Xiaomi’s POCO F1 severely undercuts the OnePlus 6 and ASUS ZenFone 5Z, but can it beat them? Find out in our comparison
“Xiaomi’s POCO F1 severely undercuts the OnePlus 6 and ASUS ZenFone 5Z”
Xiaomi is attempting something big with the POCO F1, and not without a good reason. OnePlus has long been the king of the affordable flagship segment for a very long time, and the recently-IPOed brand would sure want its share of the pie. By launching a handset with flagship-grade features at an enticing pricing, Xiaomi isn’t just challenging the OnePlus 6, but the ASUS ZenFone 5Z as well, a device that was hitherto the most affordable smartphone with Qualcomm’s high-end SD845 chipset. So the competition between these devices is quite tough, and to help you decide which one’s better, we have compared the POCO F1 with the OnePlus 6 and ASUS ZenFone 5Z. Let’s find out which phone comes out unscathed in this battle.
It doesn’t seem as if a lot of effort was put by POCO into making its debut offering look attractive. Firstly, it has used plastic for the construction of its back, which doesn’t arouse much confidence for a phone from this category. Both the OnePlus 6 and the ZenFone 5Z on the other hand, have glass backs that lend them a premium appeal. Rear-facing fingerprint scanners are common for all three handsets, and so is the presence of dual camera setups. One trait that sets the OnePlus 6 aside is its alert slider, which proves quite handy to change the sound profiles on your phone quickly.
All three are dual-SIM phones, with the POCO F1 and the ZenFone 5Z offering microSD card slot for the secondary hybrid slot. In comparison, the OnePlus 6 doesn’t support memory expansion. Coming to their front surfaces, the trio has embraced notches, however it’s worth mentioning that the cut-out on the POCO smartphone is the largest. Moreover, it even has thick bezels on all its sides, which means it has lesser screen-to-body ration than ASUS’ offering and the OP6.
The POCO F1 sports a 5.99-inch display with a resolution of 1080 x 2248 pixels. The OnePlus 6 has adopted a 6.28-inch panel with a resolution of 1,080 x 2,280 pixels, while the ASUS ZenFone 5Z has gone for a 6.2-inch screen with a resolution of 1,080 x 2,246 pixels. All these screens are impressive and sharp, but the OnePlus handset does have a clear advantage as its panel is Optic AMOLED in nature.
This is the main selling point of all three smartphones. The affordable flagships come equipped with Qualcomm’s high-end 2.8GHz octa-core Snapdragon 845 processor. This, combined with the high amount of RAM, allows the phones to deliver superfast performance in all sorts of conditions.
The trio is available in three RAM and storage variants with their base models offering 6GB RAM and 64GB storage. While both the POCO F1 and ASUS ZenFone 5Z are available with 6GB RAM + 128GB storage and 8GB RAM + 256GB storage, the 128GB model of the OnePlus 6 can be purchased with either 128GB or 256GB memory onboard.
Coming to the software, the POCO F1 runs MIUI, but it has its own launcher which differentiates it from Xiaomi’s custom skin. The POCO Launcher comes with a Google-style app drawer, and it also supports third-party icon packs. This software is claimed to deliver fast app load times and better bandwidth management. The software on the OnePlus 6 is, of course, the near-stock Oxygen OS which comes with some really useful customization options. Another highlight of its latest version is a video editor for splicing together your clips. Coming to the ZenFone 5Z, it boasts of ASUS’ ZenUI software which comes with a number of AI features. These include everything from AI-based charging to AI-based ringtones. All three phones run Android 8.1 Oreo and should get their Pie updates soon.
These phones also have the face unlock feature, but the POCO F1 comes with an infrared sensor at the front, which ensures that the functionality works in poor lighting conditions as well.
The dual-camera setup of the POCO F1 comprises a 12MP f/1.8 snapper and a 5MP depth sensor. As for the ZenFone 5Z, it comes with a 12MP f/1.8 shooter and an 8MP f/2.0 lens. But the most powerful camera module among these three phones belongs to the OnePlus 6, which sports the combination of a 16MP f/1.7 camera and a 20MP f/1.7 snapper. This setup is capable of capturing 4K videos at 60fps speed, along with the ability to shoot super slow-mo clips at 48fps.
As far as front cameras go, the POCO F1 has the highest resolution snapper, at 20MP. In comparison, the OnePlus 6 sports a 16MP camera, while the ASUS ZenFone 5Z lags behind the duo with an 8MP sensor up front. All three smartphones also offer software-assisted bokeh mode.
In terms of the battery life, the POCO F1 comfortably beats the other two devices, thanks to its incorporation of a 4,000mAh cell. On the other hand, both the OnePlus 6 and the ZenFone 5Z ship with 3300mAh batteries. All three phones support fast charging functionality.
This is just the start of a long journey for Xiaomi’s new sub-brand. The POCO F1 surely comes across as a solid step forward towards that, considering the unprecedented pricing that the company has gone for. A starting price of Rs 20,999 for a Snapdragon 845-powered smartphone is almost unbelievable, and will definitely disrupt the affordable flagship market in India. In fact the high-end Armored edition of the F1 is priced at Rs 29,999, which is the same as the base model of the ZenFone 5Z. But if you don’t consider the pricing, there’s a little doubt that both the OnePlus 6 and the ASUS ZenFone 5Z are pretty great phones in their own right. So the real question is which is the one that excites you the most? Let us know in the comment box below.
