Gone are the days when the flagship smartphones with the top of the line hardware used to burn a hole in the pockets of the buyers. The mid-range smartphones indeed used to be mid-range be it in terms of build quality or the hardware under the hood. But then came smartphone makers like Xiaomi, OnePlus, Meizu, LeEco and a few others which changed the whole scenario. They brought their flagships clad with the best hardware and build quality but at the same time at unbelievably low costs.

In this mega showdown, we’re going to peg three such devices against each other. These three devices  are sure to create huge dents in the sale of the big guns like Samsung Galaxy S7 & S7 Edge, LG G5, HTC 10, Nexus 6P and other big flagships. We’re indeed talking about the recently released OnePlus 3, Xiaomi Mi 5 and the LeEco LeMax 2. These three devices are the ultimate flagship killers. These beasts boast the best hardware and software available yet, look premium and elegant and yet don’t cost half as much the other popular big guns.

So, the question is which one you should go for? Let us answer this question for you by giving you a detailed analysis of the OnePlus 3, Xiaomi Mi 5 and, LeEco LeMax 2. So without further ado let’s peg these smartphones against each other and find out.

Design and Form Factor

The OnePlus 3 is moulded out of a single piece of space-grade aluminium. The device has a solid build and looks very elegant and premium. It measures 152.7 x 74.7 x 7.35mm and weighs just 158 g. The device is very sleek which makes it very comfortable to hold in hands. The OnePlus 3 features very thin bezels and comes in Graphite and Soft Gold finishes, both by the way look and feel solid and premium.

The Xiaomi Mi5 sports an extremely beautiful dual-glass design with the latest Gorilla Glass 4 on both the front and rear and a metallic frame. The rear glass is curved along the side edges which gives it a good grip. The chamfered edges and an almost bezel-less display add a kind of elegance and finesse to the Mi 5. The device measures  144.6 x 69.2 x 7.3 mm and weighs just 129 g.

The LeEco LeMax 2 sports a metallic unibody with antenna cutouts. The chamfered edges look good and the device has a solid build. Though I’m not particularly a big fan of the rear camera bulge, mirror finish on the rear fingerprint sensor and the missing audio jack. At 156.8 x 77.6 x 8mm and weighing about 185g, the LeEco LeMax 2 is a bit big and heavy for my taste.

The winner in this category for me would be the Xiaomi Mi 5 with the OnePlus 3 just close behind.

Display

The OnePlus 3 comes with a 5.5-inch FHD AMOLED display with a diamond pentile pixel arrangement which consumes less power and a pixel density of 401ppi. The Mi 5 sports a 5.15-inch FHD IPS display with a pixel density of 428 ppi and an excellent contrast ratio of 1227:1. The LeEco LeMax 2 sports a massive 5.7-inch LTPS IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1440 x 2560 and a pixel density of 515 ppi. All these three displays are extremely vivid and vibrant but the QHD resolution of the LeEco LeMax 2 gives it a slight edge over the FHD displays of the OnePlus 3 and the Mi 5. However, it must be noted that the OnePlus 3 and the Mi 5 offer the Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protection, while it is unavailable in the LeEco LeMax 2.

Performance

All of these three devices are powered by the latest Snapdragon 820 with a  Dual-core 2.15 GHz Kryo & dual-core 1.6 GHz Kryo setup. The OnePlus 3 sports a gigantic 6GB of RAM, Mi 5 features 3GB/4GB of RAM, while the LeEco Le Max 2 comes with 4GB or 6GB of RAM. All of these three devices can run any app currently available without any hiccup or lag. But still, if we look at the GeekBench 3 (multi-core) benchmarks, the OnePlus 3 is at the top with 5520 points followed by Mi 5 at 5358 points and LeEco Le Max 2 at 5026 points. Mind you, these benchmark scores are staggering and very close to that of the Galaxy S7 and LG G5.

The OnePlus 3 is,however, the champion of this round.

Camera

A great smartphone is characterised by a great camera. The camera of a smartphone is  so pivotal that it often becomes a major factor in the success or failure of a device. A prime example would be the HTC One M9.

The OnePlus 3 sports a 16MP camera rear camera with Sony IMX298 sensor and 1.12µm pixel size of f/2.0 aperture. It features OIS and has a single LED flash. On the front, there is a decent 8MP shooter with f/2.0 aperture.

The Mi 5 features a 16MP camera rear camera equipped with the Sony IMX 298 sensor, f/2.0 aperture, phase detection autofocus and a dual-LED dual-tone flash. It comes with an innovative 4-axis optical image stabilisation which provides for great videography. There is a 4MP UltraPixel camera on the front just like that in the Mi Note.

The LeEco Le Max 2 sports a 21MP Sony IMX 230 sensor with a f/2.0 aperture, OIS, phase detection autofocus and dual-LED (dual tone) flash.There is an 8 MP camera with a f/2.2 aperture on the front for selfies and video chat.

The camera on all three of these devices are amazing and are capable of 4K recording. However, I found the Mi 5 best among these in terms of front camera and video recording. While the LeEco Le Max 2 trumped in the rear camera section due to higher pixel count and greater details.

Battery, Storage & OS

The OnePlus 3 offers a non-removable 3000 mAh Li-Ion battery with fast charging and Type-C 1.0 reversible connector. It offers Dash Charge which can give up to 60% charge in just 30 minutes. It offers a non-expandable internal storage 64 GB which should be more than enough for most of the users. It runs on Oxygen OS based on the latest Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow.

The Mi 5 offers a non-removable 3000 mAh Li-Po battery with Quick Charge 3.0 and Type-C 1.0 reversible connector. It comes in internal memory variants of 32GB/64GB/128GB which sadly can not be expanded further. The Mi 5 runs on MIUI 7.0 based on the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

The LeEco Le Max 2 packs a non-removable 3100 mAh Li-Ion battery with Quick Charge 2.0 and Type-C 1.0 reversible connector. It comes in two internal storage variants of 32/64 GB and runs on eUI 5.6 based on the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

Price and Availability

The OnePlus 3 is currently sold exclusively through Amazon India at a cost of Rs.27,999. The 3GB RAM / 32GB internal memory variant of the Mi 5 is currently available on the Mi India website at a cost of Rs.24,999. The other Mi 5 variants are, however, currently unavailable. The LeEco Le Max 2 (32 GB variant) is currently available on Flipkart at a price of Rs. 22,999.

The LeEco Le Max 2 costs the least among these three and hence is the winner of this round.

Final Verdict

It is very difficult to pick a clear winner among these three amazing smartphones. One may have the edge over the other in one segment, but again lags a bit behind in the another. It is now the question of priorities and preference. If you’re just concerned about raw performance, go for the OnePlus 3; if you are into looks, the Mi 5 is the best option for you; while if you’re a photography enthusiast and want to save a few thousand bucks, go for the LeEco Le Max 2.

Do you disagree with our verdict? Do let us know and stay tuned for more of these showdowns.