Until now OnePlus was known for offering phones with best chipsets and maximum RAM capacity at affordable price tags. Which is why the OnePlus phones enjoyed the ‘flagship killer’ title. However, now the brand faces stiff competition from Xiaomi’s sub-brand POCO. So how the POCO F1 fairs against OnePlus 6. Let’s find out whether the POCO brand will be able to take the title of flagship killer from OnePlus or not.
POCO F1 Vs OnePlus 6 Specifications
Design: Plastic Vs Glass
6GB/128GB- Rs. 23,999 8GB/256GB- Rs. 28,999 6GB/128GB- Rs. 39,999 8GB/256GB- Rs. 43,999 Starting with the design, both the phones are different in terms of build quality. The POCO with its price advantage compromises with its design as the POCO F1 sports plastic back panels. There is a top model as well that comes with sturdy Kevlar back. But overall it looks a bit unattractive than the glass back on OnePlus 6 just like flagships.
The notch on the front panel of POCO F1 is wider than usual. OnePlus 6, on the other hand, mimics the iPhone X like-notch. The form factor of both the phones is similar with an almost same screen to body ratio, size, and weight.
One more thing that is added in OnePlus 6 is that it is able to resist water splashes. However, the POCO F1 has no such protection. Overall, we can see OnePlus 6 has an upper hand in terms of design.
Display: IPS LCD Vs AMOLED
On the front, POCO F1 sports a 6.18-inch full HD+ IPS display with a notch and 18.7:9 aspect ratio. The OnePlus 6, on the other hand, offers a 6.28-inch Optic AMOLED display that also comes with FHD+ resolution and 19:9 aspect ratio because of the notch. The OnePlus 6’s display looks stunning, thanks to AMOLED panel, though, POCO F1’s display is not that bad.
Cameras: Duel of Dual Cameras
Xiaomi’s POCO F1 comes sports dual camera set up at the back that it boasts of having AI features. The 12-megapixel and 5-megapixel sensors with large pixels and aperture size perform well in all lighting conditions. There is a 20MP f/2.0 front camera that also clicks some nice selfies and has a portrait mode as well.
OnePlus uses a 16 MP + 20 MP (both f/1.7 apertures) combination for its flagship. The OnePlus 6’s camera is impressive (Camera Review) in all conditions. For selfies, OnePlus 6 has a 16MP sensor with f/2.0 aperture which also has portrait mode feature. If we talk about added features, OnePlus has OIS and 4K recording at 60fps as well. Check out these camera samples to know the difference between the picture quality of both the phones.
Rear Camera Samples
Portrait Mode
Daylight Auto
Low Light
Front Camera Samples
Daylight
Lowlight
Both the cameras click good pictures in all lighting conditions and they both lack flagship level photography. However, for your social media feed, they can give you some impressive shots.
Performance: Snapdragon 845
POCO F1 and OnePlus 6 both come with the focus on speed and promise fast performance. They both are powered by Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 845 chipset that is the best chipset available for smartphones as of now. They both pack up to 8GB LPDDR4X RAM and UFS 2.1 storage up to 256GB.
The POCO has also done a few under-the-hood optimizations for enhanced performance and one such thing is LiquidCool technology. The company claims to offer better gaming performance without getting the phone overheated. We have played the popular PUBG Mobile on both the phones and they were on the same page in terms of performance. The heat dissipation claim by POCO is ok, but, it doesn’t make much difference. There is no considerable gap between the AnTuTu benchmark scores of both the phones.
Software: New MIUI Vs OxygenOS
Software-wise, both the phones offer different experience despite running the Android 8.1 Oreo. POCO F1 brings a customized MIUI with a new POCO launcher that offers several new features such as an app drawer. The OnePlus 6 runs its own Oxygen OS on top which offers more like a stock experience. Both the UIs are lightweight and smooth; however, the choice of UI depends on user preferences. The phones will also get Android Pie soon.
Battery and Connectivity: A few Changes
The OnePlus 6 packs a 3,300 mAh battery while the POCO F1 has a massive 4,000 mAh battery. Both the phones support fast charging. They have the usual connectivity options like Wi-Fi, 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth, USB Type C port and 3.5mm audio jack. The POCO F1 has the hybrid SIM card slot and you can use a microSD card as well, however, OnePlus 6 doesn’t support expandable memory. They also come with all the essential sensors, but the POCO F1 skips the NFC, which is there on OnePlus 6.
Conclusion
With the POCO F1, Xiaomi disrupts the market by offering Snapdragon 845 powered phones for as low as Rs 21,000. The POCO F1 offers OnePlus 6-like performance and features at a much affordable price, as the starting price of OnePlus 6 is Rs. 34,999. Performance wise, both the smartphones are equally capable, though the design compromises in POCO F1 make OnePlus look better. Overall, if build quality doesn’t matter that much, POCO F1 is the new flagship killer for you.
