The mid-range smartphone battle is heating up. There has never been a better time than now to go ahead and buy a mid-range Android smartphone, thanks to the fierce competition in the Android world. Companies like Xiaomi, Huawei, OnePlus, Asus, Lenovo etc are all fighting a tough battle in India to attract as many customers as they can.
And thanks to this competition, we have numerous mid and high end smartphones at mid-range prices. In today’s comparison, we pit the just launched Huawei Honor 8 against the OnePlus 3 and Asus Zenfone 3. All these phones feature mid to high end processors, each with its own specialty. Let’s take a look at these phones.
Honor 8 vs OnePlus 3 vs Zenfone 3 Specifications
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Design & Build
Starting off with the Honor 8, Huawei has managed to make it look really good. The company has used a combination of metal and glass for the Honor 8 – with the glass on the back and front wrapped around with a metal frame. The end result is you get an extremely good looking smartphone.
The OnePlus 3 comes with a metal unibody design this time. OnePlus has taken just 3 phones to move from plastic to completely metal build. The metal body gives the phone a premium look and differentiates the device from its predecessors. The OnePlus 3 is 7.4 mm thick and weighs 159 grams.
The Asus Zenfone 3 comes with a full metal design with glass covering it on the front and the back. Asus is using Gorilla Glass 3, but it’s still a pretty strong glass so you may not have to worry about protection. While previous Zenfones weren’t as good to look at, the Zenfone 3 has seen a lot of refinement in the design. For a mid-range phone, it looks really good.
Display
The Huawei Honor 8 features a 5.2 inch full HD LTPS IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. The display comes with a 2.5D curve to offer a immersive viewing experience. The display comes with a pixel density of ~423 PPI
The OnePlus 3 features a 5.5 inch full HD Optic AMOLED with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 4. It comes with a pixel density of ~401 PPI.
The Asus Zenfone 3 features a 5.5 inch full HD Super IPS+ LCD display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. It comes with a pixel density of ~401 PPI.
Hardware and Storage
The Huawei Honor 8 is powered by an Octa core 2.3 GHz HiSilicon Kirin 950 processor clubbed with Mali-T880 MP4 GPU. The device comes with 4 GB RAM and 32 GB of internal storage. The storage on the device can be further expanded up to 256 GB via microSD card.
The OnePlus 3 is powered by a Quad core 2.15 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor clubbed with Adreno 530 GPU. The device comes with 6 GB RAM and 64 GB of internal storage. The storage on the device cannot be expanded using a microSD card.
The Asus Zenfone 3 is powered by an Octa core 2.0 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor coupled with Adreno 506 GPU. The device comes in 3 / 4 GB RAM variants. The 3 GB variant comes with 32 GB of internal storage and the 4 GB variant comes with 64 GB of internal storage. The internal storage can be further expanded up to 256 GB via microSD card.
Camera
The Huawei Honor 8 features a a Dual 12 MP + 12 MP camera setup with f/2.2 aperture, laser autofocus, dual LED flash and 1.25 µm pixel size. The camera can record videos up to 1080p @ 60 FPS. On the front, the device sports an 8 MP secondary camera with f/2.4 aperture and 1.4 µm pixel size.
The OnePlus 3 features a 16 MP primary camera with f/2.0 aperture, phase detection autofocus, OIS and an LED flash. The camera can record up to 2160p @ 30 FPS. On the front, the device sports an 8 MP secondary camera with f/2.0 aperture and 1.4 µm pixel size.
The Asus Zenfone 3 features a 16 MP primary camera with f/2.0 aperture, laser/phase detection autofocus, OIS and dual LED flash. The camera can record up to 1080p @ 30 FPS. On the front, the device sports an 8 MP secondary camera with f/2.0 aperture.
Battery
The Huawei Honor 8 comes with a 3000 mAh battery and a USB Type C reversible connector. While it does not come with quick charging, Huawei has added support for rapid charging using a 9V/2A plug.
Like the Honor 8, the OnePlus 3 also comes with a 3000 mAh battery. The phone also comes with a USB Type C reversible connector and features OnePlus’ proprietary Dash Charge 2.0. Over the last few months, we have found Dash Charge 2.0 to be extremely good. It is as good as Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0.
The Zenfone 3 also comes with a 3000 mAh battery and a USB Type C reversible connector. While the Zenfone 3 does support charging up to 2A, Asus has not listed Fast Charging in the specs of the phone.
Pricing & Availability
The Huawei Honor 8 is priced at Rs. 29,999 and the device can be purchased from Amazon, Flipkart and the Honor Online Store. It is available in Gold, White and Blue color options.
The OnePlus 3 is now priced at Rs. 27,999 and the device can be purchased from Amazon.in. It is available in Grey color only.
The Asus Zenfone 3 is currently available on sale at a price of Rs. 21,999 for the 3 GB / 32 GB variant, while the 4 GB / 64 GB variant will be available soon for Rs. 27,999. Currently, the Zenfone 3 is available in Black colour only via Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal.
Conclusion
Huawei Honor 8 is a slightly different phone compared to the OnePlus 3 and the Asus Zenfone 3. The Honor 8’s main attraction is its camera abilities, not the raw specs. So while the phone comes with a great pair of main cameras, other specs take a backseat of sorts.
The OnePlus 3 is a pretty well-rounded device, on the other hand. It comes with some of the most top of the line specs at an extremely great price. OnePlus has a winner here and with the kind of software support they have provided to OnePlus 3 owners, it looks like we can expect the company to deliver consistently now.
The Asus Zenfone 3 is a bit highly priced, on the other hand. It comes with a lower middle range Snapdragon processor which hampers the prospects of the device quite a bit. Other specs are fairly good given the price.
