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We have seen a lot of new phones released so far this year, but this week we saw possibly the two most important releases in my opinion. The Honor 10 and OnePlus 6 we launched over 2 days this week, neither phone has a huge selling point hardware wise. There is no 40MP camera or ultra-bright screen, what both of these phones do have is a highly competitive price point.
The Honor 10 RRP is just £399, and the OnePlus 6 is £469, in comparison, if I go to Amazon, I can buy the Samsung Galaxy S9 for £739, the Sony Xperia XZ2 for £699 or the Huawei P20 Pro for £799.
[button link=”https://amzn.to/2wUkRi4″] Buy the Honor 10 from Amazon[/button] [button link=”https://amzn.to/2KBxNvh”] Buy the Galaxy S9 from Amazon[/button]
The 3 more expensive phones will almost certainly be better than the OnePlus or Honor but are they £250+ better? I am going to say absolutely not (for most people).
If you normally get a contract, you could say the OnePlus will cost you £20PCM or the Honor £16.50. If you picked up the 3GB plan from GiffGaff, you could have a flagship phone for the equivalent of £30PCM or £26.50PCM. If I were to buy one of the more expensive phones on contract from Three, it would be around £40 per month with an upfront cost of around £80!
So how do these budget phones hold up specification wise? The Honor and Huawei phones use the Kirin 970 SoC which is a little older than the Snapdragon 845 found on the other phones, it doesn’t quite perform as well, but for most users, there will be no noticeable difference performance wise.
As the Samsung has 2 variants, one used the Snapdragon, the other Exynos I have just used the Snapdragon details for a like for like comparison. Though in the UK we actually get the Exynos.
| OnePlus 6 | Honor 10 | Samsung Galaxy S9 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BODY | Dimensions | 155.7 x 75.4 x 7.8 mm (6.13 x 2.97 x 0.31 in) | 149.6 x 71.2 x 7.7 mm (5.89 x 2.80 x 0.30 in) | 147.7 x 68.7 x 8.5 mm (5.81 x 2.70 x 0.33 in) |
| Weight | 177 g (6.24 oz) | 153 g (5.40 oz) | 163 g (5.75 oz) | |
| Build | Front/rear glass, aluminum frame | Front/back glass, aluminum frame | Front/back glass (Gorilla Glass 5), aluminum frame | |
| SIM | Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) | Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) | Single SIM (Nano-SIM) or Hybrid Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by) | |
| DISPLAY | Type | Optic AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors | IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors | Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors |
| Size | 6.28 inches, 98.4 cm2 (~83.8% screen-to-body ratio) | 5.84 inches, 85.1 cm2 (~79.9% screen-to-body ratio) | 5.8 inches, 84.8 cm2 (~83.6% screen-to-body ratio) | |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2280 pixels, 19:9 ratio (~402 ppi density) | 1080 x 2280 pixels, 19:9 ratio (~432 ppi density) | 1440 x 2960 pixels, 18.5:9 ratio (~570 ppi density) | |
| SoC | Chipset | Qualcomm SDM845 Snapdragon 845 | Hisilicon Kirin 970 | Qualcomm SDM845 Snapdragon 845 - USA/LATAM, China |
| CPU | Octa-core (4x2.8 GHz Kryo 385 Gold & 4x1.7 GHz Kryo 385 Silver) | Octa-core (4x2.4 GHz Cortex-A73 & 4x1.8 GHz Cortex-A53) | Octa-core (4x2.8 GHz Kryo 385 Gold & 4x1.7 GHz Kryo 385 Silver) - USA/LATAM, China | |
| GPU | Adreno 630 | Mali-G72 MP12 | Adreno 630 | |
| Memory | Internal | 128/256 GB, 8 GB RAM or 64 GB, 6 GB RAM | 64/128 GB, 4/6 GB RAM | 64/128/256 GB, 4 GB RAM |
| MicroSD | No | No | Yes | |
| Camera | Primary | Dual: 16 MP (f/1.7, 27mm, 1/2.6", 1.22µm, gyro-EIS, OIS) + 20 MP (f/1.7, 1/2.8", 1.0µm), phase detection autofocus, dual-LED flash | Dual: 16 MP (f/1.8) + 24 MP B/W, phase detection autofocus, LED flash | 12 MP (f/1.5-2.4, 26mm, 1/2.5", 1.4µm, Dual Pixel PDAF), phase detection autofocus, OIS, LED flash |
| Video | 2160p@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, 720p@480fps | 2160p@30fps, 1080p@30fps | 2160p@60fps, 1080p@240fps, 720p@960fps, HDR, dual-video rec | |
| Secondary | 16 MP (f/2.0, 20mm, 1/3", 1.0µm), gyro-EIS, Auto HDR, 1080p | 24 MP, f/2.0, 1080p | 8 MP (f/1.7, 25mm, 1/3.6", 1.22µm), autofocus, 1440p@30fps, dual video call, Auto HDR | |
| Comms | WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, WiFi Direct, DLNA, hotspot | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, WiFi Direct, hotspot | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot |
| Bluetooth | 5.0, A2DP, LE, aptX HD | 4.2, A2DP, aptX HD, LE | 5.0, A2DP, LE, aptX | |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO | |
| NFC | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Infrared port | No | Yes | No | |
| Radio | No | No | FM radio (USA & Canada only) | |
| USB | 2.0, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector | 2.0, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector, USB On-The-Go | 3.1, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector | |
| Battery | Non-removable Li-Po 3300 mAh battery | Non-removable Li-Po 3400 mAh battery | Non-removable Li-Ion 3000 mAh ba | |
| Price | 469 | 399 | 739 |
Looking at the specifications side by side, there are so little differences you have to wonder where the extra money goes on the Samsung. It has a higher resolution screen, and you get a MicroSD slot.
The cameras all have different specifications, and if you are a keen photographer you may have a preference, the Samsung has a lower MP count and only a single lens, but its sensor size is larger. For most users, you probably won’t tell the difference.
The Honor and come with much larger 128GB storage which makes up for the lack of a MicroSD slot. Both the Honor and OnePlus has more RAM than the Samsung too.
The Samsung has the smallest battery of the three, which is quite a big thing for me, nothing worse than having to charge your phone halfway through the day.
Overall, while it is great that premium brands offer some exciting features to make themselves stand out from the crowd, I am not sure they justify their increasing costs. If I were to buy a new phone right now, the only choice would be the Honor 10 or the OnePlus 6
[button link=”https://amzn.to/2wUkRi4″] Buy the Honor 10 from Amazon[/button] [button link=”https://amzn.to/2KBxNvh”] Buy the Galaxy S9 from Amazon[/button]
I am James, a UK-based tech enthusiast and the Editor and Owner of Mighty Gadget, which I’ve proudly run since 2007. Passionate about all things technology, my expertise spans from computers and networking to mobile, wearables, and smart home devices.
As a fitness fanatic who loves running and cycling, I also have a keen interest in fitness-related technology, and I take every opportunity to cover this niche on my blog. My diverse interests allow me to bring a unique perspective to tech blogging, merging lifestyle, fitness, and the latest tech trends.
In my academic pursuits, I earned a BSc in Information Systems Design from UCLAN, before advancing my learning with a Master’s Degree in Computing. This advanced study also included Cisco CCNA accreditation, further demonstrating my commitment to understanding and staying ahead of the technology curve.
I’m proud to share that Vuelio has consistently ranked Mighty Gadget as one of the top technology blogs in the UK. With my dedication to technology and drive to share my insights, I aim to continue providing my readers with engaging and informative content.
