The best quality Chinese smartphones, top 10 ranking

Today, Chinese digital technology is becoming more and more popular, especially for mobile devices — phones, smartphones, tablets, laptops and so on. On the shelves of the respective stores you can find a significant range of these products. Many consumers prefer Chinese-made smartphones, primarily due to the fact that they are characterized by low cost and advanced functionality.

Nevertheless, choosing the most suitable model is not too easy, in order to alleviate this problem, we decided to rank the best quality Chinese smartphones in 2019. However, before proceeding to a direct analysis of the useful qualities of the models selected for review, let’s see what you should pay attention to when buying these devices. With this, perhaps, we will begin.

How to choose a quality Chinese smartphone in 2022?

In principle, the rules for choosing a reliable Chinese smartphone are practically no different from buying similar products from other manufacturers. Mainly, you should pay attention to the processor, since the speed and performance of the device will directly depend on this element. It should be noted right away that models equipped with Allwinner, Spreadtrum, Broadcom and Rockchip brand processors should not be preferred. The fact is that devices equipped with such details are very cheap, but they simply work worse than ever — slow, periodically freeze. In addition, no updates are released over time.

It is much better to give preference to smartphones with processors of more famous brands — MediaTek, Snapdragon, and so on. They are regularly updated, characterized by high speed, good performance, allowing you to play demanding games, process photos, and so on.

The next important parameter is the amount of RAM — this moment also seriously affects the performance of the smartphone. It is best to purchase a device with as much RAM as possible. It must be remembered that this kind of memory is spent not only on the operation of various kinds of applications, but is also spent directly on the operating system. Built-in memory corresponds to the amount of stored data. Therefore, the more it is, the better, although most modern smartphones are able to compensate for the lack of internal memory by installing an additional microSD flash card.

The size and type of display is also very important. It is not necessary to give preference to displays with a very large diagonal, since they are not very comfortable to hold in your hands, they can slip out and the like. It is best to take the device in hand before buying directly. If your thumb can reach all points of the display, then this screen size is the most suitable. Almost all modern smartphones, regardless of their country of production, are equipped with a whole range of wireless connection modules, so we won’t focus on them too much.

Let’s better turn to the battery capacity — this parameter provides the maximum duration of the gadget’s wireless operation. It is best to purchase devices with batteries whose capacity exceeds at least 3200 mAh. This will allow you to use your smartphone continuously for about 5-6 hours.

When choosing models to include in our review of the best Chinese smartphones, we were guided by all of the above factors, and also relied on points such as value for money and product quality and user reviews. For each model, we tried to collect the maximum amount of information so that each reader can choose the optimal model according to their capabilities and needs.

The cheapest quality devices

3. Xiaomi Redmi 4X 32GB

This brand has existed on the Russian market for several years — domestic consumers have already become accustomed to its design and quite decent performance. The appearance of this model is quite calm and, as some users note, very ordinary. In total, products are sold in three colors — gold, black and pink. All frames framing the display are quite thin, the case has smooth and pleasant to the touch roundings, the screen is reliably protected from possible damage by special Gorilla Glass 2.5D, and the front side of the case is made of reliable aluminum alloy, which has decent strength. This gadget has no special recognizable features. All control elements are located as standard — above the screen there is a speaker grill and a front camera, in the immediate vicinity of which light and proximity sensors are installed.

Under the display there are three touch-type keys — «Home», «Back» and «Task Manager». All of them are visible perfectly, they work instantly. The case is a monoblock with a single extractable tray of a combined type: it contains two trays, one of which is used exclusively for a SIM card, the second can be designed for both a SIM card and a memory card. There are no sharp edges, so the smartphone fits very comfortably in the hand, the presence of roughness on the case prevents it from slipping out. The fingerprint scanner works quite quickly. The display diagonal is 5 inches with a maximum resolution of 1280×720 pixels. The main camera has a resolution of 13 megapixels, so it is capable of shooting video with the highest resolution of 1080p and a frame rate of up to 30 per minute.

Advantages:

• The capabilities of the hardware are enough to run even the most demanding games;
• Long battery life;
• Quite reasonable cost.

Disadvantages:

• No NFC module;
• Wi-Fi can only work in one band.

Xiaomi Redmi 4X 32GB

2. Vivo Y81

It has small overall dimensions and weight, as well as users note its excellent grace. Despite the fact that the appearance is a little banal, but the assembly is characterized by excellent quality. All frames are quite narrow, including the top one, which has a special recess for the earpiece and the front camera. Despite the small dimensions of this recess, the manufacturer managed to install several main sensors there, which allow for maximum convenience of working with this phone. The right and left frames are somewhat different in their width, but this is only noticeable when looking closely at the gadget. The display is covered with a protective glass with a special oleophobic coating, which reliably protects the screen from fingerprints.

The screen diagonal is quite large — 6.22 inches, but this does not mean that the manufacturers have turned out to be a large device. From the point of view of modern trends, it belongs to medium-sized devices. The screen resolution is 1520×720 pixels — a little less than the classic Full HD, but also quite decent, moreover, this moment allows you to significantly reduce battery consumption and, as a result, extend the battery life. At the back, the camera eye protrudes from the body by literally half a millimeter. The body is entirely made of high quality plastic, equipped with stiffeners. You can insert two SIM cards and a memory card into the slot at the same time, which is quite convenient. The main element here is the MediaTek processor, which has excellent performance. One battery charge is enough for about two days of not too active use of the smartphone.

Advantages:

• High-quality display that saves energy consumption;
• Decent performance indicators of the device;
• The resolution of the camera allows you to take pictures of very high definition;
• Carefully thought out face recognition function;
• There are three slots — two for SIM cards and one for a memory card;
• Both SIM cards can function at the same time.

Disadvantages:

• There is no fingerprint scanner;
• The quality of the multimedia speaker leaves much to be desired.

Vivo Y81

1. Xiaomi Redmi 6A

From the point of view of appearance, this product is a typical representative of its brand — the front panel is reliably protected by special glass, the corners of the display and the case are slightly rounded. The back cover is made of reliable plastic with stiffening ribs, which has a matte finish that reliably protects the smartphone from slipping out of hands. The external speaker grille is made of stainless steel and is located on the back side of the case. The smartphone is sold in four colors — gray, blue, gold and pink. The location of the control elements is also standard: on the right you can find a rocker that controls the volume and a power button, and on the left side there are trays. One of them is designed for installing only a SIM card, the second is for a SIM card and a memory card. Manufacturers have provided a moment that allows you to use two SIM cards and a flash card at once. Overall dimensions are insignificant — 147.5×71.5×8.3 mm with a weight of 145 grams.

The screen is characterized by excellent detail, viewing angles are relatively wide, there is a protective glass and an oleophobic coating that prevents fingerprints from appearing on the display and the accumulation of dirt. The width of the frames is small. Color reproduction is excellent, colors are not distorted at all. The capacity of the non-removable lithium-ion battery is 3000 mAh, and this parameter is enough for about 9 hours of continuous operation. There is also a MediaTek Helio A22 quad-core processor with a maximum clock speed of 2 GHz. The amount of RAM is 2 GB, the internal memory can be 16 or 32 GB, depending on the modification of the smartphone. The main camera has a resolution of 13 MPix, while the front camera has a resolution of 5 MPix, which is quite enough for shooting high-quality selfies.

Advantages:

• Optimal screen aspect ratio;
• The memory card has its own slot;
• When recording video in low light conditions, the noise reduction system is activated;
• Decent battery capacity;
• High performance parameters;
• Decent amount of built-in storage.

Disadvantages:

• The maximum brightness is not too high, so it will not be so easy to see the image in direct sunlight;
• No infrared port provided;
• There is no fast charging function.

Xiaomi Redmi 6A

Mid-range smartphones

4.HUAWEI P Smart (2019)

In its range, this model deserves to be one of the leaders due to its attractive design and good performance. The appearance of the developers really turned out to be quite interesting — the back panel is made in the form of a mirror surface with a play of light on a plastic cover. All edges and corners are significantly smoothed, making this device very convenient and comfortable to hold in your hands. The assembly is characterized by excellent quality — no extraneous squeaks, backlashes and other problems with the body were found. Overall dimensions are not very large — 155.2×73.4×7.95 mm with a weight of 160 grams. The result is a not too heavy and relatively compact device. On the front side, in addition to the display, you can find a camera, a speaker hidden behind a stainless steel grille. The sound is quite loud, so when talking, the interlocutor will be clearly audible.

There is a standard headphone and headset jack. Combined slot — designed for two SIM cards or one SIM card and a flash drive. On the back side, you can find a dual camera, a fingerprint scanner, a fairly bright LED flash. The display is capacitive, all the frames are rather narrow, they are almost invisible during operation of the device. The screen diagonal is 6.21 inches, its resolution is 2340×1080 pixels. Viewing angles are wide, no color distortion is observed. The battery capacity is 3400 mAh, which allows you to actively use the gadget for a whole day. There is everything you need for wireless connections — Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, LTE, GPS modules and so on. It has 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal memory, which, combined with a powerful processor, provides excellent product performance.

Advantages:

• Quite an interesting appearance;
• Good equipment performance;
• The Wi-Fi module is capable of working in two bands at once;
• Decent battery life.

Disadvantages:

• Not very high indicators of the maximum brightness of the device;
• The amount of RAM is small, considering that the smartphone is based on the Android operating system

HUAWEI P Smart (2019)

3. Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro

Initially, the developers of this smartphone model focused in their plans on the products of the American company Apple — iPhone X. The back cover is made of high-quality aluminum alloy of low weight and good rigidity. The surface reliably resists scratches and fingerprints. On sale you can find three color versions of this product — in black, blue and pink. On the right side there is a volume rocker, a power button, on the opposite side you can find a tray for two SIM cards and one memory card, and one slot here is of a hybrid type. The main camera here is double, equipped with a bright LED flash, in the immediate vicinity of it there is a fingerprint scanner, which works very quickly. The overall dimensions of the product are 157.9×76.4×8.3 with a weight of 183 grams. In the hand, the model fits quite comfortably, does not slip, you can reach any point on the screen with your finger.

The display diagonal is 6.26 inches with a resolution of 2280×1080 pixels. This allows you to ensure the highest possible clarity of the picture. Color reproduction here is close to natural, and color distortions were not found, regardless of the viewing angle. Gorilla Glass 2.5D is used as a protective coating, and an oleophobic coating is also applied to it, which protects the screen from fingerprints. There is support for multi-touch, providing recognition of up to 10 simultaneous touches. The smartphone has a fairly powerful battery with a capacity of 4000 mAh, which allows you to use it without recharging for two days. The processor uses an eight-core microchip Qualcomm Snapdragon with a maximum clock speed of 1.8 GHz. RAM is provided 3 or 4 GB, depending on the modification, and the size of the internal drive is 32 or 64 GB.

Advantages:

• Very high iron performance;
• Decent display brightness;
• Good quality pictures and videos;
• Excellent sound clarity during playback;
• Long battery life.

Disadvantages:

• Does not support NFC technology;
• For individual settings, there is a binding to the region of operation.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro

2. Xiaomi Mi A2

This smartphone does not particularly stand out in terms of design compared to other models released by this company. However, there are still some differences, although it will be difficult to immediately notice them: the case here is one-piece, made of a special aluminum alloy, and has an increased level of strength. There are special slots-grooves that are designed for laying external antennas. The screen here is covered with a protective glass of the latest generation Corning Gorilla Glass 5. The assembly itself is characterized by excellent quality — the body of the device is excellently durable, it is solid and strong, no squeaks or other extraneous sounds occur during compression. Aluminum has a rough finish, although it will still slip a little in the hands. It should be noted the insignificant thickness of the case. At the back there is a dual camera with LED flash, it is shifted closer to the left side, the fingerprint scanner is located in the center of the panel.

All control buttons are on the same side, which is quite convenient, the keys are large, easily detected by touch, respond quickly and clearly, but you have to press them with some effort. The display diagonal is almost 6 inches with a resolution of 2160×1080 pixels. The width of the frames is insignificant — 3 mm on the sides, almost 1 cm on the top and bottom. There is a light sensor that allows you to automatically adjust the brightness to the existing conditions. There is a multi-touch that supports up to 10 simultaneous touches. The screen is reliably protected from all sorts of scratches, has good anti-glare characteristics. The resolution of the main camera is 20 megapixels, it has about the same operating modes as a professional camera. The operating system used here is one of the latest versions of the Android platform — 8.1, which is characterized by low resource requirements and decent performance.

Advantages:

• Excellent performance, which also applies to fairly demanding games;
• Excellent image quality on the main camera;
• operating system speed.

Disadvantages:

• There is no slot for a memory card;
• There is also no standard headphone jack.

Xiaomi Mi A2

1. Motorola Moto Z 32GB

This device is quite different from the analogues that we have already considered as part of this review of the best Chinese smartphones. One of the main differences is the placement of the fingerprint scanner on the front, directly below the display. In order not to waste free space in vain, the developers decided to install two motion sensors and a pair of conversational microphones nearby. Motion sensors allow you to turn on the display for just a few seconds to get information about the time, missed notifications, and so on. The fingerprint scanner has an unusual shape — a square with rounded corners, it works very quickly: just touch it and the gadget will be unlocked. With the same targeted touch, you can block it back. The speaker, located directly above the screen, has good clarity not only during a conversation, but also when recording multimedia files. Next to it there is an LED flash, a front camera and a light sensor.

The overall dimensions of the products are not very large — 153.3×75.3×5.2 with a weight of 136 grams. This size of the device allows you to reach any point on the screen. The display diagonal is only 5.5 inches, but it is carefully protected from external influences by modern glass Gorilla Glass 4. The screen supports a resolution of 2560×1440 pixels, so its clarity is at a fairly high level. Color reproduction is natural, viewing angles are wide, the picture will not be distorted even at a significant viewing angle. The product is based on the Android 6.0.1 operating system, the smartphone is equipped with a reliable and fast Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 quad-core processor, which, in combination with the Adreno 530 graphics accelerator, can provide excellent product performance. Depending on the modification, there may be 32 or 64 GB of internal memory with 4 GB of RAM.

Advantages:

• Expanded options to make the functional side of the product wider;
• The software shell is flexible and easy to use;
• Excellent display clarity and natural colors.

Disadvantages:

• It will be possible to expand the volume of the built-in storage only due to the refusal of the second SIM card.

Motorola Moto Z 32GB

Expensive Chinese smartphones

3 Honor Play

Like most smartphones produced by Chinese companies, the products of this brand were not particularly diverse in terms of design solutions. Therefore, consumers were pleasantly surprised when a rather interesting model went on sale, which looks very much like the Apple iPhone 7. The antennas are wired along the upper and lower borders of the product, so it turned out to be a rather modern gadget. The curves here are smooth, the colors are unusual, the body materials are selected very high quality. As a result, we managed to get the most modern appearance of the device, which favorably distinguishes it not only from other models of this manufacturer, but also from most Chinese-made smartphones. The device is available in black and red. It should be noted that the model is characterized by decent overall dimensions — 158x74x7.5 mm with a weight of 166 grams. However, the width allows for the most comfortable grip possible.

The front side has an oleophobic coating, the back panel is made of high-quality metal. On the back side there is a dual camera with a very bright flash, in the center there is a fairly fast fingerprint scanner, and with the help of the front camera you can activate the face recognition function. The display diagonal is 6.3 inches, the manufacturers have provided a resolution of 2340×1080 pixels, which fully corresponds to the Full HD + format, the viewing angles here are very wide. Brightness allows you to withstand even direct sunlight. It has a display with a capacity of 3750 mAh. This indicator will be quite enough to ensure battery life of the smartphone for 11 hours. The resolution of the main camera is 16 megapixels, the secondary camera has 2 megapixels, and the front camera also has 16 megapixels, so selfies are very clear and high-quality, you can even blur the background. The camera is capable of shooting 4K video at up to 60 frames per second, and there is a slow motion function that increases the frame rate to 120 frames per second.

Advantages:

• Excellent screen quality, which also has thin frames;
• Decent amount of built-in and RAM;
• Multifunctional fingerprint scanner;
• Excellent build quality and beautiful appearance.

Disadvantages:

• Combined slot for SIM card and memory card.

Honor Play

2. Xiaomi Mi Max 3

Outwardly, this device is very similar to the models of the previous generation: all sides are sloping, rounded, the back cover is made of aluminum, the main camera is dual, slightly protrudes beyond the panel, shifted to the left side. The fingerprint scanner is in the center, and the smartphone itself is quite similar to Apple products. Produced exclusively in black. The overall dimensions are as follows — 176.2×87.4×8 mm with a weight of 221 grams. At first glance, it may seem that the model turned out to be quite heavy, but it fits comfortably in the hand and will not slip out of it even if the hands are wet or even wet. All controls are on the right side, on the left there is only a tray for a SIM card and a flash drive. The display diagonal is quite large — as much as 6.9 inches, and the manufacturers have equipped it with a resolution of 2160×1080 pixels, so the products are characterized by high image clarity and the most natural color reproduction. There is also a protective glass, an oleophobic coating and simultaneous support for up to 10 touches.

In many ways, a decent mass of the gadget is due to the significant battery capacity, which is 5500 mAh. The battery itself is non-removable, provides work with a maximum load of the device for 17 hours. If necessary, you can even charge other gadgets. The smartphone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor, an octa-core chipset that provides maximum speed for the device. In addition, the Adreno 509 hardware video accelerator is also responsible for this. The RAM is 4 GB, the internal storage is 64 GB, and if desired, it can be significantly expanded by installing a memory card up to 512 GB.

Advantages:

• Very large display diagonal;
• Significant battery capacity;
• All cameras are characterized by high resolution;
• Superior hardware performance.

Disadvantages:

• Due to the large size, it is not very convenient to reach the fingerprint scanner.

Xiaomi Mi Max 3

1.Honor 8X

The product is characterized by a rather striking design, which favorably distinguishes the device from other models included in our rating of high-quality Chinese smartphones. Despite the fact that it will not cost too much compared to flagship gadgets, it looks much more expensive than its level. The smartphone turned out to be quite large and weighing a lot. It is not too easy to hold it in one hand, but it will not slip out, the special coating of the side metal frame is responsible for this. The body has very rounded corners. It is monoblock, so it will not work to remove the battery if necessary. The slot for two SIM cards and a memory card is located on the left side, and you can change SIM cards and drives even when the device is running. The hardware buttons are quite large, feel good to the touch, have a somewhat harsh move. The smartphone is available in three colors — black, red and blue.

The display is covered with protective glass Gorilla Glass 2.5D, its diagonal is 6.5 inches with a resolution of 2340×1080, the width of the frames on the sides is 3.5 mm, at the bottom of the screen 6 mm, at the top — 4 mm. The front camera has a resolution of 16 megapixels and a fairly bright LED flash, so it will produce fairly clear pictures even in low light conditions. The main camera, as expected, is dual — 20 and 2 megapixels, it has a face recognition function. The Android 8 platform is used as the operating system, it has a face unlock function, and it can work even in absolute darkness. The RAM in the gadget is 4 GB, the amount of internal storage is 64 or 128 GB, depending on the modification of the device.

Advantages:

• Quite an interesting appearance;
• Decent battery life;
• It is possible to install two SIM cards and, in addition to them, a flash drive;
• The filling has a high level of performance.

Disadvantages:

• Already very large overall dimensions;
• When recording video, it is not always possible to provide acceptable picture quality.

Honor 8X

In conclusion, a useful video

Well, our review of the highest quality Chinese smartphones in 2022, which can only be found today on the shelves of Russian stores, has come to an end. We hope that the rating was informative and useful for you. If you suddenly have any questions regarding a particular model you like, then feel free to ask us in the comments to this article. We will promptly respond to them, collect additional information and provide it to you in the most accessible form.