ALTERNATIVES to Chinese Smartphones Across all Segment

ALTERNATIVES to Chinese Smartphones Across all Price Segments

Highlights:

The border clash between Indian and Chinese forces have led to a strong backlash against Chinese companies selling products in India.

Yet, with high price to performance ratio, the Chinese smartphones enjoy a lot of popularity in India. If you are boycotting Chinese goods, these non-Chinese smartphones are great alternatives to consider.

 

The brutal face-off at the Galwan Valley (Ladakh) with Chinese troops which resulted in more than 20 Indian soldiers laying down their lives has directed to a huge reaction against Chinese brands, particularly Chinese smartphones and apps that so far enjoyed the liking of Indian citizens. With Indian Intelligence flagging apps coming from China and asking users to not use them, it is time to look at alternatives to popular Chinese smartphones.

 

China, with its economic strength, has quickly expanded its manufacturing capacity, as a outcome, is able to make electronics which are far more affordable than those produced in another countries. Does it mean there’s nothing at par with Chinese smartphones? There is! While the home-grown Indian brands may not match up yet, there are a few of brands from Korea, Europe, Taiwan and the United States that can give them competition.  I am listing out popular Chinese offerings in each segment and would suggest alternatives for you to consider.

Budget Segment

Popular: Realme Narzo 10A, Redmi 8A Dual

 

Realme Narzo 10A houses the MediaTek Helio G70 SoC which is quite strong for a phone priced this low. It can run heavy games like PUBG Mobile & Cod: mobile . The phone holds a 6.5-inch IPS LCD panel with HD+ resolution. The triple camera setup is led by a 12MP primary camera, along with two 2MP camera for macro and portrait shoots. However, the camera is not quite reliable, particularly in low light. Realme offers it with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage and a 5000mAh battery. While it is from a Chinese company, the phone itself is manufactured in India.

 

Redmi 8A by Xiaomi, a popular Chinese brand in India which enjoys the leading share in Indian markets. The phone comes with Snapdragon 439 and has a 6.2-inch HD+ display. There is a dual-camera at the back with a 13MP primary camera and a 2MP depth sensor.

Alternative:
 

Samsung Galaxy M20

The Galaxy M20 is factory-made by Samsung in India. It is a little compact with 6.3-inch TFT display but with a Full HD+ resolution, which increases the Pixel per inch making the screen appear better. M20 takes a different route with the cameras, which I believe is useful over a macro lens. The M20 houses a 13MP primary camera along with a 5MP ultrawide lens. The selfie camera is also a 8MP shooter. The performance is where the phone fades in the face of its Chinese rivalry. Exynos 7904 is not at par for the Helio G70, but it can take you through the day. Battery life is likewise long with 5,000mAh. If you are Going with this, you will end up losing performance but gain in terms of better camera options and a better display.

MID RANGE segment

 

Popular: Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro Max, Realme 6 Pro

 

Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro series, particularly the Max variant is quite prevalent in India because of the value it offers. For fact, Xiaomi and Realme phones in the segment undercut the competition with powerful hardware. But, phones from these come with all kinds of ads, bloatware which takes to the poor user experience, and cancelling out the gains from the strong hardware. Choices from the Chinese brands in this segment houses a Snapdragon 7-series chipsets and high-resolution camera sensors with HDR-certified panels.

The Realme 6 Pro is powered by the Snapdragon 720 and holds a 64MP quad-camera. The major difference between the two smartphones lies in the software used(MIUI vs Realme UI) and the presence of a 13MP telephoto lens on the Realme 6 Pro.

 

Alternative:

 

Nokia 8.1, Samsung Galaxy M31

The Nokia 8.1, made by HMD Global of Finland challenges the Chinese smartphones in all segments. It has an HDR10-certified 6.18-inch LCD panel with full HD+ resolution. It has the Snapdragon 710 SoC with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. Nokia has Zeiss-certified 12MP camera with OIS with a 13MP telephoto lens. On the front we have 20MP selfie camera.

With Galaxy M31, you get a 6.4-inch AMOLED with FHD+ resolution and Gorilla Glass protection. It’s powered by the Exynos 9611 SoC joined with 6GB RAM and up to 128GB along with expandable storage. The camera goes hand in hand with the Chinese offering with a 64MP quad-camera at the back, including an 8MP ultrawide lens, 5MP macro and a 5MP depth sensor. We also have 32MP selfie camera. The battery is where the M31 is well ahead of the competition from Chinese manufacturers with a 6,000mAh battery.

HIGH-END SEGMENT

Popular:

 

OnePlus 8, Realme X2 Pro, Redmi K20 Pro

 

Going up with the price means stakes are higher, and demand for a premium experience is principal. This is where popular offerings from OnePlus and Xiaomi have notably made their mark in recent times. These phones originate in China and are partner with Qualcomm, characteristically using the flagship chipset to offer high-end performance. They also use the latest RAM and storage elements and pack the smartphone with multi-camera setup. Yet, the user interface, leaving aside OnePlus’s OxygenOS, are mostly the same as their budget counterparts and are known to serve ads and spam notifications. Here are the alternatives.

 

Alternative:

 

Asus 6z, ROG Phone II, Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite, Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite, iPhone SE 2020.

 

The Asus 6z and the ROG Phone II are made by the Taiwanese brand known for their presence in the computer market. The ROG Phone II is developed by the matching individuals who design gaming laptops. In both the Asus 6z and ROG Phone II, the performance is top-notch. And both of these products also transform on the design. The Asus 6z brings a rotating camera setup with a dual-camera module that works as both the front and rear cameras. The ROG Phone II offers pressure-sensitive air triggers which gives gamers an unfair advantage while gaming. The phone also offers the grainiest customizations in the CPU, letting user run everything at peak performances via the game modes and other additional setting options. Here’s also a host of alternatives.

 

However, if it’s a more prevalent line of smartphones you are looking at, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Lite and the S10 Lite are truly great options to consider. Both these smartphones take indications from the premium samsung offering and bring some of its own like a high-resolution 48MP camera on the S10 Lite with flagship Snapdragon processors, the S-Pen on the Note 10 Lite and a slim form factor with bright, vivid and high contrast sAMOLED displays.

 

The high-end segment also has the budget iPhone that launched this year. The iPhone SE (2020) turns out to be an excellent daily driver, even for power users (small battery though). Apple has used the A13 Bionic processor that’s there on the flagship iPhone 11 series keeping the design compact as the old iPhone 8. You get the same lag-free experience that’s expected out of an Apple device and off course, the iOS. The battery life may feel a little less as compared to the Chinese counterparts which can be a bummer though.

PREMIUM SEGMENT

Popular Options:

 

OnePlus 8 Pro, Oppo Find X2, Xiaomi Mi 10

 

The premium segment is where the non-Chinese brands rule the roost, although OnePlus has made a dent in their paychecks. These smartphones are also powered by the latest Snapdragon 865 SoC like the high-end offerings, but go that extra mile in offering wireless charging and display protection, along with QHD+ displays with high refresh rate and large cameras with 108 million pixels. In fact, the Chinese offerings themselves are generally considered to be alternatives to the premium players in this segment.

 

Alternatives:

 

iPhone 11, Samsung Galaxy S20, LG G8X

The iPhone 11 series is popular enough to not require further evangelism. If I have to enumerate the benefits, you get the smoothest operating system for mobiles. One that’s also very different from Android. The default iPhone 11 now offers two cameras at the back. A 12MP primary wide lens and another 12MP ultrawide lens, and both are the best in their segment for both photos and videos. Night mode that kicks in automatically when there’s low light to enhance low light photography, and like all things, it just works. The A13 Bionic chip with a Neural Engine and a six-core GPU is also the most powerful processor for mobiles, giving tough call to the Snapdragon 865. With such premium features, the price is also on the higher side as compared to the Chinese premium. It’s totally worth the extra premium.

The Samsung Galaxy S20 series is yet another example of Non-Chinese dominance. This is one line-up which routinely sets a new benchmark for the Android. This time, Samsung is offering high-refresh-rate displays, sensible cameras and a far more optimised UI than before the one UI 2. The Galaxy S20 is the most affordable of the three and it offers a QHD+ 120Hz display like the OnePlus 8 Pro, a 64MP triple camera and support for the wireless charging. The phone also rocks an in-display fingerprint sensor, fast 25W charging, reverse wireless charging, HDR10+ certification, and IP68 water and dust resistance

Coming to the LG G8X, this one’s perhaps the most utilitarian among all premium offerings. That’s because you can attach a second display to the phone and take multitasking, gaming to a whole new different level. LG G8X is powered by last year’s flagship Snapdragon 855, it rocks a dual camera module comprising a 12MP primary sensor and a 13MP ultrawide lens. It’s also one of the few smartphones that can record HDR videos natively.

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