Xiaomi or Huawei are two Chinese brands that have managed to conquer the CIS market, offering affordable smartphone models that are superior in performance to similar devices from Samsung, LG or Apple. Let's figure out which brand is better, taking into account the prices, advantages and disadvantages of phones from vendors. Additionally, we will compare popular models.
Price policy
The Xiaomi company attracts attention due to the low price of its devices, which the brand achieved through the introduction of advertising. Banners with commercial offers from partners appear:
- in system applications;
- folders on the desktop;
- lock screen.
You can disable built-in advertising through the settings of the pre-installed software.
In 2021, Xiaomi is releasing devices from the middle and top price segments. Until 2021, the brand developed the Redmi line of affordable smartphones, which split off from the company, becoming a sub-brand developing along its own path.
Huawei does not use advertising inside proprietary firmware, with the exception of pre-installed partner software. Because of this, the cost of individual models is higher than that of a competitor. The presence of Huawei's sub-brand in the person of Honor does not prevent the vendor from releasing both budget and flagship smartphones.
In September 2021, the United States imposed sanctions on the company, due to which the brand cannot:
- use Google services (Play Market, Google Pay, Gmail, Google);
- receive official updates to the Android operating system;
- cooperate with American companies, which led to a severance of relations with Taiwanese TSMC, which develops Kirin chipsets.
This led to the start of development by the vendor:
- own application store AppGallery;
- development of a proprietary operating system Harmony OS;
- restoring NFC operation through cooperation with online banks.
Imposing restrictions could lead to the emergence of an operating system competing with Android and iOS.
Huawei smartphones: advantages
We begin this article with a more detailed analysis of Huawei; we will talk about the advantages of smartphones of this brand. In fact, there are not so few of them. Huawei is recognized as a giant in the production of mobile devices, which has located its factories and research centers around the globe.
Their merits include the successful conquest of the telecommunications sector and the popularization of smartphones and other gadgets on the market. They do not stand still in development and actively strive to understand what their customers are looking for, what is important to them, and try to introduce a lot of innovations in their products. The main advantages include:
- variety of prayer lines;
- own chips;
- official representative offices on all continents;
- good optics;
- network support.
Let's talk about each advantage in more detail.
Variety of models
If we compare the range of Xiaomi and Honor, the first is unlikely to withstand the competition, since most Xiaomi devices are simple aluminum monoblocks. A variety of materials for manufacturing Honor devices is presented:
- glass;
- metal;
- plastic.
The variety of current flagship devices from Honor is also significantly superior to Xiaomi.
Own Chipsets
If Xiaomi installs third-party chipsets, then in the case of Honor, their hardware uses chipsets of its own production.
When compared with other manufacturers, this trend applies only to Samsung and Apple smartphones. This makes it possible not to depend on various suppliers and, thus, to optimize the software, as well as release software upgrades in a timely manner.
Official representative offices
The Xiaomi company opens only companies to promote its products, or distribution companies, while Honor opens official companies, guaranteeing its customers quality service. According to them, this helps to study the local market well, provide proper service support and technical support for their gadgets.
Thus, in the event of a breakdown, Honor smartphones can be repaired faster, which has a positive effect on the reliability of the company in general, and therefore the trust of the client.
Cameras
Another advantage in the direction of Honor gadgets is their optics, which, if you turn to them even once, you will be delighted. The manufacturer focuses on high-quality optics modules, often in close cooperation with Leica.
This allows the Chinese manufacturer to catch up with Samsung and Apple in terms of the quality of the output images. If you take the Xiaomi smartphone, then there will be equality in budget devices, but they cannot compare with the flagships of Honoram in terms of the quality of pictures, videos and cameras in general.
Network Compatibility
When choosing a smartphone, you should also think about supporting the networks of the region in which you live. So Honor smartphones are absolutely compatible with the networks of our region, while Xiaomi is inferior to its competitor and may not support LTE networks in the list of supported frequencies.
Specifications
When you need to find out whose device is more productive, when considering Huawei or Xiaomi, users tend to choose the second brand. The reasons for this attitude towards Xiaomi are as follows:
- the company installs current chipsets from Qualcomm Snapdragon in smartphones or uses powerful single-chip systems from MediaTek;
- cooperation with Samsung has opened access to the use of AMOLED matrices and current camera sensors in devices. Lenses are also supplied to the vendor by Sony.
The same model from Xiaomi, but in different batches, can use similar modules (camera from Samsung or Xiaomi, matrix from another manufacturer, etc.).
Before the restrictions, Huawei relied on its own Kirin chipsets. If the processor cores were not inferior in power to their Snapdragon counterparts, the Mali graphics chip could not compete with Adreno. At the same time, top-end Kirins from the 800 and 900 series are able to run demanding games at high graphics settings. In 2021, the production of its own platform is being phased out and the company is beginning to cooperate more with MediaTek, whose chips it previously used only in entry-level smartphones.
The main features of devices from Huawei in comparison with Xiaomi:
- an NFC module for cashless payment is found even among budget devices;
- the brand has to use the outdated Kirin 710/710F while the competitor installs the current Snapdragon from the 600 and 700 series;
- Only flagships from Huawei get cameras with Leica optics; in the mid-range and budget segments they use sensors of worse quality. Xiaomi installs up-to-date sensors that users complement by developing Google camera modifications for them that increase the quality of pictures.
Cameras
Xiaomi's cameras are good, but the flagships are a little inferior compared to their competitors. But in the middle class, gadgets from Huawei and Xiaomi are on an equal footing.
Huawei cameras
These phones boast cutting-edge cameras built with Leica. And it’s not about the number of megapixels and photo resolution - Leica offers mobile cameras with high light sensitivity, which allows you to take high-quality photos even in the dead of night. DXOMark and Verge experts note this feature in their reviews.
Below are the top Huawei models with the best cameras.
Xiaomi cameras
Honor's competitor is also not going to lag behind. The table contains the best gadgets with top cameras.
| Smartphone | Key features |
| Huawei P30 Pro |
|
| Huawei P20 Pro |
|
| Huawei Mate 20 Pro |
|
In general, this brand has become famous thanks to its cameras. At one time, it simply had no competitors - the quality was so ahead of the price. Today, Huawei has come closest to the quality of Xiaomi cameras.
It will be useful: TOP 10 best phablets of 2021 - rating of the most popular phones with a large screen as chosen by users
Graphic shell
The advantages and disadvantages of MIUI and EMUI are subjective for each user. Important points:
- both interfaces may not work correctly at the start of smartphone sales;
- On Huawei devices, the bootloader is locked – you won’t be able to install custom firmware; Xiaomi unlocks the bootloader through an official form;
- Huawei device support period is limited to 2 years, Xiaomi – 3 years (the period depends on the model).
In August 2021, Xiaomi stopped producing devices from the Android One program on “pure Android” without a proprietary shell. The latest model is Mi A3.
Huawei smartphones: disadvantages
Confusion in the lineup
Huawei has more models, which is great, but it would be nice to structure them. By releasing a lot of versions of the same smartphone, the company often produces the same model for different countries with different “fillings”. This gives rise to misunderstandings and consumer misunderstanding of the product's features.
For example, Honor 5C, sold in China, has a fingerprint scanner, but the smartphone on the Russian market does not have it. In Ukraine, the same gadget is called Huawei GT3 and is offered with a scanner. And if you take into account the abundance of gray market products, you can only guess what kind of misunderstandings this could result in.
On-screen buttons
Only one budget Huawei model for 2021 has touch buttons under the screen - this is the Y3 II model. For the rest, the buttons are placed directly on the screen, and on the bottom there is only the manufacturer’s logo, the presence of which, to put it mildly, is neither cold nor hot. There is an illiterate use of useful screen space, and this at a time when developers are doing everything they can to save every millimeter. If we talk about Xiaomi, then only one phone has on-screen buttons - this is Mi Mix. But it has a “mitigating circumstance” in the form of a significantly elongated display.
Problem with oleophobic coating
It is difficult to say for what reason Huawei does not put an oleophobic coating on its phones, which performs water- and grease-repellent functions. One way or another, its advantages have long been clear to everyone, but for some reason the manufacturer stubbornly refuses to install it. If you compare it with Xiaomi, then the competitor puts it on every gadget, easily beating the opponent in this criterion. Of course, the quality of this coating from Xiaomi leaves much to be desired, but that’s another story.
Expensive
Since Huawei began to be considered one of the best smartphone manufacturers, the cost of the company's products has been steadily increasing. Even though we are accustomed to the fact that Chinese goods cannot be expensive, Huawei refutes this thesis. Of course, in return, excellent quality is provided (also a strange phenomenon, as for Chinese phones), but many are surprised why Chinese gadgets cost the same as gadgets from the Korean and much more famous Samsung.
Segment up to 15,000 rubles
Here are smartphones that are more productive than budget models, but not powerful enough to move into the mid-range segment.
Huawei P40 lite E
The youngest model from the flagship P40 series. The front panel of the device is occupied by a 6.39-inch screen with a resolution of 1560 x 720 and a bright IPS matrix. The front 8 MP camera is located in a drop-shaped notch. On the back panel, in addition to the fingerprint scanner, there is a block of three cameras of 48, 8 and 2 megapixels. Photos are of average quality.
The device runs on Kirin 710F in combination with 4/64 GB of memory, there is a slot for memory cards up to 512 GB. The 4,000 mAh battery is charged via an outdated microUSB port. For its price, the user also receives a 3.5 mm port for connecting wired headphones and NFC with the ability to pay for purchases through banking applications or Wallet programs.
Huawei P30 lite
Having overpaid 2000–3000 rubles, the user can buy P30 lite. Unlike the device mentioned above, this smartphone used a 6.15-inch IPS display with a resolution of 2312 x 1080 and a 32 MP front camera built into a drop-shaped notch. The composition of the main camera has been transformed and includes a 24-megapixel main module instead of the 48-megapixel analogue of the P40 light E.
The battery here is smaller - 3340 mAh, and Bluetooth 4.2 is used, which is due to the installed Kirin 710 chipset. Compensates for the shortcomings:
- USB Type-C charging connector with fast charging support;
- availability of dual-band Wi-Fi;
- availability of pre-installed Google services;
- support for memory cards up to 512 GB, complementing 4/128 GB of built-in storage.
Redmi Note 8T
The only model with which it is possible to compare previous devices is the Redmi Note 8T from the Xiaomi sub-brand. Device features:
- 6.3-inch display with a resolution of 2340 x 1080 and IPS matrix;
- 4000 mAh battery with support for fast charging via USB Type-C;
- 4 lenses in the main unit: 48, 8, 2 and 2 megapixels;
- 13 MP front camera;
- 8-core Snapdragon 665.
The difference from the regular Redmi Note 8 is the increased body size and the presence of NFC.
Range of models in different segments
Both Huawei and Xiaomi have a fairly wide range of smartphones. However, due to Honors and the abundance of state employees, the advantage will still go towards Huawei. In the first 4 months of 2021 alone, Xiaomi introduced only 9 new models, while Huawei introduced 17 units, that is, almost 2 times more. While creating its next flagship, Huawei is developing several modifications. As a rule, they differ in screen characteristics and other features.
If you look into the class of devices such as phablets, the situation here is even more interesting. Xiaomi has only 1 model in the Max series, which belongs to the middle price category. And Huawei has several large devices that cover a fairly wide price range. There is the Honor 8X Max, the flagship Mate 20X, and also, of course, several intermediate smartphones.
From here we can draw one most important conclusion: Huawei wants to reach as many consumers as possible, but Xiaomi still focuses on the budget and middle class.
Segment up to 20,000 rubles
This includes sub-flagship models, distinguished by powerful characteristics and design close to top-end devices.
Huawei P40 lite
The appearance of the P40 lite brought the 8-core Kirin 810 to the Russian market - a direct competitor to the Snapdragon 730/732. The front panel is occupied by a 6.4-inch display with a resolution of 2340 x 1080 and an IPS matrix. The selfie lens is placed in a hole in the upper left corner of the display. The main camera is made in the form of a rounded square and accommodates 4 sensors: 48, 8, 2 and 2 megapixels. The chipset is compatible with dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0 and NFC.
The memory version is available in 6 GB RAM and 128 GB ROM, and there is a slot for a memory card up to 256 GB. The device is powered by a 4200 mAh battery. From a unit that supports Huawei SuperCharge fast charging via USB Type-C, the battery is restored to 100% in 1 hour. The Android 10 operating system works without Google services.
Huawei P20 Pro
When it comes to choosing from ex-flagships, the P20 Pro is the best choice with its 6.1-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 2240 x 1080 and a notch for a 24MP selfie camera. The device case is protected according to the IP67 standard, which allows it to withstand short-term immersion in water. When watching video or playing audio, audio is transmitted in stereo mode.
The 8-core Kirin 970 with 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage is responsible for performance. The power is enough to run top games at medium graphics settings. The device runs on a 4000 mAh battery with support for fast charging. On the back of the body there are 3 cameras with a resolution of 40, 20 and 8 megapixels, there is support for optical video stabilization.
It is impossible to imagine a Xiaomi device against devices from Huawei, since only Redmi Note 8 Pro or Note 9 are available in this price segment.
Features of manufacturers Huawei, Honor and Xiaomi
Devices from the Middle Kingdom are very popular among users. The phrase “Chinese smartphone” has long ceased to be associated with something cheap and low-quality. Now manufacturers from the East Asian country are trying to produce devices that are in no way inferior to the well-deserved market leaders Samsung and Apple.
Of the countless Chinese companies, the brands Huawei and Xiaomi stand out.
Xiaomi is a young company founded in 2010. From the very beginning of its existence, the company began producing inexpensive smartphones, and just a few years later it became a leader in terms of sales. Decent flagships have appeared in the lineup, ready to repel the same opponents from Apple.
Huawei, in turn, is one of the oldest corporations by modern standards. The company began operating in 1987 and at the beginning of its existence was not in particular demand among foreign buyers. In the 2010s, the situation changed dramatically, and now Huawei smartphones are considered the best in terms of cameras.
Speaking about Huawei, we cannot fail to mention the Honor sub-brand. This is a junior division of the company, the appearance of which, as planned by the head office, was supposed to win an even larger audience. In fact, this is what happened. As of 2021, Huawei and Honor smartphones are selling millions of copies, surpassing Samsung, Apple, and Xiaomi in this indicator.
But what is the difference between Honor and Huawei? The fact is that Honor is a brand aimed at a young audience. The line of devices includes relatively inexpensive models that both students and beginning workers can afford. Honor also has flagships, but Huawei still offers more advanced devices. That is why in today’s material we will not consider Honor smartphones, but will focus on Huawei products.
Xiaomi has also recently got a younger brother. This is the Redmi brand, which in its positioning copies Honor. Of course, Redmi smartphones have existed almost since the very appearance of Xiaomi, but only in 2021 the company differentiated the brands, and the buyer will not see a reminder of Xiaomi on the body of the conventional Redmi Note 8 Pro.
In addition to Redmi, Xiaomi has divisions Poco and Black Shark, which produce gaming smartphones.
The main brands Xiaomi and Huawei, which we will talk about today, are very similar to each other. These are two companies that offer smartphones in a wide range of price categories: from ultra-low-cost smartphones to the latest flagships. However, there are still differences between Xiaomi and Huawei. A detailed comparison of companies and the features of their models will make it clear which company’s smartphone is really worth purchasing.
Top price segment
A haven for pre-flagship and flagship devices with not always top-end characteristics. Since each manufacturer offers 3–6 devices in this price category, we will briefly mention each one.
Smartphones from Huawei
Nova 5T became the prototype of Honor 20. This applies to the IPS display, a dot cutout for the selfie camera in the upper left corner, and a main camera unit consisting of 4 lenses. The advantage of the device is its 3750 mAh battery, powerful Kirin 980 and support for Google services. At the same time, it is more affordable than the Mi 9T/9 SE/Note 10, which are discussed below.
Huawei P30 and P30 Pro are full-fledged flagships that retain their uniqueness due to the Kirin 980, support for Google services, and protection from moisture and dust. Other advantages: optical stabilization, support for fast charging and OLED displays.
Smartphones from Xiaomi
Mi 9 SE is a full-fledged compact based on the now obsolete Snapdragon 712, with a 5.97-inch diagonal AMOLED display and an IR port. Miniature forms led to a reduction in battery to 3070 mAh. The low capacity is compensated by support for QC4+ fast charging, which restores the battery to 100% in 1 hour.
Mi 9T, released under the Redmi brand in China, differs from all the above-mentioned smartphones by the presence of a periscope selfie camera that slides in and out of the device’s body. This avoided notches on the 6.39-inch AMOLED display. Otherwise, users get a Snapdragon 730, a 4000 mAh battery and a 3.5 mm headphone jack.
Mi Note 10 and Mi Note 10 Pro are two camera phones built on the Snapdragon 730G, with AMOLED screens, capacious 5260 mAh batteries, with support for fast charging and 5 cameras on the rear panel.
The difference between the devices is the amount of maximum memory, the number of lenses of the main camera (7 vs. and the presence of laser autofocus in the Pro-shka.
Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro and Mi 9 are in the top-end flagship segment with Snapdragon 855 on board. The devices have the same 6.39-inch AMOLED displays and 3 cameras on the back. But, despite the similarities, the championship remains with the 9T Pro with its 4000 mAh battery versus 3300 mAh and a periscope camera that frees the screen from unnecessary cutouts.
Strengths and weaknesses of Xiaomi smartphones
Now let's move on to a younger company, formed almost 10 years ago - Xiaomi. In such a short period of time, it has grown from the idea of like-minded people to a huge company, ranking fourth in the world in the production of smartphones.
What are the pros and cons of this company's smartphones? We list them below.
pros
- Autonomous work. Xiaomi smartphones are known for their long battery life. Highly optimized energy consumption in combination with powerful batteries. Interestingly, even the budget segment has phones with fairly capacious batteries at 4000 mAh. But flagships can also have high levels of autonomy. For example, the same Xiaomi Mi Note 10 has almost 5300 mAh, which is a lot even for a flagship!
- Low price . For Xiaomi, low price is the main policy, because it was this that once led to success. For little money you can buy a really good model from Xiaomi, which will have everything that most buyers need, and even more.
- Excellent performance. Since the company does not have its own hardware, it purchases processors and other materials from other companies. All components are studied, checked and tested, and therefore phones are supplied only with the best hardware, with which they fall into the top of synthetic benchmarks.
- Good screen quality. Xiaomi is working hard to make screens bigger, brighter and better, even with a waterdrop notch or notch. The matrices that this company uses do not cause your eyes to tire.
Minuses
- Average shooting quality . As a rule, Xiaomi has powerful megapixel cameras and optics from Sony or Samsung, but Xiaomi's software is not very well debugged, and with it the quality of photos and videos may deteriorate.
- There is no order regarding firmware. As a rule, Xiaomi produces smartphones for two markets - Chinese and international. This creates additional complications, since each firmware has its own structure. She adds something, removes something. Most of the functions are adapted for China.
- Problems with fast software updates . Due to the large number of supported models, specialists do not have time to check, debug and upload new software for download. Therefore, bugs may occur.
- Using MediaTek chipsets. Sometimes Xiaomi, wanting to lower prices further, installs not Qualcomm Snapdragon, but other processors - from Mediatek. However, these processors tend to heat up quickly and consume more. In addition, software updates for Xiaomi on Mediatek appear later than for Qualcomm.
- Confused lineup. Many who are looking for a normal Xiaomi smartphone will become familiar with the range of this company. The problem is that this requires hours, because the company has completely confused its own model range. And the rapid “riveting” of new models only makes everything worse.
- Appearance . Xiaomi is often reproached for the same design and even for plagiarism. A couple of examples are enough: Apple threatened to sue due to the strong similarity of the iPhone X and Mi 8, as well as the iPhone 6S and Xiaomi Mi 5s.
Interesting! Xiaomi is sometimes criticized for its proprietary MIUI shell. The reason for the outrage is not only the complex arrangement of some menu items, but also the abundance of advertising elements and bugs.
Xiaomi smartphones have their own pros and cons
Technologies used and hardware in devices
Here we get a picture where Huawei is clearly ahead. They have their own Kirin processors, which help optimize the system, improve energy efficiency, and, in principle, their own technologies make production much more profitable. Also, which is important, Huawei is increasingly adding NFC chips even to its budget smartphones, while Xiaomi somehow neglects this.
As for the development of Xiaomi’s own technologies, things didn’t go any further beyond the Surge S1 trial chip. So in this direction, Huawei is again a leader. But even here everything is not so clear.
If you look specifically at performance, then hardware, as a rule, is Xiaomi’s main trump card simply because they use Qualcomm chips - cool Snapdragons, which are market leaders in performance in any class. Thus, we get a situation where Xiaomi, although it has a noticeably smaller lineup, uses modern chips in each of its smartphones. All this makes them the best among competitors in terms of price-performance ratio. At the same time, Huawei, at least occasionally, still releases a couple of models on old chips, which quickly lose relevance and pale in comparison to Xiaomi.
For example, the mid-budget Kirin 710, which in principle is quite modern, cannot be compared with the Snapdragon 710, and only in some parameters it catches up with some Snapdragon 636 or 660. From here, reading the characteristics of the phone, you seem to see similar numbers, but in reality it turns out that you get worse performance when choosing Huawei. And this is only the case when we consider the processor part.
As for the integrated graphics, Adreno, together with the Snapdragon 845, simply destroys the Kirin 980. At the same time, we note that the Snapdragon 850 has already appeared, which is even more interesting.
So in terms of hardware, Xiaomi clearly wins, although it does not use its own technologies.
Case design and number of models
Since 2010, phone design has gone downhill: it has become almost the same. Now everyone has a brick in their hand (a loose concept), and most of these “bricks” are copies of the iPhone design (since the Chinese control the market)
However, last year the design of the front and rear panels changed slightly. A unibrow, dual camera or teardrop notch appeared at the front, and gradient colors of the lid appeared at the back. Both competing manufacturers have supported these trends in some of their devices.
Based on the number of models, the winner is obvious: Huawei releases its devices more than once a month. Statistics show this: in 2021, Huawei introduced and launched 60 new phones, and Xiaomi – only 23.
However, it is worth noting that Huawei sometimes releases the same smartphone under different names and modifications for different countries. For example, a gadget may not have a fingerprint scanner for one country, but be present for another.
Whose design do you like best?
Xiaomi
48.07%
Huawei
51.93%
Voted: 491
