Xiaomi Mi Play vs. ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M2 vs. Realme U1: Specs, Features, Prices

The budget or affordable Android phone segment probably has been very active and welcoming a ton of new players in the competition. After fighting really hard to gain the mid-range device market share, phone makers are moving to the budget and affordable segments with low price handsets, but they still pack relevant and important features on their phones.

Companies like Vivo, Oppo, Nokia, and Xiaomi have been the most active ones in the affordable phone segment. Xiaomi is undoubtedly taking the lead, and it has been aggressively launching many capable smartphones at various price ranges. The China-based company just released its Xiaomi Mi Play with decently powerful specs. The market also saw a new addition from Realme which is called Realme U1, a phone that is claimed to be ‘India’s Selfie Pro.’ Asus also joined the competition by releasing the Zenfone Max Pro M2. Therefore, we want to conduct a comparison between these three phones to find out which is the best out of the three.

Xiaomi Mi Play vs. ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M2 vs. Realme U1: Performance and Software

Xiaomi Mi Play

The Xiaomi Mi Play comes packed with an octa-core Helio P35 SoC, paired with GE8320 GPU and 4GB RAM/64GB storage. The device runs MIUI 10 which is based on Android 8.1 Oreo, and it should receive a new MIUI version based on Android 9.0 Pie soon.

The ZenFone Max Pro M2 is powered by a Snapdragon 660 SoC, coupled with Adreno 512 GPU and 3/4/6GB RAM as well as 32/64GB storage. The phone runs Android 8.1 Oreo, but it will receive an Android 9.0 Pie soon.

ZenFone Max Pro M2

The Realme U1 claims the leading position in the specs department as it comes packed with an octa-core Helio P70 SoC with a clock speed of 2.1GHz. The phone comes in two memory options with 3GB RAM/32GB storage and also 4GB RAM/64GB storage. The Realme handset also runs Android 8.1 Oreo and ColorOS 5.2 on top, but it is still unknown whether the phone will be updated to Color OS v6 which should be based on the latest Android 9.0 Pie.

Xiaomi Mi Play vs. ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M2 vs. Realme U1: Design and Display

The Mi Play has a 5.84-inch Full-HD+ display with a 2,280 x 1,080 pixels resolution and a 19:9 aspect ratio. There is a water-drop notch on the top of the display that allows the phone to have an over 90 percent screen-to-body ratio.

The ZenFone Max Pro M2 features a 6.3-inch Full-HD+ display with a 1,080 x 2,280 pixels resolution and a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. The Asus phone has a wider notch on the screen compared to the one on the Mi Play, and it only has an 81.64 percent screen-to-body ratio which is the lowest among the three phones.

The Realme U1 comes packed with a 6.3-inch Full-HD+ display with a water-drop notch, 2,340x1,080 pixels resolution and a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. The phone has a 90.8 percent screen-to-body ratio.

All of these phones’ display are similar to each other with the ZenFone Max Pro M2 having the lowest screen-to-body ratio. However, it is the only phone of the three with the latest Gorilla Glass 6 protection.

Xiaomi Mi Play vs. ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M2 vs. Realme U1: Camera

Camera performance is the aspect which many Android phone makers have been struggling to improve in their budget phones. The Xiaomi Mi Play features a dual camera system on the rear, comprising of a 12MP main sensor and a 2MP secondary sensor. On the front, the handset has an 8MP selfie camera.

The Asus ZenFone Max Pro M2’s rear camera setup includes 12MP and 5MP sensors along with a LED flash. It also has a 13MP front camera with a LED flash as well.
Similar to both of the other phones, the Realme U1 also comes with a dual camera system on the rear, including a 13MP main sensor and a 2MP depth sensor. As mentioned, the phone is claimed to be ‘India’s Selfie Pro’ as it has a high-resolution 25MP camera with AI Beauty+ mode.

The Realme handset is again the winner in the camera department with both higher resolution camera on the front and back. However, this is just a comparison in the paper, and it also comes down to the AI-powered features as it can offer variation in the photos’ quality.+

Xiaomi Mi Play vs. ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M2 vs. Realme U1: Battery and Connectivity

The Xiaomi Mi Play is backed with a 3,000 mAh battery which is surprisingly low. Meanwhile, the Asus ZenFone Max Pro M2 has a massive 5,000 mAh battery, and the Realme U1’s battery has a relatively higher capacity of 3,500 mAh compared to the Mi Play’s.

Even though the battery life may also depend on the configurations of the phone maker, but with a massive difference in the battery capacity, the ZenFone Max Pro M2 should be the winner here.

These three smartphones all have a fingerprint sensor mounted on the rear and an audio jack as well. Other common connectivity options among the three are Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Dual-SIM, Bluetooth, 4G VoLTE, and more.

Xiaomi Mi Play vs. ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M2 vs. Realme U1: Price in India

Xiaomi just launched the Xiaomi Mi Play in the Chinese market but the Chinese market hasn’t revealed its plan to release the handset in India, but it should be in the recent future. The Mi Play is priced at 1,099 CNY (around Rs. 11,100) for the base variant with 4GB of RAM/64GB storage. It also comes in two more options with 6GB RAM and 64GB/128GB storage.

Customers have three RAM and storage variants for the ZenFone Max Pro M2. The base model with 3GB RAM/32GB storage is priced at Rs. 12,999 while the 4GB of RAM/64GB internal storage option’s price is Rs. 14,999. The top-end model with 6GB of RAM/64GB of storage comes with a price of Rs. 16,999.

Realme offers two variants for Realme U1, including a 3GB of RAM/32GB storage and a 4GB of RAM/64GB storage model. The base variant with 3GB RAM/32GB storage is priced at RS. 11,999 while the other option is priced at Rs. 14,499.

The Xiaomi Mi Play is undoubtedly the handset with the most competitive price out of the three.

Xiaomi Mi Play vs. ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M2 vs. Realme U1: Final Thoughts

Xiaomi has been known for packing its phones with powerful specs and features with a reasonable price tag. However, the Chinese phone maker might have messed up a bit with the Xiaomi Mi Play, but the handset still has an attractive price.

On the other hand, the ZenFone Max Pro M2 and the Realme U1 are pretty different in many terms so it would be relatively easy to choose between the two. People who love taking selfies would opt for the Realme while the ZenFone Max Pro M2 is for people who want a huge battery.