated with three layers of thermal graphite to make it look and feel far more premium than its asking price.
Now, if this handset has been making headlines, it's because of its quality hardware that's capable of serious graphic processing that, hitherto, was only seen in devices costing thrice as much. Full HD movies and 3D games are rendered wonderfully; displayed crisply and with vibrant colours on its Full HD screen; and multi-tasking is handled effortlessly. A special mention should be made of the handset's Miui user interface that's light on the system, intuitive to use, and highly customizable using its proprietary Theme app.
On the downside, the sound quality here is not the best we've experienced. Music playback — though clear — seemed softer than all other phones in this review, while calls lacked clarity at times, but this is not a deal breaker.
For the click-happy, the Mi 3 comes with a 13MP main shooter with dual flash and a 2MP front camera. The former is quick to focus, though the resultant output lacks detail when zoomed into. Still, the photos and videos shot with the Mi 3 are good for sharing on the web, and to use with apps. Notably, the front cam comes with a filter that softens selfies to create blemish-less complexions.
All in all, the Mi 3 is a package that's miles ahead of the competition. It comes with preloaded apps such as a call recorder, an office suite, FM radio, and even cloud storage.
You get a device that's equipped with NFC, and which can also create a strong wireless hotspot. Additionally, in tests, its battery gave us six hours of Full HD movie playback, and lasts for nearly two days with normal usage.
Asus Zenfone 5
The Zenfone 5 is mostly an all-plastic affair, although the build quality is top-notch, complete with Gorilla Glass and a fine radial, metallic texture on the buttons and the bottom edge of the phone; its gently curved back gives it greater grip and feels natural to hold.
Most notably, its dual-core Intel processor rises well to the challenge of heavy multitasking, HD movies and gaming. Additionally, Asus' custom interface adds nice touches to the user experience — be it in the area of managing SIMs, changing audio output to suit your preferences, recording calls, etc.
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If you are the creative sort, you will like the Zenfone's camera UI, which includes presets that let you take low-light shots, pictures where everyone is smiling, create GIF animations and more. Results are decent, but tend to get really noisy in low light.
The handset's audio playback is commendable, with its ability to output discernable bass and clear vocals. But like in the case of the Mi 3, call quality wasn't quite up to the mark.
Sadly, its battery life of just six hours proved to be its weakness. But for this drawback, the Zenfone manages to deliver value for money .
Huawei Honor 3C
The Honor 3C — with its glossy white plastic finish — doesn't look slick. Still, its thinner bezel results in a slightly tighter form factor, making it easier to handle as well as carry in the shirt pocket. It is fronted by a quality HD display that offers excellent contrast, richer colours and deep blacks. Sadly, it is not scratch-resistant.
The Honor 3C — powered by a quad-core processor, and coupled with great touchscreen response and a proprietary user interface (Emotion 2.0) — works flawlessly for most productivity tasks, and is better in certain areas like the notification centre and single-handed use than the Asus ZenUI.
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There are very few pre-loaded apps on this device; utilities like a flashlight, voice recorder, phone manager, and KingSoft Office for productivity is all you will find on the Honor 3C.
But the mainstay of this smartphone is its call quality, which is the best when compared with all the sub-15k phones in this review. Audio output, however, lacks bass punch.
Its 8MP and 5MP cameras are quick to focus and take some commendable shots and videos with fair amount of detail.
As far as battery life is concerned, you can get a full day's use — phone calls, web browsing, e-mails and gaming — on a single charge.
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