A few days back we learned iPhone has lost position of the best-selling phone in China for the first time in 5 years. Now the most popular smartphone in the Middle Kingdom is the Oppo R9, which sold 17 million units in 2016. This is more by 5 million than all sold iPhone 6S devices. You can always say this is China, and it’s reasonable customers from this market will prefer their own products. But everyday more and more smartphone users replace their current phones with Chinese products. Just recently the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 launched in India was sold out in 10 minutes. You have to take into account we are talking about 250k units. Plus, you have to take into account Indian markets is considered to come with low incomes. Another example, Elephone officially launched in Russia today. Thus Chinese smartphone makers run aggressive campaign in three of the biggest smartphone markets. This simply means other big markets like the US and Europe will be occupied by Chinese brands in the near future. So we decided to find out which are the best Chinese smartphones.
Read: Top 10 Chinese Smartphone Makers of 2016
This is not bad at all. The time has passed when Chinese brands were carrying a bad rep. Those who look for good smartphones are informed about a dozen of Chinese manufacturers coming in with great devices. Moreover, Chinese companies are pioneers in many niches. I mean they try to bring new technologies to the market. And most of them succeed. Lenovo and Huawei have been familiar to people for a while, and there are a few new brands in face of Xiaomi, Meizu, or Oppo getting popularity as well. That’s why 7 out of the top 10 biggest phone makers come from China. These brands offer handsets at different price range. Thus customers can choose any devices from any category.
Here is the list of the Best Chinese Smartphones. Actually, this list is provided by PhoneArena, but we have our insights in this case. So appreciate the work our friends at this site have done, but let’s take a peek at the list made by foreigners and assessed by us.
Xiaomi Mi MIX
Not accidentally the Xiaomi Mi MIX is the best Chinese smartphone among foreigners. It has been launched in November, 2016 among with another crazy handset from this manufacturer dubbed as the Xiaomi Mi Note 2. Both handsets fill all the gaps left by the misjudged Xiaomi Mi 5S and Mi 5S Plus. Thanks to a unique design, large screen with no bezels, innovative technologies like built-in speakers under the screen and many other features the Xiaomi Mi MIX has won hearts of million users. That’s why all three bunches have been sold out in counted seconds. This phone has become popular even in non-Asian markets – I guess you remember it appeared on Time Magazine along Donald Trump. And its popularity was the main reason why the company decided to unveil the white version of the Mi MIX at CES 2017. However, this handset has a big shortcoming, as many think. Its housing is completely made of ceramic that means we are dealing with a fragile handset. But be sure it’s the way resistance than myriads of other top-end handsets.
Read: Xiaomi Mi MIX unboxing.
Buy Xiaomi Mi MIX for $769,99 from Banggood
Buy Xiaomi Mi MIX for $799,99 from GeekBuying
Xiaomi Mi Note 2
This handset was launched at the same time with the Mi MIX. But if the latter has not been known till the release day, all Mi fans have been waiting for the Mi Note 2 for a long time. I guess no one will mind if I say the Xiaomi Mi Note 2 was the last chance of the company to stay afloat after the failure of the Xiaomi Mi 5S and 5S Plus. Luckily the Xiaomi Mi Note 2 was the phone all Mi fans would like to own. But Xiaomi couldn’t predict the closest rival to its flagship will lose the game even not started. I am talking about the Samsung Galaxy Note 7. Due to exploding batteries all the units were recalled. So the Mi Note 2 stayed alone with its glory. It is considered as the best curved screen phablet. Though there are some competitors to it, but you should understand none of them can make a real competition to Xiaomi’s beast.
Read: Xiaomi Mi Note 2 Review.
Buy Xiaomi Mi Note 2 for $633.99 from GeekBuying
Buy Xiaomi Mi Note 2 for $659.99 from Banggood
Buy Xiaomi Mi Note 2 for $715.99 form GearBest
Honor Magic
When everyone is obsessed with dual-curved bodies found on top-notch smartphones Huawei decided to go further and launched the highly anticipated Honor Magic. The latter is known for a list of innovations concerning the design as well as features. First, the Honor Magic is curved on all eight sides. This handset is an ideal for symmetry. We can state if the ideal object, then the Huawei Honor Magic is an ideal smartphone at least in terms of design. But if you think this phone is perfect only externally, you are confused. The phone features a 5.09-inch AMOLED 2K display, Kirin 950 processor, and a number of innovative technologies. Say it only vibrates when holding in hand, and rings when put somewhere. However, the Honor Magic is pushed back to the third place due to a high price tag.
Read: Huawei Honor Magic Image Tour.
Buy Huawei Honor Magic for $659.99 from Banggood
Huawei Mate 9
Finally, the last model of the first major-league phones is the Huawei Mate 9. It can be considered as the best Chinese smartphone due to a gorgeous looking handset managed to win hearts of millions users. Huawei is the most selling Chinese smartphone brand, and it has won this title not accidentally. This company always comes with unique handsets. That’s why Huawei is a head higher than many other brands. As for the Mate 9, it looks amazing. Every detail is thought carefully. Plus, the Huawei Mate 9 packs a list of astonishing features including a 5.9-inch Full HD display, Kirin 960 own-made processor, dual camera at 20MP + 12MP with Leica optics, and many more. The latest addition to the Huawei Mate 9 family was the Obsidian Black color options. So there was only one thing some Huawei-haters could complain. Now there is nothing to mire.
Read: Huawei Mate 9 Obsidian Black Hands-on Photos.
Buy Huawei Mate 9 for $629.99 from Banggood
Buy Huawei Mate 9 for $688.99 from GeekBuying
OnePlus 3T
This is from those smartphones that international version has been launched earlier than the Chinese version. Thus the manufacturer focus on international market with its 3 series handsets. The original OnePlus 3 was one of the best mid-range handsets competing with the Xiaomi Mi 5. If taking into account the latter is considered as the reason of Xiaomi’s success, then the OnePlus 3 and its siblings are the most dangerous rivals to all mid-range smartphones. This statement is true for the OnePlus 3T, as it comes with an astonishing design and many useful features. They include a 5.5-inch Full HD Optic AMOLED screen protected with Gorilla Glass 4, Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 CPU, 6GB RAM, 64GB / 128GB ROM, 16MP OIS cameras on the front and back, 3400mAh battery, USB Type-C and many more. And what’s amazing all these goodies you will get for only $400 or something around this.
Buy OnePlus 3T for $439.99 from Banggood
Buy OnePlus 3T for $439.99 from GeekBuying
Buy OnePlus 3T for $529.99 from GearBest
Huawei P9
It’s a bit difficult to imagine how a mid-range smartphone can sport a dual-camera, but when it comes to Huawei, everything is possible. The Huawei P9 comes with a dual-camera at 12MP. This is the selling point of the device, so let’s focus on it. This camera features f/2.2 aperture, which is not too large, but it is still able to provide great shooting experience. There is also Leica optics, PDA, dual-LED for better capture in low-light conditions, and the sensor comes at 1.25 µm pixel size. As you see, the Huawei P9 sports a beast camera. I guess this is the main reason why it was in the first positions along with the Mate 8 of the best-selling Huawei handsets.
Read: iPhone 7 Plus Vs Huawei P9 Dual Camera Comparison!
Read: Quick Look at Huawei P9.
Buy Huawei P9 for $459.99 from GeekBuying
Buy Huawei P9 for $571.56 from GearBest
Honor 8
Another dual-camera handset from Huawei that has break all the records. This mid-range smartphone was sold in 1.5 million units in 50 days. This was another big step making Huawei the first Chinese smartphone maker. We even came in with an interesting article comparing this beast with Xiaomi’s monster, Mi 5. It’s very difficult to say which of them is better, but the fact we are dealing with a great handset sporting a stylish design and a list of decent features is undeniable. The Huawei Honor is equipped with a 5.2-inch Full HD screen, HiSilicon Kirin 950 CPU, 4GB of RAM, 32GB / 64GB of ROM, dual 12MP camera and many more. And you have to pay $350 or something around it.
Buy Huawei Honor 8 for $346.08 from GearBest
ZTE Axon 7
Not accidentaly the ZTE Axon 7 is considered as a ‘flagship killer’. This term simply means a phone packs high-end features at a price that challenge the status quo. I mean when we are looking for a new smartphone the pricing may play a decisive role. But for flagship killers the pricing always causes the opposite reaction. Customers may change their decision because of a low price tag. However, the ZTE Axon 7 is too popular, and these fears are not actual for the handset. It has become so popular due a decent specs of list including a 5.5-inch Quad HD (2,560 x 1,440 pixel) AMOLED screen, AKM AK4961 and AKM AK4490 dedicated audio chips supporting Hi-Fi audio playback through headphones and loudspeakers (plus, front-facing stereo speakers and sound-enhancing Dolby Atmos technology), 20MP camera with f/1.8 aperture and OIS (it is capable of recording 4K videos at 30fps), Snapdragon 820 CPU, 4GB / 6GB RAM, 64GB / 128GB ROM, and 3250mAh battery.
Buy ZTE Axon 7 for $491.21 from GearBest
LeEco Le Pro 3
LeEco has been unknown to large masses till recently. Now the manufacturer showcases stunning sales numbers, and all geeks are sure…
