Huawei Honor 3C versus Xiaomi Redmi 1S

The Huawei Honor 3C has been the most bang for the buck smart phone for just RM499. It will soon face a new challenger from Xiaomi in the form of the Redmi 1S. Both are dual-SIM devices that are priced below RM500. In China, the Redmi 1S carries a 799 Yuan price tag and it is expected to be more affordable than the Honor 3C when it goes on sale here in the coming weeks.

So which device is better? At the time of launch, the Honor 3C had grabbed headlines for being an affordable 5″ Android smart phone that comes with 2GB of RAM. The only downside was its performance where its 1.3GHz Quad-Core MediaTek processor doesn’t seem to be optimised for video playback. While the Redmi 1S came with just 1GB of RAM, Xiaomi has upgraded its processor with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 unit with 4 cores running at 1.6GHz. Another benefit of having a Qualcomm processor is that the Redmi 1S runs on a newer Android 4.3 Jelly bean and its microSD slot supports up to 64GB capacity, which is doubled the max supported 32GB limit on the Honor 3C.

Honor 3C vs Redmi 1S Comparison Video

In terms of dimensions, the Honor 3C is overall thinner and lighter than the Redmi 1S as it weighs just 140 grams and has a thickness of just 9.2mm. Putting numbers aside, the Redmi 1S feels more assuring in the hands due to its slightly thicker body. The unit which we have at hand is the glossy white version. When it goes on sale in Malaysia, Xiaomi will be selling its matte grey colour units first.

Operating system wise, the MIUI on the Redmi 1S feels more refined and has a wider range of themes to personalise your device. However on the Honor 3C, it gets more gesture features such as double tap to wake and you can launch apps from sleep by sliding from the edge of the screen. For those planning to buy this as a present for older folks, you’ll be happy to know that both device comes with a simplified UI that uses bigger buttons and fonts.

When it comes to usability, the Redmi 1S trumps the Honor 3C. It is much more fluid when it comes to gaming and we face no issues while playing videos. In our hands-on with the Honor 3C, it struggles in Real Racing 3 and the YouTube playback is annoyingly out of sync. The benchmark numbers have proven this as well with the Redmi 1S scoring over 21,000 points while the Honor 3C achieved about 17,000.

If we have to choose between the two, the Redmi 1S would be a better choice. The overall experience from its MIUI is more polished and most importantly the Redmi 1S offers better performance all round compared to the Honor 3C.

Specs Compared

Hands-on Comparison Photos

Other Videos