TECNO phantom 9 is the newest and latest addition to the TECNO Phantom flagship Series, succeeding the TECNO Phantom 8.
Xiaomi Mi A3, on the other hand, is the newest mid-range smartphone from Xiaomi.
In this article, we will be taking a look at both devices and how they stack up against each as well as giving you some insight in choosing between these two devices. That is of course if you’ve already narrowed your search down to these two phones.
So, let’s get started.
TECNO Phantom 9 Vs Xiaomi Mi A3 – Design & Display
When it comes to design, both devices come with a glossy plastic material to give you that premium feel. We have a Corning gorilla glass 5 at the front and back of the Xiaomi Mi A3 while Corning gorilla glass 3 is on the TECNO Phantom 9.
Both devices have an aluminium frame and triple rear-facing camera at the back accompanied by an LED flash. The TECNO Phantom 9 has 4-LED flash at the back for better photos taking under a low-light situation. They both also have their fingerprint sensor underneath the display.
Speaking about displays, the Xiaomi Mi A3 is a big let down with just an HD+ 720p (720 x1560 pixels) AMOLED display which uses the 19:9 aspect ratio with of course the infamous waterdrop notch at the top housing the front-facing camera.
TECNO Phantom 9 also has the same kind of waterdrop notch on its FHD+ 1080p (1080p x 2340) AMOLED display. Both devices also have a little bit of chin down at the bottom. The Phantom 9 is available in its Aurora only colour while the Mi A3 is available in various colours to choose from.
As expected, both devices are rocking dual SIM card slots with a dedicated MicroSD slot on the TECNO Phantom 9 and a hybrid SIM slot on the Xiaomi mi A3.
The Mi A3 weighs about 173.8 grams while the Phantom 9 weighs around164grams.
Hardware & Software
Inside the Phantom 9 is the Mediatek Helio P35 SoC which is a chipset based on the 12nm finFET process technology. It is an octa-core processor with a maximum clock speed of 2.35GHz paired with a PowerVR GE8320 GPU.
The Mi A3, on the other hand, has a Qualcomm snapdragon 665 SoC which is also an octa-core processor clocked at 2.0GHz with an Adreno 610 GPU. This places the Mi A3 above the Phantom in terms of performance because the Snapdragon 665 is way better than the MediaTek Helio P35.
The Mi A3 has 4GB RAM with 64GB or 128GB of internal storage while the Phantom 9 has just one configuration; 6GB of RAM with 128GB of internal storage.
Storage can be expanded further via a microSD card which can fit in both devices, up to 256GB.
The Mi A3 comes with a bloatware-free software-the stock Android and is part of the Google Android one program
However, the Phantom uses TECNO’s custom Android skin – HiOS 5.0 paired with Android 9.0 pie.
Camera
Both devices here have a total of 4 cameras each. Three of which are at their backs. Xiaomi mi A3’s triple rear camera consists of a 48MP main camera, an 8MP ultrawide camera, and a 2MP depth sensor camera while the Phantom 9 has a 16MP main shooter, 8MP ultrawide camera and a 2MP depth sensor camera.
They are equipped with features like HDR, Panorama, PDAF e.t.c
The Mi A2 main camera can shoot videos at 2160p@30fps and 1080p@30/60/120fps while the Phantom can only record video at 1080p@60fps
Both devices also have a 32MP selfie camera. However, on Phantom 9, there is a dual-LED flash.
Battery Rating and Connectivity Options
The Phantom 9 has smaller 3,500mAh battery with no support for fast charging while the Xiaomi mi A3 has a bigger 4,030mAh with support for an 18W Quick Charge 3.0.
They both have 4G LTE connectivity, Bluetooth 5.0, WiFi, WiFi direct and WiFi hotspot. File transfer and charging are done through a USB Type-C port on the Xiaomi mi A3 and micro USB 2.0 port on the Phantom 9.
TECNO Phantom 9 Vs Xiaomi Mi A3 – Price
The TECNO Phantom 9 costs about N77,000 while the Xiaomi Mi A3 is priced at around N71,900 for the 4GB RAM/64GB version and N79,900 for the high specced 4GB/128GB version.
From our own point of view, the Mi A3 is a better device here. It got a better camera, better battery rating and better hardware and software.
The only area we think the Mi A3 fails to impress is in the display. It has an HD+ display as compared to FHD+ on the Phantom.
