The mid-range segment is the hottest smartphone market in the country and for our comparison today, we’re gonna pit the Huawei Nova 3i, ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1, and the Vivo V9. We reviewed these three smartphones and they have three different features and of course, advantages. In our comparison, we’ll check out the strengths and weaknesses of these smartphones.

Design and Build

Personally, I would go for the Huawei Nova 3i when it comes to design as this one features a unique gradient color at the back in where Huawei has pioneered it but this one has a flat back which means that the smartphone has less ergonomic compared to the two.

While the Vivo V9 features a curved back with a slim profile but it does have a pretty premium construction with an ergonomic design while I’m impressed with the ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 because, despite its large 5000mAh battery, the smartphone  has a pretty ergonomics for its battery and the build quality of the smartphone is made up of metal which feels pretty solid.

All of the smartphones features a fingerprint scanner and face unlock so you don’t have to worry about its security. All of them features a Micro USB too and none of them features a fast charging.

Display

Only the ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 features a display without a notch while the Vivo V9 and the Huawei Nova 3i features a notched display. Well, it’s a matter of preference whether you want a notched display or not but overall, I’m pretty happy with the display of them all as all of them also features a Full HD+ display. But overall, I would go for the for the Huawei Nova 3i as it produces more vivid colors and of course, a brighter display even in direct sunlight.

Battery life

When it comes to battery life, the Huawei Nova 3i features a 3340mAh of battery while the Vivo V9 features a 3260mAh battery and the ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 features a 5000mAh of battery that lasts really long. Check out the PC mark scores that we got from the three smartphones.

Yep. There’s a clear winner here and it’s the ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1.

Software and performance

The Vivo V9 and Huawei Nova 3i got their own respective UI while both of them were just fine while the ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 has Android Pure. It isn’t the same one with Android One but it does have a Vanilla Android experience which is why it’s fast and really smooth, however, there were only a few apps that are included on the smartphone. Nonetheless, the experience of the Zenfone Max Pro M1 is still pretty good.

When it comes to performance, the Vivo V9 got a Snapdragon 626 processor which is a little bit old while the ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 features a Snapdragon 636 processor which is commonly used on most mid-range smartphones these days and it’s pretty powerful enough while the Huawei Nova 3i features a Kirin 710 processor.

Check out the Antutu scores that we got from the these three smartphones

Obviously, the Huawei Nova 3i and the ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 fought with each other as they have the latest chipsets but in the end, the Huawei Nova 3i got the highest score among the three.

In PUBG Mobile, it was clear that the Huawei Nova 3i wins the FPS game thanks also to the GPU Turbo, a feature exclusive to selected Huawei smartphones. While the Vivo V9 was able to run it at 30fps just fine but the high framerates are only possible when it is set at smooth graphics settings while the other two smartphones were able to run at higher settings with high framerate which basically means that the two were better. However, I got a higher framerates on the Huawei Nova 3i

Camera

All of the smartphones got a dual-lens rear camera but the Huawei Nova 3i is a little different as it features a quad-camera setup. For beginners, the Huawei Nova 3i features a 16MP+2MP rear camera while the front cameras of the smartphone are 24MP+2MP while the ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 (3GB) features a 13MP+5MP rear camera and an 8MP front camera, and lastly, the Vivo V9 features a 16MP+5MP rear camera with the 24MP front camera. Check out the photos that I took using the smartphones.

In these selfies, the Huawei Nova 3i got the more natural color and the sharpest among the three.

Again, the Huawei Nova 3i produced a more vivid photo thanks to its AI functionalities.

While the ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 got a sharp photo, the Huawei Nova 3i still got the better and natural colors and also the overall clarity of the selfie.

The ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 still got the reddish color on the photo while the Huawei Nova 3i might be oversaturdated because of its AI, it was still pretty fine compared to the other smartphones.

Verdict

All of the smartphones are good but they have different advantages and strengths. When it comes to design and camera, I would go for the Huawei Nova 3i because of its gradient color, attractive design and the camera of the smartphone was really good, however, when it comes to price and battery life of the smartphone, the ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 wins among the three smartphones. Well, the Vivo V9 will be replaced soon with their next smartphone, the Vivo V11 so expect a lot of changes from the smartphone.

The ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1 is now available for Php9,995 for the 3GB variant while the Vivo V9 is available for Php14,999 and the Huawei Nova 3i is available for Php15,990.