Rival companies trolling each other is a commonplace these days. Back in August, Indian telecom operator Reliance Jio trolled Vodafone and Idea after the completion of their merger. And last month, Chinese technology brand Huawei also took a potshot at Apple by distributing free power banks to customers waiting outside the Apple stores, saying “You’ll need it”. Well, the latest player to join these troll-games is Chinese smartphone brand Xiaomi.
Xiaomi trolled OnePlus at the launch event venue of OnePlus 6T in India. The OnePlus 6T, which was unveiled a day before yesterday, was launched in India yesterday at an event in New Delhi. Xiaomi decided to troll OnePlus by distributing free calculators outside the launch event venue, asking people to “Do The Ma+h”.
With this, Xiaomi wants people to compare the OnePlus 6T and POCO F1, both of which are powered by Snapdragon 845 SoC and come with up to 8 GB RAM, but the former starts at a price of ₹37,999 whereas the latter is priced starting at ₹20,999.
Xiaomi didn’t stop at distributing free calculators though. The company also put up road signs around the launch event venue, once again comparing the POCO F1 and OnePlus 6T based on their prices and asking people to “Do The Ma+h”.
Never Settle for OverPriced. Unlock the #MasterOfSpeed. You decide. #DoTheMath pic.twitter.com/KvCIDyXXSq
— POCO India (@IndiaPOCO) October 30, 2018
Xiaomi also went all guns blazing on social media to troll OnePlus. The company shared a video on Twitter by tweeting “Never Settle for OverPriced. Unlock the #MasterOfSpeed. You decide. #DoTheMath“. The video shared by Xiaomi (its sub-brand POCO actually) highlights the fact that both POCO F1 and OnePlus 6T come with Snapdragon 845 SoC, but the POCO F1 is priced at ₹20,999 whereas the OnePlus 6T is priced at ₹37,999. “The same processor, at a better price. Do the Math” says Xiaomi in the video.
Xiaomi also trolled OnePlus for the lack of headphone jack on OnePlus 6T and a battery that’s smaller than the battery on POCO F1.
Our take
Well, while we do agree with Xiaomi that POCO F1 has a better value for money, there are other things that need to be considered here. Xiaomi is definitely ahead of OnePlus in terms of pricing (and battery capacity) of POCO F1, but it’s worth noting that the POCO F1 comes with an LCD display and we weren’t really impressed with its quality during our review period. On the other hand, OnePlus 6T comes with an AMOLED display, and assuming its the same panel we have on OnePlus 6, its needless to say that OnePlus has an upper hand over Xiaomi in the display department.
The OnePlus 6T also has a better design than the POCO F1. Besides, OnePlus has a great record of rolling out Android version updates in a “timely” manner. Something that cannot be said for Xiaomi. Even with its Android One smartphones.
Lastly, the POCO F1, even with Snapdragon 845 SoC, still falls into the mid-range segment considering its price, whereas OnePlus 6T falls into the “affordable flagship” category; not to forget that it actually looks and feels premium because of its glass-metal construction, something that cannot be said for POCO F1 because of its polycarbonate body. Oh, and yes, the OnePlus 6T comes with in-display fingerprint scanner which is the “hot new feature” in the smartphone industry right now.
To conclude, it’s good to see smartphone brands trolling each other. It ultimately serves as a good entertainment to the customers, and hot sauce for the media. But, it’s important that brands (whoever it is) don’t forget that they too need improvements in one or another department before taking a jab at the other brand. Coming back to Xiaomi and OnePlus, it now remains to be seen whether or not OnePlus trolls back Xiaomi. Either way, we are ready with our tub of caramel popcorn (yes, we are choosy that way) to witness the troll-games that may ensue.
Also Read: Anushka Sharma trolled by popular tech YouTuber for promoting Google Pixel 2 XL using an iPhone
We are sharing the specifications and India price of both the POCO F1 and OnePlus 6T in case any of you need a refresher.
POCO F1 Specifications
- CPU: 2.8 GHz Snapdragon 845 octa-core processor
- RAM: 6/8 GB LPDDR4X
- GPU: Adreno 630
- Operating System: MIUI 9.6 based on Android 8.1 Oreo
- Display: 6.18-inch Full-HD+ (2246 x 1080 pixels) IPS display with 18.7:9 aspect ratio, 1500:1 contrast ratio and 403 ppi pixel density
- Rear Camera: 12 MP (1.4μm pixel size, f/1.9 aperture) dual pixel auto-focus + 5 MP (1.2μm pixel size, f/2.0 aperture) with Portrait Mode, HDR, AI Beauty Mode, AI Scene Detection, EIS for video recording, and, dual LED flash
- Front Camera: 20 MP Super Pixel with f/2.0 aperture, AI Portrait Mode, AI Scene Detection
- Internal Storage: 64/128 GB UFS 2.1 (with 6 GB RAM), 256 GB UFS 2.1 (with 8 GB RAM)
- External Storage: Expandable via microSD card
- SIM: Dual Hybrid Slot
- Connectivity: 4G VoLTE, GPS, Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, 3.5 mm headphone jack, USB Type-C
- Other: Fingerprint Scanner, IR Face Unlock, LiquiCool Technology, P2i Water Repellent Coating
- Colors: Graphite Black, Steel Blue, Rosso Red, Armored Edition (only available with 8 GB RAM variant)
- Battery: 4000 mAh with Quick Charge 4.0 (bundled adapter supports Quick Charge 3.0)
POCO F1 Price in India
- Price of 6 GB RAM + 64 GB storage variant: ₹20,999
- Price of 6 GB RAM + 128 GB storage variant: ₹23,999
- Price of 8 GB RAM + 256 GB storage variant: ₹28,999
OnePlus 6T Specifications
- CPU: 2.8 GHz Snapdragon 845 octa-core processor
- RAM: 6/8 GB LPDDR4X
- GPU: Adreno 630
- Operating System: OxygenOS based on Android 9.0 Pie
- Display: 6.41-inch Full-HD+ (2340 x 1080 pixels) Optic AMOLED display with 19.5:9 aspect ratio, 2.5D Gorilla Glass 6, DCI-P3 and sRGB support, Night Mode, Reading Mode
- Rear Camera: 16 MP (Sony IMX 519, f/1.7 aperture, 1.22 µm pixel size, EIS, OIS, PDAF) + 20 MP (Sony IMX 376K, f/1.7 aperture, 1.0 µm pixel size, PDAF) with AI Scene Detection, Portrait Mode, Pro Mode, RAW Image Support, Nightscape, Studio Lighting, HDR, 4K recording at 30/60 FPS, 1080p recording at 30/60 FPS, 720p recording at 30 FPS, Super Slow Motion recording (1080p at 240 FPS, 720p at 780 FPS) and dual-LED flash
- Front Camera: 16 MP (Sony IMX 371) with f/2.0 aperture, 1.0 µm pixel size, EIS, Portrait Mode, Studio Lighting, HDR and Screen Flash
- Internal Storage: 128 GB (with 6 and 8 GB RAM variants), 256 GB (with 8 GB RAM variant) UFS 2.1 2-Lane
- SIM: Dual Nano
- Connectivity: 4G VoLTE, GPS, Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, DL CAT16/ UL CAT13 (1Gbps/150 Mbps), 2×2 MIMO, USB OTG, NFC, USB Type-C 2.0 (no 3.5 mm headphone jack)
- Other: In-Display Fingerprint Scanner (Screen Unlock), Face Unlock, Water Resistant, Alert Slider, Dirac HD Sound, Dirac Power Sound, aptX, aptX HD, Smart Boost, Navigation Gestures 2.0
- Colors: Mirror Black, Midnight Black
- Battery: 3700 mAh with OnePlus Fast Charge (5V/4A)
OnePlus 6T Price in India
- Price of 6 GB RAM + 128 GB storage (in Mirror Black only): ₹37,999
- Price of 8 GB RAM + 128 GB storage (in Mirror Black and Midnight Black): ₹41,999
- Price of 8 GB RAM + 256 GB storage (in Midnight Black only): ₹45,999
