Xiaomi Mi 6 vs OnePlus 5: Rumors Face Off!

The Xiaomi Mi 6 and OnePlus 5 are two of the most awaited phones to come out from China in 2017. While we can’t possibly give for certain every single detail about them, we can still assume what they’ll most likely look like and compare them, take everything with a grain of salt, of course.

Just to make it clear, we’re giving the next OnePlus phone the “5” moniker as they are a Chinese company with deep roots in their culture and traditions, in which the number “4” is considered to be unlucky. Our editor in chief — Yash Garg — talks about it in this article.

Design

Let’s begin with the one that’s getting launched sooner, i.e. the Xiaomi Mi 6 / Mi 6 Plus. We’ve already seen plenty of renders of this phone and much like with the Samsung Galaxy S8, we probably won’t see any surprised face when it finally gets revealed.

The Xiaomi Mi 6 / Mi 6 Plus will almost certainly feature a dual camera setup on the back in a body that’s most likely made out of metal, with a ceramic back cover variant for the more expensive special edition.

On the front we’ll probably see an almost edge-less display without curves, for the happiness of those who dislike curved edged screens. For the rest the phone shouldn’t look much different from the previous Xiaomi Mi 5, albeit it’ll now be available in two screen sizes, a smaller 5.15-inch and a bigger 5.7-inch one.

As far as the OnePlus 5 goes, we’re pretty much still in the dark. There are tons of renders made by users but that’s about it, there’s nothing actually “leaked” from OnePlus. We can only assume it’ll feature a 5.5-inch Full HD AMOLED display, possibly with a dual-edgeless design.

Here’s a render of the OnePlus 5 which has the same value of those iPhone 8 images already floating around:

Hardware

On the hardware side, the two phones won’t differ too much, they’re both going to be powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 — with the exception of a cheaper Xiaomi Mi 6 version coming with a Snapdragon 821 — 6GB of RAM — Xiaomi giving more choices with 4GB and 8GB variants as well — and 64GB or 128GB of internal storage — again, the Mi 6 will also be available in versions going from 32GB to 256GB.

The OnePlus 5 is also rumored to feature a 4000mAh battery, 12MP wide-angle front camera, a 23MP rear shooter and IP68 rating.

Software

There isn’t a lot to say about software at this point, both phones are most likely going to run Android Nougat; of course the OnePlus 5 will always be slight ahead of the Mi 6 (and many other phones) as far as updates and features go. That’s also why many people love OnePlus phones in the first place.

Pricing & Availability

According to previous leaks, the Xiaomi Mi 6 / Mi 6 Plus will be priced as follows:

Xiaomi Mi 6

• 4GB RAM + 32GB ROM variant will cost 1999 Yuan ($290)
• 4GB RAM + 64GB ROM variant will cost 2,299 Yuan ($333)
• 6GB RAM + 128GB ROM variant will cost 2,699 Yuan ($391)

Xiaomi Mi 6 Plus

• 4GB RAM + 64GB ROM variant will cost 2599 Yuan ($377)
• 6GB RAM + 128GB ROM variant will cost 2,999 Yuan ($435)
• 8GB RAM + 256GB ROM variant will cost 3499 Yuan ($507)

Regarding the OnePlus 5, we aren’t aware of any possible price-tag but if previous launches are anything to go by, we expect the next “flagship-killer” to cost about $400 give or take.

As far as availability goes, the Xiaomi Mi 6 Mi 6 Plus will almost certainly be launched next month, on April 14th to be precise, but Samsung’s monopoly on Snapdragon 835 chips might push it back to May. Meanwhile the OnePlus 5 is still relatively far from getting revealed, OnePlus have recently launched a Midnight Black version of the OnePlus 3T and they want to cash-in on that, so expect it to come in Q3 or Q4 of 2017.

Your take

Now it’s time to hear your voice. What do you guys think about these phones? Which one are you most excited for? Let us know in the comments below!