Honor 7X Vs Xiaomi Mi A1 – Best Smartphone Under Rs. 15000?

Huawei Honor launched the Honor 7X in India at a starting price of Rs. 12999. Up until then, that price segment was dominated by the likes of the Xiaomi Mi A1 and Moto G5s Plus, both of which offered similar specifications and software experience.

Before the Honor 7X was launched in India, the Xiaomi Mi A1 was soaring high at a price tag of Rs. 14999 which was cheaper than the Moto G5s Plus, however, a few days after the Honor 7X was launched, the price of the Mi A1 decreased. In order to keep a level playing field, Xiaomi reduced the price of the Honor 7X to Rs. 13999 and right now, it is available for Rs. 12999 on Flipkart. With the price tag no longer a factor, let’s see which phone comes out on top.

Design

Hands down, the Honor 7X wins in the design department. The Xiaomi Mi A1 is not a bad looking phone but, when kept next to each other, the Mi A1 looks dated. The Honor 7X has a modern design with thin bezels and even though the company could’ve used the bottom bezel to house a fingerprint sensor instead of its branding, the Honor 7X looks sleek and more pleasing to the eye than the Xiaomi Mi A1.

Display

The Honor 7X has a 5.93-inch LTPS IPS LCD display with a 2160 x 1080 px resolution and 407ppi. The Xiaomi Mi A1, on the other hand, has a 5.5 inch LTPS IPS LCD display with a 1920 x 1080 px resolution and 403ppi. Despite a taller display, the Honor 7X has a slightly high pixel count than the Xiaomi Mi A1. In terms of display, the Honor 7X wins the battle again thanks to its 18:9 aspect ratio which comes in handy while multi-tasking and content consumption in general. The Xiaomi Mi A1 has the 2016 standard 5.5-inch display which cannot seem to hold up against the Honor 7X.

Software

After photos and sound, software is the most subjective aspect of a smartphone. Just like some people prefer bass-heavy sound over a flat soundstage, some people prefer the bells and whistles of a custom skin over stock Android OS. There is no denying that the Xiaomi Mi A1 will always be ahead when it comes to software updates but, EMUI on the Honor 7X has come a long way since its inception as well. Both the phones offer a different software experience for different sets of people.

Performance

The Xiaomi Mi A1 has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage which can be expanded up to 128GB via microSD card. The Honor 7X is powered by the HiSilicon Kirin 659 chipset, 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage (for the Rs. 12,999 variant) which can also be expanded up to 256GB via microSD card. Just as you would expect, bot the devices handle day-to-day tasks with ease although the 18:9 display makes normal usage much more fun on the Honor 7X. During gaming again, the display of the Honor 7X comes into play as it enhances the user experience while the Xiaomi Mi A1’s experience is adequate but, nothing to ride home about.

Benchmark scores tell a similar story. In Geekbench, the Xiaomi Mi A1 scores 883 in single-core and 4267 in multi-core set. The Honor 7X on the other hand scores 909 in single-core and 3511 in multi-core tests.

Camera

Photos are extremely subjective and the same case is in this comparison as well. Watch our full comparison for photo samples and decide for yourself. Here are a few sample shots from both, the Xiaomi Mi A1 and Honor 7X.

While specifications on paper might not tell the whole story, the two phones are a solid option in the price category. The Mi A1 has a dated design but stock Android OS while the Honor 7X has a modern design, thin bezels but a heavily skinned custom OS.