In the brutal smartphone wars, Huawei's Honor 3X struggled against the powerhouse Mi 4.
But thanks to the unexpected boom from QQ Speed Mobile, Huawei had turned the tables.
Nearly two million Honor 3X units had been sold—
making it one of Huawei's best-selling smartphones ever.
In Huawei's offices, Zhao Liangyun smiled broadly, still riding the high of success.
Turning to his assistant, he said:
"The Honor 3X is now our best performer. Push for another production batch by the end of July!"
If sales crossed five million units, the Honor series might finally secure enough leverage to become an independent brand within Huawei.
Meanwhile, at Xiaomi, Lei Jun sat grim-faced.
His hunger marketing tactics had been meticulous,
designed to dominate the market and suppress competitors.
But no plan survives contact with reality.
A mobile game had blindsided him, fueling Huawei's comeback.
"Man proposes, God disposes..."
Lei Jun sighed, frustrated.
Just then, Lin Wen burst into the room, visibly excited.
He handed Lei Jun a tablet.
Puzzled, Lei Jun took it, and his gloom instantly evaporated.
The tablet displayed a side-by-side performance test featuring three devices:
Mi 4 (Qinglong 810)
Mi Pad (Snapdragon 810)
Honor 3X (Kirin 810)
The test focused on gaming performance under stress.
Results: Device Chipset Frame Smoothness Heat (°C after 30 min) Notes Mi 4 Qinglong 810 Very smooth 40.3°C Best overall Mi Pad Snapdragon 810 Extremely smooth 44.6°C Best graphics, high heat Honor 3X Kirin 810 Occasional lag 38.6°C Best heat control
Summary:
Qinglong 810 had the best balance of performance and temperature.
Snapdragon 810 was a graphics powerhouse, but ran hot.
Kirin 810 excelled at heat management but lagged in gaming performance.
This viral Weibo test video clarified the strengths and weaknesses of the three major 810 processors for the entire mobile community.
A quick Weibo poll followed:
Processor Choice % Preference Qinglong 810 49% Snapdragon 810 28% Kirin 810 23%
✅ Qinglong 810 dominated user preference.
Lei Jun immediately saw the opportunity.
"Ramp up production of all remaining Qinglong chip devices.
Then head to China Star Technologies (CS) to secure another batch of Qinglong 810 chips!"
Meanwhile, at CS headquarters, Lu Haifeng welcomed Li Jun back from Shenshi.
"Did you finalize the agreement with Tencent?" Haifeng asked.
Li Jun, now a mature and capable senior executive, handed over the signed contract.
Haifeng smiled inwardly.
"Getting close to Tencent back then...
One of our smartest moves."
Elsewhere, QQ Speed Mobile launched its first update:
Bugs fixed.
The in-game store has added new cosmetic items (cars, skins).
It was a free-to-play game, but with monetization now kicking in,
The revenue engine had been fully activated.
Everything was proceeding according to plan.