The latest upper-midrange smartphones from Xiaomi, Meizu and Huawei are something incredible if we consider the affordable price they are carrying immediately after their launch. In China, you need a bit more than €200 to get Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite, Meizu X8, and Huawei Honor 8X. And given that their specs are very close to high-end and flagship devices, these handsets represent some of the best deals you can find right now in the market. In this article, we compared them in order to see which company released the best Chinese upper-midranger in this second half of 2018.
Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite vs Meizu X8 vs Huawei Honor 8X
| Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite | Meizu X8 | Huawei Honor 8X | |
|---|---|---|---|
| DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT | 156.4 x 75.8 x 7.5 mm, 169 grams | 151.2 x 74.6 x 7.8 mm, 160 grams | 160.4 x 76.6t x 7.8 mm, 175 grams |
| DISPLAY | 6.26 inches, 1080 x 2280p (Full HD+), 19:9 ratio, 403 ppi, IPS LCD | 6.2 inches, 1080 x 2220p (Full HD+), 398 ppi, 18.5:9 ratio, IPS LCD | 6.5 inches, 1080 x 2340 pixels, 396 ppi, 19.5:9 ratio, IPS LCD |
| PROCESSOR | Qualcomm Snapdragon 660, octa-core 2.2 GHz | Qualcomm Snapdragon 710, octa-core 2.2 GHz | Huawei Hisilicon Kirin 710, octa-core 2.2 GHz |
| MEMORY | 4 GB RAM, 64 GB – 6 GB RAM, 64 GB – 6 GB RAM, 128 GB | 4 GB RAM, 64 GB – 6 GB RAM, 64 GB – 6 GB RAM, 128 GB | 4 GB RAM, 64 GB – 6 GB RAM, 64 GB – 6 GB RAM, 128 GB – micro SD dedicated slot |
| SOFTWARE | Android 8.1 Oreo, MIUI | Android 8.0 Oreo, Flyme OS | Android 8.1 Oreo, EMUI 8.2 |
| CONNECTIVITY | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS | Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS |
| CAMERA | Dual 12 + 5 MP f/1.9 24 MP front camera |
Dual 12 + 5 MP f/1.9 20 MP front camera |
Dual 20 + 2 MP f/1.8 16 MP f/2.0 front camera |
| BATTERY | 3350 mAh Fast Charging Quick Charge 3.0 |
3210 mAh | 3750 mAh, Fast Charging |
| ADDITIONAL FEATURES | Dual SIM slot | Dual SIM slot | Dual SIM slot |
Design
Coming to the aesthetics, it is all about tastes. Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite and Huawei Honor 8X have a definitely stunning design with their reflective glass back (the first available in gradient colors and the second with impressive light waves as well as a very high screen-to-body ratio). Meizu X8 instead has a very original design even though it is less impressive in terms of colors and light reflections on the rear side. Note that Huawei Honor 8X has a way bigger size than its opponents and this may let you change idea if you decided to get it.
Display
Huawei Honor 8X is the one I prefer because of its very wide display with a size of 6.5 inches. As said above, it even has incredibly narrow bezels. Each of these devices has an average IPS LCD panel, so do not expect a huge viewing quality but just a midrange-level display. There is a notch on each of them, but it does not contain a 3D sensor for face authentication. But note that each of these devices supports software-based face unlock as a method of authentication, besides the rear-mounted fingerprint reader.
Specs & Software
Meizu X8 is the phone which convinces us the most when it comes to hardware. Indeed, it has a more powerful processor which should handle heavier operation in a better way. Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite and Huawei Honor 8X have two chipsets (Snapdragon 660 and Kirin 970) which can be considered at the same level, but I believe that the former will have better graphics performance thanks to its more powerful GPU. Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite has the MIUI installed (the best UI among these handsets in my opinion), Meizu X8 has Flyme OS and Honor 8X has EMUI: all of them are based on Oreo and provide many useful additional features.
Camera
On the paper, all of these devices’ cameras should offer a pretty decent photo quality. All of them are dual cameras with an additional depth sensor and similar specs (Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite and Meizu X8 have the same primary sensor). But we are going to prefer Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite due to its potentially better selfie camera and its huge 24 MP resolution. However, I believe that differences in photo quality are just marginal, so do not base your choice on cameras so much.
Battery
On the battery side, Huawei Honor 8X should be the champion, even though we can not be sure of it until we test the handset in every scenario. But it has a way bigger battery with a capacity of 3750 mAh, and this should be enough to ensure a longer battery life than Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite and Meizu X8 which should provide a similar result on a single charge.
Price
You just need $205/€175 to bring a Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite at home, while for Meizu X8 you need to spend $223/€190. At last, Huawei Honor 8X sits in the middle with a price tag of $211/€180. Even when it comes to the price, the difference between these handsets is marginal, with less than $20 between the most affordable and the most expensive one. In my opinion there is not a definitive winner of this comparison and each of them is more suitable for a different target: if you want a bigger display and battery, go for the Honor 8X, if you need better performance, then choose Meizu X8, while if you need good performance, great cameras and wonderful aesthetics choose Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite. I would personally pick the Honor 8X because I appreciate is big display, its narrow bezels, and its above-average battery, but it does not mean it is the best.
Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite vs Meizu X8 vs Huawei Honor 8X: PROs and CONS
Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite
PROs
- Great design
- Affordable price
- Great front camera
- Wide display
- Bigger battery
CONS
- Nothing particular
Meizu X8
PROs
- Powerful hardware
- Wide display
- Affordable price
- Original design
CONS
- Limited availability
Huawei Honor 8X
PROs
- Great aesthetics
- Big display
- Big battery
- micro SD slot
CONS
- Slightly worse processor
