Xiaomi MI3 vs Asus Zenfone 5.

Xiaomi MI3 vs Asus Zenfone 5.It might seem a bit weird that we are comparing two smartphones that have been launched some time ago. With very impressive Price Levels of Xiaomi Mi3 for RM756 and Asus Zenfone 5 for RM429 for impressive specs, both phones are very Valid and interesting choices at the moment.

A lot of customers might read our Comparison of Xiaomi Mi3 vs Asus Zenfone 5 and think the choice is an Easy One. The Mi3 has clearly a faster processor, more Megapixel in the Camera and a display with higher resolution.

What if you need a expandable memory or Dual Sim Card though? Maybe the customers also like the Intel Atom Processor for Smartphones. That is when the Asus Zenfone becomes very interesting for our customers.

Xiaomi Mi3 vs Asus Zenfone 5 Design

The Asus Zenfone 5 has more of an understated design. The Zenphone 5 body is largely made of plastic. In the front Asus added a metallic strip, less then a cm small. The metal is the same that Asus Laptops uses and gives the Zenfone 5 a bit of style. Overall the Design of the Asus Zenfone is very solid, but certainly not spectacular.

The Xiaomi Mi3 Design is more of an eyecatcher. The Mi3 has a beautiful design. Xiaomi used Magnesium alloy metal for the Mi 3. The Casing reminds the HTC One Series, very well designed. The Mi3 also has well designed feautres like 120 laser cut speaker grills and USB ports that are reinforced by metal.

Asus Zenfone 5 with Metal on Front

Both the Asus Zenfone 5 and Xiaomi Mi3 have a very similiar size and a solid weight of 145 gramm.

Winner: Xiaomi Mi3. Xiaomi put in some extra effort with the Mi3. The Metal used on the Mi3 gives the device a premium feel. The Zenfone 5 has an average design. One small critic point on the Zenfone 5 are the wide bezels, that make the Zenphone a bit to large.

Asus Zenfone 5 vs Xiaomi Mi3 Display

The Asus Zenfone 5 comes with an 5 inch IPS Display with 720p resolution. The In Plan Switching Technology gives the Asus Zenfone 5 Screen very good viewing angles. The Screen has very good Asus quality and offers rich and accurate colors. The Asus Zenfone 5 screen is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The Pixel Density is at 294 ppi.

The Xiaomi Mi3 screen is at 5inch IPS as well. The Mi3’s display has a higher resolution then the Asus Zenfone of 1080p though. As well the Xiaomi Mi3 Display comes at a higher Pixel Density of 441 ppi, which is significant.

Winner: Xiaomi Mi3. As announced before when it comes to Screen and pure Specs the Mi3 can beat the Zenfone 5. But the Zenfone 5 is still in the Race – Lets come to the Hardware!

Xiaomi Mi3 vs Zenfone 5 Specs and Benchmarks.

Like the Xiaomi Mi3 the Asus Zenfone 5 comes with a full 2GB of RAM. It sports an Dual Core 1.6 Ghz Intel Atom Processor. The Big Advantage it has above the Xiaomi Mi3 is that the Zenfone 5 has extendable memory via micro sd. The Basic Version of the Zenfone 5 comes with 16GB of Memory but it can be easily extended with a 64GB Micro Sd Card. Also the Zenfone 5 offers Dual Sim, another advantage on the MI3. The Battery of the Asus Zenfone comes with 2110 mAh.

In Asus Zenfone 5 Benchmarks the phone gain an impressive 21795 points. We think this score is pretty amazing. Not only is the Asus Zenfone priced under RM500 also it achieves this score, with a very efficient Dual Core Intel Atom SoC.

As Antutu Benchmarks definitely do not say everything about a Phones Feel and Performance everyday we let the Asus Zenfone 5 run Citadel.

We ran Epic Citadel App to test the Asus Zenfone 5 graphic capability. For our test we increased all Settings in Citadel up to Ultra High Quality. The Test results were very impressive. The Asus Zenfone 5 managed to achieve an average 50 Frames per Seconds in our test. Even high end smartphones achieve mostly 35FPS.

This is certainly good news. The main reason for the high quality is that most other high end smartphones have higher screen resolutions then the Asus Zenfone 5 at 720p. Still if you are a Gamer on a budget – you can trust in the Asus Zenfone 5 quality.

Even after the Xiaomi Mi4 launch, the Mi3 Specs are still impressive. The Mi3 sports an Snapdragonn 800 processor at 2.3 Ghz with Adreno 330 GPU and 2GB of RAM. It comes in two basic versions with 16GB internal Memory of 64GB. As mentioned above the Xiaomi Mi3 is not extendable via Micro SD and also does not offer Dual Sim.

The XiaomI Mi3 is a Killer in Benchmarks. In our Antutu Benchmarks the XiaomI Mi3 reached an impressive 35675 or even higher at 36092 points. What a Blast!

Winner: Xiaomi Mi3. IF we purely look at the Hardware of the Xiaomi Mi3 vs Asus Zenfone 5 the Xiaomi Phone is the clear winner. Please keep in mind though that the Asus Zenfone 5 comes with Dual Sim and extendable memory card.

XiaomI Mi3 vs Asus Zenfone 5 Camera

The Asus Zenfone 5 has a 8MP Rear Camera. For the Price Tag the Camera Quality is definitely very decent. Asus has also added some very cool features like Depth of Field and Miniature.

While we tested the Zenfone 5 in Camera Auto Mode lighter parts of pics seem a bit overexposed and darker parts a bit underexposed. We were surprised by the great quality of pictures in low light conditions. Overall definitely decent camera quality. The Front Shooter is a 2MP Selfie Cam.

Asus Zenfone 5 Camera Samples

The Xiaomi Mi3 comes with a 13 Megapixel Camera with Dual LED Flash from Philipps. The beautiful 5 piece lens sports an inbuilt infrared filter and f/2.2 aperture with 28mm wide angle.

Like the Asus Zenfone it comes with 2.o Front or Selfie Camera. The Xiaomi Mi3 definitely takes awesome pictures. Have a look for yourself.

Winner: Xiaomi Mi3.

Asus Zenfone 5 vs Xiaomi Mi3 Software

Despite having not much of Smartphone experience Asus did a very good job with the Android Launcher for the Zenphone 5. The Android Launcher is based on Android 4.3, a Kit Kat Update is available though.

The Asus Version looks well designed and increases the Basic Functionality of Android. Very Similar to HTC Sense UI most apps can be accessed without unlocking the screen.

The Xiaomi Mi3 runs on MIUI V5 which is Xiaomi’s custom OS. MIUI V5 has a few design tweaks from Stock Android while staying highly customizable for experienced Android Users. Also Xiaomi just launched MIUI V6 which will be available on Xiaomi Mi3 as well. Overall MIUI is a well balanced OS and recommenable.

Winner: Tie. Both Android Versions are recommendable. None of them have the bloated feeling of Samsungs OS and are very pleasing to the eye. While there are millions of happy MIUI users already, Asus did a great Job with its Android Launcher on the Zenfone 5.

Summary:
Lets make it simple. If your budget is smaller then RM500 go and buy the Asus Zenfone 5. We can recommend the Asus Zenfone 5 without hesitation. Despite having “only” a Dual Core Intel Processor, the Asus Zenfone 5 performed remarkably well in all benchmarks. Especially Gaming Fans will be impressed by the Zenphone 5 performance. On top customers get Dual Sim and Micro Sd extendable up to 64GB. Overall a clear recommendation for under RM500 in Malaysia.

If you can spend RM200 more, please go ahead an buy the MI3. While the MI3 is definitely not flawless, at a price of RM750 it comes very near. The Snapdragon 800 at 2.1 Ghz, 1080p Screen, 2GB and high quality build – a clear recommendation. Combine that with a 13MP Shooter and powerful OS and you have yourself a Flagship Killer.

While both phones are on the market for some time now, we can both recommend the Xiaomi Mi3 and Asus Zenfone 5. Which phone you choose might be overall a budget decision. Especially with the Xiaomi Mi4 around the corner the MI3 might get another Price Cut and will be the Secret Buying Tip in Malaysia.