12 Best Smartphone deals under $190 Available now

The day when low-cost or cheap meant poor specifications are well behind us, now it is easy to buy a cheap phone with excellent mid-range hardware. We list 10 best smartphone deals available now!

12 Best Smartphone deals

Competition in China is fierce and a price war has broken out among large and small manufactures all of whom are now offering some of the best smartphone deals in the world today. This list contains all the best smartphone deals of phones costing less than $190.

Huawei Honor 3C 2GB

It has taken Huawei a long time, but finally they seem to have gotten a grasp on 1) What customers actually want 2) How to market their phones. The HuaweiHonor 3C is easily the best smartphone which Huawei have launched in recent months, and to top it off it has a great price too.

The HuaweiHonor 3C is available in two versions, a $130 version with 1GB RAM, and $165 version with 2GB RAM. Both options have the same 5-inch 720p (1280 x 720) display, 5 mega-pixel f2.4 front camera, 8 mega-pixel F2.0 rear camera, 1.3Ghz quad-core MT6582 processor and support for TD-SCDMA, WCDMA and GSM networks.

CoolPad Halo F1

We recently posted a review of the CoolPad Halo F1, and can honestly say that this is another top smartphone, but believe it or not it is more affordable than the Huawei Honor and has an even better level of specification!

In China the Coolpad Halo F1 only comes in TD-SCDMA guise which has been subsidised by China Mobile to allow the phone to be priced at only $146. Even though China Mobile might be footing part of the specification is still amazing for the price.

What makes this one of our best smartphone picks is the fact that not only have Coolpad gotten the price so low, but they have also managed to squeeze in a 13 mega-pixel main camera, 5-inch 720p (1280 x 720) display, and a 1.7Ghz Octacore MT6592 processor from Mediatek!

Thankfully for those of you who don’t live in China and fancy getting your hands on the Coolpad F1, there is a WCDMA/GSM model of the phone in the works which has the same specs and same low price. What’s more Coolpad showed the phone off at CES this year meaning an official international launch could be possible!

Hasee ES0 S1

This is the first year that Hasee has been apart of the smartphone market, and they are doing their best to get write in to the mix and be part of the price war. The Hasee Ling Ya E50 S1 is the 2GB RAM version of the phone which costs only $150.

Other specifications are similar to the Huawei and include a 5-inch IPS 1280 x 720 display, 1.3Ghz quad-core MT6582 processor, 2GB RAM, 16 GB memory, Android 4.2 and a professional in app camera controls.

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Hasee have only officially launched in China, but their laptops and PC’s are already on sale around the world, here’s hoping that the E50 has the same fate and it truly is one of the best smartphone options on the market today.

iNew V3

The iNew V3 full review can be read here, but if you don’t have time for that let us just say that it is easily one of the best smartphone options money can buy. The device has a slim stylish design, combined with a stunning 5-inch OGS, Gorilla Glass display and quad-core processor.

The iNew V3 also has a 13 mega-pixel main camera, 5 mega-pixel front, USB OTG and NFC.

GuoMobile G1

The GuoMobile G1 is a phone that we are personally familiar with but with a design similar to the HTC One their low-cost phone is quite the looker. Interesting design decisions include dual SIM support accessed on the left via sim trays, and a side mounted micro USB give the G1 a unique feel.

According to the official specs this Qualcomm Snapdragon powered phone has 1GB RAM, 16GB memory, alloy 7.8mm body, and 2.4mm bezels on either side of the 5-inch qHD display. The GuoMobile G1 is has an 8 mega-pixel rear camera, 2 mega-pixel front an is certainly one of the best smartphone options in this price bracket.

iOcean X7HD

iOcean have taken their best smartphone of 2013 and given it a mid-range makeover. The iOcean X7HD has the same body and dimensions as last years flagship phone but with a more price conscious specification allowing the price to come in at below $180!

The 5-inch display on the iOcean X7HD is a 1280 x 720 IPS unit with 3.26mm bezels on either side. a 8 mega-pixel camera takes u the year while a 5 mega-pixel front with 79 degree lens is on selfie duty.

The phone is powered by the wonderful 1.3Ghz MT6582 quad-core Mediatek processor, with 1GB RAM, 4GB memory plus there is room for dual sim cards and a SD memory card. The iOcean X7 HD is available through most larger online resellers now.

Go to page to of the 12 best smartphone deals under $190 [templatic_button link=”https://www.gizchina.com/2014/02/07/12-best-smartphone-deals-190-available-now/2/” size=”large” type=”basic”] Page 2 [/templatic_button] [templatic_contentbox type=”normal” title=”6 more phones listed on page 2!”]

Continue to the next page for 6 more best smartphone devices including models from;

Thunderbird.
Huawei.
Beidou.
Lenovo.
ZTE.
ETC

Disclaimer: We may be compensated by some of the companies whose products we talk about, but our articles and reviews are always our honest opinions. For more details, you can check out our editorial guidelines and learn about how we use affiliate links.

About the author
Andi

mfmx
February 7, 2014
Why the Lenovo A820? Not a bad phone, but you can even get the Lenovo S920 for under $190 now, and the A850 is currently much more popular than A820. The only thing going for the A820 is the slightly better camera (but without flash) and that there are editions for China Telecom and China Mobile if you need that.

Ivo001
February 7, 2014
I own the iNew V3, and am quite happy with it. However, with current prices I might think that the Honor 2C 2GB, ZTE Geek and Halopad F1 are more bang for your buck.
P.s How do i turn off the touch vibration on the keyboard?
- February 7, 2014
  Settings > Language and Input > press the settings icon next to Android Keyboard (AOSP) > Uncheck Vibrate on keypress
$3003525
February 7, 2014
highwind
February 7, 2014
Again no Star HD5000 and no Tronsmart TS7 (MT6582) although they beat atleast 80% of the phones from this list when it comes to price/performance…
Instead we get TDSCMA-only phones (Red Hot Chili Thing), genereally unavailable phones (Huawei Honor 3C) and eyewash phones (iNew V3) as “best sub 180$ deals”
- Airyl
  February 8, 2014
  Relax. Personally, I prefer all the phones that Andi recommended over the two you mentioned because the Tronsmart has an older processor and the Star looks pretty cheap. I do understand where you’re coming from, I just don’t think those two phones are really the best for under $190.
  - Aeonia
    February 9, 2014
    the new tronsmart ts7 has an mtk6582 processor..and is about 149 dollars..
  - highwind
    February 9, 2014
    As mentioned, the Tronsmart TS7 is available with MT6582 as well and as I already own it, I can confidently say, that it is a very good phone for the given price tag of ~150$
    It is especially better than the iNew V3, which has bugs (OTG/NFC sometimes not working, home button sometimes not reacting) a weak battery and false declaration of dimensions (not nearly as thin as advertised) for ~180$

Allanitomwesh
February 7, 2014
Several flaws with this list.
1.Huawei are on the list twice with the same phone,so it is really a list of 11.
2.Thunderbird?No model number,no additional information,and were supposed to find it?
3.The Lenovo is a one trick pony with the camera,it shouldn’t have made the list.
4.the Coolpad is Octacore,therefore,the rest of the list should have octacores,or similar bench-marking/hardware.Thus it is a list of two,if you count the ZTE Geek
5.I can’t buy anything on this list except the iOcean internationally,which defeats the point.
- February 7, 2014
  1) The Huawei is on the list twice as the 2GB is hard to get, but the 1GB is quite easily available internationally (as mentioned)
  2) The Thunderbird is called “Thunderbird” in English. A full article will be coming soon.
  3) The last time we wrote a list readers asked “why no Lenovo”. The Lenovo listed here isn’t a bad phone and is available well below the $190 price.
  4) This is a list of phones under $190, not only that but phones which international readers are actually able to buy. Not a list of Octacore phones, this will be coming soon.
  5) With an international readership we have to write about what is available regardless of location. All but the TD-SCDMA phones are available outside of China, and the others are available in locations where GizChina readers come from. The iOcean, ZTE Geek, Huawei Honor 3C 1GB, Lenovo, are all easily available, the rest are only available in certain areas.
  I’m glad you brought the points up though as I imagine many other readers have similar feelings and opinions too. Cheers 🙂
  - Allanitomwesh
    February 7, 2014
    Thanks for replying. I hold my point that the Coolpad and ZTE outshine the other phones on the list,but it is appreciated none the less that you take time to compile them.
  - Looking forward to reading Thunderbirdie’s article/post
    Keep em’ coming Andy 😉

- highwind
  February 7, 2014
  Me not… there are better phones (especially in terms of the display resolution) for 10-20$ less
  - February 7, 2014
    Not a fan of the ZP700, the Huawei Honor 3C is much better for the money. If Zopo dropped the price then it would be worth it.
    - highwind
      February 7, 2014
      Agreed but check out the Star HD5000 as well
      MT6582, 1GB RAM, 8GB ROM, 5inch HD-Display, 2500mAh battery at only 139,90$ for international customers is a real bargain!
      A review would be very nice and I personally feel that it definitely deserves a spot on this list 🙂

mfmx
February 7, 2014
Why the Lenovo A820? Not a bad phone, but you can even get the Lenovo S920 for under $190 now, and the A850 is currently much more popular than A820. The only thing going for the A820 is the slightly better camera (but without flash) and that there are editions for China Telecom and China Mobile if you need that.

Ivo001
February 7, 2014
I own the iNew V3, and am quite happy with it. However, with current prices I might think that the Honor 2C 2GB, ZTE Geek and Halopad F1 are more bang for your buck.
P.s How do i turn off the touch vibration on the keyboard?
- Andi Sykes
  February 7, 2014
  Settings > Language and Input > press the settings icon next to Android Keyboard (AOSP) > Uncheck Vibrate on keypress
johnickz
February 7, 2014
When the Coolpad F1 will be WDCMA available?! Is there GPS malfunction in new 8-core chipset of MediaTek?
- - burnt_52
    February 7, 2014
    I agree, this is the best octacore phone I have seen but useless without WCDMA. Hopefully it will support more than just 2100MHz. Brilliant article btw Andi
  - Stefan Żeromski
    February 13, 2014
    Hi!, how do You know that WCDMA version of F1 is in works? I havent seen any simmilar information at another websites

aaa
February 7, 2014
it those are really best from china then im removing gizchina from my bookmars and gonna buy phone from “top” manufacturers, like i did before.
- johnickz
  February 7, 2014
  “12 Best Smartphone deals under $190” was the title..
- Airyl
  February 8, 2014
  Good, go do that now. We don’t need negative scum who don’t know how to read like you around.
Guest
February 7, 2014
provokanter Tabellenführer
February 7, 2014
Again no Star HD5000 and no Tronsmart TS7 (MT6582) although they beat atleast 80% of the phones from this list when it comes to price/performance…
Instead we get TDSCMA-only phones (Red Hot Chili Thing), genereally unavailable phones (Huawei Honor 3C) and eyewash phones (iNew V3) as “best sub 180$ deals”
- Guest
  February 8, 2014
  Relax. Personally, I prefer all the phones that Andi recommended over the two you mentioned because the Tronsmart has an older processor and the Star looks pretty cheap. I do understand where you’re coming from, I just don’t think those two phones are really the best for under $190.
- Guest
  February 9, 2014
  the new tronsmart ts7 has an mtk6582 processor..and is about 149 dollars..
- provokanter Tabellenführer
  February 9, 2014
  As mentioned, the Tronsmart TS7 is available with MT6582 as well and as I already own it, I can confidently say, that it is a very good phone for the given price tag of ~150$
  It is especially better than the iNew V3, which has bugs (OTG/NFC sometimes not working, home button sometimes not reacting) a weak battery and false declaration of dimensions (not nearly as thin as advertised) for ~180$

Allanitomwesh
February 7, 2014
Several flaws with this list.
1.Huawei are on the list twice with the same phone,so it is really a list of 11.
2.Thunderbird?No model number,no additional information,and were supposed to find it?
3.The Lenovo is a one trick pony with the camera,it shouldn’t have made the list.
4.the Coolpad is Octacore,therefore,the rest of the list should have octacores,or similar bench-marking/hardware.Thus it is a list of two,if you count the ZTE Geek
5.I can’t buy anything on this list except the iOcean internationally,which defeats the point.
- Andi Sykes
  February 7, 2014
  1) The Huawei is on the list twice as the 2GB is hard to get, but the 1GB is quite easily available internationally (as mentioned)
  2) The Thunderbird is called “Thunderbird” in English. A full article will be coming soon.
  3) The last time we wrote a list readers asked “why no Lenovo”. The Lenovo listed here isn’t a bad phone and is available well below the $190 price.
  4) This is a list of phones under $190, not only that but phones which international readers are actually able to buy. Not a list of Octacore phones, this will be coming soon.
  5) With an international readership we have to write about what is available regardless of location. All but the TD-SCDMA phones are available outside of China, and the others are available in locations where GizChina readers come from. The iOcean, ZTE Geek, Huawei Honor 3C 1GB, Lenovo, are all easily available, the rest are only available in certain areas.
  I’m glad you brought the points up though as I imagine many other readers have similar feelings and opinions too. Cheers 🙂
- Allanitomwesh
  February 7, 2014
  Thanks for replying. I hold my point that the Coolpad and ZTE outshine the other phones on the list,but it is appreciated none the less that you take time to compile them.
- Andi Sykes
  February 8, 2014
  Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment 🙂
- Multicorechina.com
  February 11, 2014
  Looking forward to reading Thunderbirdie’s article/post
  Keep em’ coming Andy 😉

- provokanter Tabellenführer
  February 7, 2014
  Me not… there are better phones (especially in terms of the display resolution) for 10-20$ less
- Andi Sykes
  February 7, 2014
  Not a fan of the ZP700, the Huawei Honor 3C is much better for the money. If Zopo dropped the price then it would be worth it.
- provokanter Tabellenführer
  February 7, 2014
  Agreed but check out the Star HD5000 as well
  MT6582, 1GB RAM, 8GB ROM, 5inch HD-Display, 2500mAh battery at only 139,90$ for international customers is a real bargain!
  A review would be very nice and I personally feel that it definitely deserves a spot on this list 🙂
- Andi Sykes
  February 8, 2014
  Yep, I will certainly need to give it a look 🙂
ZecaMarol
February 7, 2014
“The 2GB version of the Huawei Honor 3C has only just launched in China making it quite difficult to buy for international fans […]”
Andy,
When the 2GB version of the Honor 3C will be available for international customers?
- February 7, 2014
  I don’t believe that Huawei will launch it officially internationally, we will just have to wait for resellers to pick it up.
anon
February 7, 2014
- February 7, 2014
  The Redrice will be replaced soon, plus I wanted to introduce a few new models we hadn’t covered much before.
johnickz
February 7, 2014
When the Coolpad F1 will be WDCMA available?! Is there GPS malfunction in new 8-core chipset of MediaTek?
- Andi Sykes
  February 7, 2014
  Soon I hope, I really fancy one for myselft.
- burnt_52
  February 8, 2014
  I agree, this is the best octacore phone I have seen but useless without WCDMA. Hopefully it will support more than just 2100MHz. Brilliant article btw Andi
- Andi Sykes
  February 8, 2014
  Thanks mate, glad you enjoyed it 🙂
- Stefan Żeromski
  February 13, 2014
  Hi!, how do You know that WCDMA version of F1 is in works? I havent seen any simmilar information at another websites
Guest
February 7, 2014
it those are really best from china then im removing gizchina from my bookmars and gonna buy phone from “top” manufacturers, like i did before.
- johnickz
  February 7, 2014
  “12 Best Smartphone deals under $190” was the title..
- Guest
  February 8, 2014
  Good, go do that now. We don’t need negative scum who don’t know how to read like you around.

Stelios
February 7, 2014
- Airyl
  February 8, 2014
Guest
February 7, 2014
“The 2GB version of the Huawei Honor 3C has only just launched in China making it quite difficult to buy for international fans […]”
Andy,
When the 2GB version of the Honor 3C will be available for international customers?
- Andi Sykes
  February 7, 2014
  I don’t believe that Huawei will launch it officially internationally, we will just have to wait for resellers to pick it up.

Guest
February 7, 2014
- Andi Sykes
  February 8, 2014
  The Redrice will be replaced soon, plus I wanted to introduce a few new models we hadn’t covered much before.
Guest
February 7, 2014
- Guest
  February 8, 2014
Samuel
February 8, 2014
Hello, where would the Faea 2 or {2s} fit in this list?
Is its opensource enough advantage over these phones. i think of buying FAEA. Please recommend me.
- February 8, 2014
  When I tested the F2S I found it to be a little on the buggy side. It is great that FAEA have opened up but by the time a fully working ROM is available for these phones they are going to be seriously out of date.
  - samuel
    February 8, 2014
Guest
February 8, 2014
Hello, where would the Faea 2 or {2s} fit in this list?
Is its opensource enough advantage over these phones. i think of buying FAEA. Please recommend me.
- Andi Sykes
  February 8, 2014
  When I tested the F2S I found it to be a little on the buggy side. It is great that FAEA have opened up but by the time a fully working ROM is available for these phones they are going to be seriously out of date.
- Guest
  February 8, 2014
  So please which one would you recommend? between $190- $210
Melsyoo
February 9, 2014
Woah, thanks for including the ZTE Geek. I hadn’t heard about it yet for some reason. What do you think; should I get the ZTE Geek or the Coolpad F1, or should I wait till something better appears?
Melsyoo
February 9, 2014
Woah, thanks for including the ZTE Geek. I hadn’t heard about it yet for some reason. What do you think; should I get the ZTE Geek or the Coolpad F1, or should I wait till something better appears?

Johann von Schadowitz
February 27, 2014
What is a good place do buy the ZTE Geek?
Johann von Schadowitz
February 27, 2014