Which phone is no worse than iPhone 6. What to buy instead of iPhone XS: seven alternatives to an overly expensive smartphone

IPhone is the best smartphone that humanity has come up with, and to be precise, Steve Jobs and Apple. A strong statement that we decided to put to the test. You see, today almost a religion has formed that does not accept any electronics other than Apple. Undoubtedly, every brand has ardent admirers, but it is the “bitten apple” that has an army of fanatics under its wing who consider Android smartphones to be defective, despite the fact that Google’s OS has made a huge leap in recent years, surpassing iOS in many ways. We decided to prove to everyone that you can live without brand new iPhone 7, having selected several models that are better in everything (or almost everything).

Samsung Galaxy S8

In our ranking of smartphones that are better than the iPhone 7, this beauty occupies the leading position. Yes, as expected, yes, the device from the Korean manufacturer has its drawbacks, but, by and large, it beats the competitor from Cupertino.

Design? Well, the iPhone 7 is not bad, but it doesn’t have anything unusual. The shapes are typical for a smartphone, fairly wide frames at the top and bottom, and most importantly - almost zero differences from what we saw in the iPhone 6 and subsequent models. Samaung Galaxy S8 appeared before us in a rethought design, which, you see, you also liked. Oh, that elongated glass body and unusual high-resolution display ratio. Just put the Samaung Galaxy S8 and iPhone 7 side by side: a completely new experience and unchanged appearance.

Let's move on. Cameras. Without going into technical specifications, we can confidently say that the Samaung Galaxy S8 is better. Only the lazy did not compare the cameras of these smartphones, and only Apple fans sided with the iPhone. By almost all criteria, the Galaxy S8 is ahead: faster focusing, best shooting in the dark, there are many more different chips. Moreover, in this regard, the Koreans have been ahead of the Cupertino team for several years.

Let's move on to the filling. It's stupid to compare the processors of two best smartphones- for a long time now large companies The top lines are equipped with chips that will last more than a year. We go to memory, but not operational memory, but straight to permanent memory. Samaung Galaxy S8 is presented in a single 64 GB version - optimal for today. Apple allows you to choose: 32, 128 or 256 GB. Not optimal: 32 GB is not enough; for 128 GB or more you will have to pay quite a bit more. In addition, Samaung provides the user with the opportunity to expand the memory using memory cards up to 256 GB. And yes, what the iPhone 7 doesn’t yet have is a 3.5 mm headphone jack.

What about our autonomy? The iPhone 7 has a 1960 mAh battery, the Samaung Galaxy S8 has a 3000 mAh battery. But these are just numbers, what in life? In talk mode, the first lives up to 14 hours, and the second shows all 20. In listening mode iPhone music 7 will last 40 hours, and Samaung Galaxy S8 up to 67 hours. How not to mention wireless charging, not everyone needs it, but it’s quite an interesting thing. In the Galaxy S8 vs iPhone 7 confrontation, only the former can boast of it.

The advantages of the iPhone 7 include iOS, even if you are a big fan of this platform. Finally, regarding the price, the Samaung Galaxy S8 can be bought for an average of 46,000 rubles, according to Yandex.Makret. For last year's iPhone 7 with 32 GB, you will have to pay about 44,000 rubles.

Xiaomi Mi6

Recent smartphone Chinese company, which was dubbed the flagship killer long before its announcement, is quite ready to compete with the iPhone 7 Plus. Excellent screen, top-end hardware, serious amounts of memory, dual advanced camera, fresh Android version and all this is half the price of an iPhone.

Need a good screen? Xiaomi Mi6 will provide you with it - a 5.15-inch panel with FullHD resolution that boasts a large number pixels per inch. This comes with the latest generation glass and an excellent oleophobic coating. Complete order in both appearance and materials: premium design and excellent quality assemblies.

Can't live without photos? There are a couple of cameras on the back of the smartphone; by the way, the manufacturer relied on the capabilities of the iPhone 7 Plus cameras, so there are no problems with photo quality. In some ways they may be inferior to other flagships (most likely from Samsung), but it would be hard to call them bad.

Performance is in complete order: here is the latest flagship Snapdragon 835, and 6 GB RAM for multitasking, delivering excellent results in synthetic benchmarks and real-world use. Xiaomi memory Mi6 offers a choice of 64 or 128 GB with microSD expandability. You definitely won’t experience any problems with the speed of your smartphone.

The key point when comparing Xiaomi Mi6 and iPhone 7 Plus (since both have a dual camera) is, naturally, the price tag. No matter what anyone says, it is the cost that often becomes the decisive argument in the confrontation, especially why pay more if they offer the same characteristics and even “better” ones for less money. So, iPhone 7 Plus today will cost 53,000 rubles (for the 32 GB version), Xiaomi Mi6 with 64 GB can be bought for 30,000 rubles. The difference is obvious.

LG G6

LG G6 really wanted to amaze users, but it ruined the dream Samsung Galaxy The S8, which has the same screen aspect ratio, was otherwise better. However, you shouldn’t discount LG’s smartphone. This is one of the most unusual devices of the beginning of 2017, well-built and with the characteristics of a flagship. And in the confrontation between LG G6 and iPhone 7 Plus, we have an equal fight.

The LG G6, like Samsung's S8, has a screen with an 18:9 aspect ratio, which complements the 2880 x 1440 pixel resolution with high density. The display of the smartphone is not curved, like its Korean competitor, which many people liked. In terms of design, the LG G6 is not inferior to the iPhone 7 Plus, and the front part looks more modern and stylish. The assembly of the Korean is better, which is also confirmed by protection according to the IP68 standard (the smartphone from Apple has IP67). IP68 provides full protection from water and dust, while the iPhone is only protected from splashes. In addition, the LG G6 is not afraid of falls from great heights. Can an iPhone do this?

Unfortunately, the processor is not from the latest Qualcomm collection, but the Snapdragon 821 is still current, which will provide excellent performance, which will be helped by 4 GB of RAM. The drive is designed for 64 GB, with the possibility of expansion with 2 terabyte cards. Not bad, right?

Want two cameras? The LG G6 has them, and they are very decent. By the way, we remind you that LG was the first to introduce dual camera in its previous flagship. There is no fault with the quality of the photos - no worse than many.

Well, about the price. ABOUT iPhone cost 7 Plus we have already made a reservation. At the time of sales start, the LG G6 cost approximately the same as the iPhone - a little less than $800. However, in recent months, the smartphone has dropped greatly in price, and today you can buy it for only 35,000 rubles. Here's another Android smartphone that's better than the iPhone 7 Plus.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium

Sony in lately It’s not often that we’re pleased with new smartphones, and those that come out are not capable of surprising. However, she recently unveiled a trump card that she had been keeping up her sleeve for quite some time. Sony Xperia The XZ Premium will surprise us with a 4K screen - the first smartphone of its kind. But it's not just the ultra-high-resolution display that makes the iPhone 7 Plus stand out.

A little about the screen. We have a 5.5-inch matrix with a resolution of 3840×2160 pixels, producing 801 pixels per inch. As a result we get great picture, on which you won’t be able to see the grain for sure. Always find pixels on your smartphone screens, then the Sony Xperia XZ Premium is just for you. This resolution will especially appeal to fans of virtual reality.

Performance is ensured by the latest 8-core Snapdragon 835 chip. 4 GB of RAM is responsible for multitasking - not a record, but you can open a lot of applications at the same time. To store games, photos, music and other things, the user has 64 GB + the ability to install a memory card.

True, there is only one camera, but in this case there is only one warrior in the field. A 19-megapixel sensor with an F/2 aperture and laser autofocus will provide excellent photos, which, in principle, is not surprising. Still, before us is Sony. The company also took care of selfie lovers by installing a 13-megapixel camera on the front of the screen.

As for the other specifications of the Sony Xperia XZ Premium, you can believe that there is complete order there too. And NFC, and a very fast fingerprint scanner, and Bluetooth 5.0. Even the iPhone 7 Plus will be jealous! But in terms of Sony prices Xperia XZ Premium is close to today's opponent - on average 55,000 rubles. Still, this smartphone is better than the iPhone 7 Plus.

OnePlus 5

Well, in the end it’s the freshest. The OnePlus 5 just recently rolled off the production line, joining the ranks of other flagship killers. And this guy is also ready to compete with the iPhone 7 Plus. And why not, actually? There is a dual camera, top-end hardware is in place, a good screen is here, a sophisticated dual camera is there, a more reasonable price is welcome, OnePlus does not require a huge overpayment for the brand.

OnePlus 5 – iPhone 7 Plus for the poor. The Chinese smartphone adopted the design of the Apple flagship, acquired a pair of high-quality cameras, fast hardware and a long-lasting battery. Assembly, materials and ergonomics - everything is simply excellent.

5.5-inch with FullHD resolution provides high-quality images. The flagship chip from Qualcomm and 6 or 8 GB of RAM ensure fast application launch and perfect interface performance. The proprietary OxynogenOS shell also affected the speed. Standard for Chinese flagships storage capacity – 64 or 128 GB. Well, the autonomy deserves praise: more than 9 hours of the screen on. The iPhone 7 Plus is very far from this figure.

The dual camera is not as good as we would like, but you can get a good photo if you just put in a little effort. The camera settings, by the way, were also borrowed from the iPhone 7 Plus.

In the minimum configuration, OnePlus 5 can be purchased for about 32,000 rubles, which can really be called affordable when compared with the same iPhone.

As a result

So, there are more than enough competitors capable of replacing the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. Every Chinese represented in the flagship segment strives to move smartphones from Cupertino from the royal throne, which is not surprising. And competitors are doing this more and more often. You could see this with us. Well, we will say goodbye. We hope that the article will generate a lot of controversy, and the discussion on whether there are better smartphones than the iPhone will move into the comments.

Oh yes, and rate the article.

On September 12, Apple introduced the anniversary iPhone X with a frameless 5.8-inch screen, recognition system Face ID and dual camera with optical zoom. The price starts at $1,000; for Russians, the new product will cost at least 79,990 rubles. Meanwhile, the iPhone X is not the only smartphone with this design. Lifehacker found 10 more “frameless” ones, and they are all cheaper.

1. Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+

The South Korean flagships Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ are equipped with 5.8- and 6.2-inch screens, respectively. There are no side frames at all, and the edges are smoothly rounded. There may not be a dual camera with optical zoom, but in terms of security, smartphones are no less worthy than: they can identify the owner by the iris of the eye. There is also facial recognition, but the camera works using a two-dimensional algorithm, not taking into account depth, and therefore the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ can be unlocked with a photo.

The official price for S8+ is 54,990 and 59,990 rubles, respectively.

Popular Samsung phablet Galaxy Note 2017 also got an infinity screen, but with a diagonal of 6.3 inches. And its edges are not as steep as those of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+, because there must be room in the case for the S Pen. The camera has become double, there is a 2x optical zoom. The security features are the same as in the G8: an iris scanner and an unreliable facial recognition system.

The official price in Russia is 69,990 rubles.

3. LG G6

Unfortunately, the flagship LG G6 was deprived of popular attention, although the phrase “got a solid screen before it became mainstream” is about it. Here is a 5.7-inch Quad HD Plus FullVision display with technologies Dolby Vision and HDR10 and an 18:9 aspect ratio, however, LG chose an IPS matrix, and therefore it became impossible to get rid of the side frames by bending the panel.

The LG G6's dual camera features wide-angle and standard lenses with 125° and 71° angles, respectively. Facial recognition is available, but LG warns: "The feature provides less security for your phone than other methods such as pattern, PIN, password and fingerprint."

The official price of LG G6 in Russia is 39,990 rubles.

LG has equipped the flagship V30 with a 6-inch P-OLED screen with an aspect ratio of 18:9, however, as in the G6, I did not round off the edges and remove the side frames. Notably, the LG V30 is smaller in size than the OnePlus 5 with a regular 5.5-inch 16:9 display.

The dual camera is created according to the same logic as the G6. One lens is wide-angle at 120°, the other is normal at 71°. Moreover, the camera is so cool that David Franco, director of photography for Game of Thrones, took part in the presentation of the smartphone.

There are no innovations in terms of security here.

Start of sales in South Korea scheduled for September 21. The smartphone will then go to North America, Asia, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. The price is expected to be around $700 - about 40,000 rubles.

A mysterious smartphone from the “father of Android” Andy Rubin appeared in American online stores in early August without any announcement. Attention is drawn to the 5.71-inch LTPS screen covering almost the entire front panel. Integrity is violated front camera, but after the iPhone X with its “ears” it will be strange to scold the designers of the Essential Phone.

The smartphone is equipped with a dual camera: one color, the other monochrome. The tandem is designed to increase the amount of light received by 200% compared to “traditional” cameras, the developers say. Nothing is said about security features other than a fingerprint scanner.

The pre-order price is $699, delivery is promised in 1–2 months.

From Xiaomi images Mi Mix 2 is breathtaking. On them it is truly frameless! However, in life everything is not like that. Yes, the 6-inch IPS screen with an 18:9 ratio seems to occupy 93% of the front panel, no conversational dynamics. But there are frames, and on the sides, and, contrary to Xiaomi’s statement, they are not much smaller than those of the iPhone 7 Plus.

The camera of Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 is traditional “one-eyed”, but on a Sony IMX386 sensor and with optical stabilization. Xiaomi didn’t bother with security measures.

The price in the maximum configuration on the Chinese market is 3,999 yuan (about 35,000 rubles).

Xiaomi claims that the huge 6.4-inch screen covers 91.3% of the front panel, but measurements showed that no more than 84%. In general, it’s also not bad. The edges are not rounded, and therefore there are still small frames.

The camera is average, with an OmniVision sensor and no optical image stabilization. Facial recognition using neural networks, machine learning and an infrared camera? Of course not!

In the top configuration it will cost between 35–40 thousand rubles.

Once upon a time, it was Sharp that released the first truly frameless smartphone, and the tradition continues. The Sharp Aquos 2 is a mid-ranger with a 5.5-inch 4K screen that covers 87.5% of the front panel and has a small cutout on top for the selfie camera. The main camera is dual, and the second module is needed solely to simulate the bokeh effect. Security is entrusted to the fingerprint scanner.

Inexpensive new product from a Chinese manufacturer. The world's first 6-inch smartphone with an edge-to-edge 18:9 display and a 5,100 mAh battery. There is also a dual camera - the second module allows you to blur the background. A fingerprint scanner is responsible for security.

The pre-order price of UmiDigi S2 is only $229.99 (about 13,000 rubles), shipping starts after October 11.

The cheapest smartphone in the selection and at the same time the most dubious. The manufacturer has moved the 5.5-inch display to the top as much as possible, which creates the feeling of a frameless design - but there are still frames. The dual camera with bokeh effect is here for show: it takes disgusting pictures. The archaic Home button contains a fingerprint scanner.

Price - about 11,000 rubles.

It's annoying that modern world you need to understand everything. You decide to buy, say, a bicycle. I visited websites selling bikes. With the help of Wikipedia, among dozens of categories of bicycles, you found the one that seems to suit you. After flipping through ten pages of the catalog, you looked at an inexpensive, beautiful bike in a more or less reputable store, but you are embarrassed that there is the same one on display next to you, but 10k cheaper. I wonder why? You compare two models and find a difference - one has a front hub made of steel, and the second one is made of titanium alloy (and the second one does not have a bottle mount). It's time to ask the long-pending question - why do I have to figure all this out? I just want to move along the street by pedaling.

Okay, you’re asking exactly this question - what is the difference between a titanium alloy bushing and a steel one? There's a ton of stuff you don't need, but there's an interesting link - on a physics department forum, two graduate students are arguing about why parts for something made of steel and titanium alloy always differ so much in price? One claims that it’s a matter of weight, the second – a matter of wear resistance and the price of the source material. Then the supervisor of both graduate students comes and gently remarks, closing the discussion, that the question in this form does not make sense, since there are many varieties of steel and titanium alloys and it is incorrect to argue without specifying specific brands. What the hell? You google bushing manufacturers and finally find specific brands of materials used, but since the topic is closed and there is no one to ask, you find the email of one of the graduate students and write him a letter with a question. Finally, you jump through godforsaken sites where varieties of steel and titanium alloys are mentioned.

You go to bed and dream that a dusty village store sells two bicycles - the one with white tires is a little more expensive. You wake up from a knock on the door. Two polite men in civilian clothes ask you strange questions - why are you interested in titanium alloys? Do you often visit aviation forums? What do you know about the Besovets fighter project? You say everything honestly - I choose a bike, I don’t go in, I don’t know anything, but you yourself understand that just now you accidentally wandered onto the wrong site. The visitors leave, but promise to return if they realize that you were not honest. You are very interested in what kind of fighter this is, but you restrain yourself.

In the evening, an answer comes from a graduate student - the indicated brands differ in specific strength, strength by high temperatures and other strengths, but for a bicycle hub this does not matter, because to reach the temperature at which the differences between the two bushings are noticeable, you will have to either drive across a salt lake at a speed of 800 km/h, or drive the front wheel into an open-hearth furnace. You are writing a letter - thank you very much for your answer, but then why are two bicycle hubs so different in price? Attaching links to bicycles. You can’t sleep for a long time, building theories about what kind of secret fighter this is.

You come to an Internet cafe with a baseball cap pulled down to your nose, launch Tor from a flash drive and download everything that is found under the request “Demon fighter” in different variations. You pay in cash for your time on the computer. At home, you reinstall the system and view all the collected information. It turns out that the project of this fighter was closed a year ago due to exceeding the already TITANIC budget, and the workshop was disbanded and transferred to different projects. The chief aircraft designer of “Besovets” moved to the states, but died mysteriously just a couple of months later. The Besovets team was given ambitious tasks, but there was no information anywhere about what happened to the prototype, although it became clear that at the time of closure the project was already at the testing stage. Interesting, but I need to go to bed.

The question torments you at work too. You Google the first and last name of the youngest member of the development team of the mysterious fighter, and your instincts do not let you down - on the fifth page of Google you find him on Instagram. Profile is open last photo Filled about a year ago. It shows a smiling guy boasting about the fish he caught. The geotag indicates the village of Besovets in Karelia. You are packing your suitcase.

The territory of the air base is guarded; it is not possible for a civilian to get closer than ten kilometers. In Google Maps, the desired area of ​​the map is covered with control and control forest. You decide to go down the river on a boat, which you rent from a one-eyed local for a bottle of port. Having reached the fake Google Maps area, you go ashore and sneak towards the airbase under cover of darkness. You see powerful spotlights from some towers ahead.

You sneak up to the barbed wire and through the trees you observe a strange picture - soldiers unloading a large container from a cargo plane. On the tail of the plane there is a white sun in a blue square, inside a red square. The soldiers open the container, inside which are children in khaki uniforms with impenetrable bags on their heads. And then something happens that you never expected - in complete silence, your phone loudly signals a new letter. Immediately, rustling sounds and a loud voice are heard nearby, ordering you to come out with your hands raised. You take off and run through the night forest. Trying to run in zigzags, you hear dogs barking and see flashlights. You've been running for so long that you're already starting to panic - the forest doesn't end, the river bank isn't visible, but your pursuers seem to have lost the trail. You run out onto the road. The sun has not yet risen, but the sky is already brightening.

My legs don't move. After lying in the bushes by the road, you hear the sound of bicycle tires on the asphalt. A woman with a berry box on her back slowly drives by. You catch up with her and use all your charm and persuasiveness - the car has stalled in the forest, I’m walking to the gas station, maybe you can give me a lift? The woman happily agrees to help. You're sitting on the trunk with your legs dangling and suddenly you notice that her bike has a bottle holder.

You look at what kind of letter your presence at the barbed fence gave away. This is a graduate student. He compared the two bicycles to which you provided links, and noticed that not only the materials of the hubs, but also the countries of assembly differed. Despite the fact that both companies have legal address in the Netherlands, in fact, the prefabricated workshop of one of them is located in Taiwan. This explains the difference in price, the graduate student notes.

Having reached home, you fall exhausted on the bed, but again you have guests in civilian clothes. You come up with a story on the fly about a birthday party at a friend’s dacha that lasted until the morning, but the men don’t even try to bring you to light. They are interested in why you don’t have a password on your Wi-Fi. You answer that you just moved into the apartment and have not yet had time to put things in order. Then a third person comes in and they whisper about something in the hallway. From their conversation, you can only make out the words “Cyclops” and “Blackberry.” Having returned, one of them nervously taps some papers on his knee, and then smiles, as if he’s giving up on some business, and advises setting a password on the router - you never know what kind of attacker can access the network through it. They leave.

You decide that you don't really need a bike. He instills fear in you with countless details about which you know too little and cannot completely trust the safety of your health. Suddenly the brakes, which were assembled at the factory where two Chinese workers recently committed suicide, will fail, but, naturally, this was not written about in the news. Or did the saddle end up in the store from a consignment confiscated at the border, where the inspection body was confused by the off-scale Geiger counter? Or, for example, on some forum unknown to you, users are discussing whether the original model of a bicycle frame is associated with a herniated disc? There are so many details that among them there can easily be one that will harm your health, and you will be lucky to become one of the thousands of buyers who encounter it.

Walking is also useful, you decide. Walk and admire the world around you. By the way, have you been wanting to buy a good semi-professional camera for a long time? It’s just not very clear why two cameras with the same number of megapixels differ in price by more than twice? I need to Google it.

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, presented yesterday, are certainly excellent devices. But they are not the only ones on the market. IT.TUT.BY has selected ten smartphones that will be a worthy alternative to the iPhone.

Apple's competitors have an undeniable advantage: they produce more models devices. On Android and Windows Phone You can find a device for a hundred or a thousand dollars. If for some reason the new iPhones do not satisfy you, you can always find a device that will be closer to your ideal.

Don't forget: on the iPhone side high quality assembly, excellent operating system with a nimble interface and many unique applications, long-term support for older devices, excellent work in conjunction with iPad and Apple computers. In addition, the iPhone is an element of image for representatives of certain professions and subcultures Apple technology- This is an element of the dress code. On my own NFC chip has long been used by competitors, but Apple promises to seriously take up the spread of “wireless” purchases from the phone.

The hardware of the device is unlikely to be noticeably more powerful than that of its competitors’ flagships: Apple claims a 25% increase in the performance of the A8 processor compared to the A7, and the new Snapdragon 805 (according to the manufacturer) is 40% faster than last year’s 800 model. Let's remember that last year a slight advantage was on the side of the iPhone. However, today not many games use iPhone capabilities 5S “to the fullest”, and the “brakes” in the Android interface are caused by the logic of the OS, and not by the hardware (something may change with the release of Android L).

Samsung Galaxy Note 4

The new Samsung flagship did not receive the water-resistant case from its fellow Galaxy S5, but did not lose the advantages of the Note line. The 5.7-inch screen is slightly larger than the 5.5-inch in the iPhone 6 Plus, but has a noticeably higher resolution (1440x2560 versus 1920x1080). However, without a magnifying glass the differences are unlikely to be discernible. The main advantage of the Galaxy Note is the presence of the S Pen stylus, with which you can not only draw or take handwritten notes, but also use it instead of a keyboard. The resolution of both cameras of the device is higher than that of the iPhone 6, but there is nothing to say about the quality of the images yet - we are waiting for iPhone tests. Promised time battery life comparable: when talking on a 3G network, 21 hours for Note and 24 hours for iPhone 6 Plus (iPhone 6 has only 14), standby time is 420 hours versus 384. In Samsung flagships, like the iPhone, there is a fingerprint scanner, but its operation is organized less conveniently and quickly. The price of the Note 4 is still unknown, but at launch the Note 3 cost almost the same as the iPhone 5S - we can assume that the Note 4 will have a price comparable to the “small” iPhone 6.

Price: Expected around $700.

LG G3

Another smartphone with an ultra-high-resolution screen is already on sale: LG's 5.46-inch flagship. The price of G3 in Minsk at the time of publication is lower than the promised price of the “minimum” iPhone 6 at the start of sales in the USA. LG G3 boasts an excellent 13MP camera with laser focusing, unlocking by “tapping” on the screen and an unusual design: the lock and volume control buttons are not on the side, but on the back. True, the battery in the G3 is slightly weaker than the Note 4. Last year, the combination of price and quality made its predecessor LG G2 the smartphone of the year, according to the editors of IT.TUT.BY.

Price: $620 at time of publication.

Sony Xperia Z3

Sony's new flagship has a smaller screen than the iPhone 6 Plus: "only" 5.2 inches (the same resolution as the iPhone 6 Plus). But a huge advantage of the Xperia Z line is its dust and moisture resistance. Like the Galaxy S5, the Z3 can even call an aquarium. Another “killer feature” of the Z3 is support for PlayStation 4 games (if you have the console itself nearby). The camera with a resolution of 20.7 megapixels takes very good pictures and allows you to play with augmented reality without third party applications. The manufacturer promises that, on average, the Z3 will live for two full days on one charge - about Z2 they talked about 1.4 days, and the Z2 “lived” almost one and a half times longer than iPhone 5S.

Price: Expected around $800.

HTC One M8

The One M8 screen can be called small: some 5 inches (the resolution is the same as a 5.5-inch Afion). The main advantage of HTC's flagship is very, very subjective: design. The device, like the iPhone, has a stylish aluminum case and an interesting HTC Sense software shell. The main disadvantage of the One line is its weak camera, which was inferior to the iPhone 5S. The One M8's rather modest (for a flagship) battery promises to last 20 hours when talking on 3G networks (versus 24 for the larger iPhone and 14 for the iPhone 6). The price of One M8 in Minsk is already lower than it will be for the iPhone 6 at the start of sales in the USA.

Price: $606 at time of publication.

Nokia Lumia 930

Today's flagship from Nokia and Microsoft also has a 5-inch screen with the same FullHD resolution. The pleasant thing is a wonderful 20MP camera, a metal body, wireless charging, the ability to operate the touchscreen with gloves. For many, the operating room will be a minus, but for many it will also be a plus. Windows system Phone: economical, fast and easy to learn, but inferior to Android and iOS in terms of the number of applications. The 930's battery is not as powerful (only up to 18 hours of talk time on 3G networks), but Windows Phone is also less power-hungry than Android. The Minsk price tag is again lower than the upcoming American iPhone.

Price: $621 at time of publication.

Cheaper options

Above, we looked at smartphones whose price was equal to the average salary of a Belarusian (speculators will value the first “gray” copies of the iPhone 6 at the average salary of an IT specialist). But you can also find cheaper, albeit not as flagship or famous options.

OnePlus One will soon arrive in Belarus - the debut smartphone from Chinese OPPO on the well-known CyanogenMod Android firmware. The price will most likely be below $400, while the characteristics are comparable to the LG G3 with the exception of screen resolution (FullHD, like the iPhone 6), and foreign experts have no doubt about the quality of the work of the guys from OPPO, who are not particularly well-known in Belarus.

Price: Expected to be under $400.

For the same price you can buy the joint brainchild of LG and Google - Nexus 5, the “reference” 5-inch smartphone of 2013. Despite its age, the hardware still copes with all tasks, and OS updates will continue to come for another year or two. The downsides are the not so powerful (but not weak) battery and the lack of a memory card slot (like all iPhones). In addition, “traditional craftsmen” most often make alternative firmware specifically for the Nexus line - perhaps in a year Windows XP will be ported to it.

Price: $386 at time of publication.

“Your Nexus” is also offered by Huawei for a little over 400 – the Ascend P7 has a 5-inch FullHD screen, a decent 13MP camera, and a metal body even thinner than the iPhone. True, Huawei’s own 8-core processor does not yet please with beautiful numbers in performance tests - perhaps its optimization is a matter of time. And don’t forget: if you just need a stylish, thin and light metal smartphone, then the P7 will do, but if you are a designer or an actor, then without an apple on the back cover it’s not comme me il faut.

Price: $409 at time of publication.

Meizu MX4 is priced at $300 in China. The 5.36-inch FullHD screen promises to be incredibly bright and contrasty, the new eight-core Mediatek processor– especially energy efficient, 20.7 megapixel camera from Sony – no worse than that of the Xperia Z3. One problem is that the MX4 itself is unlikely to come to Belarus, except for a couple of speculators.

Price: Expected around $450.

Don't forget the old people!

From the fact iPhone release 6, its predecessor iPhone 5S did not become any worse. The iPhone 6 has a lot of cool features, but none of them amount to a killer feature, after which the 5S is a useless piece of iron, glass and silicon. The author had no doubt about this even before the presentation. And for many Apple fans it will still be the best - after all, Apple has been convincing us for so long that 4 inches is the best convenient size. True, the battery life of the old man is unlikely to please you, and the price in Minsk is in no hurry to fall below the American price of the iPhone 6.

Frameless smartphones are the future. Unfortunately, the trendsetters of the gadget world believe that only those who are willing to fork out the money are worthy of the future. We won’t discuss whether it’s worth it today. Today we’ll look at real frameless smartphones at a real price for Russia.

10. The cheapest LEAGOO KIICAA MIX

The cheapest frameless smartphone you can find on sale. Even used or broken ones cannot be cheaper. Despite this, the phone is very good: compact, convenient, with an excellent 5.5-inch FullHD screen made by Sharp. The mediocre processor and cameras are justified - look at the price. What can you ask for for 6 thousand? Works? Already great! And it is also compact.

9. “Xiaomi clone”: Vernee Mix 2

This smartphone will seem familiar to all fans of Chinese devices - you will see a similar one at the very end of the article. However, the cheap Vernee offers a balance of features and nice price- it is 3 times cheaper than Xiaomi Mix! Inside, the filling is decent by the standards of 2017: 6-inch IPS display with a resolution of 2160 x 1080 (Quad HD), budget Helio P25 platform, 4 GB of RAM and 64 permanent memory, a good dual camera and Android 7.0.

8. Successful copy: VKworld S8

Samsung S8 clone for an affordable price. The company has managed to establish itself as a manufacturer of fairly good state-of-the-art phones, so their S8 turned out to be a good smart phone. The savings are almost unnoticeable: 6-inch original LG Quad HD screen, memory and samsung battery, dual camera of tolerable quality. Only the processor let us down - like most of the Chinese, VKworld uses the weak MediaTek. Nevertheless, in total it turns out to be a good alternative to cheap Xiaomi.

7. Workhorse: Elephone S8

Another Mix smartphone: this time with a 6-inch edge-to-edge 18:9 display with Quad HD resolution. To get ahead of the competition, Elephone used a powerful, energy-efficient Helio X25 processor and equipped the device with an impressive 5,100 mAh battery. They did not make a fashionable dual camera - instead there is one high-quality “eye”. By the way, this S8 has a stylish glass body on a metal frame: rounded edges and feng shui.

6. The main Chinese frameless phone: OPPO F5

The new OPPO F5 has: a cool 20 MP selfie camera with a 1/2.8-inch sensor and a good main one; face recognition function; 6-inch screen with 2160 x 1080 resolution without protrusions; a lot of functions to reduce eye fatigue; a metal case 7.5 millimeters thick with the thinnest antennas on top. The processor is lagging - using MediaTek Helio P23 (MT6763T). But there are 2 SIM cards and a separate slot for MicroSD.

OPPO does not yet sell its smartphones outside of Asia, and offers English-Chinese firmware. Those who dare to buy OPPO/Vivo do without translation (in Android, the system language is not an application language and does not affect the keyboard language).

You cannot buy it freely in Russia. At home and in Southeast Asia - 17,000 rubles.

5. The one who started it all: Sharp Aquos S2

Sharp is responsible for the first mass-produced frameless smartphone. The tradition continues. Moreover, unlike earlier models, Sharp Aquos 2 can be purchased even in Russia. This one is quite cheap compared even to the iPhone 7 and easily outperforms many flagship devices in terms of technical characteristics. How much does a 5.5-inch screen with 4K resolution cost? It occupies 87.5% of the front panel, so the smartphone fits into the dimensions of a 5-inch device - or a classic iPhone SE.

4. “Regular” record holder: Nubia Z17S

For one iPhone X you can buy 4 of these ZTE. Meanwhile, the current Nubia flagship not only offers a cool, sleek design, but also minimal side bezels. Actual measurements show that the distance from the image to the air is less than that of Xiaomi Mix and iPhone X. With a standard layout! However, there is something to offer: a modern Snapdragon 835 processor, great camera(almost Samsung - and much better than the various Xiaomi/Meizu), and even a good audio chip. An additional advantage is the 5.2-inch screen.

3. First among equals: Xiaomi Mi Mix

First generation frameless Xiaomi smartphones still sold in Chinese stores. The lack of frames and a bunch of innovative solutions negate the real benefits of the device: stylish, fashionable - but easily damaged and still damp. Quiet speaker and no camera - the price for a huge 6.4-inch screen that occupies 84% ​​of the front panel. However, it was Mi Mix that became the ancestor of all the monotonous Chinese crafts presented in the article.

2. Updated: Xiaomi Mi Mix 2

Xiaomi has had its share of troubles frameless smartphones. Therefore, the new Mi Mix 2 has frames and the screen is smaller. As a user of these models, I’ll be honest - it’s good that there are frames, and the screen has decreased to 6 inches and has an aspect ratio of 18: 9 (read our review). Useful screen area - 93% of the front panel. You have to pay for style: no earpiece, no 3.5 mm jack. The picture is completed by an unexpectedly mediocre camera on Sony IMX386 with optical stabilization. But the smartphone is 2.5 times cheaper than the iPhone X.