Sony Xperia E3 vs. Xiaomi Redmi 1S – Specifications, Features And Price Showdown

The Sony Xperia E3 has recently been launched, while the Xiaomi Redmi 1S was originally released in May; however, it saw a global release only recently. Readers who are interested in the budget-friendly Xiaomi Redmi 1S or the Sony Xperia E3 should check out this specification, features and price comparison.

Display, Exterior And Size

The Xiaomi Redmi 1S features a 4.7-inch IPS LCD display bundled with a screen resolution of 720 x 1,280 pixels. Meanwhile, the Sony Xperia E3 comes with a relatively inferior 4.5-inch IPS display and 480 x 854 pixels resolution. The pixel densities of Xiaomi and Sony handsets stand at 312 ppi and 218 ppi, respectively.

When it comes to the exterior, the Xiaomi Redmi 1S smartphone features a plastic rear that is marginally glossy. However, the front and the back panels are fingerprint and smudge prone. Tech2 points out that, the plastic material used in the Xiaomi device is better looking when compared to other budget-friendly handsets. Meanwhile, the first look of the Sony Xperia E3 has premium-look written all over it. The device comes with rounded corners and built with matte-effect laden plastic material, however thicker bezels cannot be ignored. Overall, the plastic Sony device's quality is above average, opines Sulekha.

Speaking of size, the thickness and the weight of the Redmi 1S are 0.39-inch and 158 g respectively, whereas the Xperia E3 is 0.33-inch thick and weighs 143 g.

Hardware, Software And Memory

Interestingly, both the handsets are powered by the same quad-core (Qualcomm Snapdragon 400) Cortex-A7 processor and 1 GB of RAM. However, the processors of Sony and Xiaomi devices are clocked at 1.2 GHz and 1.6 GHz respectively. The Xiaomi Redmi 1S runs on Android OS v4.3 Jelly Bean with MIUI v5, whereas the Sony Xperia E3 runs on Android v4.4.2 KitKat OS.

As far as the memory goes, the Sony device comes equipped with 4 GB of internal storage, while the Xiaomi handset comes with 8 GB of storage. However, both the handsets support microSD card for expansion up to 32 GB.

Camera And Battery

The Sony Xperia E3 houses a 5 MP primary camera with LED flash, while Xiaomi Redmi 1S sports a good 8 MP rear-facing camera unit with LED flash. In addition, the Sony handset features a VGA shooter as the secondary unit, while the Xiaomi Redmi 1S sports a 1.6 MP snapper. Furthermore, the Xiaomi Redmi 1S is backed by a Li-Ion 2000 mAh battery, whereas the Xperia E3 comes with a relatively better Li-Ion 2330 mAh battery unit.

Misc

1. The Xiaomi Redmi 1S features alterable rear panels.

2. While the Sony handset houses micro-SIM, the Xiaomi handset supports mini-SIM. In addition, both the devices come with dual-SIM support.

3. Both the handsets come equipped with Bluetooth v4.0, Wi-Fi and microUSB support. While the Sony device supports 4G LTE, the Xiaomi Redmi 1S doesn't.

4. The Sony Xperia E3 comes with a new feature called "shake to start," which allows the users to tailor-make shortcuts to activate/trigger apps by placing the phone in the hand and shaking the wrist, says NDTV.

5. While the Sony device supports NFC, the Xiaomi handset doesn't.

Price

The Sony Xperia E3 4 GB (Dual-SIM) is priced at INR 12,400 in India that roughly translates to AU$226 and US$203. Meanwhile, the Xiaomi Redmi 1S 8 GB (Dual-SIM) is priced at INR 5,999 in India that roughly translates to as low as AU$106.

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