The battle of giants in the mid-range segment

Vivo S1 The highlight of the Vivo S1 is its 32 MP selfie camera, the 6.38-inch full HD+ Super AMOLED display, and the 4,500 mAh battery. The desirable design of the smartphone is also hard to ignore. Powering the Vivo S1 is an octa-core MediaTek Helio P65 SoC, which is coupled with 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of onboard storage. For photography, the Vivo smartphone sports a triple-camera system at the rear, which has a 16 MP primary sensor, 8 MP wide-angle sensor and a third 2 MP depth sensor. The device operates on the Android 9.0 Pie-based FunTouch OS, which is Vivo’s restrictive skin extending the main Android OS. Of the lot in mid-range smartphones, the Vivo S1 seems to edge advancing in three categories — selfie camera, battery, and display.Realme X Realme X runs on Android version 9.0 and is powered by a 3,765 mAh Battery. The Realme X also supports 20 W fast charging. It is powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 710 Processor which is helpful in running heavy applications. This phone on the rear hosts a dual camera — 48 MP + 5 MP — and the Front Camera or Selfie Camera is 16 MP. With the camera-battle heating up even in lower budget phones, this makes a great addition considering the price and the segment. It is a Dual SIM phone with a 6.53-inch AMOLED display with a bezel-less design. The fingerprint sensors are under the display. It works smooth, with fairly good performance and a smart look and feels to the entire set. You can choose between 4 GB and 6 GB RAM with 64 GB and 128 GB internal memory. The memory is not expandable as there is no additional SD card slot.Xiaomi Poco F1 Xiaomi’s spinoff brand offers the Poco F1, which is THE phone to get if you are looking for the best of performance. It is loaded with a high-end Snapdragon 845 processor with 6 GB of RAM and even a vapor chamber for improved cooling on the inside. This makes it an exceptional buy in this price segment, considering the performance and technical strength. There’s a 6.18-inch notched display, a dual-camera with 12-MP and 5-MP sensors, and a 4,000 mAh battery. It might not be the most premium looking phone, but it is clearly the fastest one in its budget.Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 Pro The glass-clad Redmi Note 7 Pro is pleasing to the eye and protected against scratches by Gorilla Glass 5 at the front as well as at the back. You also get a 6.3-inch Full HD+ display with a drop notch. Though this handset isn’t powered by a Snapdragon 845 SoC, it has a fairly powerful Snapdragon 675 SoC that is a good all-round chip. You get the 6 GB RAM and 128 GB internal storage variant in this budget. Just like the Poco F1, this too has a 4,000 mAh battery that easily lasts over a day of moderate usage. Another major talking point of the Redmi Note 7 Pro is its 48 MP rear camera with a Sony IMX586 sensor. Like some of the flagship devices these days, it uses pixel binning that combines information from four pixels into one to provide more light data and retain finer details in captured images. This Xiaomi device runs the latest Android 9 Pie out of the box with an MIUI 10 layer on top.Samsung Galaxy A50 With a 1080x2340 of the resolution, and Super AMOLED display, Samsung fairs well in the segment have been an industry leader. It comes with a dual-SIM option, the smartphone comes in 4 and 6 GB RAM variants, along with 64 and 128 GB internal storage respectively. The memory is expandable up to 1 TB. It comes with 25 MP, 8 MP and 5 MP primary cameras, which does not stand as compared to other smartphones in the segment, along with a 25 MP secondary camera. The Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), though, is a good add-on but has become a regular feature in most smartphones of this segment. A 4,000 mAh battery and fast charging facility are good to have for people mostly travelling or working on the go.