Which smartphones are GizChina readers buying? We take a look at the top 10 best selling phone from Shop.GizChina.Com, are there any surprises?
It’s not an exaggeration to say that there have been 1000’s of new phones released in China this year, with phone makers launching one phone after the other to keep ahead of the competition. With all these phones on sale we wondered which device Shop.GizChina.Com customers are choosing, are there any surprises in the top 10? Does this list mirror what you are using yourself?
Top 10 selling Chinese phones on Shop.GizChina.Com
10. Meizu M2
The Meizu M2 is the most affordable Meizu on sale at this time, yet it still offers great build and decent hardware. One detail I do like about Meizu is that they offer the same features in Flyme from their flagship phones right down to their budget models. The M2 also gets the new physical home button feature too.
9. Xiaomi Mi Note Pro
At number 9 in the sales chart is the Xiaomi Mi Note Pro. The Pro version of the flagship Xiaomi gets the same slim, high-quality construction as the standard Mi Note but with updates including a 2K display, Snapdragon 810, and arguably the best update over the standard, 64GB internal Memory. You can read our standard Xiaomi Mi Note review here.
8. Xiaomi Mi4C
Beating it’s more powerful and larger stable-mate, the Xiaomi Mi4C comes in at number 8, and to be honest I am not surprised this phone is proving so popular. Xiaomi basically took everything that made the Mi4i great, and removed everything that made is suck. The Mi4C has a wider angle, faster rear camera, built-in IR remote, innovative side touch navigation, and most importantly a Snapdragon 808 chipset that out performs the Mi4i’s SD615 in every respect. Read our Xiaomi Mi4C review here.
7. LeTV Le One 16GB
The LeTV Le One was the first LeTV phone that I ever tried, and what a stunner it is. The 5.5-inch FHD phone might be a little chunky, but performance, build and overall usability is all top-notch. Even now with the release of the Le 1S the original LeTV Le One is a killer phone to own. Read our LeTV Le One Review here.
6. LeTV Le One Pro
I’ve still not had my hands on this Pro version of the LeTV Le One Pro, but hardware and design is stellar on paper. It also didn’t hurt that the LeTV Le One Pro had a significant price drop increasing interest in the all alloy, 2K, Snapdragon 810 flagship.
5. Xiaomi RedmiΒ Note 2 Prime
Gizchina News of the week
The top of the range version of the Xiaomi Mi Note 2 has a slightly faster Mediatek Helio X10 chipset and a larger internal memory of 32GB. Despite these slight updates the Prime isn’t as popular with buyers as the standard version.
4. LeTV Le One 32GB
With no space for a micro SD card, many people wanting the Le One have opted for the larger capacity 32GB version, and during sales the pricing for the Helio X10 mid-ranger has been great.
3. Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 16GB
Even though the Redmi Note 2 Prime offers a slightly more powerful CPU and more internal memory the standard version has been the more popular choice. In our Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 review, we found performance was fine on the 2.0Ghz chipset, and the fact that the phone has micro SD support means the extra internal memory of the Prime is a moot point.
2. ZUK Z1 International version
We quite like the ZUK Z1, it might look a little bland in its white finish, but the grey version is quite attractive. It also boasts a huge battery for amazing battery life, fingerprint scanner, Cyanogen OS and powerful hardware. We reviewed the ZUK Z1 here, but it is still surprising to see the newcomer in 2nd place!
1. OnePlus 2 64GB
It might not have caused as much of a fuss as the original OnePlus 1, but the OnePlus 2 has proven to be the best-selling phone on Shop.GizChina.Com so far. Even if you are not a fan of the OnePlus marketing machine it is hard not to admit they made a good phone. The OnePlus 2 offers great hardware, amazing build, and an incredible camera. You can read our OnePlus 2 review here.
From this list it is interesting to see that LeTV have done so well considering that this is their first year as a smartphone maker. ZUK are also a surprise, considering that many commenters haven’t really been too impressed with the start-up’s first phone. The OnePlus 2 in first place might not be a shock to many, and I wonder if it will sit so highly now that the OnePlus X has been launched, so far I feel the more affordable phone offers many of the benefits of the flagship but in a more useable size. On the flip side, it is a shock that Meizu only have 1 phone in the top 10. The phone maker has launched many phones this year, but perhaps this tactic isn’t working out so well for them.
Are there any surprises here that you have noted? Do you use any of the above phones? Is one of our top 10 the next phone you will buy?
Wow I’m shocked by the top 2, wouldn’t touch either of them myself. A little surprised that there’s no Elephone or Doogee since they’re both publicised on this site almost daily, I wonder if this is because of the bad image they have here by the majority of us readers. Would love to have the top 10 selling Chinese phones through all resellers, I suspect that the aforementioned brands and others like Oukitel, Ulefone etc would fare better as many of the buyers probably don’t frequent this site, have much idea about specs or rom support etc. Also every site you visit have Elephone, Doogee, Ulefone, Umi, Oukitel (and a few others) on a supposedly constant sale making them seem much better value than they actually are.
Sorry, this is a top 10 of shop.gizchina.com phones. Elephone etc aren’t sold
I didn’t realise you don’t sell them as I try and avoid those brands, but it explains why I haven’t been bombarded with promo stuff from them! I know it’s a list from your own shop, I was merely saying a top 10 of the best selling phones to international buyers from all shops would make for very interesting reading (especially with sales figures). Exactly how many phones do these smaller manufacturers actually shift? Xiaomi love telling the world how many phones they’ve shifted, whilst others never breathe a word.
Yup, i’d be interested in knowing too. I wonder if I can get details from Aliexpress or someone?
There must be somewhere they have to register sales, suppliers maybe, middlemen or even component manufacturers must know how many they are producing.
Coolicool’s owner actually owns a dozen of other shops, if they could answer your questions, you could get data about half of the worldwide market Γ².Γ²
Also, alibaba usually announce data about 11/11 sales, maybe they provides annual datas too at some point
Many of others actually say how many phones they sell, it’s just that it isn’t that clamorous so often it doesn’t make it to worldwide news… For example: is it more fast-spreading xiaomi saying that they sell 300.000 phones in a fraction of second, of ulephone saying they sell 30.000 paris in the first 2 weeks?
well since your in the know maybe you can shed some light on it. I’m not interested when someone like Elephone say they have reached 50000 pre-sale orders for phone x, I’m on about actual yearly sales of each handset. I’m certain that the constant release of new handsets, each with almost the same spec/poor ROM is only canabilising sales of their existing phones.
It’s china, no one knows anything for sure! xD
We don’t know if a company is involved in another one (like mediatek/meizu, zuk/elephone ecc ecc), we don’t know if a company is dead or not (iocean, thl), and they clearly don’t publish their financial data… Everything we have are their claims and sometimes something claimed by e-commerce sites…
Pre orders are the biggest load of crap. What those numbers don’t show is how many people made multiple requests to try to get the phone at whatever the discount of the month is. Theirs IDC numbers for the larger companies but even those aren’t 100% accurate.
I can’t imagine too many shops giving up their sales numbers, especially to what is now a competitor. But that would be a very interesting read especially to see just how well brands like Doogee and Elephone really sell compared to the bigs.
I own the ZUK and its amazing for the price.
Don’t know whay you mean.
I’m really interested in letv x600 32gb, but the shipping cost is so hight i could travel to china, buy it myself, and i would still have some spare money for accessories…
Maybe I’m being a little too exaggerated, but I’m actually waiting for that reason: it’s normal that a young, little store doesn’t have many advantageous contract with shipping companies (and all of the others) at the beginning, I’m sure you’ll fix this as time pass by… And, in the meanwhile, I’ll wait for a further price drop of the device π
I’ve found shipping to be comparable to other sites. This actually isn’t a “young store” per say, it is a sub store of Honorbuy. Which has been selling Chinese phones for some time, started out just selling Xiaomi phones.
Oh, i know honorbuy, only didn’t knew it was related, although now i think i recall that you said that somewhere here in the past.
All in all, with all the other stores struggling to offer free shipping (although it’s all gimmick), gizchina shop’s costs seems quite high (at least, they were the last time i checked, but it’s been a while now I’ve got to admit)
Free shipping from Chinese sites is horrible, I made that mistake a few times. Quickest I ever got something was about a month. DHL I usually get it in 3-7 days.
Yeah, that’s why i wrote that it’s just a gimmick… Usually i see around 20$ with dhl from china and free dhl shipping from europe, but the last time i looked on gizshop it seemed like it was 40+$ from europe, although i could misunderstood that one… Anyway, even if it was from china, it’s still a lot!
No I just checked and to US it was a lot higher than most sites. You were right. I usually pay between $15-25 for DHL, on there it was almost $40.
same here, DHL only.
i wouldn’t risk with the free shipping and get a fake tracking number. what if the package gets lost? hell no.
Exactly you have little to no protection with post mail. PayPal is pretty good in that situation but that can take a while and it’s not 100%. I had PayPal reject a claim for a lost phone because the postal company says it was delivered, even had a signature for it. Still haven’t seen that phone. Luckily after many threats the shop replaced it and sent it DHL.
it depends on site reliability which you are buying from bro… I’ve bought about 7 phones so far and almost all of them (exept one) from to2c.com – never had eny problems with shipping nor with phones itself. Fastest I got in 2 weaks, slowest in 4.
Where do you live? I’ve been buying Chinese phones for a long time (including a few from to2c) and belong to a few communities. Never heard of anyone outside of Asia or Australia getting a China Post phone in 2 weeks.
Lithuania, small rural π country by the coast of Baltic Sea, faaar away from China or HK . By the way to2c ships by Singapure Post and I found its more reliable and faster than chinese.
Post mail is post mail, doesn’t really matter if it’s Singapore, China, Hong Kong etc. Speed depends on time of year, where you live, whats going in the world etc. None of them will ever come close to the speed, reliability and security of DHL, Fed Ex or any of the other shipping companies.
Honestly really surprised to see the ZUK Z1 in there.
Well done gizchina, now you are making fake ads : when tou click there is no redmi note 2 prime from $179.99. WELL DONE AGAIN
Shop for the Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 Prime from $179.99 on Shop.GizChina.Com here.
Redmi note 2 $179.99 http://shop.gizchina.com/xiaomi/xiaomi-redmi-note-2-16gb-rom-pink-528.html
READ THIS PLEASE SIR:
Shop for the Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 Prime from $179.99 on Shop.GizChina.Com here.
IT SAYS “PRIME” NOT THE SAME NO ?
It doesn’t say Prime on my page…..
Considered stocking the Qiku devises? They all look quite interesting.
surprised about the first 2 positions because they wouldn’t sell this good elsewhere.
at the same time I’m not surprised because they’ve got good reviews from Andi.
Which brings to the conclusion that Andi can move the sales of a phone over another.
don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that he’s pushing a phone or another, he always provides unbiased reviews.
what I’m saying is that people (included myself) trust his opinion and they pick a phone also according to how he reviews it.
hey Andi, you’ve got the Pooooowerrr! π
Yes he has, so please change your name ?
will do π
It’s funny seeing you claiming someone to have “the max(imum) power” in something π
hehe, that was a coincidence
Wow I’m shocked by the top 2, wouldn’t touch either of them myself. A little surprised that there’s no Elephone or Doogee since they’re both publicised on this site almost daily, I wonder if this is because of the bad image they have here by the majority of us readers. Would love to have the top 10 selling Chinese phones through all resellers, I suspect that the aforementioned brands and others like Oukitel, Ulefone etc would fare better as many of the buyers probably don’t frequent this site, have much idea about specs or rom support etc. Also every site you visit have Elephone, Doogee, Ulefone, Umi, Oukitel (and a few others) on a supposedly constant sale making them seem much better value than they actually are.
Sorry, this is a top 10 of shop.gizchina.com phones. Elephone etc aren’t sold
I didn’t realise you don’t sell them as I try and avoid those brands, but it explains why I haven’t been bombarded with promo stuff from them! I know it’s a list from your own shop, I was merely saying a top 10 of the best selling phones to international buyers from all shops would make for very interesting reading (especially with sales figures). Exactly how many phones do these smaller manufacturers actually shift? Xiaomi love telling the world how many phones they’ve shifted, whilst others never breathe a word.
Yup, i’d be interested in knowing too. I wonder if I can get details from Aliexpress or someone?
Many of others actually say how many phones they sell, it’s just that it isn’t that clamorous so often it doesn’t make it to worldwide news… For example: is it more fast-spreading xiaomi saying that they sell 300.000 phones in a fraction of second, of ulephone saying they sell 30.000 paris in the first 2 weeks?
There must be somewhere they have to register sales, suppliers maybe, middlemen or even component manufacturers must know how many they are producing.
well since your in the know maybe you can shed some light on it. I’m not interested when someone like Elephone say they have reached 50000 pre-sale orders for phone x, I’m on about actual yearly sales of each handset. I’m certain that the constant release of new handsets, each with almost the same spec/poor ROM is only canabilising sales of their existing phones.
I own the ZUK and its amazing for the price.
Don’t know whay you mean.
Coolicool’s owner actually owns a dozen of other shops, if they could answer your questions, you could get data about half of the worldwide market Γ².Γ²
Also, alibaba usually announce data about 11/11 sales, maybe they provides annual datas too at some point
It’s china, no one knows anything for sure! xD
We don’t know if a company is involved in another one (like mediatek/meizu, zuk/elephone ecc ecc), we don’t know if a company is dead or not (iocean, thl), and they clearly don’t publish their financial data… Everything we have are their claims and sometimes something claimed by e-commerce sites…
I can’t imagine too many shops giving up their sales numbers, especially to what is now a competitor. But that would be a very interesting read especially to see just how well brands like Doogee and Elephone really sell compared to the bigs.
Pre orders are the biggest load of crap. What those numbers don’t show is how many people made multiple requests to try to get the phone at whatever the discount of the month is. Theirs IDC numbers for the larger companies but even those aren’t 100% accurate.
Not at all surprised by the top two. OnePlus has built a strong fan base and they are one of the few phones to get positive praise in the West. Zuk has the power of CM behind them. There is no bigger fan community when it comes to UI/ROMs than CM. It’s one of the main reasons the first One Plus sold so well.
Personally there isn’t a phone here I would want over my Meizu MX5. Especially after the Flyme 5 update.
Hi Balcobomber, which phone would you suggest: xiaomi mi4c, letv1s, meizu mx5 or any other phone at this price range. My preference are. Flagship feeling, good audio, good camera. Build qiality. Thnks
I’m a little biased because the only one of those I have used is the MX5 and it’s also my daily driver. I can’t speak for the others but I love the MX5. It has the premium feel you’re looking for with it’s metal finish and sleek profile. Audio is very good, there are better but there’s also worse. The camera is amazing once you ditch the stock app, using Open Camera or MX I have taken some breathtaking photos. Build quality is exceptional, I don’t use cases with my phones and I have dropped this several times. I have nary a scratch on it.
I have read some bad comments on Mx5 screen quality. I am between letv and mx5. In foto letv looks better. I don’t know if letv is full metal or not.
I’ve used a lot of 1080p displays, this one is equal to or better than the top ones. It’s a Samsung AMOLED display. Only thing is if you set color temp to warm there can be a pinkish tint. If you set it to neutral or cool it’s fine.
What about “LeTV 1S” vs. “Meizu Metal”?
Haven’t used either so can’t say.
Thanks for the open camera tip. I am using it on my M1 Note and it has opened up 120fps 1080p and 4K video plus a ton of other settings. I need to actually check out the quality(its currently dark outside) but, I am really excited to fiddle around with this and see if the phone can actually handle it
Most stock camera apps suck imo. I almost always use Open Camera or Lenovo Super Camera.
What is Flyme 5 like? I upgraded recently from 4.2 to 4.5(so Kitkat to Lollipop) Its defintely a bit faster, but there is a serious issue with the touch screen which seems come and go, where its registering multiple touches when I am only using one finger. It then does crazy shit like opening the app 2 icons below the one you are actually selecting :-). I am considering downgrading if they don’t fix it soon.
What phone are you using? Sounds more like a problem with your digitizer than with the OS itself. Flyme 5 is a lot quicker and a lot more fluid than 4.5. Most of the changes are subtle but a lot of them bring normal Android features back. Like a settings icon when you swipe down or tiles when you swipe up.
A M1 Note. It could be the digitizer, it would be a weird coincidence since it started basically the day I updated it. It I turn the ‘see the touches’ thing on, I am touching it where the bottom spot is, but its duplicating it. If I restart it, its fine for a while and then it creeps in again. The time period is intermittent though. Anyways I know this isn’t the right forum for this :-).
Try either XDA or Meizus actual forums. The M phones have a pretty large following someone there will be able to help you.
I’m really interested in letv x600 32gb, but the shipping cost is so hight i could travel to china, buy it myself, and i would still have some spare money for accessories…
Maybe I’m being a little too exaggerated, but I’m actually waiting for that reason: it’s normal that a young, little store doesn’t have many advantageous contract with shipping companies (and all of the others) at the beginning, I’m sure you’ll fix this as time pass by… And, in the meanwhile, I’ll wait for a further price drop of the device π
I’ve found shipping to be comparable to other sites. This actually isn’t a “young store” per say, it is a sub store of Honorbuy. Which has been selling Chinese phones for some time, started out just selling Xiaomi phones.
Oh, i know honorbuy, only didn’t knew it was related, although now i think i recall that you said that somewhere here in the past.
All in all, with all the other stores struggling to offer free shipping (although it’s all gimmick), gizchina shop’s costs seems quite high (at least, they were the last time i checked, but it’s been a while now I’ve got to admit)
Free shipping from Chinese sites is horrible, I made that mistake a few times. Quickest I ever got something was about a month. DHL I usually get it in 3-7 days.
Yeah, that’s why i wrote that it’s just a gimmick… Usually i see around 20$ with dhl from china and free dhl shipping from europe, but the last time i looked on gizshop it seemed like it was 40+$ from europe, although i could have misunderstood that one… Anyway, even if it was from china, it’s still a lot!
No I just checked and to US it was a lot higher than most sites. You were right. I usually pay between $15-25 for DHL, on there it was almost $40.
same here, DHL only.
i wouldn’t risk with the free shipping and get a fake tracking number. what if the package gets lost? hell no.
it depends on site reliability which you are buying from bro… I’ve bought about 7 phones so far and almost all of them (exept one) from
– never had eny problems with shipping nor with phones itself. Fastest I got in 2 weaks, slowest in 4.
Where do you live? I’ve been buying Chinese phones for a long time (including a few from to2c) and belong to a few communities. Never heard of anyone outside of Asia or Australia getting a China Post phone in 2 weeks.
Exactly you have little to no protection with post mail. PayPal is pretty good in that situation but that can take a while and it’s not 100%. I had PayPal reject a claim for a lost phone because the postal company says it was delivered, even had a signature for it. Still haven’t seen that phone. Luckily after many threats the shop replaced it and sent it DHL.
Lithuania, small rural π country by the coast of Baltic Sea, faaar away from China or HK . By the way to2c ships by Singapure Post and I found its more reliable and faster than chinese.
Post mail is post mail, doesn’t really matter if it’s Singapore, China, Hong Kong etc. Speed depends on time of year, where you live, whats going in the world etc. None of them will ever come close to the speed, reliability and security of DHL, Fed Ex or any of the other shipping companies.
Honestly really surprised to see the ZUK Z1 in there.
Well done gizchina, now you are making fake ads : when tou click there is no redmi note 2 prime from $179.99. WELL DONE AGAIN
Shop for the Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 Prime from $179.99 on Shop.GizChina.Com here.
Redmi note 2 $179.99 http://shop.gizchina.com/xiaomi/xiaomi-redmi-note-2-16gb-rom-pink-528.html
READ THIS PLEASE SIR:
Shop for the Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 Prime from $179.99 on Shop.GizChina.Com here.
IT SAYS “PRIME” NOT THE SAME NO ?
It doesn’t say Prime on my page…..
Considered stocking the Qiku devises? They all look quite interesting.
surprised about the first 2 positions because they wouldn’t sell this good elsewhere.
at the same time I’m not surprised because they’ve got good reviews from Andi.
Which brings to the conclusion that Andi can move the sales of a phone over another.
don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that he’s pushing a phone or another, he always provides unbiased reviews.
what I’m saying is that people (included myself) trust his opinion and they pick a phone also according to how he reviews it.
hey Andi, you’ve got the Pooooowerrr! π
Yes he has, so please change your name π
It’s funny seeing you claiming someone to have “the max(imum) power” in something π
will do π
hehe, that was a coincidence
And how is the new LeTV S1 doing? Are you guys satisfied with the demand for the phone?
Not sure if this is community question xD but i#m happy with my S1 Pro had updates since i bought it 6 Months ago (holy cow months are passing fast) only problem right now is that i only have 32gb ram xD battery holds quite long for being only 3000 mah for a 5.5″ 2K Display
Not at all surprised by the top two. OnePlus has built a strong fan base and they are one of the few phones to get positive praise in the West. Zuk has the power of CM behind them. There is no bigger fan community when it comes to UI/ROMs than CM. It’s one of the main reasons the first One Plus sold so well.
Personally there isn’t a phone here I would want over my Meizu MX5. Especially after the Flyme 5 update.
Hi Balcobomber, which phone would you suggest: xiaomi mi4c, letv1s, meizu mx5 or any other phone at this price range. My preference are. Flagship feeling, good audio, good camera. Build qiality. Thnks
I’m a little biased because the only one of those I have used is the MX5 and it’s also my daily driver. I can’t speak for the others but I love the MX5. It has the premium feel you’re looking for with it’s metal finish and sleek profile. Audio is very good, there are better but there’s also worse. The camera is amazing once you ditch the stock app, using Open Camera or MX I have taken some breathtaking photos. Build quality is exceptional, I don’t use cases with my phones and I have dropped this several times. I have nary a scratch on it.
I have read some bad comments on Mx5 screen quality. I am between letv and mx5. In foto letv looks better. I don’t know if letv is full metal or not.
Thanks for the open camera tip. I am using it on my M1 Note and it has opened up 120fps 1080p and 4K video plus a ton of other settings. I need to actually check out the quality(its currently dark outside) but, I am really excited to fiddle around with this and see if the phone can actually handle it
I’ve used a lot of 1080p displays, this one is equal to or better than the top ones. It’s a Samsung AMOLED display. Only thing is if you set color temp to warm there can be a pinkish tint. If you set it to neutral or cool it’s fine.
Most stock camera apps suck imo. I almost always use Open Camera or Lenovo Super Camera.
What is Flyme 5 like? I upgraded recently from 4.2 to 4.5(so Kitkat to Lollipop) Its defintely a bit faster, but there is a serious issue with the touch screen which seems come and go, where its registering multiple touches when I am only using one finger. It then does crazy shit like opening the app 2 icons below the one you are actually selecting :-). I am considering downgrading if they don’t fix it soon.
What phone are you using? Sounds more like a problem with your digitizer than with the OS itself. Flyme 5 is a lot quicker and a lot more fluid than 4.5. Most of the changes are subtle but a lot of them bring normal Android features back. Like a settings icon when you swipe down or tiles when you swipe up.
A M1 Note. It could be the digitizer, it would be a weird coincidence since it started basically the day I updated it. It I turn the ‘see the touches’ thing on, I am touching it where the bottom spot is, but its duplicating it. If I restart it, its fine for a while and then it creeps in again. The time period is intermittent though. Anyways I know this isn’t the right forum for this :-).
Try either XDA or Meizus actual forums. The M phones have a pretty large following someone there will be able to help you.
What about “LeTV 1S” vs. “Meizu Metal”?
Haven’t used either so can’t say.
And how is the new LeTV S1 doing? Are you guys satisfied with the demand for the phone?
Not sure if this is community question xD but i#m happy with my S1 Pro had updates since i bought it 6 Months ago (holy cow months are passing fast) only problem right now is that i only have 32gb ram xD battery holds quite long for being only 3000 mah for a 5.5″ 2K Display
My wife just bought the LeTV 1 32GB version for an incredible price of RMB 1048, roughly USD 165, but this is in China, I believe USD 199 is quite a good price! I still I’m amazed!
My wife just bought the LeTV 1 32GB version for an incredible price of RMB 1048, roughly USD 165, but this is in China, I believe USD 199 is quite a good price! I still I’m amazed!
Good that you guys have great prices!
Good that you guys have great prices!
We pay around 250β¬ for a Letv 1S after importing it.
That’s ~$270
We pay around 250β¬ for a Letv 1S after importing it.
That’s ~$270
where is huawei best company in china π
I’m not really understood what’s difference between LeTV One & LeTV 1S except metal body and finger scanner? What’s really better?
I’m not really understood what’s difference between LeTV One & LeTV 1S except metal body and finger scanner? What’s really better?