Unlike many other Chinese companies that are still trying to shake off the “budget smartphone” tag from their popular smartphones, OnePlus has made a different kind of name and reputation for itself in the smartphone industry. The company introduced the OnePlus few years back as a “flagship killer” smartphone. And even though it was a “budget” flagship smartphone, it didn’t look or behave like one and was definitely a premium smartphone available at an affordable price.

Since then, OnePlus hasn’t looked back and has churned out great smartphones like the OnePlus 2 and the OnePlus X. This year, the company introduced its third flagship device, the OnePlus 3, which is the best phone yet from the company. The device comes with high-end specs that make it compete with the more premium brands and can beat them easily in various aspects. However, OnePlus has a very tough rival in the town- Xiaomi.

It is a well-known fact that Xiaomi has ruled the budget/affordable segment of the smartphone market since quite some years now. The company has provided smartphones in different price ranges, and its latest flagship offering, the Xiaomi Mi5, is a huge leap for the company itself. Of course, it falls in the price range shared by the OnePlus 3, which means that the competition is going to be very tough.

It is tougher for the buyers to choose their affordable-but-premium flagship between the OnePlus 3 and the Xiaomi Mi5. So is the OnePlus 3 a better buy than the Xiaomi Mi5? Well, it depends on several factors.

First of all, OnePlus is a huge brand that is known for producing excellent flagships at affordable rates. Of course, Xiaomi is known for a similar thing, but OnePlus flagships are considered more premium. With the Xiaomi Mi5, the Chinese brand has really increased its quality, but the OnePlus 3 has got a different vibe altogether. We would still argue that the Mi5 looks and feels better than the new OnePlus flagship, but looks are subjective.

Talking about the hardware specifications, the OnePlus 3 and the Xiaomi Mi5 share the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor and Adreno 530 GPU. However, the difference lies in the RAM and internal storage capacity. The Xiaomi Mi5 (regular edition) gets 3GB of RAM and 32/64GB internal storage option. The Pro Edition of the Mi5 comes with 128GB internal storage and 4GB of RAM. But the OnePlus 3 easily beats the Xiaomi Mi5 in terms of RAM, as the device offers 6GB of RAM with 64GB internal storage. None of them get a microSD slot.

Coming to the display, the OnePlus 3 gets a 5.5-inches Full HD AMOLED screen with 401 ppi of pixel density. The Xiaomi Mi5 gets a 5.15-inches Full HD IPS LCD screen with a slightly better 428 ppi pixel density. Both the phones get Gorilla Glass 4 protection on the displays and run on Android Marshmallow out of the box.

Let’s talk about the camera now. Both the phones come with 16MP rear cameras, but the Mi5 comes with 4MP UltraPixel camera while the OnePlus 3 carries an 8MP front camera. Both of them get OIS, LED flash, PDAF, and both record 2160p videos. The OnePlus 3 and the Xiaomi Mi5 come with fingerprint sensors, NFC, and USB Type-C.

The 3GB RAM variant of the Xiaomi Mi5 is being sold for INR 24,999, while the OnePlus 3 is on sale for INR 27,999. But that extra price is worth it, and we highly recommend you to buy the new OnePlus flagship. That is, of course, if you are not a Xiaomi fan. Otherwise, the Mi5 will never disappoint you.

Take your pick.