Xiaomi has been proclaimed by some as the Apple of China, but how does it compare with Apple when it comes to their biggest smartphone releases? Xiaomi Mi 5 which was just recently launched is set to be a heavy contender to Apple's very own iPhone 6S.
Design Comparison
There has been a lot of criticism with the past Xiaomi handset release with critics claiming that their designs had an uncanny resemblance to Apple's iPhones. However, that is not a general opinion, as the Mi 5 is seems to have an even more stylish design without much in the way of similarity to the iPhone 6S.
Packaged in a sleek design, Mi 5 has an ergonomic body that gives a comfortable feel even when hand-held. It has an attractive metal frame that meets smoothly with its glass panels to give off a unique balance that's admirable.
It goes without saying that the iPhone 6S is quite a stunning phone, though it does feel a bit bulky. It features curved edges and corners, which when compared to Mi 5's edgy design, the Apple device falls short.
Perhaps what gives the Mi 5 a better feel, is the fact that it weighs 14 g less than the iPhone 6S, at just 129 g, making it one of the lightest flagship devices currently on the market.
The camera bundled on the Mi 5 doesn't come with bulge, which means it can lie flat on surfaces. On the other hand, the iPhone 6S's camera sticks out a little at the handset's back panel.
Xiaomi Mi 5 comes with an oval fingerprint scanner integrated with its physical home button which perfectly complements the phone's overall design. The iPhone 6S also has a fingerprint reader which appears much larger and bulkier.
The iPhone 6S is the heavy weighter in when it comes to the interface features. While the Mi 5's icons lack depth resulting in an animated look, the iPhone 6S has icons that look more three-dimensional and shaded.
Display Comparison
The Xiaomi Mi 5 bundles an HD LCD display that is crisp and bright, standing at 5.5 inches with a 1080p resolution, backed by a pixel density of 427 ppi. It comes with a unique sunlight display feature which helps adjust the screen display to outdoor conditions.
The iPhone 6S proves to be no match for the Mi 5 in this category, as it a smaller LCD screen display of 4.7-inches with 750 x 1,337pixels topped with 326 ppi.
Camera Comparison
Aside from having a better in-housed camera design, the Xiaomi device is equipped with a main camera of 16 MP IMX 298 built on Sony's technology. Its camera set up is complemented by a 4-axis camera system that makes focusing more seamless than iPhone 6S' 12 MP main camera system.
Battery Comparison
Xiaomi Mi 5 houses a non-removable 3,000 mAh battery capacity, which is almost twice the size of the 1,715 mAh battery found on the iPhone 6S. It seem the 3,000 mAh battery is going to be a standard for 2016 Android flagships.
This utter superiority can't be ignored, especially in terms of Android's competitiveness to Apple particularly in the battery life department. While Apple don't seem to placing their focus on the batteries housed on their high-end smartphones, Android is making better and longer lasting powered devices overall.
Software Comparison
The Xiaomi Mi 5 runs on Android's latest 6.0 Marshmallow OS right out of the box. As you are already aware, this means that users can take advantage of features such as Doze to optimize battery performance, Google Now On Tap, customizable app permission controls and other great features most Android devices are yet to enjoy.
As for the iPhone 6S it comes with an iOS 9 which offers a simplistic and accessible feel, though compared to the Marshmallow OS, there is not much in terms of customization capabilities.
Performance Comparison
The Xiaomi Mi 5 is powered by a robust Snapdragon 820 processor clocked at a speed of 2.1 GHz. On top of this is 3 GB of RAM, and an internal storage of 32 GB or 64 GB, which will depend on the model. Its performance is met with a few lags, but is generally fast and reliable. The iPhone 6S comes with an A9 processor running at a speed of 1.84 GHz, which is less than Mi 5's speed. This is backed by 2 GB of RAM, lower that the Mi 5. Although you'll get iPhone 6S's model offerings of different internal storage including 16 GB, 64 GB, and 128 GB, Xiaomi also has a Mi 5 variant offering 128 GB of internal storage.
Price and Verdict
Xiaomi Mi 5's most affordable version, the 32 GB model, goes for around $499, while the cheapest price you can get for the iPhone 6S is about $649.
The price difference is odd given that Xiaomi Mi 5 beats the iPhone 6S at almost all angles.
What do you think about the two devices? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.
