A detailed comparison between three smartphones of same price segment!
The recently launched Honor 7X was launched in India a few weeks back at a price of Rs. 12,999 and at this price point, the phone is pretty great. It comes with some great features such as a “FullView” display in the front, full metal design and 4GB RAM which is a great selling point nowadays.
The biggest competitors in the market for the Honor 7X are the Xiaomi Mi A1 and Moto G5S Plus and unlike Honor 7X they run on stock Android that some people may prefer over skinned versions of Android. In this post, we will compare all of these three smartphones on the basis of design, performance and all other factors. Without any further ado, let’s start with the comparison.
Design & Looks
When it comes to design, Honor 7X clearly stands out from the rest due to its large display and a shiny metallic body. All three i.e. the Honor 7X, Xiaomi Mi A1 and the Moto G5S Plus have metal bodies but they have different characteristics.
The Xiaomi Mi A1 has a familiar looking design which makes it look like an iPhone 7 while the Moto G5S Plus has the Motorola design aesthetics. But Honor 7X does something totally different here with the bezel-less FullView display and also looks like a modern 2017 smartphone. On the back on the Honor 7X, you will find a dual camera setup.
When it comes to the build quality, the Moto GS Plus gives pretty strong competition to both Xiaomi Mi A1 and the Honor 7X. It is easy to hold and feels solid in the hand.
The Xiaomi Mi A1 isn’t bad in terms of design or build quality. It’s just that the phone doesn’t feel as good in hands as compared to the other two. Even the design seems outdated as compared to the Honor 7X.
Display
When it comes to display of these phones, it is safe to say that the Honor 7X is the clear winner due to the FullView bezel-less display while the other two are still behind 7X due to being a conventional design.
It is not just the design but the screen quality as well. The display on the Honor 7X is a good looking one and has an aspect ratio of 18:9. The colours are displayed accurately and you can choose the colour warmth from the Settings on the phone as well. On the Xiaomi Mi A1 or the Moto G5S Plus, you do not have that option since they both run on Stock Android.
On the Xiaomi Mi A1, the display isn’t really that good and it doesn’t produce the most accurate colours out there. There will be times when the display also seems washed out while on the Moto G5S Plus, this doesn’t happen.
Software: Stock Android vs EMUI
When it comes to software, it all depends on what you like. If you like Stock Android then the Xiaomi Mi A1 or the Moto G5S Plus is the best bet for you or if you are coming from another Honor phone or want something extra in terms of software features, EMUI will not disappoint you.
All three phone here run on Android 7.0 Nougat but the Honor 7X runs a skinned version of it known as the EMUI 5.1 which comes with some extra features.
When it comes to updates, the Xiaomi Mi A1 takes the cake since the updates come directly from Google and the phone is updated on a monthly basis with security patches. Google has also promised 2 years of updates on the phone which gives it an extra edge.
Not that the Motorola G5S Plus will not be updated to Android 8.0 Oreo but no confirmed statements have been given by Lenovo for further updates. All this does not mean Honor 7X lies behind on the software part. It is a perfect choice for those who want extra software-based features and the Huawei’s EMUI 5.1 provides just that.
Performance
Let us talk about the performance of these phones now. The Moto G5S Plus and the Xiaomi Mi A1 both have Snapdragon 625 along with 4GB RAM while the Honor 7X has Huawei’s very own Kirin 659 processor which is coupled with 4GB RAM. But the advantage of Xiaomi Mi A1 and Moto G5S Plus are that they run a vanilla version of Android and don’t have to deal with any of the bloat like what is present on the Honor 7X.
Both Moto G5S Plus and the Xiaomi Mi A1 perform similarly in terms of day to day apps and gaming but the performance on the Honor 7X is a hit or miss, to say the least. The phone might show some signs of slowing down but that may be due to the skinned version of Android that it runs.
Camera & Imaging
All three smartphones have the dual camera setup on the back and the XiaomiMi A1 even provides a 2X optical zoom in the camera app.
The Portrait Mode shots from the Honor 7X produces better photos since the distortion around the edges on photos is very less and the bokeh effect seems very real from the phone’s primary camera.
But the image quality is superior on the Moto G5S Plus as the pictures produced by the phone’s camera have natural colours and great amount of details. Even the low light performance on the Moto G5S Plus is better than the other two.
Honor 7X also has a great camera and Huawei can make it even better by providing camera-centric software upgrades on the phone which will make the image processing better which might result in an even better camera and imaging performance on the Honor 7X as compared to what it has right now.
Coming to the selfies, the Honor 7X boasts of producing bokeh shots from the front camera and the photos are processed with software to produce the bokeh effects and this is the only phone of the three that provides you such mode. The bokeh selfies from the Honor 7X look great and gives it an upper hand when it comes to taking selfies.
Battery
The XiaomiMi A1 comes with a 3080mAh battery while the Moto G5S Plus has a battery of 3000mAh but the Honor 7X boasts of a huge battery of 3340mAh which is more than the other phones and coupled with Huawei’s battery optimizations in the EMUI 5.1, the Honor 7X provides a great battery life.
Gizmo Verdict
All of the three smartphones focus on three totally different things. While the Xiaomi Mi A1 is here to provide the best software experience with updates directly from Google, Moto G5S Plus combines stock Android with a great camera and the Honor 7X is here due to its looks and the amazing 18:9 display that is stunning, to say the least.
But a phone is more than just its looks and it all boils down to what the user wants on their smartphone. The Honor 7X is a great choice for those who want a good functioning phone with great looks and a great display and at a price of Rs. 12,999 it is a bang for the buck.
On the other hand, the Moto G5S Plus has a good camera, solid build quality and runs on Stock Android which many people prefer to have over skinned version of Android. Now that we have compared all of these three smartphones, it is up to you to decide what you want to go for.
