While Xiaomi is treading on a successful path to create its niche in India over other brands, Huawei and Lenovo are also right behind it to woo the Indian consumers. The three manufacturers are good at offering affordable smartphones to the buyers with decent specs. Of course, Lenovo still has to do some catching up…
While Xiaomi is treading on a successful path to create its niche in India over other brands, Huawei and Lenovo are also right behind it to woo the Indian consumers. The three manufacturers are good at offering affordable smartphones to the buyers with decent specs. Of course, Lenovo still has to do some catching up to do, but Xiaomi and Huawei’s Honor are heading into the market with same pace and ambition. This brings us to today’s comparison that includes one smartphone from each of the brand. The three smartphones for today’s comparison are the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5, Honor 5C, and the Lenovo S5.
The Redmi Note 5 is priced at Rs. 9,999 for the 3GB RAM + 32GB storage variant and Rs. 11,999 for the 4GB RAM + 64GB storage model. Whereas, the Honor 7C has been officially announced by the brand but is yet to launch in India. In China, the phone is launched at CNY 899 (approx. Rs. 9,235) for the 3GB RAM+32GB storage variant and CNY 1,299 (approx. Rs. 13,345) for the 4GB RAM+64GB storage model. The Lenovo S5 is expected to launch at Rs. 13,999 in India.
The Redmi Note 5 comes in a plastic frame on the edges and an aluminum back panel. It features a 5.7-inch IPS LCD panel with 1080×2160 pixels resolution and 18:9 aspect ratio. The phone bears a PPI density of 403. Whereas, the Honor 7C features a 5.99-inches IPC LCD display with an aluminum body, 720×1440 pixels resolutions and an 18:9 aspect ratio. The Lenovo S5, on the other hand, is yet to launch in India, but according to its leaked specs and features, the phone is expected to come with a 5.65-inch Full HD+ display with 18:9 aspect ratio.
In the comparison of displays, the Redmi Note 5 takes the cake with its better resolution.
Regarding performance, the Redmi Note 5 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 SoC with Adreno 506 GPU for graphics. It is available in two versions with 3GB RAM/32GB storage and 4GB RAM/64GB storage. The phones runs Nougat-based MIUI 9 out-of-the-box.
On the contrary, the Honor 7C comes powered by a Qualcomm SDM450 Snapdragon 450 SoC, unlike other Honor smartphones that feature its in-house build Kirin chipsets. It has Adreno 506 GPU to handle the graphics. It is also available in two variants – 3GB RAM+32GB storage variant and 4GB RAM+64GB storage variant. On the software front, it runs Android 8.0 Oreo-based EMUI 8.0.
The yet to launch Lenovo S5 is rumoured to come powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 octa-core SoC with 3GB of RAM/4GB of RAM and 32GB/64GB storage, based on the variant. It is expected to run Android 8.0 Oreo out-of-the-box.
This segment is taken over by the Redmi Note 5 as it has a more powerful chipset.
In the imaging segment, the Redmi Note 5 bears a 12MP rear camera with f2.2 aperture and a 5MP secondary camera on the front for selfies. The Honor 7C sports a 13MP+2MP dual rear camera setup and an 8MP selfie camera on the front, both the cameras have LED flash and are capable of recording full HD videos at 30fps. And lastly, the Lenovo S5 is expected to come with a 13MP+5MP dual camera setup on the rear and an 8MP front-facing shooter.
Taking all the points into consideration, all the three smartphones seem to be good options but the Redmi Note 5 comes up as a more viable choice. It is the only phone in the comparison that is currently available for purchase in India through flash sales on Mi.com and Flipkart. As for the Honor 7C and Lenovo S5, they have a better camera but are yet to launch in India.
