The past year in the smartphone world has seen lots of emerging smartphone brands and a major advancement of other mid-level brands. Brands like Huawei, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo and OnePlus have shown us that these Chinese smartphones aren’t as crappy as people actually thought.
These brands have gone on to be household names all over the world and competing with the likes of Samsung, LG and Apple. The newly released Mi 8 achieved a total score of over 300000 points on the popular benchmark site, AnTuTu beating every other smartphone. It’s hard to also forget how the P20 Pro is still the king of DXOMARK in terms of overall camera quality. The smartphone brands below are ready to show the world their true potential. These are 10 Chinese smartphone brands you should watch out for.
TECNO
It’s very difficult to talk about emerging smartphone brands and not mention the name TECNO. The company is second only to Samsung when it comes to the smartphone market capitalization in Africa. Tecno started off as a feature-phone brand in 2006 and shocked the world with its Phantom 8 flagship last year. The company also jumped on the X train a couple of weeks ago and launched the Camon X and X Pro.
The X Pro is a powerful mid-range smartphone running on Android 8.1, with the Helio P23 chipset, 6-inch full HD+ display (2160 x 1080p), 4GB of RAM, 64GB of expandable storage, 3,750mAh battery, a 16MP main camera and a 24MP selfie shooter with flash. The company also launched the Camon iClick a couple of days ago in India, targeting the Asian market.
BLACKVIEW
Founded in Hong Kong 5 years ago, BLACKVIEW has gone on to produce some of the world’s pure rugged smartphones. Blackview is popular in countries like Greece, Italy, Russia, South Africa, Spain, and the U.K. This is quite impressive for just a “Chinese” smartphone.
Its latest smartphone is the BV9000 Pro, a powerhouse with 6GB RAM, Helio P25 chipset with, a 4,180mAh battery, 13MP and 5MP dual rear camera setup. The screen is a 5.7-inch with 2160 x 1080p and 18:9 display while having an IP68-certified body.
INFINIX
This smartphone brand is quite popular in emerging markets, especially in West and East Africa. The brand is owned by China’s Transsion Holdings, the same parent group of Tecno. Infinix is known for making Youth friendly smartphones with a sleek body, its smartphones gain hundreds of thousands of searches in Africa when launched.
Its flagship is the Infinix Zero 5, a device with the Helio P25 chipset, 6GB of RAM, a 16MP front-facing camera, and a 12MP and 13MP dual camera with 2x zoom. There’s 64GB storage, 4,350mAh battery and a 5.98-inch Screen. Making the Infinix one of the 10 Chinese smartphone brands you should watch out for.
BLUBOO
Bluboo has been around for a while now, let’s just say since 2006. However, the company definitely got our attention with the S3 smartphone. The device was released a couple of months ago and was quite a trend on the internet. The dual 21MP and 5MP rear camera were one of its highlights.
There’s also a 13MP selfie shooter in front, with NFC, 64GB of expandable storage,4GB of RAM, a USB Type-C port, rear fingerprint scanner, 6-inch full HD+ display and a massive 8500mAh. Although the device went all modern on us by ditching the 3.5mm jack.
DOOGEE
No, not the cryptocurrency. Doogee is a popular smartphone brand, well, specifically on online stores. It’s very difficult to browse through a smartphone store and not see a Doogee device. Even though the company claims it was set up in Spain in 2013. We can’t help but notice its headquarters is in Shenzhen, China.
Doogee really made their mark this year after the mobile world congress, we saw the Doogee Mix 4, which was extraordinarily brilliant with a 95% screen to body ratio. Doogee also launched the BL9000 recently, a powerhouse with 9,000mAh battery, Helio P23 chipset, wireless charging, USB Type-C, 6GB RAM, and 64GB storage.
UMIDIGI
The Technology Pioneer as its fondly called is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to emerging smartphone brands. Umidigi is popular on shopping stores and with its latest Z2 Pro flagship smartphone, the company isn’t going away anytime soon.
The Z2 and Z2 Pro come with gradient colours like the P20 Pro, a notch, Helio P23 and P60 respectively. The devices pride as the world’s first 6.2-inch FHD+ top-notch flagship phone. There are 6GB RAM and 128GB storage on the Pro version as well.
LEAGOO
Leagoo went global last year when they signed a sponsorship deal with English club Tottenham Hotspur. Although, the company often gets inspiration from other brands. We can’t help but point out the Leagoo S8 trending smartphone, the most popular Galaxy S8 clone.
The device almost took the hype away from Samsung’s last year flagship device. It has 3GB of RAM, 32GB of expandable storage, a 2970mAh battery, 13MP and 2MP rear camera setup, and a 5.7-inch full HD bezel-less screen. The company also announced the Leagoo S10 weeks ago, the smartphone is the second in the world with 3 rear cameras.
OUKITEL
If you’re a regular on sites like Gearbest, Banggood or Jumia, then this smartphone should ring a bell. The brand loves making these smartphones with a massive battery, targeting markets with epileptic power supply. The latest is the Oukitel K10 and its massive 11,000mAh battery, the Helio P23 processor is onboard, with 6GB of RAM, 64GB of expandable storage, and a 6-inch 2160 x 1080p 18:9 display.
Then for photography, the 21MP + 8MP rear shooters do the job, while the 13MP + 8MP at the front focuses on selfies. There’s also USB Type-C support and an NFC chip. This easily makes Oukitel one of the 10 Chinese smartphone brands you should watch out for.
SMARTISAN
Smartisan makes beautiful looking smartphones that look like a dream. In May, the company launched the R1 device and absolutely shut down the internet.
It houses the powerful Snapdragon 845 chipset, with a dual 12MP + 20MP rear camera setup. There’s 6GB of RAM and up to 1TB of internal storage. Although that version goes for over a thousand USD, you can get the standard version with 64GB.
ULEFONE
The past year has been crazy for Ulefone, the company released tons of budget-priced smartphones. Let’s not forget about the Ulefone Mix and Mix 2 that trended on shopping stores last year. In 2018, the Ulefone Power 5 came along with a 13,000mAh battery, wireless charging, a 21MP + 5MP rear camera setup, 13MP + 5MP selfie camera and an Helio P23 chipset.
The company recently announced the T2 and T2 Pro as well as the MWC 2018. The T2 Pro houses the Helio P70 chipset and an in-display fingerprint scanner. While the T2 has 5000mAh battery, 21MP + 13MP cameras, the Helio P60, 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.
Conclusion
These are the 10 Chinese smartphone brands you should watch out for. If there are other Chinese smartphone brands you think are doing a good job as well, Please let us know in the comments below!
