Which is better smartphone Honor 9 Lite and Xiaomi Redmi Note 5?
As per fresh stats, the big Chinese giant Xiaomi is ruling the Indian market and to maintain that position they have recently announced their two new devices named as the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 and the Note 5 Pro. When we talk about budget category phones Huawei is the second brand that is in the headlines these days as they have freshly released a number of budget handsets namely the Honor 7X, Honor 9 Lite, etc in the market. There are tons of smartphones available in the market but in this piece of information, we will be comparing the 2 hot contenders from the Chinese firms: Honor 9 Lite and the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5.
Design
Whenever we buy a new smartphone, the first thing that grabs our attention is the design. And it will not be wrong if we call the Honor 9 Lite a piece of art, the device has 2 Glass slabs grabbing the Metal frame and if you wanna flaunt your device then this should be your choice whereas the Redmi Note 5 has a Metallic design which is similar to what we have seen on the previous generation Redmi Note 4, the design looks premium but comparatively Honor 9 Lite blows away everything in this segment.
Display
Both devices pack a Full View 18:9 ratio Display with a Full HD+ resolution of 1080 x 2160 pixels and here the similarity ends. Honor 9 Lite offers a 5.65(inches) of display whereas on the Redmi Note 5 there is a 5.99(inches) display, the smaller screen on the Honor 9 Lite makes more sense as it results in better PPI(Pixels per Inch) and also the device feels compact too. Redmi Note 5 comparatively feels a little bulky but again it comes to personal preference, in terms of quality the screens on both devices offer equally good colors, contrast ratio, and viewing angles.
Performance
On paper, the specs of the Redmi Note 5 looks more appealing as it packs a very successful Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 Chip which we have seen on a lot of devices including the Mi A1 but in real-time usage, the Hi-Silicon Kirin 659 Chipset on the Honor 9 Lite performs better than the Redmi Note 5. For gaming Redmi Note 5 has an Adreno 506 GPU on the other hand Honor 9 Lite houses a Mali-T830 MP2 GPU, here as well Honor 9 Lite takes a lead as the software and hardware both have been designed by Honor and they are more optimized whereas the Redmi Note 5 is fast but in some situations like rendering a video the device is around 25% slower than Honor 9 Lite.
Software
In case you don’t know almost all Xiaomi devices run on their own custom skin called MIUI, Redmi Note 5 runs on MIUI 9 which is rich in features and at the same time is a little heavy. Honor 9 Lite runs on a custom skin as well which is known as the EMUI 8, it also has some exclusive features but the biggest difference lies in the Android version, Redmi Note 5 runs MIUI 9 based on Android 7.0 Nougat while the Honor 9 Lite runs EMUI 8 based on the latest Android 8.0 Oreo. Both custom interfaces are different from stock Android experience but new Android version simply means new features so a user will get access to some new features in the EMUI as it is based on the Android Oreo but again it comes to personal liking as there is not a huge performance difference.
Camera
Redmi Note 5 packs a single rear 12MP Camera with Aperture f/2.2, PDAF, Dual-LED Flash and in the front a 5MP snapper is present whereas on the Honor 9 Lite a Dual-rear 13MP+2MP Camera setup is there with PDAF, Dual-LED Flash and in the front a similar Dual 13MP+2MP snapper is present. Both devices can do 1080p videos at 30fps and both lacks in stabilization but when it comes to portrait shots, Honor 9 Lite takes lead as it houses a Dual-Camera in the rear as well as in the front which enables a user to take those depth rich shots with front and rear cameras which is simply not possible on the Redmi Note 5.
Battery
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 houses a mammoth 4000mAh battery whereas the Honor 9 Lite runs on a 3000mAh battery, here clearly Redmi Note 5 is a winner but as per some reports Redmi Note 5 almost takes 3 hours to reach full charge as no fast charge solution has been provided by the brand itself whereas the charging time is comparatively less on the Honor 9 Lite because it has Honor’s Super Charge technology. Technically Redmi Note 5 has an edge over Honor 9 Lite but practically Honor is giving a tough competition here.
Final Verdict
Both devices have compelling hardware and software which makes them one of the best devices in this price bracket but considering the above figures and facts, Huawei Honor 9 Lite is a clear winner here without a doubt.
