Nubia has added a new budget smartphone to its portfolio with the launch of N1 Lite. The smartphone is priced at Rs 6,999 and will be available on Amazon starting from May 22, 2017. With this, Nubia has entered a price segment, which is already dominated by other Chinese players and the most prominent is Xiaomi.
Xiaomi recently introduced Redmi 4, the successor to Redmi 3S, which comes loaded with some interesting features, starting at Rs 6,999. So, the question here is: which one of them should be your next budget segment? We pit both the devices against each other and here is what we found out.
Design and Display
Few years down the line, there was nothing much to talk about the budget-centric smartphones. The devices under this category were considered not up to the mark in terms of overall performance and look. But fast forward it today, we have brands like Xiaomi, which has aggressively changed this perception with the launch of smartphones that are not only at par with rest of the smartphones, which are priced much higher, in terms of performance, but also comes with some beautiful design language. And same is the case with the Redmi 4. The device sports a metal unibody design, which looks sturdy. Nubia N1 Lite, on the other, is offering a plastic build, with a soft-touch finish on the back, which gives some good grip.
The Redmi 4 is 70mm tall and 8.7mm thick, while the N1 Lite is 77.5mm tall and 8.4mm thick. The former weighs 150 grams, while the latter is a bit heavy with 171 grams. Overall, if you ask us then we will go with the Redmi 4, as the device looks more sturdy and solid as compared to the Nubia N1 Lite.
On the display department, both the devices sports an HD display. The Redmi 4 has a 5-inch screen, while the Nubia N1 Lite sports a 5.5-inch screen. This is where it gets interesting as being a 5-inch device Redmi 4 looks more compact and a has a good display output during out testing period. Nubia, on the other, sports a bigger display and it all boils down to how much big screen you want in your smartphone.
Hardware and Software
Starting with the Nubia N1 Lite, the device is powered by a quad-core MediaTek MT6737 Processor along with Mali-T720 GPU. The phone is backed by a 2 GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage, which can be further expanded up to 32GB via microSD card slot. The Redmi 4 is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 processor along with 2GB RAM and 16GB of internal storage, which is expandable in nature. Looking at the sheer specs sheet, Redmi 4 has an upper hand as Snapdragon 435 processor has a better track record as compared to its MediaTek counterpart. So, yet again, Redmi 4 wins this round, with a better processor.
On the software front, both of them runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The stark difference here is that Redmi 4 runs on MIUI 8, while N1 Lite has ditched its traditional skin and has opted for a Stock Android experience. With both the phones running on an older version of Android, it all boils down to consumer preference as those who prefer stock Android experience, might go with Nubia N1 Lite, while who like custom UI could opt for Redmi 4.
Camera
On the camera front, the Nubia N1 Lite sports an 8-megapixel rear camera with a large f/2.0 aperture, dual LED flash and 4P optical lens, while for the front, there is a 5-megapixel shooter with f/2.8 aperture, 84-degree Wide-Angle lens and front flash. The Redmi 4 features a Xiaomi Redmi 4 sports a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, PDAF, f/2.0, a 5 element lens, full HD recording, with real-time filter and on its front, it has a 5-megapixel front camera with f/2.2 for selfies and video chats.
Nubia is known for making some good camera-centric smartphones in the past and one could same from this one as well. However, comparing both the camera, at least on papers, then Xiaomi Redmi 4 seems to be a better option as it has more Megapixel count, same Aperture as compared to N1 Lite and similar front-facing camera, but with a larger aperture.
Battery and Connectivity
On the battery front, Redmi 4 once again takes the lead as it comes loaded with a huge 4100mAh non-removable battery as compared to 3000mAh battery found in the Nubia N1 Lite. On the connectivity front, both the smartphones support, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, microUSB port, 4G, GPS and dual SIM. Both the devices come loaded with a fingerprint sensor, which fast enough to unlock a device within one second.
Wrapping Up
To sum up, the answer is pretty clear now. Xiaomi Redmi 4 overshadows Nubia N1 Lite with a more compact look, better processor and battery. However, it is hard to judge on the camera part, but looking at the sheer specs sheet, Redmi 4 seems to be a better option. For our verdict, we would suggest that you go with Xiaomi Redmi 4 as your budget smartphone.