Xiaomi Beats Samsung To Top China’s Smartphone Charts
Xiaomi‘s flagship smartphone, the Mi 2S, is the most popular phone in China, according to Chinese benchmarking company, Antutu.
According to Antutu’s data on “active device volumes”, the Mi 2S was the most popular phone bought by Chinese users in the first half of this year, followed by Samsung’s latest S4 device.
The Mi 2S is the successor to Xiaomi’s popular Mi 2 smartphone, which sold 7.19 million units in 2012. The Mi 2S was just released in April, at about the same time as the S4.
According to Antutu’s benchmarking tests, the MI 2 performed on a par with the S4, above the HTC One. Samsung’s latest Octa S4 was the fastest phone, leaving the MI S2 and S4 tied for second place.
Antutu pointed out that the Xiaomi’s relatively lower price to power performance was likely the reason for its success in China.
Samsung’s S4 costs about $600, while the MI 2S goes for less than half, at $277 (1699 RMB). The Mi 2 sold for $326 (1,999 RMB) last year.
Elsewhere in North Asia, Samsung’s 5.5″ phablet, the Galaxy Note II was the most popular phone in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Japan’s phone of choice was the Sony Xperia Z.
Part of the reason the Xiaomi hasn’t seen the same popularity outside its home country could be that the company has famously been low on supplies because it produces just enough stock for the forecasted demand.
Its CEO and founder, Lei Jun, said earlier this year that the firm only produces as many handsets as it expects to sell, and that it doesn’t intend to waste resources overproducing. This strategy has delayed delivery dates by about three to four months per batch, he said in March.
But Xiaomi has started ramping up production, it said recently. It just raised its sales target for this year to 20 million smartphones, from 15 million previously. According to reports, Xiaomi sold 7.03 million devices across its portfolio in the first six months this year, almost catching up to the 7.19 million phones (mainly the Mi 2) for the whole of 2012.
Update: It appears Xiaomi is chasing the charts from bottom-up, as well. While the Mi 2S is positioned as a premium device, its $130 (799 RMB) quadcore Hongmi phone sold out in 90 seconds today.
The company announced on its Sina Weibo account that the first 100,000 units of the phone, released at 12 noon on Tencent Qzone, sold out in a minute-and-a-half. (Spotted by TechInAsia)
It said that another 7.45 million reservations have been placed for the phone, as well.
Top 10 Best Android Chinese Smartphones: December 2016
10. Xiaomi Mi 5 & Mi 5 Pro
The Xiaomi Mi 5 and Xiaomi Mi 5 Pro were introduced back in February during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona. These two variants of the Xiaomi Mi 5 have been available out in the market for a long time, but are far from being the most powerful Xiaomi-branded devices out there. Still, the two handsets are still plenty powerful, and quite affordable. You do get the Snapdragon 820 SoC here, a 5.15-inch fullHD display, metal + glass build, etc.
Advertisement
Buy The Xiaomi Mi 5 (3GB RAM + 32GB storage variant)
Buy The Xiaomi Mi 5 Prime (3GB RAM + 64GB storage variant)
Buy The Xiaomi Mi 5 Pro (4GB RAM + 128GB storage variant
Advertisement
9. Elephone S7
The Elephone S7 is one of the better-looking smartphones out there, though it looks almost identical to the Galaxy S7 Edge. The device is made out of metal and glass, and comes in a number of different color variants, and also different internals, ranging from 2GB all the way to 4GB of RAM. Aside from the RAM differences, the phone also comes in two processors variants (Elephone S7 Mini and Elephone S7), while you do get Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box here, with a planned upgrade to Android 7.0 Nougat.
Advertisement
Buy the Elephone S7 Mini (2GB RAM + 32GB storage)
Buy the Elephone S7 (3GB RAM + 32GB storage)
Buy the Elephone S7 (4GB RAM + 64GB storage)
Advertisement
8. Huawei Honor 8
The Honor 8 is the most powerful Honor-branded devices that were announced to date. This handset is made out of metal and glass as well, just like the devices we’ve talked about a minute ago. This handset is quite compact, it sports a 5.2-inch fullHD (1920 x 1080) display, and in addition to that comes with 4GB of RAM. The phone is fueled by the Kirin 950 64-bit octa-core processor, and offers Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box with the company’s Emotion UI on top of it.
Advertisement
Buy The Huawei Honor 8
7. LeEco Le Pro3
Advertisement
The LeEco Le Pro3 is LeEco’s latest and greatest smartphone. This handset is quite powerful, and is made out of metal, while it’s also quite affordable as well. The LeEco Le Pro3 is fueled by the Snapdragon 821 64-bit quad-core processor, while it packs in 4GB / 6GB of RAM and 32GB / 64GB /128GB of non-expandable native storage. The phone comes with a 16-megapixel main camera, and an 8-megapixel front-facing shooter.
Buy The LeEco Le Pro 3
6. Meizu PRO 6s
Advertisement
The Meizu PRO 6s had been announced quite recently as the company’s flagship device, but was not able to keep that title for long, as the Meizu PRO 6 Plus came to play. The Meizu PRO 6s is still Meizu’s most powerful compact device, though, as it sports a 5.2-inch fullHD AMOLED display. The phone also packs in 4GB of RAM and 32GB / 64GB of non-expandable native storage. MediaTek’s Helio X25 64-bit deca-core processor fuels this smartphone, and Android 6.0 Marshmallow comes out of the box with Meizu’s Flyme OS on top of it.
Buy the Meizu Pro 6s
5. ZTE AXON 7
ZTE had introduced three ‘AXON 7’ smartphones this year, and the ZTE AXON 7 is the most powerful one. This handset features a 5.5-inch QHD (2560 x 1440) AMOLED display, and is made out of metal. The fingerprint scanner is placed on the back of the device, and the phone is fueled by the Snapdragon 820. The ZTE AXON 7 comes with great audio capabilities, and packs in 4GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable native storage.
Buy The ZTE AXON 7
4. Xiaomi Mi 5s & Mi 5s Plus
The Xiaomi Mi 5s and Mi 5s Plus had been announced quite recently, and are amongst the most powerful Xiaomi-branded devices out there at the moment, we can even call them the company’s flagship smartphones, even though the Mi Note 2 trumps them both. The Xiaomi Mi 5s and Mi 5s Plus are both made out of metal, and are fueled by the Snapdragon 821 SoC. Android 6.0 Marshmallow is installed on both of these devices, and the company’s MIUI 8 OS comes on top of Google’s OS.
Buy the Xiaomi Mi 5s (3GB RAM + 64GB storage)
Buy the Xiaomi Mi 5s (4GB RAM + 128GB storage)
Buy the Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus (4GB RAM + 64GB storage)
Buy the Xiaomi Mi 5s Plus (6GB RAM + 128GB storage)
3. Xiaomi Mi Note 2 & Xiaomi Mi MIX
The Xiaomi Mi Note 2 is the most powerful smartphones Xiaomi had introduced thus far, and the Mi MIX is their bezel-less, concept smartphone which looks really nice. Both of these phones come with the Snapdragon 821 SoC, and Android 6.0 Marshmallow with Xiaomi’s custom UI on top of it. The Mi Note 2 sports a curved AMOLED display, while the Mi MIX ships with an IPS LCD panel. Both of these devices are available in 4GB RAM and 6GB RAM variants.
Pre-Order the Xiaomi Mi Note 2 (4GB RAM + 64GB storage)
Pre-Order the Xiaomi Mi Note 2 (6GB RAM + 128GB storage)
Pre-Order the Xiaomi Mi Note 2 Global Variant (6GB RAM + 128GB storage)
Pre-Order the Xiaomi Mi MIX (4GB RAM + 128GB storage)
Pre-Order the Xiaomi Mi MIX (6GB RAM + 256GB storage)
2. Meizu PRO 6 Plus
Meizu had introduced the Meizu PRO 6 Plus quite recently as their Exynos 8890-powered flagship phablet. This handset looks similar to the Meizu PRO 6 and Meizu PRO 6s, but is considerably bigger with a 5.7-inch QHD (2560 x 1440) AMOLED display, and is also more powerful. The device packs in 4GB of RAM, and Android 6.0 Marshmallow comes pre-installed on this phablet with Meizu’s Flyme 6 OS.
Buy the Meizu PRO 6 Plus (4GB RAM + 64GB storage)
Buy the Meizu PRO 6 Plus (4GB RAM + 128GB storage)
1. OnePlus 3T
OnePlus had introduced two flagship smartphones this year, the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T. The OnePlus 3T is identical to the OnePlus 3 in terms of the design, but is somewhat more powerful. The OnePlus 3T comes with a 5.5-inch fullHD (1920 x 1080) AMOLED display, 6GB of RAM and 64GB / 128GB of internal storage. The device is fueled by the Snapdragon 821, and a 16-megapixel camera can be found on the back of the phone, and also on its front side, while the 3,400mAh battery is also a part of this package.
Buy the OnePlus 3T
The best Chinese phones you can’t buy in the US
The American smartphone market is an increasingly boring place to be. You have Apple and Samsung at the top, LG in a distant third, then Motorola, and maybe the occasional wildcard option like Google and OnePlus collectively making up less than ten percent. If that’s all you see when you enter a phone store, you could be forgiven for having lost interest in phones altogether.
As this year’s Mobile World Congress demonstrated in acute fashion, however, there is a ton of interesting stuff going on outside the States — and a whole lot of it is coming from China. 2018 was the year that Chinese manufacturers made a firm claim to be producing the most exciting and experimental phone hardware in the world, with wild designs from the likes of Oppo and Vivo. Others are competing on different terms, making phones of surprising quality at prices American buyers could only dream of. And going forward, Huawei and Xiaomi have demonstrated some of the most attractive foldable phone designs yet.
But for a long and complex list of reasons, barely any compelling Chinese phones go on sale in the US beyond those from OnePlus, a company whose key designs invariably show up in Oppo phones months earlier. And while it’s technically possible to import Chinese phones, we wouldn’t often recommend it unless you’re confident that you won’t run into any issues with unfamiliar software or LTE bands.
Just in case you’re interested, though, here’s what you’re missing in the US right now.
Photo by Dan Seifert / The Verge
Xiaomi Mi 9
Xiaomi’s flagship Mi series tends to combine high-end specs, conventional design, and low prices, and that’s certainly the case with the latest entry. The Mi 9 has a notched 6.4-inch OLED display, a Snapdragon 855 processor, up to 12GB of RAM, an in-screen fingerprint scanner, and a triple-camera system with three separate focal lengths.
There isn’t much groundbreaking about the Mi 9 itself unless you care about wireless charging speed, but Xiaomi’s ability to price a 6GB of RAM/128GB of storage variant for just 2,999 yuan (~$450) continues to be the company’s key advantage. The Mi 9 makes even OnePlus phones look questionably priced, never mind Samsung and Apple.
Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge
Xiaomi Mi Mix 3
The Mi Mix is a higher-end line for Xiaomi, and ever since the original model has always been about achieving the most bezel-free design possible — no notches allowed. That tradition continues with the Mi Mix 3, which uses a magnetic slider mechanism to raise the selfie camera from behind the uninterrupted screen.
There are certainly tradeoffs with this approach. The Mi Mix 3 is thicker than you’d expect for a phone with just a 3,200mAh battery, and the mechanism isn’t always easy to operate one-handed. You’ll also have to wait until May for the 5G version if you want a larger battery and this year’s Snapdragon 855 chip, and who knows how that’ll turn out.
But at a starting price of 3,299 yuan (~$475) for a 6GB/128GB model, the Mi Mix 3 is still at least as compelling a value proposition as the Mi 9. Especially if you hold a personal vendetta against notches.
Photo by Vlad Savov / The Verge
Huawei Mate 20 Pro
You can’t ignore the political pressure Huawei faces in the US, but the simple fact is that the Mate 20 Pro is a big deal virtually everywhere else. Huawei’s latest flagship is an extremely good handset with an impressive Kirin 980 SoC, a strong triple-camera setup, an excellent curved OLED display, both 3D face-scanning and an in-display fingerprint sensor, and a massive battery that delivers class-leading endurance.
If hardware were everything, the Mate 20 would have a very strong claim to be the best phone in the world. Unfortunately, it is not, and Huawei’s EMUI software remains one of the least elegant examples of a heavy-handed Chinese Android skin; Xiaomi’s MIUI blows it away in terms of usability. If you can get over the software and the £899 (~$1,200) price, though, this phone is a serious contender.
Photo by Sam Byford / The Verge
Honor View 20
Huawei sub-brand Honor’s latest flagship has the same EMUI drawback, but no-one can complain about the price. Launched a couple of months ago, the View 20 has the same Kirin 980 chip as the Mate 20 Pro alongside a couple of smartphone firsts: a hole-punch LCD and an intermittently great 48-megapixel camera. You also get a large 4,000mAh battery and even a headphone jack.
All of this comes in at £499 (~$650), and there’s very little to point to on the View 20 that renders it less than flagship-class. Sure, the Mate 20 Pro has wireless charging, a better camera, and an OLED screen, but overall the View 20 would be an impressive device at any price — let alone one this reasonable. It’s also the only phone on this list that should eventually get a US release, though we’ll see how that turns out.
Photo by Sam Byford / The Verge
Vivo V15 Pro
The V15 Pro is Vivo’s newly announced mainstream flagship, and it brings some of the company’s high-end features from last year to a more accessible device. There’s a 32-megapixel pop-up selfie camera, a speedy in-display fingerprint sensor, a 48-megapixel main camera, and — of course — an OLED screen with no notch and barely any bezels.
This is also the first phone to use Qualcomm’s new mid-to-high-end Snapdragon 675 processor, and performance has been impressive in my testing. At around $400, this is an extremely compelling mid-range device if you can deal with the Micro USB port and lack of wireless charging.
Photo by Sam Byford / The Verge
Vivo Nex
If you prefer the smaller pop-up selfie camera design to Oppo and Xiaomi’s more elaborate mechanisms, the highest-end option is still the original Nex. The Vivo Nex has a Snapdragon 845, a 4,000mAh battery, a giant 6.6-inch notchless screen, and both USB-C *and* a headphone jack.
Vivo’s subsequent full-screen phones have been more refined in various ways, with improved in-display fingerprint sensors, better-quality selfie cameras, and more sensible screen sizes. But as one of the most decadent and feature-packed phones ever created, the original Nex still makes a statement — iridescent rainbow-dot pattern and all.
Vivo Nex Dual Display Edition
The Nex Dual Display Edition, on the other hand, makes the original Nex look positively restrained. Its solution to the problem of where to put the selfie camera on a bezel-less phone is… not to have one at all. Vivo just stuck another screen on the back so you can use it as a viewfinder when the regular camera is pointing at you. The camera is also surrounded by a colorful light-up “Lunar Ring” that cuts into the second screen.
This mostly works fine, apart from the multiple times a day you’ll find yourself taking the phone out of your pocket and staring at a blank screen because the “switch screens” and “wake” buttons swap functionality based on the phones’ orientation and yet are indistinguishable by feel. But if you want the world’s best selfie phone and don’t mind that it might also be the world’s most fragile phone — at least until foldables arrive — this could be for you.
Photo by Sam Byford / The Verge
Oppo Find X
Even though it was announced the best part of a year ago, the Oppo Find X is arguably still the most beguiling Android phone around. Its curved notchless screen and unique motorized sliding design, where the entire top panel of the phone rises up to reveal a 3D face scanner and selfie camera, make it the most convincing attempt yet at achieving the all-screen dream.
Oppo later released the Find X Lamborghini Edition, which keeps the same basic specs but bundles some passable wireless earbuds and introduces one legitimately cool feature. Super VOOC makes use of a custom dual-cell design that allows you to go from 0- to 100-percent charge in just 35 minutes — an unbelievably fast time for a 3,400mAh battery. The Find X might still be using a Snapdragon 845, but it still feels cutting-edge.
Photo by Sam Byford / The Verge
Oppo F11 Pro
Oppo announced the F11 Pro this week, and it’s similar to Vivo’s V15 Pro: 48-megapixel camera, pop-up selfie camera, headphone jack, Micro USB. It also has maybe my favorite gradient color scheme since China seemingly decided a year ago that all phones should look like this.
The F11 Pro is a little lower-end than the V15 Pro, though: there’s no in-display fingerprint sensor, the selfie camera is 16 megapixels, and the processor is a MediaTek Helio P70. That’s reflected in the lower price of ~$350, which means it still offers pretty great value for anyone who doesn’t need the highest-end specs around.
Photo by Sam Byford / The Verge
Realme 3
There are literally countless budget Chinese phones I could have included here for the exact same reasons — this Realme 3 is just the most recent example. Realme is an India-focused brand spun out of Oppo, and its products make our US-targeted “Best cheap phones you can buy” article from last year seem sort of embarrassing.
Sure, if you have $180 in the US you can get that LG K30 with chunky bezels, a 5.3-inch LCD, a 2,800mAh battery, 32GB of storage, and 2GB of RAM. Realme 3 customers in India, on the other hand, get a modern-looking 6.4-inch LCD with a tiny notch, a 4,230mAh battery, 32GB of storage, and 3GB of RAM for about $125. It’s also just $30 more for 4GB of RAM and doubles the storage to 64GB.
Leave a Reply