XIAOMI MI NOTE
$569
The Xiaomi Mi Note uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801, a significantly more powerful chip than the Snapdragon 615 that is powering several other phones on this list.
It is smaller and over 30g lighter than the iPhone 6s Plus, but manages to house a bigger 5.7-inch screen compared with the 5.5-inch screen of the Apple phone.
However, because of the large screen size, it has a relatively lower pixel density at 386 ppi.
The Mi Note ships with an older version of Android (KitKat instead of Lollipop), skinned with the company's MIUI v6 launcher.
This means that out of the box, users will not be able to experience the depth and dynamism of the latest version of Android.
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