Xiaomi valiantly attempts to troll the OnePlus 6T by comparing it to the Poco F1

tech2 News StaffOct 31, 2018 19:17:07 IST

The OnePlus 6T was launched in India at an event in New Delhi and within minutes of making the price of the device official, competitors Poco India are hot on its heels with an ad campaign referred to as "Do the math".

The OnePlus 6T starts at a price of Rs 37,990. Image: tech2/ Anirudh Regidi

The Xiaomi sub-brand took to its Twitter account and posted a series of tweets with mini videos trying to inform its audience how the Poco F1 is a better deal. While the Tweets do not explicitly name the OnePlus 6T, the price tag and the other specification mentioned in the tweets quite explicitly point at OnePlus' latest flagship.

While the tweet war may have been within permissible limits of what may be passed off as brand rivalry, what they did to try and gatecrash the OnePlus 6T launch event does come across as unethical and petty.

Xiaomi Poco India hoardings right outside the OnePlus event venue (L), Calculators distributed to people (R). Image: azorahaaaaaai/ Imgur

Aware of OnePlus' venue for the launch, Poco India put up roadside hoardings of the Poco F1 with its starting price of Rs 20,999 on it, asking people passing by to "Do the Math". Poco also ensured that the 't' in the word 'math' is changed to a '+' symbol, taking a jab at OnePlus since its a part of the logo.

Never Settle for OverPriced. Unlock the #MasterOfSpeed. You decide. #DoTheMath pic.twitter.com/KvCIDyXXSq

— POCO India (@IndiaPOCO) October 30, 2018

That's not all. Poco went to the point of distributing calculators to certain people to help them do the math that is being asked of them. Some people even took to Imgur to share images of the hoarding and the calculator being distributed.

Don't even get us started on this. Spend less time plugged in and more time on the go with the #MasterOfSpeed. It's time to #DoTheMath pic.twitter.com/MK8c1PX7dh — POCO India (@IndiaPOCO) October 30, 2018

Tech2 representatives who were present at the event did notice the hoardings on their way to the venue but were not approached for calculators.

CreativiTy at a compromise? Why Settle when you have the #MasterOfSpeed. You decide. #DoTheMath pic.twitter.com/thwM4Iibpf

— POCO India (@IndiaPOCO) October 30, 2018

Coming back to the campaign on Twitter, Poco put out a total of four tweets — one comparing the fact that both the Poco F1 and the OnePlus 6T have 6 GB of RAM as standard and yet the Poco is priced significantly lower; the second tweet compared the battery capacity of both phones where the Poco F1 trumps the 6T by a small margin; similarly, the third tweet also points out that the Poco F1 has a 3.5 mm headphone jack while the OP6T doesn't. The fourth tweet again brings us back to the fact that both phones have a Snapdragon 845 chipset but the Poco F1 again offers better value.

No bonus points for guessing. This is the real deal. It's Settled with the #MasterOfSpeed. #DoTheMath pic.twitter.com/Agft4fIZxO — POCO India (@IndiaPOCO) October 30, 2018

OnePlus did not revert to any of Poco's provocation, but having reviewed both devices in our labs, we can go ahead and say that the OnePlus 6T has a bag of tricks up its sleeve to make a case for itself. Be it the larger AMOLED panel, better materials used in constructing the phone, considerably faster charging and better cameras. The Poco F1 does have a lot of catching up to do in a number of areas but it is interesting to see whether all these minor niggles are enough to push people to spend an additional Rs 17,000 on the OnePlus 6T.