How do you differentiate between two smartphones that cost the same, have nearly the same spec sheet and even the same following? It’s a huge conundrum that smartphone buyers in India have to get over today, thanks to sea of options out there, but no two phones have brought the ‘competition’ to a head like the Yu Yutopia and the OnePlus 2. The Yutopia, which was launched recently, takes on the OnePlus 2 head on, through everything, from its advertising techniques to pricing. Both the phones run on the Snapdragon 810 SoC, they have groundbreaking specifications at the Rs. 24,999 price tag and absolutely no one would blame you if you were having a hard time deciding which one you should spend your money on.
Well…let us help. Size, weight and looks aside, the camera and performance of these two phones is what most would base their buying decision on. So, here’s a side by side comparison of the Yu Yutopia, taking on the OnePlus 2…Digit ishtyle. Oh, and as far as the display and battery are concerned, the Yu Yutopia review should suffice.
Performance
We said it in the review, we said it in the comparison with the Qiku Q Terra and Honor 7 and we’re saying it again. The Yu Yutopia’s lack of software optimisations don’t do it any favours, which is what puts it behind the OnePlus 2. That aside, both the Yutopia and OnePlus 2 can take you through your daily activities just fine. Both the phones’ software are buggy, with the Yutopia more bug-ridden than the OnePlus 2. The real difference comes in gaming, where a smaller differences can be irksome. This is where the OnePlus 2 takes the lead, thanks to its better optimised software and GPU performance. The benchmarks show the difference pretty clearly.
Camera
The real revelation though is in the camera performance. Our in-house camera reviewer, Souvik Das, better known in the office as ‘the camera guy’, was put through a blind comparison for this. We showed him images taken in studio conditions, outdoor normal lights, indoor lights and low light. Souvik was presented with images placed side by side on a calibrated monitor, with no idea which phone took what image. The only criterion for choosing — the image quality. The man chose the ‘images on the right’.
OnePlus 2 Camera Samples (L-R) Outdoor Normal Light, Studio White Light, Low Light, Indoor Light (Click Images to enlarge)
Yu Yutopia Camera Samples (L-R) Outdoor Normal Light, Studio White Light, Low Light, Indoor Light (Click Images to enlarge)
The OnePlus 2 came out as the winner between the two, but what surprised us is how easily the phone outperformed the Yutopia. Under low light, the OnePlus 2 retains better colours than the Yutopia, while under studio, outdoor and indoor conditions, colours on images taken by the OnePlus device were more punchy. The desaturation in the images taken by the Yutopia, which earlier seemed slight, became more apparent when placed next to the OnePlus 2, making it the obvious choice. Also, the laser auto-focus system on the OnePlus 2 helps the device lock focus much faster than the Yutopia, which can be a big plus often.
What should you buy?
The OnePlus 2 seems to be the better of the two devices. The 5.2 inch to 5.5 inch screen difference did play on our minds, but given that the Yutopia isn’t much smaller than the OnePlus 2 in overall dimensions, it doesn’t seem to matter much. The OnePlus smartphone performs better, both in terms of camera and processor performance, and would be our pick for spending Rs. 24,999 on. The only real reason for choosing the Yutopia would be the fact that it's display is sharper, but that doesn't quite make up for its other shortcomings for us.