There are plenty of Chinese phone brands that we are all pretty familiar with, but what about all those brands we don’t hear so much about? Here are 10 new phones from China that you haven probably never heard of.
This mix of phones includes a few new brands with new devices, and even old favourites who are back with new devices, some you may already know, but we are sure you won’t have heard of all 10.
Uhans U100
The Uhans U100 is the odd phone out of the list. It is the only phone that features a leather covered body and the its the smallest phone with a 4.7-inch display. We’ve seen phone makers pay more attention to design this year, but the Uhans U100 wants to be a the ‘peoples Vertu’ a phone that looks the part but can be bought by not just the exclusive elite.
The leather and metal body contains a Mediatek MT6735 chipset, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal memory, HD display 13 mega-pixel Sony rear camera and 2200mAh battery. It’s certainly not a phone for everyone’s taste but it might attract some of you.
Macoox X7 Mini
Macoox are a new brand to us, in fact we only learned about the brand when we visited their website after leaning about their planned 9000mAh smartphone.
The X7 Mini was released in China this week and from the front it looks like the LeTV Le1S featuring gold upper and lower bezels and a black border around the display. Speaking of the display, with a name like ‘mini’ you might believe that this phone has a small panel but a 5.5-inch FHD screen sounds large to us.
On the rear is an all alloy body with rear fingerprint scanner, and rear 13 mega-pixel camera. Under the hood the phone runs Android 5.1 on a 1.3Ghz Mediatek quad-core chipset, 2GB RAM, 16GB memory and 2050mAh battery. Pricing in China is 1299 Yuan for the China Unicom FDD LTE model.
Blackview Omega Pro
Blackview aren’t a new company and the Omega isn’t new, but the Blackview Omega Pro is a new device. Blackview say the phone will go on sale on the 21st November and boasts front and rear Gorilla Glass panels, a CNC machined chassis, and trays for dual SIMs or a micro SD card of up to 128GB.
The phone uses a 5-inch 1280 x 720 display from LG, and runs a Mediatek octacore MT6753 chipset with 3GB RAM. Other details include a 2400mAh battery, 13 mega-pixel rear camera, and 2 mega-pixel front. Colour options are Pearl White, Violet Black and Rose Gold. Pricing is $149.99 for international customers and you can buy the phone here.
Macoox MC-X7
Another entry from Macoox is a 6-incher that just so happens to look like the LeTV Le Max phablet. Macoox are obviously after a different customer to the Le Max and so have cut a few hardware corners here and there to make a more cost effective device.
The phone is an all alloy product with fingerprint scanner and 13 mega-pixel camera on the rear. The front is taken up by a 6-inch HD (720 x 1280) display. Specs also include an octacore Mediatek 1.5Ghz processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB memory, Hotknot and a 2850mAh battery. Pricing in China for the Maccox MX-X7 is 1699 Yuan.
Small Pepper X5
Small Pepper were the first to make a low-cost dual-core phone and the first to make an affordable quad-core, but since their heyday they have been a little less brash and visible.
Gizchina News of the week
The Small Pepper X5 launched this week and is another Chinese phone designed to look good and offer a sleek user experience rather than having all the latest hot features. Even with this in mind it is kind of odd to see a 1Ghz chipset with 3GB RAM, still the Chinese media seem impressed with phone.
Dimensions are 150.5 x 76.7 x 7.2mm which gives the phone just enough room for a 2400mAh battery, 5.5-inch HD display, 8 mega-pixel front camera and 13 mega-pixel rear. Chances are the Small Pepper X5 will show up on reseller sites, but in China the X5 costs 1699 Yuan.
Changhong N1
Changhong are a larger technology brand in China. They are known for making TV’s and other home appliances and have also tried to break in to the smartphone market for a few years now with their own line of Android devices.
The N1 follows on from the larger battery X1 phone, and comes equipped with a 4000mAh battery, Mediatek chipset and features a narrow bezel design. Changhong have also included a few neat software features in to the N1 too such as voice activated personal assistant, gesture controls and an encrypted privacy mode.
Haier Hai Le 3
Haier are easily the largest brand on this list. They are a huge white goods maker and also have a large TV and electronics division with products already officially on sale around the world.
Despite being a larger brand Haier have never really had much luck in the smartphone world but the new Hai Le 3 might bring them some much needed attention. The phone is built with dual 2.5D glass panels and a thin 7.2mm chassis, for a phone that looks good and shouldn’t take much room in your palm or pocket.
The Hai Le 3 has a 5-inch display, 5 mega-pixel front camera, 8 mega-pixel rear, but a tiny 1800mAh battery. Pricing in China is 998 Yuan for this gold 5-incher.
Green Orange M4
Another old favourite is Green Orange, and the M4 is one of the most advanced to be released by the phone maker this year.
For this phone Green Orange built the M4 with a metal chassis and plastic rear panels in a range of colours. The back is also where a fingerprint scanner is located below a 13 mega-pixel F2.0 PDAF camera.
Performance should be on par with other octacore MT6753 phones, the chipset runs at 1.5Ghz with 2GB RAM. Internal storage is set at 16GB while an SD slot meaning you can run up to 128GB cards inside.
Like a few other phones on this list, the Green Orange M4 is a 5-inch phone, which makes the device quite a rare one, there aren’t many 5-inch Chinese phones with rear fingerprint scanner and PDAF camera on the market.
Currently only white versions of the phone are on sale in China at a retail price of 1599 Yuan.
Kingzone K2
Remember how I mentioned there aren’t many 5-inch phones on sale with a rear fingerprint scanner? Well here is another! The Kingzone K2 smartphone boasts a 5-inch FHD 1920 x 1080 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass panel up front and square fingerprint scanner beneath a 13 mega-pixel F2.0 IMX214 camera on the rear.
Kingzone might have made the K2 slim at only 6.3mm thick but they have managed to get a MT6753 octacore processor, 3GB RAM, and 2600mAh battery pack inside.
For those of you who enjoy music then the fact that the K2 also comes with a Yamaha HIFI YDA 165 audio decoder built-in will certainly perk your ears up. Unlike most of the phones on this list, Kingzone actually target international customers so you should easily find the Kingzone K2 on sale.
Phicomm EX780
Phicomm? Never heard of them, but while writing this article I found the brand and their flagship phone. The Phicomm EX780 looks like a Vivo Xplay 3S from the rear, with similar design and last gen fingerprint scanner, but the similarities are more than just skin deep.
The Phicomm also sports a Snapdragon 801 chipset, that’s the same quad-core processor that is found in the new ZUK Z1 and the OnePlus X. The rear of the phone also features contacts so you can charge the phone with a dock and inside there is a 2900mAh battery.
Other details are a 5.5-inch 1920 x 1080 display, 13 mega-pixel main camera, 5 mega-pixel front and 3GB RAM. An odd, but interesting device.
Ho hum… Any chance of a MX5 Pro review Andy?
Good to see some brands making a comeback like Phicomm, Green Orange, Small Pepper and Kingzone.
Agree. King zone had good phones in the past. Wonder what’s with THL.
boy i would LOVE to see these guys foray even DEEPER into the mainstream market to whip up the contest and get prices down EVEN lower 😀
Prices are pretty much constant in this industry. But what we are saying is better tech for lower costs (like Helios X10) which is why we are starting to get some very good phones under $200.
agreed. however , seeing redmi note 2 UNDER $200 with a helio x10 was v.surprising and REALLY went against the market trend. pleasant
Yes and no. While it did have a SoC of a much higher priced phone the rest of it was the specs of a $150 phone.
was it THAT bad ?
No it was very good for a $150 device but compared to other X10 devices wasn’t that great
hmm…
i see u have embraced the fallout 4 fever 😀
I have played every Bethesda game dating back to Elder Scrolls Arena. Being from Boston though, it is pretty epic playing Fallout 4 and seeing locations you actually visit on a daily basis.
woah … watch out guys , we got a BADASS gamer here…
i never knew u were so much into gaming , like me !
Gaming is fourth love after coffee, cigars and sports. Phones would be a close fifth.
nice !
unknown to most of us but not to our friend
Realjjj.
he usually refers to these phones while saying that every phone from brands like Xiaomi, Meizu,LeTV… are overpriced.
Phicomm has been selling phones in India via Amazon for months. The first time I mentioned about it here was when Yash was still in college and his exams were on. ?
never heard of them.
i almost bought an Haier phone though, then i changed my mind over a cubot.
Long time ago when i was still young. 😉
lol … we have haier here … and their aforementioned model looks appealing … lets see if i can get a fair local price for it 😀
I have a phicomm x100 since 2012. it’s easy to find them in pandawill and geekbuying.
Yes. I did some search on the web. U r correct. Any luck with ROMs or anything about their software updates?
Phicomm is one of the worst in software. His most popular smaprthone ( C230w ) was sold for two years with a buggy ROM (swap only 5mb ) . I never received an update, even corrections to my X100 .
Ho hum… Any chance of a MX5 Pro review Andy?
Good to see some brands making a comeback like Phicomm, Green Orange, Small Pepper and Kingzone.
Agree. King zone had good phones in the past. Wonder what’s with THL.
boy i would LOVE to see these guys foray even DEEPER into the mainstream market to whip up the contest and get prices down EVEN lower 😀
i see u have embraced the fallout 4 fever 😀
I have played every Bethesda game dating back to Elder Scrolls Arena. Being from Boston though, it is pretty epic playing Fallout 4 and seeing locations you actually visit on a daily basis.
Prices are pretty much constant in this industry. But what we are saying is better tech for lower costs (like Helios X10) which is why we are starting to get some very good phones under $200.
woah … watch out guys , we got a BADASS gamer here…
i never knew u were so much into gaming , like me !
agreed. however , seeing redmi note 2 UNDER $200 with a helio x10 was v.surprising and REALLY went against the market trend. pleasant
agreed. however , seeing redmi note 2 UNDER $200 with a helio x10 was v.surprising and REALLY went against the market trend. pleasant
Yes and no. While it did have a SoC of a much higher priced phone the rest of it was the specs of a $150 phone.
Gaming is fourth love after coffee, cigars and sports. Phones would be a close fifth.
nice !
was it THAT bad ?
No it was very good for a $150 device but compared to other X10 devices wasn’t that great
hmm…
hmm…
hmm…
unknown to most of us but not to our friend
Realjjj.
he usually refers to these phones while saying that every phone from brands like Xiaomi, Meizu,LeTV… are overpriced.
Phicomm has been selling phones in India via Amazon for months. The first time I mentioned about it here was when Yash was still in college and his exams were on. 🙃
never heard of them.
i almost bought an Haier phone though, then i changed my mind over a cubot.
Long time ago when i was still young. 😉
lol … we have haier here … and their aforementioned model looks appealing … lets see if i can get a fair local price for it 😀
I have a phicomm x100 since 2012. it’s easy to find them in pandawill and geekbuying. Phicomm provides smartphones to telephone operators across the globe.
Yes. I did some search on the web. U r correct. Any luck with ROMs or anything about their software updates?
Phicomm is one of the worst in software. His most popular smaprthone ( C230w ) was sold for two years with a buggy ROM (swap only 5mb ) . I never received an update, even corrections to my X100 . http://www.needrom.com/category/others/m-n-o-p/phicomm-m-n-o-p/
why are most of them above MY pricing criteria D:
That phicomm is not so expensive though
yea but it has no sd card slot and finger print chip used is ancient on it …
Fair points, especially the fingerprint one: probably it’s like the one on elephone p2000… Unusable to say the least!
And while 32gb of memory could be enough for someone, an sd reader is always welcome!
All in all, I’m still curious about how it performs with that soc-ram combo! 😀
Qiku (range) probably deserved a mention, all pretty interesting devices.
Is the Kingzone released? Cant find much mention of it online
Not yet AFAIK. I’m interested in it too.
All boring & absurdly priced phones. I wonder which international buyers in their right mind would choose these instead of the mainstream sellers like xiaomi, oneplus, lenovo, Huawei, zuk.
The Kingzone K2 is interesting. The specifications are right and it even has NFC. International buyers won’t choose Xiaomi because o lack of LTE frequencies. Huawei is overpriced, Lenovo, OnePlus and Zuk are getting very expensive too.
For example why would anybody choose the Zuk Z1 if you can get LG G3 for the same price?
If some of Kingzone’s past phones are representative then advertised spec and reality might be far apart.
I would, I’m currently using a ZUK Z1 now, the official support of Cyanogen worth it for me and I think it would worth it for lots of people. The point in getting mainstream manufacturers like Xiaomi, Meizu, OnePlus or ZUK is the continuous support of software update. These manufacturers have already built up their reputation already. Worth the extra money in my opinion but most of the time, they ain’t even more expensive.
I’ve been following that phicomm phone for quite a while, I’m really curious about how it performs but unfortunately I’ve found no review… It looks not-so-bad, and it has specs you can find in last year’s flagships, at a nice price through resellers too…
why are most of them above MY pricing criteria D:
That phicomm is not so expensive though
yea but it has no sd card slot and finger print chip used is ancient on it …
Fair points, especially the fingerprint one: probably it’s like the one on elephone p2000… Unusable to say the least!
And while 32gb of memory could be enough for someone, an sd reader is always welcome!
All in all, I’m still curious about how it performs with that soc-ram combo! 😀
Qiku (range) probably deserved a mention, all pretty interesting devices.
Is the Kingzone released? Cant find much mention of it online
Not yet AFAIK. I’m interested in it too.
The K2 looks interesting , but again with the lack of either 850 or 1900 3g bands nor lte 4 band have no future ,big mistake of Kingzone ,it looks that they are NOT targeting for international customers
All boring & absurdly priced phones. I wonder which international buyers in their right mind would choose these instead of the mainstream sellers like xiaomi, oneplus, lenovo, Huawei, zuk.
The Kingzone K2 is interesting. The specifications are right and it even has NFC. International buyers won’t choose Xiaomi because o lack of LTE frequencies. Huawei is overpriced, Lenovo, OnePlus and Zuk are getting very expensive too.
For example why would anybody choose the Zuk Z1 if you can get LG G3 for the same price?
If some of Kingzone’s past phones are representative then advertised spec and reality might be far apart.
I would, I’m currently using a ZUK Z1 now, the official support of Cyanogen worth it for me and I think it would worth it for lots of people. The point in getting mainstream manufacturers like Xiaomi, Meizu, OnePlus or ZUK is the continuous support of software update. These manufacturers have already built up their reputation already. Worth the extra money in my opinion but most of the time, they ain’t even more expensive.
I’ve been following that phicomm phone for quite a while, I’m really curious about how it performs but unfortunately I’ve found no review… It looks not-so-bad, and it has specs you can find in last year’s flagships, at a nice price through resellers too…
Damm. I need to replace my water-damaged thl5000, every phones with more than 4000mah is not good as thl 5000,
I mean i need gyro, maybe nfc, good camera, etc
The innos d6000 is my first choice right now but the thickness…..
Can any of you recommend me a phone? Thanks a lot
D6000 !!!
The K2 looks interesting , but again with the lack of either 850 or 1900 3g bands nor lte 4 band have no future ,big mistake of Kingzone ,it looks that they are NOT targeting for international customers
The K2 looks interesting , but again with the lack of either 850 or 1900 3g bands nor lte 4 band have no future ,big mistake of Kingzone ,it looks that they are NOT targeting for international customers
Damm. I need to replace my water-damaged thl5000, every phones with more than 4000mah is not good as thl 5000,
I mean i need gyro, maybe nfc, good camera, etc
The innos d6000 is my first choice right now but the thickness…..
Can any of you recommend me a phone? Thanks a lot
D6000 !!!