We all know that their are a huge number of high specifications Chinese phones with large displays, but what about Chinese phones smaller than 5-inch? Here are our top 10 Chinese Android phones measuring less than 5-inch.
The current trend in Chinese phone design is to make high end flagship phones with displays 5-inch or more, but what if you don’t what a phone that big? What are your options?
In this list we are going to try and mention only phones which are available now or soon will be. Also, not all the phones in the list a Mediatek powered devices, we’ve also thrown in some Qualcomm models too.
Top 10 Chinese Android phones measuring less than 5-inch
JiaYu G4 Advanced
The JiaYu G4 Advanced is the phone we were promised late last year, and one we were beginning to think would never arrive! Thankfully the JiaYu G4 Advanced is here and launched just this past Saturday.
JiaYu G4 Advanced Specifications
The G4 Advanced has undergone some serious updates since the phone was originally conceived. The processor is now a 1.5Ghz MT6589T Turbo unit, there is 2GB RAM on board, updated 13 mega-pixel rear camera, and support for OTG.
Currently only the 3000mAh version of the JiaYu G4 Advanced is on sale, but the thinner model with 1850mAh battery is coming later this month!
Xiaomi Mi2S
The Xiaomi Mi2S is one of the smallest phones on this list with a screen size of just 4.3-inch, but it also happens to be one of the most powerful (in the world!), gets great weekly OTA updates and is affordable.
If rumours are correct then the Mi2S could even be receiving a price drop this month to 1699 Yuan ($276) to make way for the flagship Xiaomi Mi3 which will launch in August.
Xiaomi Mi2S specifications
Behind the 4.3-inch 720p display is a 1.7Ghz quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor and 2GB RAM. A removable 2000mAh battery is a great option which can be upgraded to a 3100mAh unit if you feel the need. Unlike some of the phones here the Mi2S does not have an SD card slot and only supports a single SIM. There are currently 2 versions of Xiaomi Mi2S the 16GB version with 8 mega-pixel camera and a 32GB model with 13 mega-pixel camera.
Xiaomi Mi2A
The Xiaomi Mi2A is the bigger but cheaper brother of the Mi2S. Xiaomi’s decision to launch a larger budget phone seemed a little odd to begin with, but if their Mi3 is a 5-inch device then it makes more sense in the long-run.
Xioami Mi2A Specifications
The display on the Xiaomi Mi2A is 4.5-inch so it fits nicely between the JiaYu G4’s 4.7-inch panel and the the 4.3 on the Mi2S. A 1.7Ghz dual-core Snapdragon processor, 1GB RAM and Adreno 320 graphics give the phone great power, while the 8 mega-pixel camera offers similar photo performance more expensive phones.
Some great standout features on the Mi2A include updated 5Ghz Wifi which is very fast and great for streaming video to the Xiaomi TV box and built in NFC.
FAEA F1 Penguin
Looking like a Meizu MX2, the FAEA F1 Penguin is a surprisingly well built well spec’d and great performing phone considering the price! FAEA want to be as big as rivals ZOPO and have already launched the F1 to international customers with GizChina readers receiving a $20 discount with this code: FFD20.
FAEA F1 Penguin specifications
The F1 measures in at the same 4.5-inch size as the Xiaomi Mi2A and offers the same 720 x 1280 resolution, in fact the similarities don’t end there. The F1 Penguin also has 1GB RAM, an 8 mega-pixel rear camera and Qualcomm processor (in this case a quad-core S4). There is even built in NFC too!
FAEAmobile.com are offering the F1 at $169.99, but with the above discount code it is just $149.99.
JiaYu G3S
Gizchina News of the week
The original JiaYu G3 was the phone which put JiaYu on the Chinese mobile phone map, this updated version boasts most of the same features, but with the added benefit of a quad-core MT6589 processor.
JiaYu G3S Specifications
The JiaYu G3S is a 4.5-inch 720 phone running a 1.2Ghz MT6589 processor with 1GB RAM. It packs a 3000mAh battery, 8 mega-pixel rear camera and has room for two SIMs and a SD memory card.
Nubia Z5 Mini
Although the Mini name suggests a phone much smaller than the full-size 5-inch Nubia Z5, the Nubia Z5 mini is only slightly smaller at 4.7-inch. Thankfully Nubia have also decided to give the Z5 mini impressive hardware rather than a watered down specification.
Nubia Z5 mini specifications
From leaked benchmarks we have seen that the ZTE made Nubia Z5 mini could be a real Xiaomi slayer. The phone boasts a quad-core 1.5Ghz processor (likely a Snapdragon 600) with 2GB RAM and runs Android 4.2.2. Leaked Antutu scores show the phone scoring over 22,000 points!
The Z5 mini is expected to launch later this month and could sport LTE networks.
Xiaocai X9
The Xiaocai X9 is one of the very rare breed of flagship Mediatek powered phones from China. Although this handset will measure in at just 4.5-inch, Xiaocai will be giving it a top of the range quad-core chipset, 2GB RAM and more!
Xiaocai X9 specifications
The Xiaocai X9 should launch in China in just a few weeks, and already fans of low-cost high specification phones are getting excited! A 1.5Ghz MT6589T processor plus 2GB RAM are unheard of on a phone of this size, and the addition of 32GB memory, 5 mega-pixel front camera and 8 mega-pixel rear make it a real steal at just 999 Yuan! ($160).
Umeox X5
If you plan to go for a smaller screen size, why not make it a double whammy by also picking up the world’s thinnest phone white you’re at it? The Umeox X5 will go on sale in China and Europe soon, and if you can live with it’s odd specification choices we think you will be very surprised.
Umeox X5 Specifications
Keeping a phone’s thickness down to just 5.6mm means that some very important and controversial choices have had to be made. For example the display is an advanced OLED panel which generates it’s own light, the processor is a dual-core 1Ghz model to keep the phone energy efficient and their is no LED flash or 3.5mm head phone jack.
Huawei Ascend P6
The Huawei Ascend P6 held on to the title of world’s thinnest phone for all of one week, but although this stylish phone is no longer the thinnest it is still possibly the thinnest most practical phone on the market.
Huawei Ascend P6 Specifications
The Ascend P6 is already on sale in a number of markets around the world, and people have been very happy with the great design and powerful hardware the handset has to offer.
A 4.7-inch 720p display sits up front powered by Huawei’s own 1.5Ghz quad-core chipset and 2GB RAM. Cameras are a 5 mega-pixel front and 8 mega-pixel rear.
Nuu Nu1
The Nuu Nu1 is the largest phone on the list with a display size of 4.8-inch. This obscure phone boasts some very nice features including a powerful processor, built in NFC and SD card slot with a low price even a Xiaomi fan can’t ignore!
Nuu Nu1 Specifications
That large 720p display comes from Casio in Japan meaning the Nu1 should offers some stunning visuals while browsing the web or gaming. Speaking of gaming a 1.7Ghz dual-core processor with 1GB should offer enough power for most modern games.
The Nu1 is only available in China at the moment but the attractive $211 price tag might be worth the time to find one online.
Top 10 Chinese Android phones measuring less than 5-inch
Well that’s our list of top 10 Chinese Android phones, did we miss anything? What are your choices and opinions? Let us know in the comments section below!
Andi,
small correction in JY G3S battery is 2750mAh, not 3000
Cheers 🙂
Thanks for the list!
What about 3G bands? Its so dificult to find good phones with WCDM 850/1900 support.
Basic Bear and Bear Pro should be in here.
I was thinking of including them, but I don’t know how trustworthy this company is
Andi where are you planning to do the Faea F1 review ?
This week
Good roundup. I fancy a G3s but need dual Sim. Decisions decisions. Would it be possible for you to add a summary table to this post please?
g3s has dual sim.
Good roundup. I fancy a G3s but need dual Sim. Decisions decisions. Would it be possible for you to add a summary table to this post please? Thanks
G3s is dual sim
I really want to buy Xiaomi Mi2S !
Really 276 $ drop ?
when will it drop ?
thx
where can i jiayu g4 advanced from?
Only available in China at the moment. It will be a few weeks before resellers get them.
Andi where are you planning to do the reviews ?
Where? I was just writing one of them on the beach 😉
*when
Haha, wit 😀
Hi Andi, is http://www.faeamobile.com the official site of the Faea F1? I want to go for this phone because I’m very sure it supports 3G 900 band.
Pls GC peeps has anybody ordered from http://www.faeamobile.com
Yes they are the official International reseller
Beware, after two weeks use (by my girlfriend) i notice the phone gives a silenced voice…annoying… and the battery doesn’t last that long… it will last a whole day but you’ll have to charge it every night
Nice post as always Andi!
Wish someone would release the ideal phone for me, with loads of features (OTG,HDMI/MHL,1080p recording, dualsim) but in a small (<5") form factor. Until then I'm guessing the S4 Mini Duos is the one fitting my bill most. And it even includes an IR Blaster (which would come in handy more than NFC I reckon).
@Lexboi,
You’ll find more folks on the faea forum who ordered one F1 ‘via Gizchina’.
Me included. Mine is still on ‘the plane’.
The criteria should have been total device width (instead of screen size).
i’ll rather maximum screen size as long as the device can be reasonably handled with one hand, say no more than 70mm.
Thats a really good point. I was comparing my galaxy s2 with an s4 in a shop yesterday and I was surprised how small the physical size difference was.
Hi andi
I really wanted to buy Iocean X7 but have already paid full amount to buy Umi X2(india). They are not replying back to my queries and am afraid I will lose my money.Can u ask them about delivery schedule or refund process from them?
Hi Andi!
Where do you live? In China? 🙂
yes
Congratulations, Andy! Excellent post.
I see recurrently people asking for 3g 900 MHZ support.
Could you explain what does that imply for someone who may need internet access (web browsing) with the phone outside cities in Europe ?
I have seen many chinese phones on the latest days, and the majority if not all do not support 3g 900 MHZ.
Absolutely. This website needs a section listing all 3G 900 MHz Dualsim phones with proper Play store support. There is too much wrong information out there on reseller sites that such a list and constant updates would serve an urgent consumer need.
I agree. And who is trustworthy? Good example is Xiaomi M2A which, according to the official website, supports 3G 900 MHz, but the resellers differ on this matter.
Andi, will you be getting a G4 Advanced?
A side by side performance comparison video between the basic and the advanced would prove very useful.
Nope I don’t think so
Ah, ok.
I think I may get the advanced anyway, as I have just learnt that there are emulators for the N64 and PS1 on android.
Do you know if there is an ETA on the black version?
Andi,
small correction in JY G3S battery is 2750mAh, not 3000
Cheers 🙂
Thanks for the list!
What about 3G bands? Its so dificult to find good phones with WCDM 850/1900 support.
Andi,
Can you include VSun i1s ?
It’s a dual sim with 4,7” and Super Amoled
Please see it at: http://www.vsunmobile.com/
what about TCL idol X?
i think it should be in the list.
Does anyone know if it will be available international and when?
The TCL Idol X has 5-inch. See in:
https://www.gizchina.com/2013/06/18/tcl-idol-x-1080-1-5-ghz-quad-core/
Idol X? 5″ is not less than 5 inch, hmm? 🙂
Basic Bear and Bear Pro should be in here.
I was thinking of including them, but I don’t know how trustworthy this company is
Andi where are you planning to do the Faea F1 review ?
This week
Good roundup. I fancy a G3s but need dual Sim. Decisions decisions. Would it be possible for you to add a summary table to this post please?
g3s has dual sim.
Good roundup. I fancy a G3s but need dual Sim. Decisions decisions. Would it be possible for you to add a summary table to this post please? Thanks
G3s is dual sim
I really want to buy Xiaomi Mi2S !
Really 276 $ drop ?
when will it drop ?
thx
where can i jiayu g4 advanced from?
Only available in China at the moment. It will be a few weeks before resellers get them.
Andi where are you planning to do the reviews ?
Where? I was just writing one of them on the beach 😉
*when
Haha, wit 😀
Hi Andi, is http://www.faeamobile.com the official site of the Faea F1? I want to go for this phone because I’m very sure it supports 3G 900 band.
Pls GC peeps has anybody ordered from http://www.faeamobile.com
Yes they are the official International reseller
Beware, after two weeks use (by my girlfriend) i notice the phone gives a silenced voice…annoying… and the battery doesn’t last that long… it will last a whole day but you’ll have to charge it every night
Nice post as always Andi!
Wish someone would release the ideal phone for me, with loads of features (OTG,HDMI/MHL,1080p recording, dualsim) but in a small (<5") form factor. Until then I'm guessing the S4 Mini Duos is the one fitting my bill most. And it even includes an IR Blaster (which would come in handy more than NFC I reckon).
@Lexboi,
You’ll find more folks on the faea forum who ordered one F1 ‘via Gizchina’.
Me included. Mine is still on ‘the plane’.
The criteria should have been total device width (instead of screen size).
i’ll rather maximum screen size as long as the device can be reasonably handled with one hand, say no more than 70mm.
Thats a really good point. I was comparing my galaxy s2 with an s4 in a shop yesterday and I was surprised how small the physical size difference was.
Hi andi
I really wanted to buy Iocean X7 but have already paid full amount to buy Umi X2(india). They are not replying back to my queries and am afraid I will lose my money.Can u ask them about delivery schedule or refund process from them?
Hi Andi!
Where do you live? In China? 🙂
yes
Congratulations, Andy! Excellent post.
I see recurrently people asking for 3g 900 MHZ support.
Could you explain what does that imply for someone who may need internet access (web browsing) with the phone outside cities in Europe ?
I have seen many chinese phones on the latest days, and the majority if not all do not support 3g 900 MHZ.
Absolutely. This website needs a section listing all 3G 900 MHz Dualsim phones with proper Play store support. There is too much wrong information out there on reseller sites that such a list and constant updates would serve an urgent consumer need.
I agree. And who is trustworthy? Good example is Xiaomi M2A which, according to the official website, supports 3G 900 MHz, but the resellers differ on this matter.
Andi, will you be getting a G4 Advanced?
A side by side performance comparison video between the basic and the advanced would prove very useful.
Nope I don’t think so
Ah, ok.
I think I may get the advanced anyway, as I have just learnt that there are emulators for the N64 and PS1 on android.
Do you know if there is an ETA on the black version?
Andi,
Can you include VSun i1s ?
It’s a dual sim with 4,7” and Super Amoled
Please see it at: http://www.vsunmobile.com/
what about TCL idol X?
i think it should be in the list.
Does anyone know if it will be available international and when?
The TCL Idol X has 5-inch. See in:
http://www.gizchina.com/2013/06/18/tcl-idol-x-1080-1-5-ghz-quad-core/
Idol X? 5″ is not less than 5 inch, hmm? 🙂
hi andi where is Xiaocai X9 available for international customers??
Thank you, Andi! Realy helpfull review.
Great, Andi! Very important for us.
NEWMAN N2??????????????????
hi andi where is Xiaocai X9 available for international customers??
Thank you, Andi! Realy helpfull review.
Great, Andi! Very important for us.
NEWMAN N2??????????????????
Hi, Andi!
Its very popular because of price and quality- THL W100.
I’ve got it for 150 $.
It has 4,5″ screen, MTK6589 processor- and its quite light.
Battery holds 2-3 days.
Hi, Andi!
Its very popular because of price and quality- THL W100.
I’ve got it for 150 $.
It has 4,5″ screen, MTK6589 processor- and its quite light.
Battery holds 2-3 days.
hi, congratulations for this wonderful forum … Andi wanted to ask if you can have a discount code for the purchase of an advanced Jiayu g4 on the site should begin as redtabletpc sale this weekend, so I’m told … thanks and congratulations on your book reviews
Where’s the Meizu MX2? You’re not gonna tell me most of these phones are better than it.
And why do you always say that Flyme is full of bugs? You never show any examples…
Meizu make amazing hardware, the Flyme ROM is terrible! Plain and simple. It’s like having an iOS device but it’s Android, constant force closes, tons of app compatibility issues the list goes on…
I have an MX2 for 5 months and I had maybe 1 or 2 force closes. App compatibility is pretty good either, I can even run most Gameloft games! And even if Flyme isn’t your favourite, you can install MIUI on it because the MX2 is supported by Xiaomi now.
hi, congratulations for this wonderful forum … Andi wanted to ask if you can have a discount code for the purchase of an advanced Jiayu g4 on the site should begin as redtabletpc sale this weekend, so I’m told … thanks and congratulations on your book reviews
Where’s the Meizu MX2? You’re not gonna tell me most of these phones are better than it.
And why do you always say that Flyme is full of bugs? You never show any examples…
Meizu make amazing hardware, the Flyme ROM is terrible! Plain and simple. It’s like having an iOS device but it’s Android, constant force closes, tons of app compatibility issues the list goes on…
I have an MX2 for 5 months and I had maybe 1 or 2 force closes. App compatibility is pretty good either, I can even run most Gameloft games! And even if Flyme isn’t your favourite, you can install MIUI on it because the MX2 is supported by Xiaomi now.
Any advice for the smaller end than just smaller than 5″. I have an Acer CloudMobile at the moment and even that’s a stretch for me. 4″ to 4.3″.
Xiaomi Mi2s is 4.3 inch and there is a discount here: https://www.gizchina.com/2013/07/09/spemall-offering-xiaomi-mi2s-discount-to-gizchina-readers/
I guess my next question is which make seems to provide the most software updates to their handsets?
Hi Andi,can you tell me witc cell to bay and to give free shiping to Bosnia and Hercegovina , and were to bay send me a link of store .tnx Milos.
Lot’s of resellers offer free shipping, just take a look around 🙂
Any advice for the smaller end than just smaller than 5″. I have an Acer CloudMobile at the moment and even that’s a stretch for me. 4″ to 4.3″.
Xiaomi Mi2s is 4.3 inch and there is a discount here: http://www.gizchina.com/2013/07/09/spemall-offering-xiaomi-mi2s-discount-to-gizchina-readers/
I guess my next question is which make seems to provide the most software updates to their handsets?
Hi Andi,can you tell me witc cell to bay and to give free shiping to Bosnia and Hercegovina , and were to bay send me a link of store .tnx Milos.
Lot’s of resellers offer free shipping, just take a look around 🙂
any news on the umeox x5? i’m waiting on it since the first leaks!
hi, I’ve seen more than a few videos where it shows the problems to touch the phone jiayu g4 in a few words it seems like someone was pressing on the display repeatedly, you know something more…
any news on the umeox x5? i’m waiting on it since the first leaks!
hi, I’ve seen more than a few videos where it shows the problems to touch the phone jiayu g4 in a few words it seems like someone was pressing on the display repeatedly, you know something more…
guys want to know the price of Huawei Ascend P6 ?
if there any website that sales Huawei Ascend P6 online it will be grate ?
guys want to know the price of Huawei Ascend P6 ?
if there any website that sales Huawei Ascend P6 online it will be grate ?
Andi,
Is it possible an analysis of the mobiles with 5 inch screen?
Neither more nor less, just 5 inch.
Andi,
Is it possible an analysis of the mobiles with 5 inch screen?
Neither more nor less, just 5 inch.
Hi
Lenovo a 820 or thl w100 is not better than jiayu g3s ?
Hi
Lenovo a 820 or thl w100 is not better than jiayu g3s ?
how abou iocean x7 elite? is it great phone? can you give the review aboux7?
how abou iocean x7 elite? is it great phone? can you give the review aboux7?
Hi , what do you think of cubot gt99, can you also tell me a good similar spec and price mobile as cubot gt99.
thanks
Hi , what do you think of cubot gt99, can you also tell me a good similar spec and price mobile as cubot gt99.
thanks
Thanks for this useful list. Please keep it up to date since sub 5 inch phones are en-dangered species and choice and good quality models are getting fewer.
Thanks for this useful list. Please keep it up to date since sub 5 inch phones are en-dangered species and choice and good quality models are getting fewer.