Huawei Mate 9 vs. Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus: Bargain bin

19 December 2016
Huawei unveiled the Mate 9 as the best phone in the world - and indeed it has many superior qualities. Including the price! We started wondering if we can match most features at half the price. This lead us to the Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus, which has a lot in common with the Huawei.

Sort by:

  • ?
  • Anonymous
  • pWQ
  • 21 Dec 2016

Anonymous, 21 Dec 2016If you're already thinking about custom roms for your devic... moreThe thing is, if I go for a "non-stock" phone as my next one, I have to have the ability to switch to a clean rom without any skins. I really like the stock Android on my Nexus and I'd like to keep using such a phone. Pixels, both of them, are not appealing to me due to looks and the "big" version has only 5.5-inch screen with HUGE bezels. Not a chance I go smaller than 6" anymore.

    • S
    • Smartphones Fan
    • mxx
    • 21 Dec 2016

    I would NEVER buy xiaomi weird phones.. their software is the worst !

      • ?
      • Anonymous
      • ix$
      • 21 Dec 2016

      Anonymous, 20 Dec 2016Xiaomi may not have the best phone out there, but certainly... moreno other brand would take your money and would not give you any warranty for purchesed product.

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • Tpi
        • 21 Dec 2016

        Anonymous, 21 Dec 2016Kirin-based phones won't have as many custom rom's as Snapd... moreIf you're already thinking about custom roms for your device, then go grab a Pixel, or even older Nexus. They have great community willing to support them for years.

          • K
          • King Jay Kay
          • mTW
          • 21 Dec 2016

          Well as I had ready posted in many forums that I had a personal experience of Mate 9 and 7 plus and I can assure you that in 2016 these two are over all best mobiles even though there will be always room for improvement but still it's great to have it and as far price is concerned to if depends cause in Pakistan Mate 9 price is like 700$ where in Gulf it's like 650$ and then in Europe I guess it's 700€ now conversion rate changes the facts but as far as flag ships are concerned then Mate 9 is no doubt aver all winner.

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • pWQ
            • 21 Dec 2016

            Anonymous, 20 Dec 2016Do you have any idea how powerful kirin 960 is??? Please wa... moreKirin-based phones won't have as many custom rom's as Snapdragon-phones will. Not a chance I'll buy anything else than SD.

              • D
              • AnonD-622626
              • F%N
              • 20 Dec 2016

              Anonymous, 20 Dec 2016In china students like Xiaomi because of cost. Huawei' pric... moreMost students i know in china get a phone for free from the school. The school provides them a list of phones and the students pick one. They are not buying the phone themself. 3.5 years ago most of them had Xiaomi 3, I believe last year most of them still has Xiaomi phones. Many parents had huawei.

                • D
                • AnonD-191884
                • gM8
                • 20 Dec 2016

                Huawei is a premium brand and they deserve this price tag. Don't buy if you can't afford. I know you will die for an apple though. Xiaomi is doing a great job with price and I admire their effort. Personally I like affordable Huawei Honors. Best from the both worlds.

                  • ?
                  • Anonymous
                  • Nvx
                  • 20 Dec 2016

                  Anonymous, 20 Dec 2016Mate 9's only real flaw is not having a Snapdragon-chipset.... moreDo you have any idea how powerful kirin 960 is??? Please watch some YouTube videos I think you will have some idea!

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • uap
                    • 20 Dec 2016

                    In china students like Xiaomi because of cost. Huawei' price is much higher than others, but they sell well, and too well, so those preferring mi5 should think about why.

                      • O
                      • Owns a xiaomi
                      • Tqj
                      • 20 Dec 2016

                      Is this comparison justified? Not sure. The claim that Huawei wins by points is meaningless when Xiaomi costs about 50% less. Xiaomi does not try to produce flagships as much as it tries to produce excellent phones is a fraction of the price of flagships. So if Xiaomi's camera performs very well but not as well as Huawei's, what would a person with reason do; double his cost for a slightly better camera? Does Huawei's slightly better features justify paying hundred of dollars more? It easy to produce a flagship for a premium price. It is much harder to produce an excellent phone for a fracture of the price of a flagship.

                        • D
                        • AnonD-587428
                        • HjG
                        • 20 Dec 2016

                        I'm a Xiaomi fan but I can fairly say, as far as flagships, all of the latest line up is all half done. The Mi5s Plus being the worst of them all. Performing very well in some areas and mediocre in others. There's not a single "everything in" phone for a higher price that they normally release like the Mi3/Mi4/Mi5/Note/Note Pro. However everything is priced "very" cheap this year...

                        Tell me, I've heard a lot about Huawei graphics being capped at 30fps which is why basemark and Antutu are so different. If so this allows for the faster SoC. Graphics being capped means "a lot" less heat which in turn allows them to bump up the multicore, which generally speaking is useless..

                        Also to note Storage and memory speed on Mate 9 is half all of the latest Xiaomi flagships (MIX, Mi5s/Plus)

                          If Mi5s Plus had the same audio quality as Mi5s or the Mi Mix, it would be better than Mate 9. We all know that dual camera setups are not perfected yet, so they're not the best. But in almost every aspect Mi5s Plus is on par, or even better than Mate 9, costing only half as much.
                          Mi5s Plus is a great performer, really good deal for the price, but Mate 9 is a better smartphone overall.

                            • M
                            • Migz200
                            • t7K
                            • 20 Dec 2016

                            Please make a review comparison for huawei mate 9 and xiaomi mi mix please

                              Anonymous, 20 Dec 2016Why Huawei so proud about this phone? I love Mate 9 but the... moreAhah. Don't look at these shitty benchmark. The g71mp8 is a Monster

                                • ?
                                • Anonymous
                                • 61W
                                • 20 Dec 2016

                                Anonymous, 20 Dec 2016Xiaomi may not have the best phone out there, but certainly... moreits cause tricky marketing of xiaomi. releasing phone only focus at India or China, Hunger Marketing and many more. Here Even Mi5s Plus128GB its almost price of Galaxy S7. I rather pick S7 instead Mi5s Plus. 240$ its for China market price. There its nothing special from Xiaomi phones moreover with Unofficial guarantee and with bad UX.

                                  Only the Huawei charger is proprietary? Xiaomi is usually using Qualcomm QuickCharge (while proprietary as well, there are lots of accessories for it while Huawei don't sell their accessories in a lot of places so people have to buy Huawei knockoffs on ebay).

                                  Also another big difference is the number of LTE bands, The Mi5S Plus have too few bands even for mainland China while the Mate 9 supports most global bands.

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • 3PE
                                    • 20 Dec 2016

                                    Xiaomi may not have the best phone out there, but certainly has one of the best deals in each price and size category. No other brand offers snapdragon 820 phone for around 240$.

                                      mate9 is such a thumb down with it's poor-for-it's-price-camera

                                        • D
                                        • AnonD-599846
                                        • X}$
                                        • 20 Dec 2016

                                        Gsmarena should update mate 9 camera review after it got firmware update czz i have seen alot of reviews pointing that its performance of camera is greatly improved especially in low light department