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A thousand euros is not only a psychological threshold, but a key price above which mobiles generally only benefit from minor improvements. The fair price for a high-end smartphone is, according to our research, around 850 euros, which is already a good investment. To build this comparison, we investigated at length to find the five best models at this price.
All are designed by Chinese brands and are very similar, with the exception of Samsung, a Korean mobile that cultivates its originality. For three days, we subjected them to a battery of tests and observations.
Very long and relatively wide, the Xiaomi Mi 11 is quite uncomfortable in the hand. It is particularly difficult to reach the buttons at the top of the screen. If the most skilful users will be able to manipulate it with one hand, it will be rather sluggish.
The Samsung S21 is quite the opposite: relatively short and narrow, it holds well in the hand. Accustomed as we are to its predecessors, the S21 nevertheless disappointed us a little. Its screen edges are not curved, like those of the S20 and S10: its thick edges hamper the movements of the thumb a little.
The curved screen edges have however become the standard in the high-end: the four other mobiles in the comparison benefit from it. Not the Samsung S21, which is hardly more pleasant to handle than the Oppo X3 Neo, with larger measurements.
The Xiaomi Mi 11 makes up for it with its huge screen with particularly fine margins. The display quality is remarkable: extremely deep blacks, beautiful brightness, excellent respect for colors. Just like its competitors, for the rest.
A handful of keen-eyed users will note that its display isn’t flawlessly smooth. By default, the Mi 11 screen is only refreshed sixty times per second, compared to ninety or one hundred and twenty times for the others. They can be reassured, it can be increased to one hundred and twenty images per second if desired, even if it means discharging the battery more quickly.
The screen of the Samsung S21 is significantly narrower than that of its competitors. Video games and series are less immersive, but for most uses the difference is not striking, unless you are a farsighted person who wants to use your mobile without glasses.
Samsung’s S21 is particularly easy to use, with its lightly loaded home screen, icons that are easy to differentiate from one another, and clean home apps. Their buttons are located at the bottom of the screen and that’s a good idea since the screens have grown so high that you can hardly reach their top with your thumb.
Quite the opposite of OnePlus, which seems to have been designed for a basketball player’s hand and whose home applications are thick. When you connect the OnePlus to a computer to recover its photos, no alert offers to unlock its memory. To access the photos, you have to find a tiny alert in the notifications menu.
The Xiaomi Mi 11 is the only mobile in the comparison to do without an application drawer: all the apps are stored on its home screen, which is less complicated for people less comfortable with technology. Its apps are pretty clear, but their buttons are housed at the top of the screen, which is a pain on such a large smartphone.
The Samsung S21 is simple, but absolutely not simplistic. Its Settings menu hides around thirty sharp and useful settings, some of which are exclusive to the brand. The S21 can be connected to a computer screen and keyboard in two ways: either by placing it in a DeX docking station which displays its own menus in large size, or by connecting it wirelessly. to a computer Windows to see its applications displayed inside Windows.
The Xiaomi offers a little less subtleties to the most advanced users, but you can still configure its notifications in depth or use it as a remote control thanks to its infrared port.
On the video game side, the performance of these smartphones is very similar. On the audio side, out of the five mobiles tested, none has a minijack output that would allow them to be connected by cable to headphones or a hi-fi system. Only Vivo has the good taste to include the necessary audio adapter in the box.
The speakers of these mobiles erase the bass, but those of the OnePlus, Xiaomi and Samsung deliver satisfactory low mids and demonstrate good clarity. Special mention to Samsung for its good sound balance and to Xiaomi for its truly convincing stereo reproduction.
The strong large screen of the Xiaomi better immerses the viewer in films, series and games. That of the Samsung is notably worse. The memory of the five smartphones tested is not expandable, only the Vivo and Oppo immediately offer a space of 256 gigabytes (GB). The others are content with 128 GB, except to opt for a more expensive version.
In good weather, all these smartphones take good quality photographs, even if the OnePlus and the Oppo tend to make small colorimetric errors: we note the appearance of slight red or blue veils. This problem is accentuated when the sun is veiled. The colors of the photos of the Samsung are particularly vivid, the vegetation sometimes turning bright green, even if it means losing its naturalness.
When you zoom in a lot with any of these smartphones, the result is only passable. This is a point on which smartphones over 1000 euros do well. For the overwhelming majority of users, however, the difference is not worth an additional cost of 300 euros.
As always, the gaps widen at night. The Vivo takes the clearest, sharpest images, even when there is only a tiny streak of light left. The Xiaomi loses its pedals a bit in these conditions which fortunately remain very rare. Under the lighting of Parisian street lamps, the Xiaomi does better, but its images are more often blurry than those of the Samsung, which does well, and those of the Vivo, even better.
We didn’t notice any clear differences between these smartphones. All are able to last a full day, but none will achieve two days of autonomy, unless used in great moderation.
Charging the battery is particularly slow at Samsung: count an hour and fifteen. At Oppo and OnePlus, it is particularly fast: a good half hour. Three models are compatible with wireless charging: the Samsung, Xiaomi and OnePlus.
None of the smartphones tested are particularly brilliant in this area. A technician must be called in to replace their battery, and their back is made of a glass panel that will not withstand shocks. We would have preferred aluminum, as in the past.
The OnePlus is distinguished, however, by its waterproofness that it shares with the Samsung. It is also this advantage that saves the Samsung from a rating below the average. Because its plastic rear shell is a disappointment at this price point: it will not stop shocks or scratches.
Smartphones have become conformist, to the point of becoming almost a little boring. These five models are so similar that you could buy any one without going much wrong.
We recommend the Xiaomi Mi 11, however, because it is a hundred euros cheaper than its competitors, while being very slightly more versatile. Its large screen is a plus if you enjoy series and video games a lot, but it makes it very bulky. It does not fit in all pockets and is difficult to handle with one hand.
Which brings us to our second choice, the Samsung S21, an easier mobile than its competitors. Less bulky, it is easier to control with one hand. Its menus are also slightly clearer. However, its relatively compact format implies a smaller screen, therefore less immersive, and a little less readable for presbyopics. Also, its plastic back looks quite flimsy. Its predecessors (S10 or S20) had the good taste to sport a glass back, less sensitive to scratches, and curved edges that made them more comfortable in the hand. We regret them.
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