Xiaomi took the smartphone market by storm when it launched its latest smartphone, Poco F1 under its newly formed brand for a surprisingly low price tag of Rs 20,999. The smartphone comes with all the high-end specifications which would even put some of the premium offerings to shame. The highest variant of the Poco F1 retails for Rs 29,999, and it comes powered by the top-end Snapdragon 845, and so do the lower options along with other features which are guaranteed to provide you with an extremely positive smartphone experience. The phone poses serious competition beyond its price range to phones like OnePlus 6, Asus Zenfone 5Z and Honor 10. Within its price range, the phone goes head-on against the recently launched Honor Play. Co-incidentally, both the phones with some proprietary technology and add-ons which help them in qualifying as good gaming devices. Keeping that in mind, below we have made a comparison between both the phones from a gamer’s perspective.
Honor Play’s GPU Turbo and Poco F1 Liquid Cooling Technology
TheHonor 10 comes with the Liquid Cooling technology which is a piece of hardware inside the phone working on the simple principle of a heat sink, thermodynamics and water vapour. This new technology by Xiaomi has been claimed to increase the life of the phone and extend battery life by avoiding the phone from overheating. Poco has also said that this new technology will be helpful especially during demanding tasks like constant photo clicking, playing 4K videos and of course gaming. It is also worth noting that the Poco F1 packs the top-end processor from Qualcomm, the Snapdragon 845 so it is sufficient to say that playing games on this phone won’t be a worrying task.
Honor Play also comes with a GPU Turbo technology which has been developed keeping the gamers in mind. Thanks to the GPU turbo technology, the Honor Play can deliver satisfying performance even with the most demanding games with impressive frame rates. With the lower drop in frame rates, the games on Honor Play can run smoothly. Also, the company has claimed that the GPU Turbo Technology can save around 30% battery of the smartphone. In terms of processor, the Honor Play sports the in-house manufactured Kirin 970.
Poco F1 vs Honor Play: Design and Display
Aesthetics aren’t really the Poco F1’s strength. Xiaomi has built this phone out of polycarbonate with the top variant coming with a Kevlar back. This Armoured option of the Poco F1 comes with triple layer Kevlar. Overall, the phone proves to be a resilient and solid device. However, it fails to impress the users with its design. The vertically stacked camera module takes the middle position on the rear side, just above the fingerprint sensor. Other than the Armoured edition, the Poco F1 is available in the three colour options of graphite black, steel blue, and Rosso red.
The Honor Play does a little bit better than the Poco F1 in terms of design. Although it doesn’t come with the aurora finish like other Honor phones, the metal body with matte finish lends it some premium feel. The phone fares as a fairly slim device with an easy to hold and comfortable grip. There are two colour options available for the buyers of Honor Play – blue and black.
As for the display, both the phones do not disappoint as they come with high screen-to-body ratio along with the notch. While the Poco F1 gets a 6.18-inch Full HD+ display with 18.9:7 aspect ratio, the Honor Play features a 6.2-inch with the same Full HD+ resolution but an aspect ratio of 19:9.
Poco F1 vs Honor Play: Battery
The Poco F1 also stands a winner in terms of battery by packing a massive 4000mAh paired with Quick Charge 3.0 with a USB Type-C port. The Honor Play also doesn’t lag behind by a large margin as it packs a battery worth 3750mAh. The Honor Play also comes with fast charging support and smart power management.
Poco F1 vs Honor Play: Camera
On the rear side, the Poco F1 sports a dual rear camera setup which involves a 12MP and a 5MP sensor. The AI functions in the smartphone, help it in detecting 206 scenes across 25 categories, while the front 20MP selfie snapper can identify ten different scenes.
The Honor Play’s cameras also come equipped with AI quirks. The phone’s dual rear camera setup includes a 16MP primary sensor and 2MP secondary sensor. Honor claims that its AI can detect up to 500 scenes across 22 categories. On the front, the 16MP camera comes enabled with Apple-inspired ‘3D portrait lighting’ for effects.
Poco F1 vs Honor Play: Pricing and Verdict
The Poco F1 starts retailing at Rs 20,999 for the 6GB and 64GB storage variant, whereas its 6GB+128GB variant retails for Rs 23,999. The top model of the Poco F1 with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage is available for the price of Rs 28,999 with the Armoured version costing Rs 1,000 more.
Honor Play gets a lighter price tag of Rs 19,999 for its base 4GB+64GB variant, whereas its higher option with 6GB RAM and 64GB storage is available for Rs 23,999. Keeping in mind the pricing and performance, the Poco F1 qualifies to be a better smartphone for gaming as compared to the Honor Play.
