Despite the controversial releases of both the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 and Apple's iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, these handhelds are still the smartphones that the general public is after. The hype over these units, however, tends to outshine the other options in the smartphone market. But there are devices - like the Xiaomi Mi5S and the Asus Zenfone 3 - which definitely deserve a spot in the spotlight as well.
The Xiaomi Mi5S
According to Anand Tech, the Mi5S is Xiaomi's update to its very own Mi5, which was released just earlier this year. A Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor, arguably the most powerful one in the market, rests within the unit, which also sports two Kryo CPU cores. It runs on either 3 GB or 4 GB of RAM with 64 GB or 128 GB of internal storage. Straight from the box, it runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
The 5.15-inch screen has a 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution. All in all, it is only 145 grams and is just 145.6 x 70.3 x 8.25 mm big. Its front camera is a humble 4 megapixels, but its rear camera is a standard 12-megapixel shooter. The Mi5S is also a very reliable phone, as it sports a 3200 mAh battery.
The 3GB of RAM model costs US$300, while the 4GB of RAM variant costs S$345.
The Asus Zenfone 3
Meanwhile, GSM Arena notes that the Asus Zenfone 3 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor. It runs on 4 GB of RAM and has an internal storage capacity of 64 GB, which is expandable via a microSD card. It also runs on Android Marshmallow straight from the box.
The Asus Zenfone 3 sports a 5.5-inch LCD screen with the same 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution. The unit weighs just 155 grams and is a comfortable 52.6 x 77.4 x 7.7 mm all around. Its camera, on the other hand, is slightly better at 8 megapixels for the front shooter and 16 megapixels for the rear camera. Its battery is 3000 mAh.
The Zenfone 3 is priced at US$300-350.
