Looks like affordable phone buyers will enjoy a fabulous 2019. It’s quite clear that the major smartphone manufacturers have shifted focus to the Rs. 10K to 15K price bracket, which was erstwhile dominated by Xiaomi. Two major players that are aggressively tackling this particular price segment are Honor and Realme.
So, let’s compare the latest offerings of the three brands – Honor 10 Lite, Redmi Note 6 Pro, and the Realme U1 – and help you decide which one is the best phone suited to your individual needs.
Page Contents:
Honor 10 Lite VS Redmi Note 6 Pro vs Realme U1 Spec
Honor 10 Lite VS Redmi Note 6 Pro vs Realme U1 Design and Build
Honor 10 Lite VS Redmi Note 6 Pro vs Realme U1 Display Quality
Honor 10 Lite VS Redmi Note 6 Pro vs Realme U1 Camera Comparison
Honor 10 Lite VS Redmi Note 6 Pro vs Realme U1 Performance & Software
Honor 10 Lite VS Redmi Note 6 Pro vs Realme U1 Battery Backup
Honor 10 Lite VS Redmi Note 6 Pro vs Realme U1 Comparison Verdict
Honor 10 Lite VS Redmi Note 6 Pro vs Realme U1 Specs Comparison
| Model | Honor 10 Lite | Redmi Note 6 Pro | Realme U1 |
| Display | 6.2-inch FHD+ ( 2340×1080) 19.5:9 aspect ratio | 6.26-inch FHD+ (2280×1080 pixels) 19:9 aspect ratio | 6.3-inch FHD+ (2340 x 1080 pixels) 19.5:9 aspect ratio |
| Processor | 2.2GHz Octa-core Kirin 710 | 1.8GHz Octa-Core Snapdragon 636 | 2.1 GHz Octa-core MediaTek Helio P70 |
| RAM | 4GB/6GB | 3GB/4GB/6GB | 3GB/4GB |
| Internal Storage | 64GB (expandable up to 512GB) | 32GB/64GB (expandable up to 256GB)
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32GB/64GB, (expandable up to 256GB) |
| Software | Android 9.0 Pie – EMUI 9.0 skin | Android 8.1 Oreo- MIUI skin | Android 8.1 Oreo- Color OS 5.2 skin |
| Primary Camera | 13 MP + 2 MP Dual Camera with autofocus
f/1.8 aperture lens |
12 MP + 5 MP Dual Camera with autofocus
f/1.9 aperture lens |
13 MP + 2 MP Dual Camera with autofocus
f/2.2 aperture lens |
| Front Camera | 24 MP, f/2.0 aperture | 20 MP + 2 MP, f/2.0 aperture lens | 25MP, f/2.0 aperture lens |
| Fingerprint sensor | Yes, rear-mounted | Yes, rear-mounted | Yes, rear-mounted |
| Battery | 3400mAh | 4000 mAh | 3500mAh |
| Price |
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Design and Build
Of the three, the Honor 10 Lite and Realme U1 are glass body phones, and the Redmi Note 6 Pro sticks to the dated triple layer plastic-metal-plastic structure. So, as far as design goes, it will be a close one between the Honor 10 Lite and Realme U1, and the Redmi Note 6 Pro, with its unnaturally wide notch, doesn’t come close.
Of the two, the Honor 10 Lite is slimmer, more compact, and has an arched back panel – which is why it’s much more comfortable to operate. On the front, both the Realme U1 and Honor 10 Lite have trendy waterdrop notch at the top and minimal side bezels, but the Honor goes the extra mile and has managed to appreciably reduce the size of the chin at the bottom using its chip-on-film technology.
All the three phones are pretty solidly built and have clear protective cases bundled in the box. The Redmi Note 6 Pro has a metallic portion to it, which gives it a more durable feel, but the corners and side frame are still plastic and very much susceptible to damage with inadvertent drops.
Honor prioritizes design on its ‘Lite’ phone and that shows on the Honor 10 Lite, which is clearly better looking and much more comfortable to wield as compared to both – Realme U1 and the Redmi Note 6 Pro. It also comes in more dazzling color options, including one trendy gradient finish that young Indian consumers will particularly appreciate.
Display
In terms of display, there is not much to choose between the three. All of these three phones include Full HD+ display panels of nearly the same size. Of course, the Realme U1 and Honor 10 Lite have smaller notches and thus more usable status bar space as compared to the Redmi Note 6 Pro.
An area where Honor 10 Lite has a slight advantage is with display customization options. The EMUI offers more options to tweak color settings to your liking in every which way, but I am sure most consumers would still stick to the default settings anyway. On the downside, unlike the other two, the Honor 10 Lite is missing Gorilla Glass protection.
Camera performance
This is where it gets interesting. The three phones are more or less evenly matched in terms of hardware but follow very different software approach.
All of these three also prioritize selfie experience. The Realme U1 and Honor 10 Lite use same Sony IMX576 sensor for selfies. Comparatively, the Redmi Note 6 Pro has a lesser pixel count (20MP) for the front camera and consequently, the software has lesser details to work with.
The Honor 10 Lite has an edge thanks to its intelligent software. Unlike the Realme U1, the 10 Lite uses AI to detect more than 200 scenarios across 8 categories including blue sky, greenery, beach, flowers, etc. The metering is often spot on, and the AI image enhancement works subtly. The Realme U1 comes in second, in spite of the Note 6 Pro including an additional 2MP depth sensor.
The Rear camera performance on the three phones is very close. In terms of raw specs, the Redmi Note 6 Pro has a 12MP rear camera paired with a 5MP depth sensor. The other two brandish a 13MP + 2MP configuration.
The Redmi Note 6 Pro takes a tad more natural shots in properlighting, but the Honor 10 Lite wins when it comes to balancing exposures in tricky shots and even in low light scenarios.
The AI enhancements on Honor 10 Lite are more mature and managed to salvage shots with subtle enhancements every now and then. If in case AI goes overboard, you can discard these enhancement post clicking.
The Honor 10 Lite also benefits from a wide f/1.8 aperture lens for the primary rear camera and smart AIS that stabilizes lowlight shots and negates handshakes. The ‘Night mode’ works magically for night scenes.
Performance and Software
The Honor 10 Lite and Realme 2 are powered by the current generation of 12nm chipsets, while Xiaomi will be stretching the comparatively dated 14nm chip on Redmi Note 6 pro a bit longer.
The Kirin 710 is a competent mid-range chipset which is assisted by GPU Turbo 2.0 technology to enhance the gaming experience. The Honor 10 Lite comes with 4GB and 6GB RAM options, each with ample 64GB storage. You can further add up to 512GB of microSD card storage.
The Realme 2 Pro is powered by equally competent MediaTek Helio P70 chipset paired with up to 4GB RAM and up to 64GB storage. It supports storage expansion up to 256GB.
The Redmi Note 6 Pro is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 636 chipset which is paired with up to 6GB RAM and 64GB storage. You can use the second SIM slot to add up to 256GB of micro SD storage.
Out of the three, we had the best gaming experience on the Honor 10 Lite. The day-to-day usage was fine on all three phones.
As for the software, the Honor 10 Lite runs the latest Android 9 Pie based EMUI 9.0. The Realme U1 and Redmi Note 6 Pro are still stuck on Android Oreo. The custom skin you prefer will depend on your taste. If you ask us, we’d say the MIUI 10 on Redmi Note 6 and EMUI 9 on Honor 10 Lite are both cool. The Color OS on Realme U1 has some catching up to do.
Battery Backup
In terms of battery capacities, the Redmi Note 6 Pro leads with a 4000mAh battery. The Realme U1 and Honor 10 Lite have almost similar 3500mAh and 3400mAh power units, respectively.
The Honor 10 Lite and Realme U1 make up the capacity difference with the use of more power-efficient chipset and software. The battery mileage on the three phones in practical usage is very close. The Redmi Note 6 Pro still has the lead, followed by Honor 10 Lite.
All of the three phones have a regular micro USB port and none of the three supports fast charging.
Verdict
All of these three phones are very competent affordable phones, but the Honor 10 Lite is the one that surfaces as the better option. There is no area where the Honor 10 Lite particularly disappoints. It takes a significant lead in design, offers the best in class performance, runs the latest software, has great cameras, and offers reasonable battery mileage.
The Redmi Note 6 Pro has a reliable battery and decent camera performance, but it feels outdated and formulaic. The Realme U1 is close but is bogged down by its software experience.
All the smartphones are awesome, i like that upgrade features