INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The upper mid-range segment has turned into a hotspot for budget flagship devices
OnePlus has built its brand in this space over the years, making it the first choice for people looking for flagship hardware at mainstream
Is the Poco F1 a super value-for-money smartphone, or does it have hidden downsides Are the ZenFone 5Z and the OnePlus 6 still worth the
While the Kevlar option is unique (and more expensive), the polycarbonate back does not feel premium compared to the other two phones
All three smartphones have notches at the top of their displays, with the Poco F1 having the biggest one while the OnePlus 6 is on the other
end of the scale.The buttons on the OnePlus 6 are easier to reach compared to the Poco F1 and the ZenFone 5Z
Unique to the OnePlus 6 is the convenient alert slider that lets you select between different ringing profiles
In terms of colour options, the ZenFone 5Z is available in Meteor Silver and Midnight Blue
As for the OnePlus 6, the base variant is only available in the Mirror Black finish; if you want the Silk White, Midnight Black or Red
The Poco F1 is available in Graphite Black, Steel Blue, and Rosso Red, all with a polycarbonate back; if you want the Armoured Edition with
29,999.We preferred the ZenFone 5Z when we compared it with the OnePlus 6, primarily because of its low weight and compactness
This should put all three phones on an equal footing but Xiaomi has outfitted the Poco F1 with liquid cooling, which helps it run at higher
smartphones.The base variants of all three phones have 6GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage
The next variants of the ZenFone 5Z and Poco F1 have 6GB RAM/ 128GB storage, while the OnePlus 6 offers 8GB of RAM with 128GB of storage
The top variants of all three phones have 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage
Interestingly, both the ZenFone 5Z and the Poco F1 support for expandable storage, which the OnePlus 6 misses out on
The Poco F1 misses out on NFC while the ZenFone 5Z and OnePlus 6 have it
The ZenFone 5Z also has a colour temperature sensor which helps it tweak the display based on ambient light and the white balance right when
All phones have fingerprint scanners at the back, and can be unlocked using face recognition
Only the Xiaomi Poco F1 has an infrared camera and emitter that makes face recognition possible even in low-light conditions
The Poco F1 and OnePlus 6 tie for the top spot when it comes to their fingerprint scanners, but the Poco F1 is the fastest to unlock using
only face recognition.None of these phones have a true stereo speaker setup, but the Poco F1 and ZenFone 5Z manage to create a stereo-like
effect using the earpiece as a second speaker
All three phones are dual-SIM devices and support dual 4G as well as VoLTE.All three phones have big displays with Full HD+ resolutions, but
while the Poco F1 and ZenFone 5Z have LCD displays, the OnePlus 6 has an AMOLED panel
All three phones offer good viewing angles and sunlight legibility
In terms of display quality, the OnePlus 6 takes the lead with its deep blacks and punchy contrast, and the Poco F1 manages colours slightly
smartphones deliver smooth lag-free experiences
We did not observe any lag or stutter when using them, and multitasking was a breeze
In many benchmarks such as AnTuTu, the OnePlus 6 scored the highest by small margins, while the Poco F1 and ZenFone 5Z were still in the
same league.Each smartphone has a custom version of Android Oreo
The OnePlus 6 has Oxygen OS which is only slightly different from stock Android, at least in terms of looks
It is currently based on Android 8.1 Oreo with the July 2018 security patch
You get a lot of gestures, a reading mode, and a monochrome mode, which are all handy
The ZenFone 5Z has its custom ZenUI with a few extra features baked in
Some of these features use AI and machine learning, and we found them to be useful when we reviewed the phone.The ZenFone 5Z was running
Android 8.0 Oreo with the June security patch at the time of this comparison
Our unit had received up to the June 2018 security patch
software updates, OnePlus has enrolled the 6 in the Android 9 Beta programme so it might be the first of the three to get an official
It recommended the High quality preset by default for all three phones, given the hardware they sport
We played the game on all three phones at the same time in an air-conditioned room
All of them managed to deliver good performance without getting uncomfortable to the touch
We saw that the OnePlus 6 had lower battery drain compared to the other two devices after playing the game for half an hour
The ZenFone 5Z and the OnePlus 6 have gaming modes that claim to boost performance, block notifications, and lock the navigation buttons
We drained all three devices completely before plugging them into the chargers they ship with
Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 and come with 18W chargers
The Poco F1 has the highest battery capacity of 4000mAh while the others both have 3300mAh units.The ZenFone 5Z and the OnePlus 6 both took
roughly 27 minutes to charge to 50 percent
The OnePlus 6 reduces its charging speed when it gets to 90 percent, allowing the ZenFone 5Z to bag the top spot with a total time of 1 hour
21 minutes to charge to a 100 percent
All three phones will last you through one day with moderate use but the Poco F1 can easily outlast the other two thanks to its bigger
battery.Asus ZenFone 5Z vs OnePlus 6 vs Xiaomi Poco F1 camerasWhen we compared the OnePlus 6 to the ZenFone 5Z, we found that the 5Z had the
For this comparison, we did fresh tests with all three phones since the ZenFone 5Z and OnePlus 6 have both received software updates that
claim to improve camera performance
All phones have dual rear cameras
while the OnePlus does not have this feature.When taking landscape shots, the ZenFone 5Z and OnePlus 6 produce significantly better dynamic
range compared to the Poco F1
The F1 also delivers slightly grainy output compared to the other two, which is visible when you zoom in
bokeh effect, and good edge detection
It was the ZenFone 5Z that managed to deliver the most accurate colours, followed by the Poco F1, while the portraits taken by the OnePlus 6
looked washed-out in comparison.In low light, the Poco F1 failed to capture good details, and its noise reduction led to a drop in sharpness
The 5Z fared better than the Poco F1 in terms of details, but aggressive noise reduction also resulted in artifacts in the output
The OnePlus 6 managed the best details of detail among the three but its output is slightly grainy.The Poco F1 has a 20-megapixel selfie
camera, while the OnePlus 6 and ZenFone 5Z have 16-megapixel and 8-megapixel cameras respectively
While the photos taken with all three are good enough to be shared on social media, it was the OnePlus 6 that managed to deliver the most
detailed selfies.All three smartphones are capable of 4K video recording, but the Poco F1 is restricted to 30fps
The ZenFone 5Z and OnePlus 6 are capable of 4K at 60fps
When shooting at 30 fps, the Poco F1 has an 8-minute cap while the OnePlus 6 has a 10-minute limit
At 60fps, the OnePlus 6 has a 5-minute limit
The ZenFone 5Z has no time restrictions when shooting in 4K, but it did get quite hot when shooting for longer durations.VerdictWhen we
first compared the OnePlus 6 to the Asus ZenFone 5Z, it fell behind in terms of camera performance
Now, software updates seem to have given the cameras on the OnePlus 6 a massive boost since we last compared it
Cameras aside, these phones offer similar experiences when it comes to performance
The Poco F1 is the most affordable of the three, but availability is an issue, since it is only sold through flash sales
5,000 premium it is currently commanding over the 5Z, making the ZenFone 5Z our pick between the two.Xiaomi Poco F1 looks great value for
the price, but is there a catch We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts
or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.
