Chinese flagships of the year. The most powerful smartphones from China that you haven't heard of or "flagship killers"

The arms race in the smartphone market is an exciting process that leaves few people indifferent. In recent years, presentations of such giants as Apple or Samsung have become central events in the cultural life of all mankind; their outcome determines what tomorrow will look like.

In order to keep up with the course of history, we have collected and analyzed the most significant models of today's most famous brands and present to your consideration the flagship smartphones of 2018-2019, which will surprise you a lot if you have not updated your mobile device for a long time.

No. 10 – Meizu Pro 7

Price: 32,000 rubles

Since the market mobile phones was changed once and for all by the appearance first iPhone, the topic of design was largely taken off the agenda. No, of course, every year gadgets became more and more advanced, they fit an increasingly incredible screen into a compact body, experimented with colors and materials, but in general we haven’t seen anything radically new for a long time. Meizu developers decided to break the peace and released a device with a second screen on the back panel, which sparked ongoing discussions about whether this made practical sense or whether Chinese engineers were simply trying to stand out from their competitors.

Well, it managed to stand out, but not only with its display. Chinese flagship smartphones in 2018-2019 no longer look like amusing imperfections; the Meizu Pro 7 combines high-performance hardware with a stylish design and stunning ergonomics, the quality of the dual camera module does not leave anyone indifferent, and the sound is not inferior to many players. In general, the model is extremely interesting and worth the money.

#9 – Nubia Z17

Price: 28,000 rubles

An excellent device from a brand that is not yet very well known in Russia. Working for latest version operating system Android, Z17 offers top-end hardware for very reasonable money, namely eight-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 MSM8998 2450 MHz with Adreno 540 graphics accelerator, which can easily handle the latest gaming products at maximum settings, as well as 4 gigabytes of RAM and 64 internal memory- very good.

Although the cost of the phone is less than that of the flagships of other companies, the device from Nubia has full spectrum the most advanced technologies and functions, the phone owner has NFC at his disposal, great cameras, high-quality protection from moisture and dust and much more.

#8 – Xiaomi Mi6

Price: 28,000 rubles

The Xiaomi brand, which has earned incredible popularity in Russia, has so many different lines of its smartphones that choosing which model is the flagship is not so easy. The best hardware available on the market provides the gadget with a considerable margin of safety - it will not be long before games appear that will lack the resources available to the phone. The display of the new product deserves special attention - Chinese engineers decided to leave experiments with aspect ratio and framelessness for other models, but in Mi6 they implemented many unique technologies that are responsible for matching the picture to the wishes of the device owner.

Fast, extremely autonomous and very impressive, Xiaomi Mi6 burst into the top sales in the domestic market as soon as it became widely available. If you are a long-time fan of the brand, you already know everything, but if you are still skeptical, it’s time to try and see for yourself the quality of Xiaomi products.

#7 – OnePlus 5T

Price: 36,000 rubles

The smartphone that made a big splash this year seriously shook the positions of the permanent market leaders Samsung and Apple. The hardware is the best, the AMOLED display with a diagonal of six inches has practically no frames and looks truly impressive, the main dual camera module shows results no worse than top camera phones. High-quality and deep sound, all necessary wireless interfaces, excellent autonomy despite its modest dimensions, there were significantly fewer complaints about this smartphone this year than about its competitors.

The main and only disadvantage of the device is the strange policy of Russian retailers, who set the price one and a half times higher than Chinese and foreign stores. If online shopping isn't your thing, then purchasing the OnePlus 5T could be your best purchase of the year.

#6 – Sony Xperia XZ Premium

Price: 48,000 rubles

The Russian buyer has always had a special relationship with Sony products, and therefore, despite the always inflated price, smartphones Sony Xperia consistently had a high share of sales. With the Xperia XZ Premium, everything is not so simple, yes, if you are looking for a phone with a powerful camera, then, as before, Sony branded equipment shows impressive results, the Cyber ​​Shot camera is quite capable of replacing a camera and video camera even if you are a very demanding photography lover, but otherwise I have questions.

The design is made in a classic style, so fans of the brand will not be disappointed, but for others the model may seem seriously outdated. The hardware is top-notch, but many competitors show better performance with the same hardware. The sound is traditionally good, but the volume could have been turned up, but the screen did not disappoint. A masterpiece for Sony fans and a controversial flagship for the rest.

Sony Xperia XZ Premium

#5 – HTC U11

Price: 36,000 rubles

This manufacturer has lost its once leading position and in the example of this flagship the reason for this is clear. Everything about it is done at a solid, respectable level; they didn’t skimp on hardware either, but the smartphone doesn’t have a single strong point that sets it apart from its competitors. Is the hardware the strongest and well optimized? Yes, but everyone on this list has the same, and some squeeze more out of it. Is the display high quality and shows a wonderful picture? Yes, but against the backdrop of huge diagonals and complete framelessness, the HTC U11 looks modest.

The camera is encouraging; without having its own unique equipment, HTC was able to achieve excellent results thanks to software improvements, but many still shoot just as well. In other words, before us great smartphone, but it’s unlikely that anyone other than long-term fans of the brand will decide to buy it.

#4 – LG V30

Price: 48,000 rubles

The new flagship from the South Korean manufacturer was really able to encroach on the seemingly unshakable dominance of Samsung and Apple; the phone has already spent quite some time in public access and has not caused any complaints so far. The screen looks like the best on the market, with minimal bezels and image quality that will amaze even advanced users. The performance is quite competitive with the same iPhone X, which costs almost 30,000 rubles more, and besides, has a lot of complaints from buyers.

Another aspect in which the V30 is quite possibly the best device on the market today is sound. No one has such depth and quality today, and all thanks to a separate sound processor that has no analogues among mobile devices. A very strong model that will remain a priority for many buyers until the release of the new generation from Samsung.

#3 – Huawei Mate 10 Pro

Price: 39,000 rubles

The new flagship from Huawei amazed the community not only with the highest characteristics of the filling and even more advanced functionality of the proprietary shell, but also relied on the development of neural networks, which other manufacturers are still handling very carefully. Artificial intelligence in the description of the gadget is not mentioned for the sake of words; its activity invisibly accompanies you while using your smartphone constantly, and it copes especially successfully with tasks related to photo and video shooting.

The device not only surprises with its innovative developments, but also withstands comparisons with flagships from other giants; the performance shown in various benchmarks is not inferior to either Samsung or Apple.

Huawei Mate 10 Pro

No. 2 – Samsung Galaxy Note 8

Price: 54,000 rubles

Despite the fact that almost a year has passed since the release of this model, it has not lost its relevance and to this day tops various top sales. Of course, this is due to no small extent to the popularity of the brand, but the technical relevance of the smartphone is also amazing - for the whole year we have not seen anything superior in performance Galaxy Note 8 devices, but there is no need to talk about the design - every second Chinese company sees it as their duty to release a model that exactly copies this flagship.

Of course, this device only has a few weeks to live as a flagship; already at the end of January the South Korean company promises to introduce a new generation of mobile devices, but we have probably never seen such a long dominance of one model before.

Samsung Galaxy Note 8

#1 – iPhone X

Price: 79,000 rubles

Our ranking of the best flagship smartphones of 2018-2019 is completed by a new product from Apple that caused a lot of noise in the fall. This year, the company presented two new models at once, and the iPhone X went on sale a little later, and therefore the excitement around it was unimaginable. It is difficult to judge whether the expectations were met; the amount of technical defects unusual for the manufacturer caused a wave of indignation among buyers around the world, who stood in line for several days to purchase the device.

If you close your eyes to this, then the iPhone once again amazed everyone with its ability to squeeze the maximum out of not the most perfect hardware, yet another innovative ideas implemented on the basis of a proprietary shell, as well as pricing - we have never seen such expensive mass-produced smartphones. There is still almost a year left before the release of the next generation, and therefore all the main tests for the brand are still ahead, and the fate of the mobile device market will largely depend on how it withstands them.

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In the model range of any manufacturer, a special place belongs to flagships - devices that combine all the best that a particular company can offer. We have made for you a selection of top flagships for the beginning of 2018, which will feature the coolest and most uncompromising smartphones on the market.

New flagships of 2018

Samsung – Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus

Few releases have made as much noise lately as the Galaxy S8 from the Koreans at Samsung. Everyone was waiting for this flagship, because the public understood that the company would need to present something non-standard and 100% successful in order to rehabilitate itself for the failure with Note 7. And the expectations were justified.

The S8 was released in two versions - standard and Plus; they differ in screen diagonal: 5.8 and 6.2 inches, respectively, as well as battery capacity. And it is the screen that is the main trump card of the smartphone; the “infinite” SuperAMOLED display with Quad HD+ resolution occupies almost the entire front part of the S8, and it looks very cool.

Other characteristics do not let you down: on board the S8 there is a top-end Exynos 8895 processor, 64/4 GB of memory with support for cards up to 256 GB, a 12/8 (f/1.7) MP camera and a 3000/3500 mAh battery (depending on modifications). In terms of its totality of qualities, the S8 is superior to any other flagship on the market - this smartphone is truly the best that you can buy now.

Samsung - Galaxy S8

LG G6

The LG G6 is made in the same concept as the S8; in appearance, these smartphones are even a little similar. LG's flagship was presented earlier; it was the first device on the market with an 18:9 display ratio.

Despite a slight slowdown in economic growth in China, this has virtually no effect on Chinese smartphone manufacturers. Chinese companies have managed to oust the South Korean giant LG Electronics from the top 5 global smartphone manufacturers (see) and are gradually taking away market share from another South Korean manufacturer - Samsung. If in 2012 Samsung accounted for 32.2% of global smartphone sales, and the three Chinese companies Huawei, Lenovo and Xiaomi accounted for 11%, then in the first quarter of 2016, Samsung’s share fell to 27.8%, and the total share of the above-mentioned Chinese manufacturers increased to 20.6%. The struggle between Samsung and Chinese companies is taking place mainly in the area of ​​budget smartphone models. Chinese companies are trying to steal customers even from the leader in the field of premium smartphones, Apple, by offering budget copies of iPhones. Of course, these copies are several times cheaper than the original.
In this rating, we will look at the top 10 best Chinese smartphones at the end of 2016. The top includes models from the brands Huawei, Meizu, Xiaomi, OUKITEL, HOMTOM, OnePlus, ZTE. The rating is based on reviews in Yandex Market, as well as technical specifications and the price-quality ratio.

10th place.

OUKITEL U7 Plus

The average price in Russia is 6,340 rubles. You can buy OUKITEL U7 Plus on Aliexpress for 4.7 thousand rubles (delivery to Russia is free). Model from Chinese brand, which went on sale in August 2016, received 67% of fives according to reviews in Yandex Market. Technical characteristics: 5.5-inch screen with a resolution of 1280x720 pixels, operating Android system 6.0, 16 GB permanent and 2 GB RAM, there is a slot for an external memory card. Supports two SIM cards. 4G LTE support. Main camera 8 MP, front camera 2 MP. Battery capacity - 2500 mAh. There is a fingerprint scanner. MediaTek MT6737 quad-core processor.

Xiaomi Redmi 4A 16Gb is the most inexpensive phone in the Xiaomi catalog

The average price in Russia is 7,000 rubles. You can buy Redmi 4A 16Gb on AliExpress for 5.5 thousand rubles (delivery to Russia is free). The most cheap model in the catalog of the Chinese brand Xiaomi, popular in Russia, which appeared in November 2016, scored 73% of fives according to reviews in Yandex Market. Technical characteristics: 5-inch screen with a resolution of 1280x720, Android 6.0 operating system, 16 GB of internal and 2 GB of RAM, there is a memory card slot up to 128 GB (combined with a slot for a second SIM card). 4G LTE support. The main camera is 13 megapixels with LED flash, autofocus and optical stabilization. Front camera 5 mp. Battery capacity 3120 mAh. Quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 MSM8917 processor. Plastic case.

8th place.

HOMTOM HT17 Pro

Average price in Russia - 5,400 rubles. Buy HOMTOM HT17 Pro on Aliexpress possible for 4.9 thousand rubles. An inexpensive model from a Chinese manufacturer, released in September 2016, scored 53% of the five reviews in Yandex Market.Technical characteristics: 5.5-inch screen with a resolution of 1280x720 pixels, Android 6.0 operating system, 16 GB of storage and 2 GB of RAM, a slot for a memory card up to 128 GB, support for two SIM cards. 4G LTE support. Main camera 13 MP with LED flash and autofocus, front camera 5 MP. Battery capacity - 3000 mAh. Operating time without recharging in talk mode - 15 hours, in standby mode - 280 hours. MediaTek MT6737 quad-core processor. There is a fingerprint scanner.

7th place.

Meizu MX6

Average price in Russia -16,000 rubles. Buy Meizu MX6 on AliExpress possible for 12.8 thousand rubles (delivery to Russia is free). This model, which went on sale in July 2016, scored 79% of fives according to reviews in Yandex Market. This best result among the Meizu smartphone catalog. Technical characteristics: 5.5-inch screen with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, Android 6.0 operating system, 32 GB of storage and 4 GB of RAM, support for two SIM cards. 4G LTE support. Battery capacity - 3060 mAh. There is a fingerprint scanner.

Main camera 12 MP, front camera 5 MP. Camera based on Sony IMX386 sensor. With built-in phase detection autofocus, the MX6 achieves superior focusing accuracy and speed. As in Meizu MX5, a lens of 6 lenses is used. Despite the decrease in resolution of the main camera compared to Meizu MX5 ( Meizu camera MX5 was at 20.7 megapixels) the quality of photography in comparison has become noticeably better compared to this and other previous models.

6th place.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 32Gb

Average price in Russia - 10,200 rubles. Buy Redmi Note 4 32Gb on AliExpress possible for 9.1 thousand rubles (delivery to Russia is free). Xiaomi presented Redmi Note 4 at a presentation in Beijing on August 25, 2016. Flagshipthe Redmi family, beloved by customers, whose worldwide sales have long exceeded 100 million devices,scored 59% of fives according to reviews in Yandex Market(cm. ) . Technical characteristics: 5.5-inch IPS screen with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, Android 6.0 operating system, 32 GB of permanent memory and 3 GB of RAM, there is a slot for a memory card up to 128 GB (combined with a slot for a second SIM card). 4G LTE support. Main camera 13 MP, front camera 5 MP. Battery capacity 4100 mAh. MediaTek Helio X20 10-core processor (MT6797), 2100 MHz. There is a fingerprint scanner.Metal body.

see also

5th place.

OUKITEL K6000 Pro

Average price in Russia - 9,060 rubles. Buy OUKITEL K6000 Pro on AliExpress possible for 8.1 thousand rubles (delivery to Russia is free).The model from the Chinese brand received 61% of fives according to reviews in Yandex Market. Technical characteristics: 5.5-inch screen with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, Android 6.0 operating system, 32 GB of storage and 3 GB of RAM. There is a slot for an external memory card (combined with a slot for a second SIM card). 4G LTE support. Main camera 13 MP, front camera 5 MP. OUKITEL specializes in smartphones with powerful batteries, this smartphone was no exception: the battery capacity is 6,000 mAh (for comparison: the 6th iPhone has a battery 3.5 times weaker - 1,715 mAh). Battery life: talk time - 46 hours, standby time - 360 hours (15 days), music listening mode - 45 hours.8-core MediaTek MT6753 processor. Video processor Mali-T720.There is a fingerprint scanner. Metal bodywith plastic inserts on the top and bottom of the rear panel.

This model is included in .

4th place.

Xiaomi Mi5S Plus 64Gb

Average price in Russia - 20,000 rubles. Buy Mi5S Plus 64Gb on AliExpress possible for 18.1 thousand rubles (delivery to Russia is free). The Xiaomi flagship, which appeared in the fall of 2016, scored 42% of the five stars according to reviews in Yandex Market (see.). The model is an improved version of the spring flagship Mi5.

Technical characteristics: IPS LCD screen 5.7 inches with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, Android 6.0 operating system, 64 GB of storage and 4 GB of RAM, support for two SIM cards. 4G LTE support. Battery capacity 3800 mAh. There is no support for external memory cards, although 64 GB is more than enough for the average smartphone user. There is a fingerprint scanner (on the back of the case). Quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor. Adreno 530 video processor. This model is the best-performing Xiaomi smartphone and the 6th-best performing Android smartphone (antutu.com rating results) in 2016.

Mi5S Plus has two main cameras, each 13 MP (Sony IMX258 sensor). The lens aperture is f/2.0. The camera is also equipped with phase detection autofocus (PDAF) and dual LED flash. Monochrome and color camera modules in this smartphone work in pairs, providing color rendition as close to reality as possible. The front camera is 4 megapixels, the pixel size here has been increased to two microns, thanks to which the sensor receives more light. The lens has an f/2.0 aperture and a viewing angle of 80 degrees.

The Dxomark resource gave the Mi5S Plus camera 78 points, the same score as the Google Nexus 6.

3rd place.

ZTE Nubia Z11 Mini S 64Gb

Average price in Russia -19,000 rubles. Buy Nubia Z11 Mini S on Aliexpress possible for 16 thousand rubles (delivery to Russia is free). A slightly smaller and more technically advanced version of the flagship of the ZTE Nubia family, released in October 2016, received73% of fives according to reviews in Yandex Market. Technical characteristics: 5.2-inch screen with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, Android 6.0 operating system, 64 GB of storage and 4 GB of RAM, there is a slot for an external memory card. Supports two SIM cards. 4G LTE support. Battery capacity - 3000 mAh. There is a fingerprint scanner, which, in addition to unlocking the smartphone, can be used to control the camera, take screenshots, and also make mobile payments via NFC.

Main camera 23 MP, front camera 13 MP. The main camera uses a Sony IMX318 module, like the ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe.

2nd place.

Honor 8 32Gb

Average price in Russia -20,500 rubles. Buy Honor 8 64Gb on AliExpress possible for 16.4 thousand rubles (delivery to Russia is free).The flagship of the Honor family went on sale in China at the end of July, and in Russia at the end of August 2016, and today has scored 77% of the five reviews in Yandex Market.

Technical characteristics of the model: 5.2-inch screen with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, Android 6.0 operating system, 32 GB of permanent and 4 GB of RAM, support for two SIM cards, the slot for the second SIM card is combined with a slot for a memory card. 4G LTE support. 3000 mAh battery and energy saving technology Smart Power 4.0 provide up to 1.77 days of operation with normal use and up to 1.22 with intensive use. For example, on Honor 8 you can watch online videos for 11 hours straight. 8-core HiSilicon processor Kirin 950. Has a fingerprint scanner.

The model has a dual main camera with laser autofocus, which received two 12-megapixel Sony IMX286 sensors (like the Huawei P9), color and monochrome. The camera allows you to change the focus point after shooting. Professional mode offers customization of the entire set of shooting parameters, just like in SLR cameras. The front camera has an 8 megapixel sensor.

Separately, it is worth noting the design of the smartphone. Without a doubt this is the most beautiful Huawei smartphone: glass is used on the front and back sides mirror effect and 2.5D rounding, the side edges are made of metal, and there are also several bright colors.

see also

OnePlus 3T 64Gb is the most powerful Android smartphone in the world

Average price in Russia -26,460 rubles. Buy OnePlus 3T 64Gb on Aliexpress possible for 25.4 thousand rubles (delivery to Russia is free).This model, released in mid-November 2016, is an improved version of the OnePlus 3, which appeared in June 2016 and received the title of “flagship killer” due to its excellent technical characteristics and affordable price, and also got into the top 6 most popular smartphones in the world at the end of the year. As of today, the updated version of OnePlus 3T has 76% of fives according to reviews in Yandex Market(cm.

A typical review of a gadget is a long and often boring for most readers sheet of words, not always clear numbers and graphs, as well as pictures, telling in detail about all the components of the device. There are too many letters, and key benefits and the shortcomings are smeared throughout the text and are not stored in the head.

We decided to discard everything unnecessary, leaving the most important. Extremely useful information that you can quickly familiarize yourself with and learn everything about the gadget. Only the pros, cons and controversial features of a device with much less water content.

What kind of killer is he if he costs 30 thousand rubles?

Comparing OnePlus 3 with budget Xiaomi or Meizu for a little over 100 dollars is the same as putting Lada and BMW on the same level.

OnePlus 3 is a smartphone that was created as a counterweight to expensive top brands from well-known brands and is equipped with the most powerful hardware and the best materials.

In terms of performance and execution, the flagship killer is equal to the Galaxy S7 Edge, LG G5 and others, but at the same time it costs significantly less.

Pros

Performance with reserve

Someone says that a modern Android smartphone lacks 2 GB of RAM. For some, 3 GB is not enough. The new OnePlus is equipped with an honest SIX GIGABYTES of LPDDR4 RAM. So large volume memory is certainly excessive, but not even the most demanding Android enthusiast will accuse the smartphone of a lack of RAM. Again, you can shake the number in front of your faces Samsung owners, feeling his own superiority. In general, gigahertz and gigabyte competitions are widely practiced among power users, and OnePlus 3 was created specifically for them.

In combination with the most powerful Snapdragon 820 and Adreno 530 graphics, the smartphone becomes a real monster that can easily handle ANY of the most demanding games on ultra-graphics, keeping three more in memory heavy applications and a couple of dozen ordinary ones.

Flexible Android without tinsel

OnePlus 3 runs OxygenOS based on the current . This assembly, on the one hand, is similar to the reference, pure Android from Google, but on the other hand, it hides a very large potential for customization. Suffice it to say that the user can add custom actions even to system buttons and change the position of the Back button, placing it either on the left or on the right depending on the habit.

The assignments of the three-position physical notification mode switch have not yet been configured, but the next update will probably add such a function, or one of the third-party developers will do it.

The absence of heavy graphics kits makes the system nimble and stable. There is no unnecessary software, which often duplicates Google applications, creates additional confusion and slows down the entire system. OxygenOS is almost perfect in terms of simplicity and functionality.

Balanced Design

If you wish, you can get to the bottom of any case, but in the case of OnePlus 3 it is difficult to do so. Aluminum, capital, with impeccable fit of parts.

Moderately weighty, not too thin, at the same time strict, but streamlined thanks to rounded corners and 2.5D glass.

Without the stupid glass back that collects tons of oil from your fingers. OnePlus 3 is very comfortable and looks great in both rough male paws and beautiful female hands.

Science-Based Night Mode

Health-safe night mode is not only about reduced brightness and a dark theme. The blue light from the screen is a wake-up signal for our brain. For this reason, we cannot fall asleep when we look at our smartphone before bed. Night mode in OnePlus 3 it turns off blue and does not cause untimely hormonal surges.

A fast fingerprint scanner that is positioned correctly

In terms of response speed, the OnePlus 3 fingerprint scanner is not inferior to that of the Galaxy S7 and iPhone 6s, but the most important thing is its location.

We don’t know what motivated the engineers who came up with the idea of ​​placing the sensor at the REAR. Perhaps these people hold their phone in their hands 100% of the time. An ordinary person very often has situations when he needs to do something on a smartphone lying on the table. In this case, the front scanner does not interfere in any way, but with the rear location you have to first take the device in your hand, then feel for the sensor, remove the lock and return the device to the table surface. This is terribly inconvenient and infuriating. Don't buy smartphones that have a scanner on the back: you will regret your choice.

The scanner not only removes the lock, but also plays the role of a “Home” button. Unlike the iPhone, the button here is touch-sensitive and not mechanical.

Great cameras from Sony

A modern smartphone is unthinkable without good cameras, and OnePlus 3 offers two cool sensors at once: the main 16-megapixel Sony IMX298 with PDAF autofocus, HDR and dynamic noise filter, as well as the front 8-megapixel IMX179, also from Sony.

Naturally, these cameras take very good pictures, as you can see by looking at the image below. It was made without any presets, literally on the go.

OnePlus records video up to 4K at 30 fps. Standard 1080p is recorded at 60 frames, and for 720p slow motion is available at 120 frames.

Fans and lovers of selfies will really like the auto-selfie mode, in which the smartphone automatically focuses on the face and then launches countdown and takes a photo himself. An extremely convenient feature.

Has NFC

Those who have known the delights contactless payment With the help of NFC, people rarely pick up cash and bank card. Despite the aluminum body, OnePlus 3 engineers miraculously crammed NFC into the smartphone. And everything works without any complaints.

Normal procedure for buying a smartphone without invites

Previous OnePlus models could not be purchased without an invite. Artificially making it more difficult to purchase through an invitation system is a working, but rather nasty way to create additional noise and an aura of “elitism” around your products. Luckily, OnePlus has stopped dealing with nonsense and is now selling smartphones without unnecessary complications. Paid - waited - received.

Cons

No choice

Only one configuration. No options. Don’t want to overpay for frankly extra 6 GB of RAM? Sorry. Would you like to save money at the expense of the size of the internal memory, because you are unlikely to take up 64 GB? Sorry again.

We are sure that if OnePlus had released a younger version of the smartphone with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage, sales would have been even stronger.

No moisture protection

This is where OnePlus 3 frankly merges in front of Samsung, whose latest flagships have IP68 water and dust protection class. We hope that water resistance will appear in the next generation of these wonderful smartphones.

5.5 inches is not for everyone

Kept in hands iPhone 6 Plus? Not everyone likes this shovel. It seems to us that a 5-inch diagonal is optimal for a modern smartphone.

By releasing a phablet, OnePlus is deliberately narrowing the circle of potential buyers.

Sad battery that leaks at night

A 3,000 mAh battery with such an energy-hungry filling is not enough, very little. To make matters worse, if you leave your smartphone overnight at, say, 80% charge, you may wake up in the morning and find it only has 65-70% charge. There were no guaranteed nightly downloads of large amounts of information. Updates were also not installed. We hope this problem The next update will solve it, but for now OnePlus 3 is not at all autonomous. To hold such power in your hands and not use it to its full potential, for fear of being left without any connection at all, is a shame.

Two SIM cards, but no microSD - dammit!

Any Chinese now offers a hybrid slot in which you can put either two SIM cards, or replace one SIM with a card microSD memory. Hey, OnePlus, have you really not heard of such a convenient solution or have you deliberately given in to Samsung, whose smartphone has microSD?

Difficulties with the service

OnePlus 3 is only sold online. There are no services, especially in Russia, where the smartphone has not officially appeared yet. If something happens, you will have to send it by mail to another country. Long and expensive.

Controversial issues

Optic AMOLED display and unnecessary marketing

The advantages and disadvantages of AMOLED displays have long been known. The OnePlus 3 screen is very bright, rich, rich. True black color thanks to independent power supply for each pixel, Full HD 1,920 × 1,080, density around 400 ppi per inch, Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protection. All this is cool.

You have to pay with realism and accuracy of color rendering. The colors are so crazy they don't seem real. Sometimes they are downright poisonous. Those accustomed to AMOLED will not notice anything, but those who switched to OnePlus from IPS screens will be surprised.

Another unpleasant point concerns marketing terms. Do you know what Optic AMOLED is and how it is better than regular AMOLED? Nothing. This is the same display from Samsung, which they tried to tighten up in order to improve color fidelity. It didn’t turn out very well, but for a person unfamiliar with the topic and too lazy to Google, such marketing can be misleading.

USB-C DASH Charge - exclusive and expensive

Proprietary technology fast charging OnePlus 3 allows you to charge your smartphone by 60% in 30 minutes. True, it only works with the original adapter and only with the original wire.

If you don’t have any at hand, you will have to be content with the standard battery filling characteristics.

By the way, when buying a phone with USB-C, you need to be prepared for the fact that all your friends and colleagues, who shared their cable and charger in difficult times, will no longer be able to help you. USB-C is still a rarity, and quite expensive.

Removable USB-C cable with support for DASH Charge from OnePlus will cost 15 euros. Fork - 20 euros. Expensive!

OnePlus 3 Specifications

Total

No matter how much we try to criticize the OnePlus 3, it is still gorgeous. Samsung Galaxy S7 costs 50,000 rubles. OnePlus 3 - 30,000 rubles. Do you feel the difference? It's still a flagship killer, the best in the business.

The life hacker thanks the GearBest online store for providing the device for testing.

Where do the firewood come from?

Convenient like an iPhone

Still the fastest Android

Honestly:

Among its classmates “from $400”

450-520 dollars, not much.

Huawei V10


Mi 6 Mi Note 3

You can take it.

“Flagship killer” - OnePlus was the first to receive this title, becoming the founder of a whole string of powerful smartphones at low cost.

Where do the firewood come from?

At some point, OnePlus smartphones could be used as an example and compared with the iPhone on equal terms. Unfortunately, their team does not always have the foresight. Therefore, instead of 1 device per year, we see 2 modifications of the same device with a difference of six months.

The third generation of OnePlus showed the low viability of this solution. However, OnePlus engineers and marketers are not asleep.

Before everyone had time to get the latest OnePlus 5, it was discontinued in favor of the updated flagship OnePlus 5T. This time the differences are incomparably greater than between OnePlus 3 and 3T (). But are they worth changing smartphones twice a year?

The update is quite natural. The original OnePlus 5 was released in opposition to the iPhone 8 Plus (), just like the OnePlus 3 a year earlier - against the iPhone 7 Plus. But the Chinese startup has nothing to bet against the iPhone X. And so a new model appeared: the frameless 5T with an improved dual camera.

In fact, OnePlus 5T has become copy of Samsung S8(), not iPhone X(). Different form factors, different ergonomics, much more reminiscent of Korean flagships.

Frameless and organic trend

Perhaps, the only things in common with the iPhone that the new OnePlus has in common (what’s new, and the old one too) are the branded symmetrical grilles on the bottom end, the mini-jack next to them and the branded 3-position mode switch.

The ergonomics of the OnePlus case have not changed for many years. And this is great - a recognizable corporate style of the Chinese brand goes not only for the benefit of aesthetes. Thanks to the sharp edges and slight curves along the edges of the body, the 5T looks great and feels great in the hand. A real men's smartphone that you can count on - it won't slip out of your hand, and in the cold it will fit like a glove.

The mechanical switch that turns the sound on/off on the smartphone is an exclusive feature of OnePlus. In the world of "androids" no one has it. Although this is why I adore “1+”, a smartphone is much more convenient to use.


This is where the company's traditions end. No more mechanical universal button. OnePlus 5T has lost all front elements. The scanner, like in the budget Chinese, moved to back cover. For half a thousand dollars it was possible to develop something more original. In this regard, Meizu’s fresh frameless phone from the budget segment is much more interesting.

Of course, the new location is convenient. Maybe even more convenient than a front scanner. But the view is not the same. A feature pleasant for fans of the brand has sunk into oblivion.

But OnePlus has no original developments. And there is no longer a sensor on the front panel - the entire surface is occupied by the screen.

Gorgeous screen. Simply magnificent. The company reviewed the shortcomings of the basic model and equipped the modified version with its own panel. Top as it should be: 6-inch Optical AMOLED matrix, 18:9 aspect ratio, Full HD+ resolution. The frames are minimal.


Under the unfamiliar marketing name Optical AMOLED hides the same panel based on organic LEDs with (not) significant improvements. Finally!

Fact: LEDs on AMOLED screens light up independently of each other. And black color is achieved by turning off the LED. Therefore, such screens are more economical than traditional LED (IPS, TN, VA).

OnePlus engineers managed to get rid of the visible grid and blurring effect when scrolling quickly on the screen. And this is without increasing the pixel density that other brands usually resort to. By the way, there are no display defects that the owners of the regular OnePlus 5 wrote about.

The OnePlus 5T screen is no worse than Samsung's flagship AMOLED panels, and is not much inferior to the iPhone X display. Juicy, bright, contrasty - even the colors are correct (usually AMOLEDs show a poisonous image). And without borders.

Convenient like an iPhone

Well, like without borders. The lower part is eaten by on-screen buttons. Of course they can be hidden in certain applications. But the rear fingerprint scanner cannot perform gestures similar to the navigation keys. Therefore, in standard use scenarios you will have to put up with a partial loss of usable area.

But a movie or game can be stretched to fill the entire screen. The OnePlus 5T screen, extended to 18:9, is especially effective when surfing or reading: it fits almost a third more information. Although, who needs it - the reader, or the graphomaniac writer? Or maybe advertising agencies occupying the lower part of the display on news portals?


Be that as it may, a frameless display is truly a logical development in smartphones. It’s good that OnePlus decided not to repeat it Xiaomi errors with a completely frameless screen. Holding the 5T in your hands is convenient and comfortable. There are no accidental touches.

The enlarged screen appears exactly where the keys are, so there are no problems with getting used to it. If before that there was another “Chinese”, and not OnePlus, Samsung or iPhone with a front scanner. It's hard after them. Moreover, OnePlus 5 could be turned on using the central key.

The mechanics of use have completely changed - namely, the similarity with the iPhone was presented by OnePlus marketers as a feature of their smartphones.

Perhaps the screen and scanner are the main differences between the 5T and the regular “five”. For many, a 6-inch screen (albeit elongated) and the absence of a touch front key will become serious drawback. Was it worth discontinuing a device with a classic design for the sake of a frameless screen? Hardly. I don't like on-screen keys.

Still the fastest Android

OnePlus always produces very fast devices. Flagship hardware and Google's pure operating system have always gone well together.


In order, the same Snapdragon 835 works as the platform in the 5T. It is also used in the Xiaomi Mi 6 (), Mix 2 () and Samsung S8 (). Fast, cold, with everyone's support modern technologies. That is, LTE is the fastest, USB-C complies with the USB 3.1 specification, and the smartphone works like a clock.


And that's not all. Honestly, I don’t know what to do with even 6 GB of RAM in a smartphone. I just can't imagine. And the OnePlus 5T has either 6 or 8 GB. Fast memory that even the gluttonous Android is unable to fill and slow down. Everything works like a hurricane.

The drive similarly does not reduce performance - the engineers used the most (so far) fast memory UFS 2.1. IN desktop computers its kind of analogue - solid state drive NVMe standard. Very fast. It is simply impossible to notice reading from the drive - even hefty RAW images are saved without delay.


Another plus for OnePlus 5T is support for all modern communication standards. That is, all GSM/3G/LTE bands that are needed in Russia are supported by the smartphone. Most European and Asian ones are similar. Nothing is blocked. Install 2 nanoSIM and make calls wherever you want.

Of course, it has dual-band Wi-FI. Moreover, according to the MIMO 2×2 standard, it can simultaneously transmit and receive in two bands. Bluetooth - version 5.0, with support for aptX and aptX HD. A real find for music lovers. OnePlus did not hesitate to spend money for the use of technologies for wireless transmission of high-quality audio, so it is with it that Bluetooth headphones take on a new sound.

You can even listen losseless wirelessly! And if the sound doesn’t seem good enough, the built-in Dirac HD Sound technology will help refresh and correct it. Something, but here OnePlus 5T really gives a head start to any flagship, including the iPhone.


This is all very cool. But, in fact, this is the already familiar basic OnePlus 5 with a regular screen.

Camera: instead of real improvements

The second, long-awaited and important update is the cameras. The front camera is from OnePlus 3T and the first “five”: 16 MP, f/2.0, fixed autofocus. Where so much, why, who uses it?


It seems that such a camera with wild noise reduction was designed specifically for the Chinese. They really love selfies. Photos on it turn out soapy. No miracle happened. But for chats and selfies - very good camera.

The main camera is represented by a system of two modules: a 16-megapixel Sony IMX 398 sensor with a wide-angle lens (f/1.7 aperture) is complemented by a 20-megapixel Sony IMX 350 with a telephoto lens (f/2.6 aperture). You can switch between lenses, or take photos with the “bokeh” effect with two at the same time.

At the same time, the camera manages to make mistakes thanks to unfinished software. “Soap” and “sharp” are largely the result of the noise reduction work.

It's likely that these issues, especially when shooting in the dark, will be fixed soon.

Personal experience: unusual and cool

Honestly: I liked OnePus 5T. If I were not familiar with the regular 5, there would be no complaints about the smartphone at all.

Apart from minor camera issues, this is one of the most balanced smartphones on the market. Pure Android, recently updated to version 8.1 Oreo, allows OnePlus not only to break records in synthetic tests. The smartphone works very quickly, without lag or the slightest hint of slowdown.


There is one that works great multi-window mode, gesture support, special operating modes (reading mode, gaming DND mode). Outsiders pre-installed applications no - only Google apps.

Among its peers in the “from $400” class, OnePlus 5T is distinguished by its autonomy and the availability of Dash Charge fast charging. The 3300 mAh battery lasts for a full day under heavy load (up to 7 hours of screen time with wireless interfaces). In half an hour, the smartphone charges from zero to 60%, and to 100% in just 1 hour and 15 minutes.

The OnePlus 5T has few negative qualities. Fingers crossed: lack of moisture protection, optical stabilization cameras and wireless charging. Another unpleasant moment - new design merges into a series of frameless devices of 2017-2018.

On the other hand, the OnePlus 5T has few full-fledged competitors, even taking into account its cost, which balances between $450-520.

This is the OnePlus 5, which can still be found on store shelves. Next we should name the new Huawei V10 - a very serious competitor, inferior to the 1+5T in terms of the operating system and equipped with a fundamentally different camera.


Among the favorites in Russia Xiaomi OnePlus's only competitor is Mi 6 (). But it has the usual frames. The cheaper Mi Note 3 () offers less safety margin. In addition, both Xiaomi devices are enclosed in a glass case, are much thicker and are not so pleasant in the hands.

Any other devices on the market are somehow inferior to the OnePlus 5T: either in form or in content. It has a very good camera and incredible performance.