Xiaomi Mi 9 vs. vivo iQOO vs. Huawei Honor V20: the battle of budget flagships
Xiaomi Mi 9 vs. vivo iQOO vs. Huawei Honor V20: the battle of budget flagship smartphones in 2019.
Xiaomi Mi 9, vivo iQOO and Huawei Honor V20 are 3 new flagship smartphones featuring stunning design, excellent performance and offering good value for money. So we even feel hard to make a quick choice among them. In this post, we will make a detailed comparison of the three smartphones on their specs, features, highlights and price to help you choose a right phone that will work best for you
Specs
Let’s kick off the comparison from the main specs.
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Product name
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Xiaomi Mi 9
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iQOO ( Vivo )
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HUAWEI Honor V20
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Dimensions
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5.75 x 7.47 x 0.76 cm
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15.77 x 7.52 x 0.85 cm
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15.69 x 7.54 x 0.81 cm
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Weight
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0.1730 kg
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0.1960 kg
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0.1800 kg
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Display
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6.39-inch, 2340 x 1080 pixels
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6.41-inch, 1080 x 2340 pixels
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6.4-inch, 2310 x 1080 pixels
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OS
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MIUI 10
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Funtouch OS 9
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Magic UI 2.0.1
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CPU
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Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Octa Core 2.84GHz
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Kirin 980 Octa-core 2.6GHz
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Memory
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6GB RAM + 64GB/128GB ROM
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8GB+128GB
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8GB RAM + 256GB ROM/ 6GB RAM + 128GB ROM
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Battery capacity
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3300mAh
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4000mAh
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Bluetooth version
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Bluetooth 5.0
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Cameras
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48.0MP + 12.0MP + 16.0MP rear camera ;20.0MP front camera
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12.0MP + 13.0MP + 2.0MP rear camera + 12.0MP front camera
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48MP rear camera+ TOF 3D camera;25MP front camera
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Xiaomi Mi 9: world’s third best camera phone with a 48MP main sensor
Xiaomi Mi 9: main highlights
● Full screen design with a waterdrop notch
● 6.39-inch AMOLED screen
● In-display fingerprint sensor
● Ranked as the third best camera phone by DxOMark
● Snapdragon 855 processor + 6/12GB of RAM + 256GB storage
● 3.300mAh battery with “Charge Turbo” wireless charging
So far, the Xiaomi Mi 9 has been the most anticipated and the most impressive budget flagship of the year. The phone was released in three versions: the standard Mi 9, the cheaper Mi 9 SE and the fancy Mi 9 transparent back edition. The standard Mi 9, as one might expect, does a very good job of offering high-level specs with a very affordable price tag.
In design, the Mi 9 does not stray too far from the previous model, the Mi 8. The phone sports a 6.39-inch AMOLED screen; the front camera is housed on a tiny waterdrop notch Xiaomi have taken a liking to and, on the back, the phone features a trendy iridescent finish available in black, violet and blue. There is an in-display fingerprint sensor for quick unlocking but no headphone jack — so get ready to go wireless.
On the inside, things get even more interesting. The Mi 9 is one of the few smartphones currently running on the Snapdragon 855 processor noted for its improvements in handling on-device AI, intense gaming and 5G connectivity. You get the choice of 6GB or 12GB of RAM and up to 256GB of storage.
Battery-wise, the Mi 9 features the new “Charge Turbo” wireless charging mode. In addition to coming with a standard 27W wired charger, the Mi 9 can also be charged wirelessly (20W) using Xiaomi’s dedicated Charge Turbo charging pad or a motorized car mount: the phone’s 3300mAh battery can go from zero to full in just 40 minutes.
Cameras are another highlight of the Xiaomi Mi 9. In fact, the Mi 9 has been ranked the world’s third best camera phone (positioned right after the Huawei P20 Pro and the Huawei Mate 20 Pro) by DxOMark. There are three rear cameras: the main cam uses a 48MP sensor and is backed by a 12MP telephoto lense with a 2x zoom onboard and a 16MP super wide lense for capturing more inside one shot. There’s also laser auto-focus for more accurate shots. On the front, there is a 20MP selfie shooter.
vivo iQOO: gaming smartphone with Snapdragon 855 and 12GB RAM
vivo iQOO: main highlights
● Full screen design with a waterdrop notch
● 6.41 inch 2340 x 1080 FHD screen
● Snapdragon 855 + 6/12GB RAM and 256GB storage
● Triple rear cam (12MP + 13MP + 2MP)
● 4,000mAh battery with 44-watt fast charging
The vivo iQOO is the latest mid-range flagship by vivo released under the company’s newly created iQOO sub-brand. The phone promises to offer a buffed up gaming package with a powerful processor and lots of RAM — all in an affordable package.
Just like the Mi 9, the vivo iQOO offers its lucky owner an almost full screen experience with an impressive 91.7% screen to body ratio. Your view of the 6.41 inch 2340 x 1080 FHD screen is interrupted only by a small teardrop notch that houses the phone’s front camera. The phone
It also supports Super HDR playback and sports a 4D feedback feature meant to further enhance gaming experience.
On the inside, the smartphone packs the Snapdragon 855 processor (just like the Mi 9) — and the CPU performance is further enhanced by dedicated software in the form of speed accelerating Game Turbo, Center Turbo CPU Booster and AI Turbo. The most expensive version of the phone packs the speedy processor with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage — which provides a more than favourable gaming environment.
The camera game is not bad at all — but definitely not on the same level as that of the Mi 9. You do get three cameras on the back but in a much more modest setup: the main camera is a 12MP IMX363 sensor complemented with a 13MP super wide angle lens and a 2MP sensor. On the front, there is a 12MP selfie shooter.
Battery-wise, the vivo iQOO uses a 4,000mAh battery, which supports 44-watt fast charging and, in theory, could get the phone from 0% to 100% in a matter of just 60 minutes.
Huawei Honor V20: punch hole design and high-end Kirin 980
Huawei Honor V20: main highlights
● Full screen punch hole design
● 6.4 inch 1080 x 2310 screen
● High-end Kirin 980 SoC
● 48MP rear cam + time of flight 3D camera
● 4,000 mAh battery with 22.5W fast-charging
Compared to the two previous models, the Honor V20 lets go of the notch and goes for the punch hole look instead — this means there is a little “dot” in the phone’s top left corner. This allows for an impressive 91.82% screen-to-body ratio and a great view of the phone’s 6.4 inch Full HD+ IPS LCD screen. On the back, the phone looks quite different as well and comes with a colorful gradient glass panel with a V ornament that changes color depending on how the light hits it. The phone has kept a conventional rear fingerprint sensor and a headphone jack.
Inside, the Honor V20 runs on the Kirin 980 SoC, a high-performance mobile AI chipset running on the 7nm process. You get a choice of 6GB or 8GB of RAM and 128GB or 256GB options of internal storage — there is no 12GB RAM option.
In the camera department, we get a 48MP lense paired with a TOF (time-of-flight camera) 3D camera. The 3D cam (thanks to the support of the powerful Kirin 980 chipset) enables interesting features like advanced body shaping and the ability to easily take full height pictures. The cam comes with an LED flash, HDR and Panorama modes. On the front, the camera comes with a 25MP sensor with f/2.0 aperture capable of 1080p video recording at 30 fps.
Huawei has long followed the trend of packing large batteries into their flagships — and the V20 is not an exception. The phone packs a 4,000 mAh battery with 22.5W fast-charging support.
The verdict
So, what does it all come down to? We have a great camera phone (the Xiaomi Mi 9), a budget gaming phone (the vivo iQOO) and the Huawei Honor V20 that sits kind of in between the two other phones.
The Mi 9’s basic version can be yours for just a bit over $440 while the phone’s 12GB RAM variant is a bit pricier at almost $600. The Honor V20 starts at $530 while gaming on the vivo iQOO will cost you quite a bit more with the phone’s basic offer starting at over $780.
Which phone should you choose? More than ever, the answer depends on what you are looking for. For the price, you can’t do better when it comes to the camera game than the Xiaomi Mi 9. The Honor V20 does very well as a budget flagship as well thanks to the powerful processor and nice cameras. The vivo iQOO, on the other hand, is a bit of a dark horse. Gaming promises to be impressive with the speedy COU and five different “turbo” modes — but you will also need to “overpay” quite a bit compared to the two other models.
Did this article help you? If so, please tell me in a comment what do you think about it.
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