Chinese smartphones are slowly conquering the European markets, thanks to respectable technical characteristics, to ever more beautiful and modern designs but in particular with much lower prices than products made by other manufacturers; it is not uncommon to see smartphones with the same characteristics offered for sale at less than half the price compared to the reference model of a famous manufacturer. If you have any doubts about the build quality of these devices, you will have to change your mind very soon: today’s Chinese smartphones are sufficiently robust and work in all conditions, sometimes showing even greater resistance to more popular smartphones.
Are you tempted to purchase a Chinese smartphone but don’t know which one to choose?
In this guide I will show you the best Chinese smartphones released during the year, so you can choose the one that’s right for you based on the price.
Best Chinese smartphones by price range
Before buying any Chinese smartphone, it is advisable to keep in mind the technical characteristics visible below, so as to avoid the purchase of clones or very poor products.
Technical features
By now Chinese branded smartphones have technical characteristics that have nothing to envy to Korean or American competitors; to be on the safe side, make sure that the following features are present:
- CPU: Mediatek or Qualcomm Snapdragon processor (possibly octa-core)
- RAM: at least 2 GB, better if 3 GB or higher
- Internal memory: 32 GB expandable (preferably 64 GB)
- Battery: 3000 mAh or higher
- Front camera: at least 8 MP
- Rear camera: multi lens of at least 12 MP
- Operating system: Android 9 or later
- Release system: fingerprint reader and / or face unlock
By now all Chinese smartphones have full support for Italian LTE networks, as well as support for contemporary Dual SIM. Below we will only show you Amazon links, so we will have the absolute certainty of buying smartphones destined for the global market with a real 2-year warranty, as seen in our guide The Amazon guarantee reimburses the money spent within two years.
Best Chinese smartphones
In order to choose the best Chinese smartphone based on our economic possibilities, we will show you a valid smartphone for each price range. The recommended devices are chosen based on the reviews provided by users and the sales report, which are essential to understand if a smartphone is valid or not.
Best Chinese smartphone under € 100
There are many smartphones of Chinese origin under € 100, but choosing a good model that always remains fast even after years can be difficult; this is why we advise you to focus on the Xiaomi Redmi 8A.
This smartphone has a constantly updated operating system, a 439 octa-core Snapdragon CPU, 2 GB of RAM, 32 GB of internal memory (expandable up to 512 GB), a 12 MP rear camera, an 8 MP front camera , dual SIM slot, face recognition, 5000 mAh battery and 6.22 inch HD screen.
We can view this device from here -> Xiaomi Redmi 8A (99 €).
The best alternatives in this price range are:
- Blackview A60 (€ 69)
- Ulefone Note 7 (€ 69)
- OUKITEL C15 PRO + (€ 89)
Best Chinese smartphone under € 200
Here always better products start to appear, with technical data sheets to envy a very high-end device; this is the case of Xiaomi Redmi Note 8.
This smartphone has just about everything you need: octa-core Snapdragon 665 CPU, 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB of internal memory (expandable), quad 48MP + 8MP + 2MP + 2MP rear camera, 13 MP front camera, 6.3-inch SuperHD screen, face unlock and 4000 mAh battery with fast charge.
If you are interested you can see it from here -> Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 (162 €).
Other valid alternatives in the same price range are:
- UMIDIGI F1 (143 €)
- K-TOUCH i10 (€ 175)
- Xiaomi Mi A3 (181 €)
- realme 5 Pro (199 Euros)
Best Chinese smartphone under € 300
Here you will find the best Chinese smartphones with amazing data sheets, to make even Samsung smartphones pale! The best in the category is definitely it Huawei P30 Lite.
This smartphone shows a 6.15 “FHD + display, 4GB of RAM, 128 GB expandable memory, triple rear camera 48 + 8 + 2 MP, front camera 24 MP, unlocking with the fingerprint and with the face and battery from 3340 mAh.
We can view this smartphone from here -> Huawei P30 Lite (€ 259).
The best alternatives in this price range are:
- Xiaomi Mi 9 Lite (236 €)
- Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 Pro (€ 236)
- Oukitel K9 (€ 239)
Best Chinese smartphone under € 400
In the high end of Chinese smartphones you will find many valid products, including the Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro.
This smartphone is reminiscent of the much more expensive product lines and features an absolute level data sheet with a 6.39 “full screen AMOLED screen, Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor, 6 GB of RAM, 128 GB of internal memory, hidden camera with Pop-up selfie, triple rear camera 13 + 48 + 8 MP, fingerprint reader under the screen, face unlock and 4000 mAh battery.
We can view this smartphone from here -> Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro (380 €).
The alternatives in this price range are:
- Oppo Reno (€ 375)
- Honor View20 (€ 387)
- Huawei Nova 5T (399 €)
Best Chinese smartphone under € 500
Currently in the premium price range you can find it OnePlus 7.
This smartphone represents the top of Chinese technology, with a 6.41-inch FullHD + AMOLED screen, Snapdragon 855 processor, 6 GB of RAM, 128 GB of internal memory, dual rear camera 48 MP + 5 MP, face unlock, Wi -Fi Dual Band, NFC and 3700 mAh battery.
We can view this smartphone from here -> OnePlus 7 (€ 459).
The best alternatives to this smartphone are:
- Huawei P30 (420 €)
- OnePlus 6T (409 €)
Best Chinese smartphone over € 500
Even in the top-of-the-range range, in direct competition with the iPhones and Samsung Notes, we find a very expensive and powerful Chinese smartphone such as the OnePlus 7T Pro.
This high-cost smartphone comes with a really impressive data sheet, with a 6.67-inch AMOLED display at 90Hz, Qualcomm Snapdragon 855+ processor, 8 GB of RAM, 256 GB of internal memory, triple rear camera, front camera to pop-up disappearance, 4085 mAh battery with ultra-fast 30W charging (20 minutes for a full charge).
We can view this smartphone from here -> OnePlus 7T Pro (€ 725).
The best alternatives to this smartphone are:
- OnePlus 7T (599 €)
- Huawei P30 Pro (€ 649)
- OnePlus 7 Pro (€ 689)
Conclusions
Chinese smartphones have now conquered the world and are ready to take away the scepter of best-selling Android smartphones at Samsung, given the high quality of the new phones, the excellent quality / price ratio and an increasingly convincing choice of materials. The times of the Chinese or Apple clones that lasted yes and no 1 month are very distant!
To learn more, we can also read our article on Best Chinese brands for cell phones.
Are we fond of Huawei’s Chinese smartphones? In this case we can continue reading on our guide to Best Huawei and Honor smartphones to buy today.
For those who want Xiaomi, however, we have seen specifically i best Xiaomi smartphones (Redmi and Mi)
If we are looking for the best Android smartphones ever divided by price range, we can view the article on Best Android smartphones ever for each price range.