Xiaomi Mi3 or JiaYu S1? Which is the better buy?

Later this month Chinese phone fans will be able to chose between either the all new JiaYu S1 or Xiaomi Mi3 for roughly the same price. Which one of these new phones is the better buy? Which would you choose?

The JiaYu S1 represents a huge move for JiaYu and one which could propel them in the international market. Rather than using Mediatek processors in their new flagship phone, JiaYu have decided to go for the big guns are ship the S1 with a quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor and 2GB RAM bringing a whole new level of performance to JiaYu phones.

It’s not just the processor though, the S1 also boasts a 5-inch 1920 x 1080 display (the first JiaYu to do so), NFC, wireless charging, MHL, OTG, and a carefully crafted body.

As far as we can see JiaYu will only be offering one version of the S1, the 2GB RAM 32GB memory version. Initially the cost of the phone will be 1899 Yuan ($310), this will change but we have no idea if the price it going to rise of lower.

Comparing the S1 to the current Xiaomi Mi2S, the S1 actually looks like quite a bargain. It has a larger, higher resolution display, NFC, wireless charging and the same processor, amount of RAM and rear camera. So how does it compare against the Mi3?

The Xiaomi Mi3 will launch on 15th October initially as a China Mobile (Nvidia Tegra 4) phone and later with a Snapdragon 800 chip compatible with more 3G networks. Like the S1 the Mi3 has a 5-inch FHD 1080 display, 2GB RAM, NFC, and 13 mega-pixel rear camera.

If we take the S800 version as the comparison model we can see that the has a faster more powerful CPU with the latest Adreno 330 GPU, we also know that Xiaomi are using faster memory than JiaYu.

As far as we know the Mi3 won’t come with a wireless charging dock, but it will have a larger 3050mAh battery, it also has a more mature UI in MIUI V5 which in turn has some great features including cloud based storage, find my phone function and access to an online Xiaomi cloud system where you can manage your contacts, galleries etc.

The Mi3 will come in storage options the 16GB version costing 1999 Yuan ($326) and a 64GB model for 2499 Yuan ($408).

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JiaYu have done an impressive job with the S1, and if they had launched it earlier in the year would have sold thousands of handsets, as it is though the Mi3 offers so much more for only a few $s extra.

Not only is the performance of the Mi3 going to be better than the S1 you also get a larger battery, the option for more storage (neither has an SD card), weekly OTA updates. MIUI also enjoys a larger international following, and Xiaomi phones usually get some great, well priced accessories.

Although both phones will launch later this month most of us will be lucky to get our hands on either so early, high demand for both models is going to see many of us wait until later in the year (possibly longer if there are supply problems) so we have plenty of time to decide which phone to buy.

But if you did have the chance to buy one of these phones now which would it be? The Xiaomi Mi3, underdog JiaYu S1 or a phone from another manufacturer?

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JiaYu S1 and Xiaomi Mi3 specs source.