Which is better?

We finished our review of the THL 5000, and got to thinking about its price. At around Php 10,599, the Mi 3’s price is pretty close to the THL 5000’s Php 11,990. Both devices couldn’t be more different from one another – one is a sleek, elegant flagship powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processor, while the other is a (relatively) chunky smartpone that has a battery that can’t be matched by its competitors. Which one is better? Well, let’s find out.

THL 5000 specs

• 2.0 GHz MediaTek MT6592 octa-core processor
• Mali-450 MP4 GPU
• 2GB RAM
• 5-inch full HD IPS display, Corning Gorilla Glass 3 proctection, 1920 x 1080 resolution
• 16GB internal storage, expandable via microSD
• 13-megapixel Sony IMX 135 rear camera with f/1.8 aperture
• 5-megapixel front camera
• WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, A-GPS, NFC, USB OTG
• 3G, HSPA+
• 5,000mAh battery
• Android 4.4 KitKat
• 144.9 x 72.3 x 8.9mm
• THL 5000 Review

Xiaomi Mi 3 specs

• 2.3GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MSM8274AB processor
• Adreno 330
• 2GB of RAM
• 16GB of storage, non-expandable
• 5-inch full HD IPS display, Gorilla Glass 3, 1080 x 1920 resolution
• 13-megapixel camera with autofocus, dual LED flash
• 2-megapixel front camera
• Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, NFC, USB OTG, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
• 3G, HSDPA
• 144 x 73.6 x 8.1 mm
• 3050mAh li-ion battery (non-removable)
• Android 4.4 with MIUI
• Xiaomi Mi 3 Review

Specs:

The THL 5000 sports an octa-core 2.0GHz MediaTek MT6592 octa-core processor, unique in the world of similarly equipped smartphones because of its faster base clock. That’s paired with a Mali-450 MP4 GPU, and 2GB of RAM. The Xiaomi Mi 3 meanwhile, uses a 2.5GHz quad-coreQualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor with 2GB of RAM. The THL 5000 has a leg up over the Mi 3 when it comes to storage – while both devices have 16GB of built-in storage on tap, the Mi 3’s storage is non-expandable, and Xiaomi isn’t selling the higher capacity 64GB model here in the PH. The Mi 3 is also a single SIM device, while the THL 5000 is a dual-sim phone.

Display:

Both devices have 5-inch, full HD displays, and both are protected by Gorilla Glass 3. As far as we can tell, the display quality of both are on par with one another, without a clear winner among the two. Both have good viewing angles, excellent clarity and sharpness, as well as good outdoor performance.

Externals:

Like we said with our other comaparison article, it’s hard to pit designs of two devices against each other because people have different tastes when it comes to smartphones. That being said, we like the Mi 3’s clean, sleek design over the THL 5000, even though it’s not even a mm thicker than the THL 5000. The THL 5000’s design just looks too generic for us.

Performance:

For people not familiar with processors and how they stack up, a cursory look at the octa-core offering of MediaTek compared to quad-core one of Qualcomm may look one-sided, and it is, not just in the direction that you think. Even if Qualcomm’s solution has half the cores of its MediaTek competitor, it scores a higher score in AntuTu, which proves that the number of cores isn’t always the only thing that matters. Actual gaming performance also proves that the Qualcomm chip is superior to the MediaTek one – we fired up Real Racing 3 on both devices, and found that the THL 5000, while able to run the game, was hit by substantial lag especially when there’s a lot of cars in front of it. The Xiaomi Mi 3 wasn’t immune to the lag spikes, but suffered less severe lag issues while playing the game.

 

Camera:

We were interested to see what the quality of the photos of both devices would be especially since both use Sony cameras – the Mi 3 uses a 13-megapixel Sony Exmor sensor, while the THL 5000 used a Sony IMX 135 camera. We noticed that the THL 5000 had sharper focus in low-light compared to the Xiaomi Mi 3, though the Mi 3 let in more light as you can see by the brighter background. The THL 5000 had a bit of a reddish tone to its photos, which isn’t present on the Mi 3, though the Mi 3 had slightly washed out photos compared to the THL. We’re calling it a tie.

Battery:

It’s obvious from the outset who would win in this department – the Mi 3 has a big 3050mAh battery, but it’s no match for the sheer size of the 5000mAh unit on the THL 5000. While Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processor is more power efficient than MediaTek’s offering, the THL 5000 makes up for it by sheer size.

Software:

Both devices have had tweaks to the Android OS that’s running on them. While both are running Android 4.4, the THL 5000 comes pre-loaded with Hydroid, a custom UI which was made by pinoys. Hydroid gives a few new features when it comes overall usability, and phones that are sold with Hydroid on it are rooted out of the box. The Xiaomi Mi 3 meanwhile runs MIUI, which is a drastically different experience compared to stock Android. It adds hundreds of new features and tweaks, which includes new themes and whatnot. In this particular category, we’d have to give the point to the Mi 3 – MIUI’s enhancements to the user experience is just too many to mention, which trumps the offerings of Hydroid.

Availability:

Xiaomi’s Mi 3 was initially put on limited, timed sales before it was put on open sale by Xiaomi. Unfortunately, Lazada lists the Mi 3 as out of stock on their website, with no indication when new stocks will arrive. The THL 5000 is now being sold in multiple Novo7 Tech stores and kiosks in the metro.

Conclusion:

Just like our comparo with the Cherry Mobile Pulse and the ASUS Zenfone 5, both the THL 5000 and the Xiaomi Mi 3 have their strengths and weaknesses. Get the THL 5000 if you want a phone that just lasts a long time. If you need a nice looking phone that has great performance, get the Xiaomi Mi 3 (if you can find one).