Heroes of might and cheap: Xiaomi Mi 4 vs Huawei Honor 6 vs ZTE nubia Z7 mini specs comparison

posted by Daniel P. / Jul 22, 2014, 8:25 AM

Heroes of might and cheap: Xiaomi Mi 4 vs Huawei Honor 6 vs ZTE nubia Z7 mini specs comparison

A time has come, when brand-name juggernauts like Samsung, Sony, LG or HTC, are still releasing their flagships for north of $600 starting price without a contract, while Chinese newcomers like Oppo, Xiaomi or Huawei, are outing very similar handsets for half the price. The newly announced Xiaomi Mi 4, as well as the Huawei Honor 6 and ZTE Nubia Z7 mini before it, will be available very soon, and they sport most everything that the big boys like the Galaxy S5, HTC One (M8), or the Xperia Z2 have to offer.

Granted, don't expect fingerprint scanners, waterproof chassis, or OIS tech, but if you don't care about those, you will be getting svelte and powerful 5-inchers, saving a few Benjamins in the process. Starting off with the design and dimensions, the Mi 4 is indeed about 1 mm narrower than its competitors, which shouldn't make that much of a difference in your hand. The thinnest and lightest, however, is Huawei's Honor 6, despite that it too features a metal rim around its sides. In addition, the Honor 6 and Z7 mini sport a microSD card slot extensions, so you can get the cheapest 16 GB versions, and build on that. The Mi 4 strikes back with an infrared sensor at the top, though, coming to replace your multiple remote control units.

As for the silicon inside, while Huawei's homebrew Kirin 920 has yet to prove itself in battle, the Snapdragon 801 processors in the Mi 4 is the same one would find in the Galaxy S5, for instance, so you won't be longing for much more performance out of the handset. Moreover, both Huawei, and Xiaomi, one-up the S5 by offering 3 GB of RAM instead of two. All phones come with 13 MP Sony camera sensors that are the newest IMX214 models in the Honor 6 and the Mi 4. Xiaomi's phone takes the photography prowess up a notch with 4K video recording, and an 8 MP wide-angle front camera that boasts a Sony sensor Exmor sensor, too.

The Z7 mini has a slower Snapdragon processor than the Mi 4, 2 GB of RAM instead of 3 GB, and a modest 2300 mAh battery, compared to 3000+ in the other two, but it also comes at the most affordable price - about $240 without a contract in China, while the Xiaomi Mi 4 takes off with a $320 tag for the 16 GB model, and $400 for the 64-gigger. Huawei Honor 6 is the most "expensive" of the three, if this word can be used about such value-for-money propositions at all. Huawei pegged it at $370 for the 16 GB one, and $410 for the 32 GB unit, but you also get a memory card slot for expansion. Which one of these affordable flagships from China would you pick?

Xiaomi Mi 4 vs Honor 6 vs nubia Z7 mini

Display

Display size

5.0 inches

Resolution

1080 x 1920 pixels

Pixel density

441 ppi

445 ppi

441 ppi

Technology

IPS LCD

Screen-to-body ratio

72.20 %

69.48 %

70.50 %

Colors

16 777 216

Camera

Rear

Yes

Main camera

13 megapixels

Hardware Features

Autofocus, CMOS image sensor

Autofocus, Back-illuminated sensor (BSI)

Autofocus, CMOS image sensor

Specifications

Aperture size: F1.8; Sensor size: 1/3.06"

Aperture size: F2.0

Flash

LED

Software Features

Touch to focus, Smile detection, Face detection, Geo tagging, HDR, Effects

Face detection, Geo tagging

Face detection, Geo tagging, HDR

Video recording

3840x2160 (4K UHD) (30 fps), 1920x1080 (Full HD) (60 fps)

Yes

3840x2160 (4K UHD), 1920x1080 (Full HD) (30 fps)

Recording format

MPEG4, H.263, H.264, H.265

Features

High Dynamic Range mode (HDR)

Front

8 megapixels

5 megapixels

2 megapixels

Video capture

1920x1080 (Full HD) (30 fps)

Design

Dimensions

5.48 x 2.70 x 0.35 inches (139.2 x 68.5 x 8.9 mm)

5.50 x 2.74 x 0.30 inches (139.6 x 69.7 x 7.5 mm)

5.55 x 2.73 x 0.32 inches (140.9 x 69.3 x 8.2 mm)

Weight

5.26 oz (149 g)

4.59 oz (130 g)

5.04 oz (143 g)

Features

Touch sensitive control keys

Hardware & Performance

System chip

Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 8974-AC

HiSilicon Kirin 920

Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 MSM8974-AA

Processor

Quad-core, 2500 MHz, Krait 400, 32-bit, 28 nm

Octa-core, 1700 MHz, ARM Cortex-A15 and ARM Cortex-A7, 32-bit, 28 nm

Quad-core, 2000 MHz, Krait 400, 32-bit, 28 nm

GPU

Adreno 330

Mali-T628 MP4

Adreno 330

RAM

3 GB LPDDR3

2 GB LPDDR3

Internal storage

64 GB

16 GB

Storage expansion

Slot Type

microSD, microSDHC

microSDHC, microSD

OS

Android (6.0 Marshmallow, 4.4.3), Xiaomi MI UI

Android (5.1 Lollipop, 4.4), Huawei Emotion UI

Android (4.4.2), nubia UI

Battery

Capacity

3080 mAh

3000 mAh

2300 mAh

Stand-by time

11.7 days (280 hours)

Talk time (3G)

30.00 hours

Stand-by time (3G)

24.2 days (580 hours)

Cellular

LTE (FDD)

Bands 1, 3, 7, 20

Bands 1, 3, 7

LTE (TDD)

Bands 38

Bands 38, 39, 40

UMTS

850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz

1900 MHz

850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz

GSM

850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz

CDMA

800 MHz

Data

LTE, HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s, HSDPA+ (4G) 21.1 Mbit/s, HSUPA 5.76 Mbit/s

LTE-A Cat 6 (300/50 Mbit/s), HSDPA+ (4G) 42.2 Mbit/s

Multimedia

Screen mirroring

Wireless screen share, MHL

DLNA

Shopping information

MSRP price

$ 400

Options

10 Comments

1. itsdeepak4u2000

Posts: 3718; Member since: Nov 03, 2012

I personally prefer Mi 4's design this time from the above lot.

posted on Jul 22, 2014, 8:33 AM 0

2. joey_sfb

Posts: 6794; Member since: Mar 29, 2012

I prefer MIUI interface. Its make XiaoMi phone very attractive to me. Use it with SmartStay EX app did it for me.

posted on Jul 22, 2014, 8:58 AM 0

3. NexusX

Posts: 613; Member since: May 16, 2013

Chinese phones have really caught up and, arguably surpassed Korean giants in terms of design, software optimization and hardwares over the years.

posted on Jul 22, 2014, 9:15 AM 0

9. Ethos unregistered

well they realized , instead of making crappy fake copys they got it that they can make really beautiful phones.. bcos at end of day all devices are done in china .. even iphones.. samys lgs etc.. it is about chassis design .. all inside is same... same components and BIG plus for them is that they ar no so greedy as those known brands.. that is main ! half price phone with same perform.!!!

posted on Jul 23, 2014, 4:11 PM 0

4. ManusImperceptus

Posts: 724; Member since: Jun 10, 2014

The cost of the low prices are horrible sweatshop conditions for the workers, who get no protection from a western parent company (Finnish, American, South Korean or Japanese)... Worth remembering!

posted on Jul 22, 2014, 9:19 AM 0

5. 9_HeLLs_oF_DrOid

Posts: 127; Member since: Jan 02, 2012

Did any one else notice how the title of this article changed from "Heroes of cheap:...." to "Heroes of Might and Cheap:...."? Too bad everything's isn't as 'pricey' as precious iPhone, is it not, Phonearena?

posted on Jul 22, 2014, 10:12 AM 2

7. aksa123

Posts: 365; Member since: Jan 30, 2014

It's a pun from a game The Heroes of Might and Magic.

posted on Jul 22, 2014, 7:23 PM 0

6. Suo.Eno

Posts: 556; Member since: Feb 17, 2013

All are just about even except that this around to me Mi 4's the real clear winner when it comes to fw/sw upds. The lot all aren't really AOSP/GPL compliant but MIUI has faster and better dev discipline. Unfortunately though if you're on Snapdragon 800 already then I fail to see the NECESSITY to upgrade anything less than 808 - 810 save for maybe that miscalculated want for 3Gb RAM config, which is overkill when most people find it very hard to hit that 2Gb ceiling very often.

posted on Jul 22, 2014, 2:27 PM 0

8. Ethos unregistered

Shame Mi4 is so thick .. i think honor wins here ..

posted on Jul 23, 2014, 4:09 PM 1

10. JJOPQ

Posts: 55; Member since: Nov 15, 2014

Nubia Z7 mini has a function slipt screen,, do u know that?? so i like Z7 mini. ghdeal.fr/nubia-z7-mini-4g-snapdragon-801-2go-16go-5-0pouces-1920x1080-px-blanc.html