The smartphone market has been developing rapidly over the past 3 years, large companies have already achieved enormous success in this field, but recently there has been stagnation - innovations appear less and less often and people are less interested in purchasing “flagship” gadgets. One of the reasons for the fall of large manufacturers can be called the expansion of devices from the Middle Kingdom. Chinese phone brands occupy an increasingly large part of the market, and restless manufacturers are actively introducing modern technical equipment, while offering products that attract both advanced users and those who are not too biased.

Main models: pros and cons of Chinese smartphone brands

Brands of Chinese Android phones vary greatly. There are both fairly well-known players and “nameless” ones who have presented one or two gadgets to the world. Not all budget manufacturers charge in terms of quantity and price. Well-known brands of Chinese phones managed to enter the vast world market thanks to desperate copying of famous competitors - similar devices at low prices sell like hot cakes.

These devices, of course, have both their pros and cons. The advantages of such gadgets include their price. Chinese phone brands are independent from retail trade, they do not need advertising, therefore, by saving on these components, gadget creators save significant funds, which ultimately manifests itself in the form of a reduced cost of smartphones. It is clear that this fact will certainly please potential buyers.

Also, the advantages of such devices include their “top-end” filling. Chinese brands of mobile phones, despite their commitment to the middle price segment, equip their brainchildren with the latest technology. If you see a 10- or 20-core chip anywhere, it will be a newcomer from China. Recently, Chinese phone brands can boast of interesting designs: if previously all gadgets from the Middle Kingdom looked like randomly and carelessly assembled pieces of plastic, now creators are increasingly paying attention to the appearance of smartphones. It is not uncommon to see the use of more solid materials, such as steel, glass, aluminum, and sometimes even wood.

Unfortunately, inexpensive gadgets also have a number of disadvantages. First of all, you need to realize that phones whose price threshold is especially low will not be able to boast of high-quality assembly. That is, those smartphones that attract prices below 3 or 4 thousand rubles still look like those same faded and cheap plastic Chinese fakes.

In addition to low-quality components, you need to remember that the software content of such devices leaves much to be desired. For example, there is often a huge amount of pre-installed, terrible quality or completely unnecessary software, which is stuffed into all cheap brands of Chinese phones: voice-changing applications, demo versions of games, “national software” and the like. Developers don't care much about optimization either. Android is a finicky system and requires powerful hardware or good adjustments on the part of the developer in order to ensure proper performance of the gadget.

And finally, even large manufacturers are not averse to deceiving their fans. If your new, inexpensive smartphone has 8 cores, don’t be surprised that only 4 are actually active, and the 13-megapixel camera, coupled with interpolation, doesn’t even reach an 8-megapixel photo module.

All that can be advised is to choose those “Chinese” who have already received a good reputation. You need to avoid those who, taking advantage of the inexperience of users, deceive them. Actually, more about the devices.

The best Chinese premium phone brands

These should certainly include new products from industry giants Meizu and Xiaomi, and it’s also worth remembering the recently released LeEco.

Name
	1080 x 1920 (5.2)	1080 x 1920 (5.15)	1080 x 1920 (5.5)
CPU	MediaTek Helio X25		MediaTek Helio X20
	4 GB RAM, 64 ROM	4 GB RAM, 128 ROM	3 GB RAM, 32 GB ROM

As can be seen from the table, this list contains a device with a very low price. Until recently, this gadget was presented to few people by LeTV.

Brands of Chinese phones that are in the higher price segment are gadgets created by companies that have already grown and see giants such as Apple or Samsung as their main competitors.

These devices are not only equipped with powerful technical components, but also follow the latest trends, coupled with support for the most advanced technological solutions. Such phones are equipped with now fashionable fingerprint sensors that make it possible to ensure the data in the smartphone with the proper level of security, as well as eliminate long passwords. All three gadgets support the modern USB Type-C standard.

Meizu Pro 6 - Chinese iPhone

This device boasts support for the latest 3D Press technology. This display is capable of recognizing pressing force. This feature allows you to use additional parameters and context menus in the system - quick actions on shortcuts, the ability to preview links in the browser, and much more. This has already been implemented in the iPhone, accordingly, we see here an obvious borrowing, which, fortunately, everyone has not paid attention to for a long time, and competition benefits the buyer.

Xiaomi Mi5 is the best skin for Android

The Chinese phone brand Xiaomi is famous primarily for its software platform. The phone runs its own shell, called MiUI. It was received very positively by the public, many loved it for its excellent visual design, as well as for its high-quality optimization. The smartphone turned out to be quite expensive, mainly due to the fact that the famous Snapdragon is used as a processor, while others did not hesitate to put a newcomer in the form of MediaTek into their inventions.

LeEco Le 2 - ahead of the rest

This smartphone surprised me by the lack of a headphone jack. The Chinese have implemented their own audio system, which uses the USB Type-C port, giving the ability to reproduce audio of significantly higher quality, both using a dedicated DAC and thanks to full support for lossless audio formats. But what will the owners of headphones with a standard port say about this? Most likely, they won't be very happy. It is unlikely that people will rush to change their existing headset for the sake of such a new product.

Brands of Chinese phones of the middle and low price segment

One of the advantages of modern consumer electronics is the price range.

Chinese phone brands, the list of which is growing every day, are saturated with gadgets that are much cheaper. Their prices are often below 10,000 rubles, which, of course, attracts a certain audience that does not want to pay a large sum for overpriced technical equipment.

Name
CPU			MediaTek Helio X20
	2 GB RAM, 32 GB ROM	2 GB RAM, 16 ROM	2 GB RAM, 16 GB ROM

This is a summary table of the most affordable devices on the market that are of acceptable quality and will not cause unnecessary irritation. These phones run on proprietary shells (with the exception of Wileyfox), which allows for decent performance. The table also shows that Chinese phone brands have grown to the level of flagships of previous years.

Wileyfox Swift is one of the first powerful sub-brands

When events related to dumping prices for smartphones and the emergence of certain subsidiaries began, Wileyfox was one of the first to appear on the scene. The amazing value for money impressed everyone without exception. The device was difficult to order, which caused even more excitement. The body of the device is made of plastic and it looks very presentable. The high performance of the gadget is ensured not only by the powerful hardware, but also by the platform on which it runs, namely CyanogenMod 13. A competent combination of technical and software solutions made it possible to create a decent phone in the low price segment.

Xiaomi Redmi 3 - elegant simplicity

This device is a little more powerful, a little more expensive, but at the same time it is somewhat sleeker than its competitors, which is to its advantage. Users are increasingly paying attention to the exterior of their smartphones. The stunningly large display provides a gorgeous picture with maximum viewing angles. The phone runs on MiUI, a high-performance add-on on top of the Android system. Xiaomi devices also delight with high-quality cameras (they are not the best among those available, but decent).

Meizu M2 mini - powerful baby

The moment has come when smartphones with a diagonal of 5 inches receive the “mini” prefix. Yes, indeed, compared to many flagships, a display with such a diagonal already seems small, but not everyone is used to this. This device uses Flyme as a software shell. This is a foundation designed specifically for

Fakes

It is impossible to talk about Chinese smartphones without mentioning the huge number of copies with which both the Chinese and Russian markets are oversaturated. In fact, you've probably come across an iPhone for 2,000 rubles running on Android, a Vertu that costs less than $60, and similar products. From a distance, such phones look similar, but no matter how they reassure you, you just have to touch them and it becomes clear that this is a cheap, low-quality fake. It’s easy not to fall for the trick: you need to remember that Vertu and iPhone will never cost from 400 to 4 thousand rubles. In this case, it would be wiser to take

It all depends on the specific manufacturers and price category. There are companies that produce products of obviously low quality (an example is the Star company), and there are acceptable middling ones like Doogee.

It should be remembered that relatively cheap models (costing up to $100), as a class, rarely feature good materials, but the assembly accuracy and software stability depend on the manufacturer, of which there are many in China.

Is it worth buying “expensive” Chinese smartphones?

All flagship smartphones from the above manufacturers are excellently equipped, made from really high-quality components (the same ones as the “brands”), and their price is more than half as low as that of non-Chinese brands.

Unfortunately for the latter, modern “Chinese” models that cost more than $120 leave a much more pleasant user experience.

Problems with pre-installed Chinese software

Head of the testing laboratory of household appliances and electronics Roskontrol

Often, Chinese smartphones are “hardwired” with various local services, which are of no use to Russians. In some cases, shortcuts can be removed out of sight and the problem forgotten, but sometimes services can be overly active. You can find out the current situation in specialized forums.

If a brand has officially “arrived” in the Russian Federation and the Customs Union (for example, Huawei), then the list of pre-installed applications is usually acceptable. If the products are imported “gray”, but the smartphones themselves are damn good in terms of price and quality ratio (for example, Xiaomi), then you can look for offers with localized firmware.

Their adaptation is carried out by international groups of programmers, often with the support of the manufacturer. In such firmware there is a normal Russian language, only Chinese services are removed. True, the same Xiaomi does not allow you to simply change the official firmware to localized one; you need to “dance with a tambourine” in the form of replacing the control program, which only experienced “computer specialists” or service center specialists can do.

Therefore, before purchasing, it is better to clarify information about the localization of the firmware. Very often, even “gray” suppliers carry out pre-sale preparation and install suitable firmware.

But there are no fundamental problems with the operation of “purely Chinese” smartphones ordered from abroad in Russian cellular networks, including 4G, although it is better to discuss this point before ordering to make sure.

Buying on a Chinese website - risk or savings?

To purchase from a Chinese site, you need to have a dollar bank card (or Webmoney) and know the zip code of your post office.

On average, you need to wait about three weeks for a parcel. If you do this on Chinese sites like Aliexpress, then they provide a full refund in case of unsuccessful delivery or problems with the quality of the received copy.

Over the past few years, Chinese smartphones have become increasingly popular not only here. Let's take a look at the most popular smartphones in China.

But I wonder whether the Chinese love the same smartphones as the Ukrainians, or whether they still prefer other models.

And then we decided to find out about the TOP 5 most popular smartphones in China.

Huawei Mate 10

In fifth place among the most popular smartphones in China is Huawei Mate 10. To be honest, the Chinese have taste, even if the price is very low. And it costs about 640 US dollars in China.

Huawei introduced this model back in November, and within just one month the smartphone has gained great popularity in this country. It has quite acceptable dimensions for holding in one hand. And despite the fact that these are the dimensions of a typical 5.5-inch phone, the screen of the Huawei Mate 10 has a diagonal of 5.9 inches with a 2K resolution.

The performance of the smartphone is also lacking. A modern and powerful self-produced HiSilicon Kirin 970 chip, Mali-G72 MP12 graphics, plus 6 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage, turns this smartphone into a real powerful pocket machine for any task.

In fourth place is another representative of the Chinese company Huawei, only this time it is their sub-brand - Honor V9. In China, this smartphone costs about $350. Despite the fact that it was announced back in February 2017, it is still popular in China.

So, the hardware in this phone is a little older when compared to the Mate 10, namely HiSilicon Kirin 960, Mali-G71 MP8 graphics, 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of ROM, but this is still enough for anyone and everyone tasks. And every month this phone will fall in price, and the popularity of such a flagship will only grow.

In third place is a smartphone from Xiaomi - Mi Mix 2, priced at $540. It was presented back in September 2017. Its biggest feature is that this smartphone was designed by French designer Philippe Starck. Thin bezels on all sides and top. All sensors and the front camera are located at the bottom. This is exactly the best design solution according to the Frenchman. Although many are still indignant about the fact that the selfie camera is again located at the bottom, as it was in the first generation model, introduced a year ago.

The power here is at its best, as for a 2017 flagship: Snapdragon 835, Adreno 540, 6 GB of RAM and 64 GB of ROM. But the coolest feature, besides the thin frames around the screen, is the elongated 6-inch screen with an aspect ratio of 18 x 9 with FHD+ resolution.

Vivo X20 Plus

The penultimate model that we will talk about today is the . Thus, the Vivo brand is generally little known among Ukrainians, but this cannot be said about the Chinese. This model was presented back in October. And its best feature is a large, almost 6.5-inch screen with FHD+ resolution and a completely new and modern processor from Qualcomm, Snapdragon 660, which replaced the earlier flagship Snapdragon 820.

The phone in China costs about $450, which is perhaps a little expensive, but the Chinese consumer does not think so, and therefore this model was placed in second place in the ranking of the most popular smartphones in China for 2017.

And now we come to the golden winner - Oppo R11S. This is another brand that few people in Ukraine have heard of. However, after seeing this particular smartphone in person and holding it in your hand, you realize that right now you want it for your birthday.

This smartphone is thin and small in size. And also despite the fact that the screen in it is really large. Whatever you say, the 6-inch elongated display with an aspect ratio of 18 x 9 and FHD+ resolution does its job with a bang!

In addition to a good screen, there is also a good filling: Snapdragon 660, Adreno 512, 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of ROM. The smartphone costs approximately $450.

Conclusion

So! From all this we can only conclude that those Chinese smartphones that are popular in our country are not very popular in China. After all, the Chinese themselves have their own whims under the guise “fifty shades of smartphones”.

But which Chinese phones do you prefer? Or perhaps you like something extravagant - American or Korean?

In the blink of an eye, Chinese manufacturers rose out of nowhere to challenge the world's most powerful smartphone brands. This article selects a dozen mobile giants in China.

About 20 years ago, dozens of phone manufacturers were popular. Europeans remember Bosch and Sendo, Americans can be proud of Palm Pilots. At the same time, the Japanese market supplied phones from Fuji, Panasonic, Sanyo and others.

However, gradually this business became expensive and consumers began to choose a small number of premium brands. For many years, the market leadership was shared by Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, RIM and Samsung. Over time, they were supplanted by Apple, Samsung, HTC, RIM (BlackBerry today) and LG.

Now these successful brands are under threat...

The advent of cheap parts, open source Android, and ambitious emerging economies have begun to change established consumer preferences.

Chinese phone makers, whose products have long been considered cheap and disposable, are on the rise. They have made a splash in their own market, are actively entering new countries and are even making progress in mature regions.

In 2016, Chinese mobile phone manufacturers took 7 positions in the global top ten smartphones. These included: Lenovo, Xiaomi, ZTE, TCL/Alcatel, Huawei, and Coolpad.

This is an amazing turnaround. And this may just be the beginning, with other Chinese brands like Gionee, Tecno and Oppo working hard to crack the top ten smartphones in the world.

Below is a brief description of the Chinese phone makers aiming to displace Apple and Samsung from your pockets and bags...

Alcatel OneTouch/TCL

Previously, the French phone manufacturer was bought by the Chinese telecommunications giant TCL in 2013, the company became known as Alcatel OneTouch, and since then profits from smartphone sales have been steadily growing. It is the tenth largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world and the seventh largest in China. The firm is among Chinese phone makers targeting the US and Canada, increasing its marketing investment sixfold. The most attractive, it bought up the assets of the once beloved US brand - Palm. This led to the launch of the Pixi 3 line of smartphones. The company even launched tablets and smartwatches running on Alcatel's proprietary firmware, which works with iOS or Android.

Coolpad

Chinese cell phone maker Coolpad sells more devices in the domestic market than even Apple or Samsung. It is second only to Xioami and Lenovo, occupying 11.5% of the smartphone market. Coolpad has actually been around since 1993, initially making devices for major carriers like T-Mobile. However, working for the OEM was not very smooth. The real sensation was the news that Coolpad "intentionally" left a security hole that allowed hackers to "accidentally" gain full control of the device. The company began producing products under its own brand during the heyday of Android.

Gionee

The Chinese firm sells about 25 million phones a year compared to Samsung's 400 million, but it is still trying to crack the top five. The company has a long history: in 2002, Gionee began producing consumer electronics - video and DVD. By 2005, the company began producing phones at its own factory in Dongguan, Guangdong Province. Now Gionee competes at the highest level, demonstrating such a spectacular advantage as a camera. The firm is aggressively moving into the Indian market and aims to capture a 10% share over the next two to three years.

Huawei

It must be outrageous for Huawei to watch the unstoppable rise of its compatriot Xiaomi. At the beginning of the decade, the giant telecommunications firm set out to challenge LG, HTC and Sony themselves and take their rightful place among the top five cell phone manufacturers. The company launched its flagship brand, Ascend, and invested heavily in marketing. This has borne fruit, but Huawei products are still more represented in emerging markets than in the US and Europe. Today, Huawei ranks 3rd in terms of smartphone sales, second only to such giants as Samsung and Apple. Recently, Huawei has confirmed its transition from selling cheap phones to delivering high-quality smartphones. It plans to increase smartphone shipments by a third this year.

Lenovo

It is unlikely that this name may become new for anyone, but in 2013-2014. Lenovo has finally moved away from being a pure PC maker to become recognized as a serious player in the mobile phone world. In 2005, Lenovo bought the laptop business from the American company IBM and did something similar in 2014 when it acquired Motorola from Google for $2.9 billion. This acquisition in one fell swoop helped increase the supply of smartphones to the global market by 38%. Today the company ranks 9th in the world along with foreign and local phone manufacturers.

OnePlus

It's easy to characterize Chinese phone makers as a prosaic group that produces boring, functional devices with borrowed components. However, this definitely cannot be said about OnePlus, the founder of which is the vice president of another Chinese phone supplier - Oppo. The company is a true innovator in two areas. First, its phones run CyanogenMod firmware, a re-engineered Android that looks like stock Android OS but allows users to customize it based on their own needs. Secondly, OnePlus distributes its phones by personal invitation. While the latest strategy has received a lot of criticism, at least OnePlus is trying to do something different from the rest. Users love their sleek OnePlus devices.

“So thin, it can cut through a watermelon” - this unusual expression characterizes the Oppo R5. Vivo and Kazam also competed in the race for the title of “thintest” in the world. On the battlefield, Oppo has expressed its desire to compete on the basis of design and innovation rather than price. This led to the innovation of the rotating top-mounted camera on the N1. Oppo makes most of its sales in the domestic market, and the company is also popular in India, Indonesia and Australia.

Tecno

Most Chinese phone manufacturers are targeting Africa as the next target market for smartphone sales. Interestingly, Tecno is ahead of its competitors in this regard. The firm has taken the cell phone market in Nigeria by storm and currently sells about 12.5 million phones on the African continent every quarter. This is more than BlackBerry and Nokia. The company managed to make cheap and reliable phones with pre-installed applications such as the social network Facebook and the music application Spinlet. Tecno also has its factories in Africa.

Xiaomi

Of all the new Chinese phone manufacturers, Xiaomi is undoubtedly the biggest. The company began operating in 2010, and in 2013 hired former Google Android vice president Hugo Barra to manage the company's affairs domestically and throughout Asia. It worked. Three years ago, Xiaomi did not bother the top 10 manufacturers using Android. It now ranks third with 5.3% market share. Essentially, Xiaomi's secret weapon is price. It sells a reliable high-end product with MIUI firmware based on Android. Xiaomi phones are half the price of Galaxy or HTC phones. In addition, Xiaomi phones are primarily sold online, so the price of smartphones does not include any retail markups: the company can sell about 150 thousand phones on the Chinese WeChat app within 10 minutes. Xiaomi sells its smartphones mainly in Asian markets, but is currently actively expanding into the markets of India, Latin America and Africa. The company's products are also represented in Russia.

ZTE

A subsidiary of the giant ZTE corporation, it is actually the fourth largest phone supplier in the United States. The company achieved this success by creating budget smartphones for all major operators. The firm has been trying to establish itself as a high-demand smartphone manufacturer for many years. Like its close rival Huawei, ZTE made a big push in 2011 with premium phones like Skate, but gradually fizzled out. However, in 2016 the company ranks 8th in the world and 5th in China itself.