Our top 5 Chinese smartphone list sees some changes for the month of May, which means your options just got better overall. So, if you’re looking for your next daily driver for under $200, then stick around to check out what you can get from China in this price segment!
Top 5 Chinese Smartphones for Under $200
1. Asus ZenFone Max Pro (M1)
Asus are finally bringing some good competition to Xiaomi’s Redmi Note line-up of phones. The tech giant based in Taiwan did indeed launch the really promising Asus ZenFone Max Pro (M1) in late April.
Asus’s budget phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 along with 3GB, 4GB or 6GB of RAM and 32GB/64GB of storage (expandable).
Other specs include a 5.99-inch FHD+ (1080 x 2160 px) display, a 13MP rear camera with OIS and 4K recording capability accompanied by a 5MP image sensor, meanwhile selfies are taken care from a 8MP snapper at the front.
The smartphone is fueled by a 5000mAh battery, runs Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box and supports various 4G LTE networks around the globe.
2. Xiaomi Redmi Note 5
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 is ZenFone Max Pro’s closest contender as they come with pretty similar hardware, Xiaomi’s device is indeed also powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 along with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage (also available in 4GB/64GB). The hardware will push a large 5.99-inch LCD IPS display with a resolution of 1080 x 2160 px (FHD+).
The Redmi Note 5 comes with a main 12MP rear shooter accompanied by a 5MP sensor to create photos with a shallow depth of field effect; a 13MP front camera will be snapping your selfies.
The smartphone packs a big 4000mAh battery, runs MIUI based on Android 8.0 Oreo and supports a wide selection of 4G networks in its Global version.
3. Lenovo S5
Lenovo recently came up with a phone that could challenge the two above, albeit it features the less powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 625. The handset features a 5.7-inch screen with an 18:9 aspect ratio and a 2160 x 1080 resolution encased in a full-metallic Series 6000 aluminum unibody. The SD 625 chip is coupled with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. There is also a 4GB RAM variant coupled with 64GB or 128GB of storage.
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Other specs include a 13MP rear shooter with F/2.2 aperture, a 16MP selfie snapper, a 3000mAh battery, 4G connectivity, Android 8.0 Oreo and the much requested USB Type-C port for charging and data sync.
4. Meizu M6S
If you’re looking for something more affordable, then check out the Meizu M6S. The handset comes with a 5.7-inch HD+ display and is powered by a good performing Samsung Exynos 7872 hexa-core CPU along with 3GB of RAM and either 32GB or 64GB of internal storage.
On the M6S we find a single 16MP rear camera with an F/2.0 aperture and PDAF. The selfie snapper is 8MP sporting the same F/2.0 wide aperture lens.
Meizu’s phone comes with a 3000mAh capacity battery, a side-mounted fingerprint scanner and support for global LTE.
5. Huawei Honor 7x
Finally, the Huawei Honor 7x is still a great device in this price range if you can spend a little extra for your future daily driver. Honor’s budget phone does indeed come with some quite good performing hardware, including a Huawei HiSilicon KIRIN 659 coupled with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage (expandable), plus it features a large 5.93-inch FHD+ 18:9 display and the dual camera setup Huawei is famous for.
The rear camera combo is composed of a main 16MP shooter with F/2.2 shooter that can record 4K videos and a secondary 2MP to create photos with the fancy bokeh effect; meanwhile at the front we find an 8MP shooter with F/2.0 aperture.
The Huawei Honor 7x is fueled by a 3340mAh capacity battery and it supports 4G LTE connectivity on many networks, sadly for Europeans there’s no band 20 support.
Alternatively, check out the Huawei Honor 9 Lite coming in the same price range but downgraded to 3GB of RAM (in the cheapest variant).
Top 5 Chinese Smartphones for Under $200
Here we conclude our monthly rendezvous for the month of May. If you’ve found your next mid-ranger comment below, otherwise let us know which smartphone under $200 you’d have liked to see on the list.
