As more and more phones are being released into the market, manufacturers have realised that they can appeal to different target markets which are based on budget. By releasing premium phones such as the Huawei P9 Plus, Vodafone Smart Platinum 7, and iPhone 7 Plus the target market with a higher budget can be aimed at for new releases. On the other hand, standard phones released such as the Nexus 6P, Sony Xperia Z5 and iPhone 7 offer great features but are aimed at the target market with a slightly lower budget.
In this Battle of The Phones, we will be focusing on premium phones vs standard phones, featuring the Huawei P9 Plus, Vodafone Smart Platinum 7, Sony Xperia Z5, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, and Nexus 6P.
All prices are correct as of the time of the smartphone’s launch.
Premium Phones
Premium phones are priced more expensively because they are packed with more features. Is this true, and are they worth it?
Huawei P9 Plus
The Huawei P9 Plus is a really great phone. It has a tonne of features and has a very premium aura about it.
The Huawei P9 is quite a large phone coming in at 5.9 inches and has a smaller amount of bezel than most phones since it has a 5.5-inch display. The phone is currently running Android 6.0, but will definitely be upgraded to Android 7.0 when Huawei push the 7.0 update to other phones. 4GB of RAM makes the phone run very quickly, and very smoothly. Also included in the phone is 64GB internal storage and a MicroSD Card slot, so you really will never run out of storage on the device. Huawei has packed in NFC, a fingerprint sensor, USB Type-C, a 12MP dual camera, and a 3400mAh battery! What’s more, the P9 Plus comes with Huawei’s own version of Apple’s 3D touch, although that only works with the stock Huawei launcher.
The P9 Plus performs very well. The metal body feels very nice in the hand and provides grip to the user despite being polished. Great photos can be taken using the Lecia dual camera, and the camera app on the phone has a large variety of different modes in photo and video.
The UI on the phone works well, although the Huawei launcher is very limited and does not look very good, so a third party launcher is recommended.
The fingerprint sensor works very well on the phone, and due to its texture, it can easily be felt on the back of the phone. Every time I go to unlock the phone, I can do so with my fingerprint in under a second!
With a 3400mAH battery, a lot is to be expected from the battery. An average day’s use of the phone (about 14 hours) brings the battery down to a mere 70%! This means that the phone’s battery can easily last for up to 3 days. What about heavy use I hear you ask? Well, after keeping the phone’s flashlight on for at least 4 hours, I only managed to run the battery down to 50%, and this was after 8 hours of standard use!
The Huawei P9 is a very impressive phone, not only does it look good and have impressive specs, the phone lives up to and exceeds the expectations of its specs. The 64GB version retails for $571.
iPhone 7 Plus
The iPhone 7 Plus is a good phone- that cannot be denied. It has brand new features for iPhones and is the biggest iPhone to date.
The iPhone 7 Plus is an even larger phone coming in at 6.2 inches, but it does have significantly more bezel than most phones because the screen is 5.5 inches. This iPhone has 1920×1080 pixel resolution which is one of the best screens we have seen on an iPhone so far. The waterproof rating is an I67, so your 7 Plus should be fine to take in the swimming pool. The camera is also 12MP and can take some excellent photos thanks to the dual camera lens; video on the 7 Plus shoots in 4K. Touch ID and 3D Touch are built into the phone like on all new iPhones, Siri is built in as per usual, and NFC is built in, but only for use with Apple Pay.
The removal of the headphone jack is been heavily covered by the media and is complained about by a large percentage of consumers. However it is not that big of a deal! You can easily listen to music with your existing headphones through the included adapter, or with your Bluetooth headphones. Sure, you can’t listen to music and charge your iPhone at the same time, but let’s be honest how often do you do this, and just pick up a pair of Bluetooth headphones.
The 7 Plus’ performance is top notch. The body of the phone is comfortable in the hand and feels solid like it should do. The matte and jet black models have a surface on the back that is more slippery, so the phone doesn’t grip as well. Having said this, all models have a premium feel.
iOS is nothing new, the iOS that the 7 Plus runs is no different to the iOS that any other Apple device runs. Haptic feedback is crammed in everywhere on iOS, and with the new sensors on the iPhone 7 Pluses, you can really notice it.
The iPhone 7 Plus’ Touch ID still has the same set-up and is used for the same things. But it is even better than it was before you now only need to tap the sensor for a brief moment and it recognises your print.
The 2900mAh battery doesn’t sound like a lot but it performs a lot better than it sounds. You can get the phone to last two days with no problem with normal usage. This is quite impressive for an iPhone battery.
Apple has given us another good phone, but it could be better with more features that we see in Android phones. The middle storage (128GB) retails for $869.
Vodafone Smart Platinum 7
Vodafone has produced a very good phone here. Vodafone has a line-up of phones, but they’re not very impressive compared to other phones. The Smart Platinum 7 changes this, delivering a great experience of Android.
The Vodafone Smart Platinum 7 is yet another large phone with a size of 6 inches and has a fair amount of bezel with a screen size of 5.5 inches. The phone has a 1440×2560 pixel resolution screen, which is a better resolution than on phones such as the new iPhone. Dual SIM is supported on this phone, which is not often seen in phones by well-known companies. MicroSD Cards are supported on this Android phone like they are on most Android phones, which is a good thing since there is only 32GB of internal storage. The phone is currently running Android 6.0 but will be upgraded to Android 7.0 at some point. The camera packs a punch at 16MP, it takes some very good photos, but the contrast and low-light are not as good as it is on mainstream phones. A fingerprint sensor is built in, along with NFC and quick-charging.
The Smart Platinum 7 has a metal body, with a glass back. This looks very nice, but it makes the back of the phone very slippery when holding it, and the glass shows up dings and scratches very easily.
The Smart Platinum 7 performs very smoothly. It runs stock Android with the Google Now Launcher, so the phone’s UI looks very clean. The phone comes with Vodafone bloatware, and Vodafone’s own version of a dialer and messaging app; my advice is to remove these, and download the Google versions for better performance.
The fingerprint sensor on the back feels the same as the rest of the back, this makes it hard to locate the sensor by touch- but you get the hang of it after a while. The fingerprint sensor is reliable but could be a lot faster.
The 3000mAh battery found in the Smart Platinum 7 is a common battery capacity in premium phones, and usually, lasts for one and a half days. However, in the Smart Platinum 7, the battery only lasts about one day, which is a lot lower than expected.
The Vodafone Smart Platinum 7 is a good and reliable phone, but the performance with the current specs could definitely be improved. The only version (32GB) retails for $330.
Standard Phones
Standard phones are phones which retail with a lower price because they are considered to have fewer features. Is this true, or can a standard phone shine through and be better than a premium phone?
Sony Xperia Z5
Next in the line-up of Xperia phones, is the Sony Xperia Z5 is a good phone, but very similar to its predecessors. However, with a camera never seen in a smartphone before, it delivers very well.
The Sony Xperia Z5 is a smaller phone with a size of 5.7 inches although a lot of this is bezel because the screen size is only 5.2 inches. As with most Android phones, MicroSD Cards are supported which is a good thing since the internal storage is only 32GB. Currently upgradeable to Android 7.0, the Xperia Z5 can have all of the latest Android features. A 23MP camera produces some of the best photos ever taken on a smartphone, especially in low-light environments where the camera seems to excel. A unique side-mounted fingerprint sensor is quite temperamental, but when it works, it works very well. NFC and a barometer sensor are built into the phone. The phone is waterproof too, with an IP68 rating.
With a frosted glass back, the Xperia Z5 can be quite slippery at times; but the glass is well protected, so scratches don’t show up as easily on the body. The phone feels sleek, and it seems to be quite premium.
The 23MP camera on the Xperia Z5 is amazing! Pictures look very crispy due to the high contrast and sharpness of the camera. The camera performs well in low-light conditions, where it still produces clear images. You can tell that the camera in the Z5 is 23MP, because the images the smartphone can take are just extraordinary, and are not seen on any other smartphone.
As I mentioned, the fingerprint sensor which is embedded in the power button on the side of the device is temperamental. When it does work, it works reliably, but the speed of print recognition could be much improved.
A 2900mAh battery is included in the phone and it performs as expected, it lasts up to one and a half days with average use. However, the battery is drained very quickly when using the flashlight or the camera app.
The Sony Xperia Z5 is a reliable phone, but is designed for taking photos- it does a brilliant job at this! The 32GB version of the device retails for $499.99, which is a fantastic price for a device with a camera so good.
iPhone 7
The iPhone 7 is an extremely good phone, but almost the same as the iPhone 7 Plus. Having said this, because it gives the same features as the more expensive, ‘premium’ model, the iPhone 7 is a lot better value for money.
The iPhone 7 is a slightly smaller phone coming in at 5.4 inches, but it does have significantly more bezel than the large iPhone because the screen is 4.7 inches. This iPhone has 1334×750 pixel resolution which is not that good for resolution but is one of the best screens we have seen on a smaller version of the iPhone so far. The waterproof rating is an I67, so your 7 should be fine to take in the swimming pool. The camera on the small model is also 12MP and can take some excellent photos thanks to the dual camera lens; video on the 7 also shoots in 4K. Touch ID and 3D Touch are built into this phone like on all new iPhones, Siri is built in as per usual, and NFC is built in, but only for use with Apple Pay which Apple will hopefully change soon.
The 7’s performance is great. The body of the phone is comfortable in the hand and feels solid like it should do. The matte and jet black models have a surface on the back that is more slippery, so the phone doesn’t grip as well- this is the same issue as with the larger model. Having said this, all of the models have a premium feel. However, since the phone is smaller, it can fit and stay in the hand more easily, so even on the slippery models, you can still get a good grip of the smartphone.
The removal of the headphone jack is been heavily covered by the media and is complained about by a large percentage of consumers. However it is not that big of a deal! You can easily listen to music with your existing headphones through the included adapter, or with your Bluetooth headphones. Sure, you can’t listen to music and charge your iPhone at the same time, but let’s be honest how often do you do this, and just pick up a pair of Bluetooth headphones.
iOS is nothing new, the iOS that the 7 runs is no different to the iOS that any other Apple device runs. Haptic feedback is crammed in everywhere on iOS, and with the new sensors on the iPhone 7s, you can really notice it.
The iPhone 7’s Touch ID still has the same set-up and is used for the same things. But it is better than it was before you now only need to tap the sensor for a brief moment and it recognises your print, it is pretty much on par with the Touch ID sensor found on the larger iPhone 7 Plus.
The 1960mAh battery doesn’t sound like a lot but it performs a lot better than it sounds. You can get the phone to last one and a half days with no problem with normal usage. This is quite impressive for a battery of this size.
The iPhone 7 is a very good phone, especially since it does the same as the iPhone 7 Plus but for less. However, it could also be improved with more features that we see in Android phones. The middle storage (128GB) retails for $749.
Nexus 6P
Ah, the Nexus 6P is one of the best Android phones available and has got to be my favourite phone on the market. It performs well, has great specs, and delivers Android at its purest and Googleyest.
The Nexus 6P is yet another large phone (I see a common trend) with a body that has the size of 6.3 inches, and despite the fact that it has quite a large amount of bezel since the screen is 5.7 inches, there is a proper front facing speaker which makes up for it and anything else you can fault with the smartphone. Since the phone is a Google phone, it is constantly running the latest version of Android, and you can get it before non-Google Android devices. There is no MicroSD Card slot, but since you can get up to 128GB internal storage, this is not an issue. There is a 12.3MP camera which takes much better photos than other 12MP cameras around. The Nexus 6P was the first phone to have a rear fingerprint sensor, which is still one of the best fingerprint sensors around, despite being almost 1.5 years old. The 3450mAh battery performs amazingly and can last up to three days, and even if it does start to dip, the quick-charging feature comes in handy.
A premium feel is certainly delivered by the 6P, the aluminium body of the phone feels really sleek and comfortable in the hand. The camera bump is another great feature of the 6P, it allows for a much better camera, and gives the phone a slant when lying on it’s back which looks very cool.
The 6P performs very smoothly due to it being a phone by Google. The pure Android experience is great, and it allows a clean look on the UI.
A 12.3MP camera takes very good photos indeed, especially when you put it on the Nexus 6P. The contrast and brightness that the images offer is beyond that of your typical smartphone camera. The 6P’s camera has a very good zoom, a very good focus, and is very good at focusing on the foreground.
With a 3450mAh battery, the 6P offers a battery larger than on most phones. The battery’s performance most definitely is better than the performance of other batteries with the same capacity.
The Nexus 6P is an amazing phone, with amazing features, and an amazing performance. I don’t think there is a phone that has yet lived up to it! The mid-range capacity (64GB) retails for $550, which is amazing value for money.
Conclusion- Which is better?
As you can see, some of the standard phones have features and performance that are much, much better than the features and performance of some premium phones. The price of standard phones is usually $100-$250 lower than the price of premium phones.
Due to the fact you can pay less for and get more out of standard phones, the winner is standard phones. This is simply because you get better value for moeny, and often better features and performance. Sure, you get your premium phones which are amazing, but the price tag isn’t so amazing, and you’ll get better value with a standard phone.
Winner: Standard Phones
Best Smartphone Featured: Nexus 6P
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