New Delhi, January 16 – Xiaomi also called the Apple of China by some — on Thursday unveiled its flagship smartphone. It is called Mi Note Pro. Packed with the latest hardware, the Mi Note Pro is Xiaomi’s first attempt at cracking the premium market where devices like the Galaxy Note 4, and now the iPhone 6 Plus, rule.
In fact, during its presentation Xiaomi made it clear that it was targeting the iPhone 6 Plus with its phablet. The Mi Note Pro would come to India sometime after March, when it is expected to go on sale in China, and for now we don’t know how Xiaomi will price it in India.
But for now we can take a closer look at the specifications of the device and figure out how well it compares to the iPhone 6 Plus.
Design:
If we go by numbers, the Mi Note Pro edges out the iPhone 6 Plus. It measures 155.1 x 77.6 x 6.95mm and that makes it slightly sleeker, narrower and shorter than the iPhone 6 even though it has a bigger screen. At 165 grams, it is also lighter than Apple’s phablet. But numbers are not everything.
The iPhone 6 Plus has an attractive design with superb finish. Its overly rounded edges also help a user hold it properly. The unibody aluminium shell not only feels exquisite but is also tough and durable.
Yes, there are reports of the iPhone 6 Plus bending in people’s pockets – and Xiaomi clearly took a few potshots at it while launching the Mi Note Pro — but such reports are exceptions. The iPhone 6 Plus is a well-made phone.
Details about the build quality of the Mi Note Pro are currently scarce. We know that it uses a metal body and though Xiaomi did not specify it this metal is probably aluminium.
But in comparison to the iPhone 6 Plus, the Note pro has a more rectangular design with sharper edges. Though these edges are chamfered, so that should add to the style.
In actual use, we suspect the Note Pro will feel more compact and better in hands due to its smaller shape and size. But in terms of finishing we feel that iPhone 6 Plus will have the edge.
Display:
The iPhone 6 Plus uses a 5-inch display with FullHD resolution. It is a fantastic display. The Mi Note Pro will come with a 5.7-inch screen with 2560 x 1440 pixels resolution.
The Xiaomi phone will undoubtedly have a sharper screen. But the display on the iPhone 6 Plus is truly phenomenal in terms of colour quality, colour accuracy and brightness.
And while we suspect that the screen on Mi Note Pro will compare very favourably with all high-end phones and will be pretty much stunning, when it comes to showing colours the iPhone 6 Plus may continue to be somewhat better.
Overall we feel the screen is one area where both the iPhone 6 Plus and the Mi Note Pro are going to be well above the acceptable level of even most demanding consumers. In other words, whether you choose the iPhone 6 Plus or the Mi Note Pro, you will not have any complaints from the display.
Performance:
Performance depends on a lot of factors but when it comes to core hardware, the iPhone 6 Plus will continue to have the edge. The dual-core processor in the iPhone 6 Plus is just phenomenal.
And while we expect Snapdragon 810, the next-generation processor that powers the Mi Note Pro, to close the gap between Apple A8 processor and Qualcomm processors, at least on paper the Apple devices will remain faster in both general computing and graphics processing.
The Mi Note Pro comes with 4GB RAM, which will definitely help it deal with multitasking better. The 1GB RAM in the iPhone 6 Plus is on the lower side and affects multitasking, especially if you have a lot of tabs open in Chrome browser.
Overall, we feel that users will be hard pressed to find performance related differences between the iPhone 6 Plus and the Mi Note Pro. The Snapdragon 810 may not be as efficient as the A8 processor but it is also a very powerful chip, which is more than enough to handle the kind of games or apps we are likely to run on phones.
Software:
This is the big difference between these two devices. The Apple iPhone 6 Plus uses the iOS 8 while the Mi Note Pro is using MiUI, which is based on Android Lollipop.
In terms of user interface both the latest MiUI and iOS 8 are pretty close to each other. Both use a flat, colourful design and unlike Android that has different app launcher, the MiUi and iOS 8 use homescreens as app launchers. In terms of ease of use, both are somewhat easier to use compared to the stock Android.
The reason why the MiUI and iOS 8 are so similar in terms of interface is because MiUI seems “inspired” by Apple’s software. But similarities end here. The MiUI is more dynamic while the iOS 8 is more streamlined.
With MiUI users will have ability to customise almost every aspect of the phone. The MiUI is also more feature-rich considering it offers all the flexibility of Android. But if you are the sort of person who buys a phone and then rarely ventures into its settings, the iOS 8 will be better for you.
Camera:
Xiaomi highlighted the camera in the Note Pro a lot at its launch event in China. The device has a 13-megapixel camera with dual-tone flash (yes, iPhone 6 Plus too has the similar flash) and optical stabilisation. In comparison, the Apple 6 Plus has a 8-megapixel camera with optical image stabilisation.
On paper, the Note Pro has a higher resolution camera. When it comes to photography pros will tell you that megapixels rarely matter. The iPhone 6 Plus camera is fantastic as far as its optical performance is concerned.
Apple also leads others when it comes to software processing the images. The end result is that the camera in the iPhone 6 Plus is one of the best we have seen in a phone.
Can it be beaten? Yes, and at least on paper the Note Pro looks like a good contender that can beat it. Xiaomi’s phones usually perform well when it comes to photography.
Even the lowly redmi 1S can click some amazing pictures. So we have high hopes from the Mi Note Pro. But that said we won’t be surprised if the iPhone 6 Plus continue to be the phablet with the best camera even after the Mi Note Pro has arrived in shops.
Battery life:
Apple has the edge here. It has a battery with rated capacity of 2915 mAh. The Note Pro has a 3,000 battery. So minor difference here. But the Apple’s A8 processor is more power efficient.
The 8-core processor in the Note Pro is not likely to be that power efficient. The higher resolution screen in the Xiaomi’s device is also likely to require more juice. We are sure that Mi Note Pro will offer decent battery life. But it may not be able to catch the iPhone 6 Plus in this area.
Value:
There is no contest here. The Xiaomi Mi Note Pro wins big here. It will go on sale in China at a price of Yuan (around Rm.2,000). The iPhone 6 Plus in India sells for over Rm.3,500.
Even if in India Xiaomi’s Note Pro comes at a slightly higher price, it is not likely to cost more than Rm.2,000. In terms of value the Mi Note Pro is miles ahead of anything that Apple offers right now.
-INDIA TODAY
