Huawei or Xiaomi? Choosing the best Chinese smartphone in different price categories

In recent years, Xiaomi, Meizu and Huawei have consistently been among the leaders among Chinese smartphone manufacturers. Anyone who begins to choose an inexpensive and high-quality mobile gadget for themselves must make a comparison between the smartphones of these companies. Both Xiaomi and Huawei have their undoubted advantages, but their phones are not without their disadvantages. How do you know which smartphone to choose? Here, as usual, it is better to build on your own preferences. We offer a comparison of Xiaomi and Huawei phones, highlighting their main pros and cons.

Huawei smartphones: advantages

Variety of models

In terms of the variety of assortment in our comparison, Xiaomi vs Huawei does not stand up to competition. With a few exceptions, most Xiaomi phones are nothing more than aluminum rectangles in appearance. On the other hand, Huawei offers metal, glass, and plastic options. Among the current flagships, Huawei also has a much wider choice.

Own chipsets

Unlike Xiaomi and Meizu, Huawei installs its own chipsets in smartphones. For comparison, besides Huawei, only two smartphone manufacturers are doing this - Samsung and Apple. So there is no dependence on third-party suppliers, and it is possible to quickly optimize any software, as well as timely release updates for the software platform.

Official representative offices

If Xiaomi and Meizu in the CIS countries have only distribution companies promoting their products, then Huawei has its own official representative offices. Therefore, clients are guaranteed good service, and local markets are guaranteed to be explored much better. This also allows the company to provide adequate technical support to smartphone users. If necessary, repairing Huawei smartphones is easier and faster, and therefore this company seems more reliable.

Cameras

A review of Huawei cameras has more than once left me in awe. The company has a clear focus on developing high-quality camera modules, often in collaboration with the world-renowned Leica. It is not surprising that the Chinese are already catching up with Samsung and Apple in the quality of mobile photos. If we compare with Xiaomi, then in the category of budget smartphones there is approximately equality, and in terms of flagship cameras, Huawei wins by one wicket.

Network Compatibility

Comparing Xiaomi and Meizu and trying to make a choice, we note that Huawei supplies the Russian market with products that are absolutely compatible with our networks. Xiaomi smartphones are inferior in this regard, although not much. For example, Band 20 LTE is usually not in the list of available frequencies.

Autonomy

Battery life is a difficult indicator to evaluate, as it is influenced by many factors. These include: battery capacity, processor, matrix manufacturing technology and its resolution, shell.

To compare smartphones by this parameter and answer the 2 main questions (in the table below), let’s turn to the nanoreview rating:

What information can be extracted from it? Firstly, devices from Xiaomi are located much closer to the top of the table (the best result is Poco M3 in 7th place) and the ideal result, and in general there are much more of them than representatives from Huawei (the best result is P40 Lite in 52- oh place).

Secondly, the gap is not as huge as it might seem, but quite noticeable. Consequently, the question about the testing favorite has been answered. But what can we say about the autonomy of smartphones from these brands, if we abstract from the numbers?

In general, the vast majority of Huawei devices do not have any particular problems with autonomy. Yes, they often have a smaller battery (usually around 3700-4300 mAh, while Xiaomi has an average range of 4000-6000 mAh), but due to the lack of overheating, optimized shell and energy-efficient processors, smartphones demonstrate good autonomy.

Huawei smartphones: disadvantages

Confusion in the lineup

Huawei has more models, which is great, but it would be nice to structure them. By releasing a lot of versions of the same smartphone, the company often produces the same model for different countries with different “fillings”. This gives rise to misunderstandings and consumer misunderstanding of the product's features.

For example, Honor 5C, sold in China, has a fingerprint scanner, but the smartphone on the Russian market does not have it. In Ukraine, the same gadget is called Huawei GT3 and is offered with a scanner. And if you take into account the abundance of gray market products, you can only guess what kind of misunderstandings this could result in.

On-screen buttons

Only one budget Huawei model for 2021 has touch buttons under the screen - this is the Y3 II model. For the rest, the buttons are placed directly on the screen, and on the bottom there is only the manufacturer’s logo, the presence of which, to put it mildly, is neither cold nor hot. There is an illiterate use of useful screen space, and this at a time when developers are doing everything they can to save every millimeter. If we talk about Xiaomi, then only one phone has on-screen buttons - this is Mi Mix. But it has a “mitigating circumstance” in the form of a significantly elongated display.

Problem with oleophobic coating

It is difficult to say for what reason Huawei does not put an oleophobic coating on its phones, which performs water- and grease-repellent functions. One way or another, its advantages have long been clear to everyone, but for some reason the manufacturer stubbornly refuses to install it. If you compare it with Xiaomi, then the competitor puts it on every gadget, easily beating the opponent in this criterion. Of course, the quality of this coating from Xiaomi leaves much to be desired, but that’s another story.

Expensive

Since Huawei began to be considered one of the best smartphone manufacturers, the cost of the company's products has been steadily increasing. Even though we are accustomed to the fact that Chinese goods cannot be expensive, Huawei refutes this thesis. Of course, in return, excellent quality is provided (also a strange phenomenon, as for Chinese phones), but many are surprised why Chinese gadgets cost the same as gadgets from the Korean and much more famous Samsung.

Design

It’s quite difficult to talk about comparing smartphones by appearance in 2021. I think you yourself may have noticed that on store shelves there are models that are very similar to each other with common features:

• “Unibrow” or drop-shaped/circular cutout for the camera in the screen.
• Displays with a diagonal of 6-6.5 inches.
• A block of 3-4 main cameras located vertically.

And yet, some individual design trends are visible from each manufacturer, although there are very few of them. In this case, we will do without points, since the outer shell is a subjective parameter.

Xiaomi

Flagship and similar top-series models have a small “eye” (circular cutout) for the camera on the front of the case. But there are exceptions - a retractable front camera mechanism, as, for example, in the Mi 9T Pro. The body is made primarily of metal (more affordable smartphones are made of plastic) and glass, and the fingerprint scanner is built into the screen or power button.

The color scheme is classic for most premium models: from strict metallic shades of gray to brighter, neat blue/blue options. On the back there is the company logo.

It is also worth noting that this line also includes very thin devices, for example, 11 Lite NE with a thickness of 6.8 mm.

Regarding Redmi devices, the picture is somewhat different. Firstly, the front camera here is often located in a drop-shaped notch (or circular on more expensive models). Secondly, the fingerprint scanner is most often built into the screen lock button or the back panel of the case. The material used is mainly plastic or glass.

But in terms of body colors, Xiaomi is not afraid to experiment in this line and often offers options from brutal colors to brighter orange, red and even purple colors with a corrugated surface (Redmi 9C).

And the devices from the Black Shark and POCO series can be called the most prominent among other smartphones from the manufacturer. With the first, everything is obvious: a gaming design a la ASUS ROG with non-standard colors.

In turn, POCO models are primarily remembered for their corporate logo, which occupies a huge space on the back panel. Fans of strict minimalist design will most likely avoid this line.

Huawei

Similar to smartphones from Xiaomi, let's go in descending order and start with the flagships. The top “P” models from Huawei are distinguished by a nanoceramic body and a Quad-Curve Overflow Display with rounded edges. Mid-budget devices, such as the P Smart 2021 or P40 Lite E, are already made of ordinary plastic.

The second flagship line is Mate. Everything you need to know about her regarding her appearance:

• Huge display with increased diagonal.
• The material used is aluminum alloy and glass.
• Elegant, discreet color scheme (silver and black).
• Almost complete absence of frames (the front panel consists of 94% of the display).

The nova series of devices also has a couple of features. Among them:

• Ultra-thin body (only 7.7 mm in the case of Huawei nova 9).
• Metal frame and glass (except 8i, which uses plastic).
• Light weight: comfortable and easy to feel in the hand.

You can’t say much about the budget employees of the “Y” line. These are basic smartphones with a plastic body, not the most edge-to-edge screens and a fingerprint scanner on the back cover (or lack thereof). In the case of cheap Redmi, this was often compensated by the presence of many colors, but this is not about Huawei.

Xiaomi smartphones: advantages

Price

The first thing a consumer looks at is the price of a smartphone. And if this criterion is the main one in the question of which phone to choose - Xiaomi or hHuawei, then preference will definitely be given to the first. Xiaomi, in principle, has no competitors in the budget segment. Moreover, you shouldn’t expect Huawei to release some kind of flagship for $300, while Xiaomi is proving the possibility of this, and not only in theory, but also in practice.

Autonomy

Even budget Xiaomi gadgets have very powerful batteries, the capacity of which often exceeds 4000 mAh. At the same time, it is possible to maintain an acceptable thickness of the case, which users clearly like, based on their reviews.

Excellent performance

Xiaomi doesn’t make its own hardware, but it puts high-quality foreign hardware into its smartphones. The company's flagships invariably find themselves in the top 10 in synthetic benchmark ratings. Xiaomi doesn’t have any cheap and weak gadgets at all, if you don’t take into account the junior model of the budget “four” Redmi 4A, but its price is less than $100.

System and shell

Hardware is by far the most important component of the smooth and stable operation of any smartphone. But what operating system and shell the hardware runs under also has a huge impact.

First, it’s worth clarifying that the shell is actually a separate operating system based on Android, which can be the source code of the “green robot” with components modified, cut, or added. Making changes requires a highly qualified programmer and better code optimization.

If one of the conditions is not met, bugs, slowdowns, or less smooth operation may occur during heavy loads. Xiaomi devices run on MIUI, Huawei devices run on Harmony OS. The first shell is built on the Android OS, while the second is an independent system.

There will be no long discussions and debates here, just look at the 2 pictures.

First:

Source: weibo.com

Second:

Source: weibo.com

These are the results of a benchmark testing the performance and stability of shells for 2021 and 2021, respectively. As you can see, last year Huawei with its EMUI took 2nd place, while Xiaomi had to be content with 9th place.

As of today, full development of EMUI has been suspended and future Huawei devices will most likely gradually switch to Harmony OS. And even despite its “debut”, the new operating system of this brand demonstrates almost identical performance indicators along with MIUI, which has been in the works for years, which deserves praise.

And although Xiaomi is now showing the best results in testing, the difference between the shells is minimal (0.2-0.3%). We also note that Huawei is not yet ready for a complete transition to the new OS and a huge number of their devices continue to run EMUI. Definitely a point for the manufacturer from Shenzhen.

Xiaomi smartphones: disadvantages

Confusion with firmware

Like Huawei, Xiaomi is trying to bring as many mobile device models to the market as possible, and the software platform often suffers from this. Some models are aimed at the Chinese market, others at the European market, some have already received firmware updates, while others have not, etc. Add to this a locked bootloader, which makes it difficult to flash gadgets on your own, and in this regard, Huawei seems preferable.

Cameras

A review of Xiaomi cameras always has to end with a consoling phrase like: “What did you want for that kind of money?” But, honestly, I would like to see, at least in flagships, improved camera modules. It is completely unclear why they installed a poor camera on the innovative Mix, which simply kills the advantages of a large screen with excellent resolution? It’s time to improve something in this direction, because in terms of cameras, Huawei has almost any smartphone better than its competitor.

Chipsets from MediaTek

Users have long decided for themselves what to choose among hardware platforms: chips from Snapdragon are an order of magnitude better than those from MediaTek. Nevertheless, Xiaomi persistently alternates processors from these manufacturers on its smartphones. It is these chipsets that suffer from overheating, and it is because of them that many people get the impression that Xiaomi phones invariably overheat and quickly enter throttling mode.

Range

Companies have many models, but Huawei is more successful in this. In addition to diversity in functionality, they make gadgets from different materials: plastic, metal. Its competitor produces monotonous versions consisting of aluminum.

Huawei smartphones

Cameras

Operating system for Xiaomi smartphones

When creating smartphones, Xiaomi developers are forced to make compromises. It is impossible to create cheap devices with high-quality cameras, because good optics are expensive. It is difficult to compete with Huawei, since the company has a long and strong cooperation with the German brand Leica, which has been specializing in the production of cameras since 1925. Even budget models are equipped with good sensors and multi-layer lenses, which allows you to create excellent pictures. The emergence of AI technologies has somewhat smoothed the situation, but Huawei still remains a manufacturer of real camera phones.

On the question of the number of cameras. The main module is usually equipped with 2-3-4 lenses, which significantly improves the quality of shots. As for the front block, in advanced models it is now hidden in the body, popping out when taking photographs. Time will tell how successful this decision will be.

Software

Historically, Xiaomi and Huawei use their own developments based on stock Android as their OS. Xiaomi offers users the tenth generation MIUI, Huawei – EMUI 9. Externally, they are very similar. Design, set of tools, settings. However, both systems have disadvantages.

The interfaces of MIUI 10 Xiaomi and EMUI 9 Huawei are not much different.

The downside of MIUI is the abundance of advertising, which is not so easy to remove. In addition, many settings are hidden quite cleverly; you still need to understand where to go and what to press. But updates arrive frequently, and even outdated models receive software support.

On a note! Huawei has a more difficult time with this, and in 2021, due to a conflict with Google, it came under sanctions, which affected the number of available services. This point plays against the brand.

Recommendations for selection

If the user is willing to pay 10 thousand or more, it is better to give preference to Huawei devices. Powerful features and built-in performance are comparable to global brands.

Xiaomi is suitable as a budget option.

If the future owner does not require high configurations and functionality, you should not overpay for them.

Before purchasing you should do the following:

• study the model range and pricing policy of each company;
• find people's reviews of specific smartphones;
• think about what characteristics the phone has.

A careful approach will help when choosing.

Network compatibility

All Huawei products in Russia are fully compatible with domestic networks. Smartphones from other companies are not always suitable for this parameter.

Original design

Huawei phones come in a variety of models and interesting designs. The appearance of the device is a secondary parameter, but a lot of attention is paid to this before buying.

Xiaomi rarely releases original models. Most of the devices are copies and similarities of popular companies.

Flagship comparison

Which is better – Huawei or Xiaomi? It will be quite difficult to answer this question, because the flagships of both companies have a huge number of advantages.

The comparison will be based on the well-known 2021 and 2018 models, which are already well known and have been used successfully.

2021 Models

For comparison, at the time of 2021, Huawei will take the Honor 9 model, and Xiaomi Mi 6 will be taken from the Huawei side.

Here it may be easier to identify the better of the two.

Let's start with those points where Xiaomi dominates. For example, a processor. Xiaomi purchases processors from Qualcomm, studies them and eliminates the possibility of almost any failure. Huawei, on the other hand, is taking a risky path - it produces the phone and the processor for it itself. But this is justified by the fact that Huawei phones have a high level of hardware and software optimization.

With RAM everything is much simpler. Xiaomi has 4 GB, and Honor has 4 GB. Here they are equal.

Much depends on optimization, and not on the hardware itself

Both devices have fairly good cameras, but since two phones are being compared here, the Huawei model will win here. Its dual camera received 12 and 20 MP modules. Mi 6 has both modules of 12 MP and a larger aperture, compared to the model from Huawei. In general, Honor 9 is better suited for filming.

Bottom line: both smartphones are worthy, but you need to consider the purpose of use. If you take the phone for games, then it is better to take a phone from Xiaomi, but if shooting quality and optimization are more important, then you should look at Honor 9.

2021 Models

Two phones are taking part in the competition between the companies in 2021 - Xiaomi Mi 8 and Huawei P20 Pro. If we compare screens, then, for example, the Xiaomi Mi 8 will be better, even if it has a “bang”. Although the diagonal of both models is almost the same.

If we compare the photo modules of both phones, then the Huawei P20 Pro will take the lead, since this model has three rear cameras, and the main one has a good resolution of 40 megapixels. Xiaomi, meanwhile, has a dual camera.

Both devices have powerful processors. For example, Mi 8 has an eight-core Qualcomm (4x2.8 GHz + 1.77 GHz). And the P20 Pro has a weaker processor - Kirin 970 (4x2.4 + 4x1.8 GHz).

Both phones have 6 GB of RAM and the same internal memory, 128 GB.

Between these smartphones, it is more difficult to determine the winner. Both phones have largely the same specifications. But if you really have to choose, you again need to understand for what purpose the phone will be used. If for heavy tasks, then, again, you need to take Xiaomi. It has a more powerful processor and a larger screen. If for photography, then you should take Huawei. This phone has better photo sensors.

Important! Read the reviews - they will help you choose the right model.

2021 models: comparison in tables

Let's move on to 2021. Experts from Obzor-Expert.com decided to compare the technical characteristics of budget models from two companies – Huawei Honor 10 Lite and Xiaomi Redmi Note 8T.

From the table above you can see the difference in the following components of the phone:

• processor model;
• processor clock speed;
• video core model;
• number of megapixels of the rear camera;
• Battery capacity;
• phone cost.

Next is a comparison of the latest flagships, each of which is the most expensive smartphone of its brand - Huawei Mate 30 Pro and Xiaomi Mi Note 10.

In general, both tables show some difference, although not very significant, between firms.

Important! Technical specifications can be confusing. Just because a phone may have more megapixels does not mean it will produce better photos. And in the case of a processor, its brand is important.

Screen

Here Huawei is slightly ahead of its competitor. Even devices in the mid-price segment have display modules with OLED panels. While Xiaomi uses IPS matrices in budget phones, saving AMOLED for flagships. The advantages of such screens are increased brightness, natural color reproduction, and most importantly, deep contrast. The resolution is also high. Therefore, the image quality is much better. True, there are disadvantages. Firstly, increased energy consumption, and secondly, burnout of blue pixels. IPS displays have low contrast, but are more durable and cheaper.