There are tons of smartphones on the market today, with all sorts of display sizes, processors, cameras, designs, and so on. With a large array of choices, however, come an array of prices, some that are acceptable and some that are not (depending on the customer in question).
Finding a smartphone for $150 that provides what consumers want in a phone along with the right price can be a struggle, but we’ve compiled a list of top 25 Chinese phones that bring price and functionality together. Pricing is around $150, so some phones on the list are as little as $119.99 while some reach over to $159.99.
Which phone to buy? Take your pick.
Blackview Alife P1 Pro
At around $150 there aren’t many smartphones on the market that offer a fingerprint scanner (in fact only 3 on this list), so it’s remarkable to see that Blackview managed to build a phone with a fingerprint scanner right in to a physical home button.
We give our hands on impression of this phone as we haven’t tried it yet, but the specs look solid for $120.
Hardware highlights are a 5.5-inch 2.5D display, Mediatek MT6735 chipset, 2GB RAM, 5 mega-pixel front camera and 13 mega-pixel rear. A large 3000mAh battery is promising too.
Doogee Titans2 DG700
The Doogee Titans2 has a 4.5-inch, IPS OGS qHD (quarter HD not Quad HD) display with a 960 x 540p screen resolution, a 1.3Ghz, quad-core MT6582 processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of ROM (with a microSD card slot that provides up to an additional 64GB of storage), 3G data connectivity, 5MP front camera, 8MP back camera, with dual SIM card slots and a 4,000mAh battery.
Although the Doogee Titans2 was pre-loaded with Android 4.4.2 KitKat, the device has been updated to Android 5.0 Lollipop. If you’re someone who can never have too much protection, the Doogee Titans2 features IP67 water and dust resistance that will allow some water submersion (no device swimming, however).
The Doogee Titans2 costs $156.04, but Amazon offers the Titans2 for as low as $128.99.
Siswoo C55
Siswoo phones are generally in the news for being officially available in Europe through distributors, or for launch interesting dual screen models, but the C55 is a phone that is on sale through traditional internet channels.
The C55 is on sale through most online resellers for $150 or slightly less and comes with a 13 mega-pixel main camera, 5 mega-pixel from with FotoNation selfie enhancements and even a front LED flash.
Siswoo use a 5.5-inch 1280 x 720 display on the phone with Medaitek MT6753 octacore chipset, 2GB RAM and 16GB internal memory. The phone comes in black or while and can be picked up right now. More Siswoo C55 details over on their official website.
Doogee F3 Pro
The Doogee F3 Pro features a 5-inch IPS OGS display with Corning’s 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass and a Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080p, a 1.3Ghz, 64-bit octa-core MediaTek MTK6753 processor, 3GB of RAM, 16GB of ROM (storage), 5MP front camera, 13MP back camera, 4G connectivity, a 2,200mAh battery, and runs Android 5.1 Lollipop.
The Doogee F3 Pro retails for $159.99.
InFocus M810T
If I was to tell you that there was a Snapdragon 801 powered phone that you can buy right now for less than $150 would you believe me? Well you should because the InFocus M810T is available right now with that killer chipset for as little as $143!
InFocus are owned Foxconn so you can rest assured that the company know how to make phones, and in fact the M810T boasts a alloy frame that measures only 6.99mm thick.
While a Qualcomm chipset is a great feature it’s not the only important component to a phone. Thankfully the M810T has 2GB RAM, 5.5-inch FHD 1920 x 1080 display, 13 mega-pixel Sony main camera, Gorilla Glass 3 glass display, 4G FDD-LTE and even NFC. Our only concern is the phone is still on Android 4.4.4, but at this price it’s not a big worry.
Ulefone Paris
The Ulefone Paris isn’t available to buy as such at this time, but you can pre-order the phone and doing so will really save you a bundle. The Ulefone Paris Pre-sale price is just $129.99 (compared to the RRP of $169.99), that get’s you a phone with 5-inch 2.5D glass display, 1280 x 720 HD resolution, 2GB RAM, octacore MT6753 chipset, Andorid 5.1 and 13 mega-pixel main camera.
Pre-orders of the Ulefone Paris are being accepted on shop.gizchina.com now.
Oukitel K4000
Oukitel have been subjecting the Oukitel K4000 to a ton of online challenges to prove the phone is worthy of your hard earned cash. So far the phone has been seen in a battery test against the iPhone 6, has been hit with a hammer and even used as a hammer, driving nails in to a piece of wood.
So a large 4000mAh battery and tough build are the features that Oukitel want us to keep in mind when thinking about this phone.
The handset also offers a compact 5-inch 720HD display, Mediatek MT6753 chipset, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal memory, 8 mega-pixel main camera and a vanilla Android 5.1 operating system.
Resellers have just started to list the Oukitel K4000 online with prices starting from as little as $119.99!
Cubot X10
The Cubot X10 has a 5.5-inch IPS LCD screen with an HD resolution of 1280 x 720p (294ppi), a 1.4Ghz, octa-core MT6592 processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of ROM, 3G connectivity, dual SIM card slots, an 8MP front camera, 13MP back camera, and 2,400mAh battery. The Cubot X10 comes with Android 4.4 KitKat and costs $149.99.
Doogee F5
The Doogee F5 is another smartphone similar to the UMi Hammer S with a lot of juicy looking features. The F5 features an all alloy display, rear mounted fingerprint scanner and large 5.5-inch 1920 x 1080 FHD screen.
Like UMi, Doogee have opted for a Mediatek MT6753 processor, but have upped the RAM to 3GB and have used a Samsung 3M2 13 mega-pixel rear camera and Omnivision front facing 5 mega-pixel camera.
According to Doogee’s official hardware specs, the F5 has a body thickness of just 7.8mm (5mm at its thinnest) , the phone is a unibody with SD tray for 64GB cards and comes in either light grey, dad grey or champagne colours.
As someone who has written about Doogee’s problems in the past, I have to admit the F5 does look very promising. The phone is on presale now with orders expected to ship on later this week. Current pricing is just $139.99.
iNew V3 Plus
The iNew V3 Plus comes with a 5-inch, OGS display with a 1280 x 720p screen resolution and Corning’s Gorilla Glass 2. In addition to the iNew V3 Plus’s 5MP front camera, a 13MP back camera with Sony sensor, the iNew V3 Plus features a 1.4Ghz, octa-core MediaTek MT6592 processor, 2GB of LPDDR3 RAM (not DDR4), 16GB of ROM, a microSD card slot that supports up to 32GB of additional storage, 3G connectivity, 1,830mAh battery, and Android 4.4 KitKat pre-loaded. The iNew V3 Plus also has a plastic shell, so keep that in mind.
The iNew V3 Plus can be yours for $153.51.
Xiaomi Redmi 2 Pro
The Xiaomi Redmi range remain one of the most popular budget Chinese phones to date. Earlier this year Xiaomi released the Redmi 2, then soon after the Redmi 2 Pro, the pro version of the phone is basically the same only with 2GB RAM instead of just 1GB RAM.
Of all the phones listed here the Redmi 2 Pro is one of the smallest with a screen size of just 4.7-inch and resolution of only 1280 x 720. The $139.99 smartphone has a Snapdragon 410 processor, 16GB internal memory and comes in either white, yellow, green, pink and a few other youthful colours.
The Redmi 2 Pro can be bought online through shop.gizchina.com now. Read the Xiaomi Redmi 2 review here.
iNew L4
The iNew L4 features a 5.5-inch, IPS OGS display with an HD resolution of 1280 x 720p (294ppi), a quad-core, MediaTek MTK6735 processor with 1GB of RAM, 16GB of ROM, 5MP front camera, 13MP back camera with f/2.0 aperture, dual-SIM card slots, 4G connectivity, and Android 5.1 Lollipop pre-installed. The iNew L4 also features a textured leather design for the back cover and a 5,000mAh battery, and costs $155.99.
Elephone S2 Plus
The Elephone S2 Plus has a 5.5-inch IPS LCD screen with an HD resolution of 1280 x 720p, a 1.5Ghz, quad-core MediaTek MT6735 processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of ROM with a microSD card slot that provides an additional 64GB of storage, 2MP front camera, 13MP back camera, dual micro-SIM card slots, 4G connectivity, and a 2,600mAh battery.
The Elephone S2 Plus comes with Android 5.1 Lollipop pre-installed and can be yours for just $145.99.
Takee 1 3D
The Takee 1 3D is something completely different from the rest of the phones on this list. The processor is a last generation Mediatek MT6592T chipset running at 2.0ghz which unfortunately means no LTE support, but there are a few other special features.
The display is a 5.5-inch 1920 x 1080 3D Holographic panel offering a glasses free 3D experience on the go, 3D also finds its way into the surround sound audio system too to further enhance movie and music experience.
Realising that 3D movies are going to take up more space, 32GB memory comes as standard plus room for SD cards of up to 32GB. Other features are a 5 mega-pixel front camera, 13 mega-pixel rear and dual SIM. Pricing is just $128.99, has anyone tried this phone? If so let us know what it is like in the comments below.
Elephone P6000 Pro
The Elephone P6000 Pro has been on sale now for months and months, but it still represents good value for money. Costing from as little as $140, the P6000 has a 5-inch HD display, Meidatek octacore MT5753 chipset, 3GB RAM and a 13 mega-pixel main camera.
The P6000 Pro also has space for dual micro SIM cards, and an SD memory card if the 16GB internal memory isn’t enough.
Elephone have also been working on customer ROMs for the P6000 Pro as well as their own Elephone UI ROM.
Cubot H1
The Cubot H1 has a 5.5-inch IPS LCD display with an HD resolution of 1280 x 720p, a 64-bit, quad-core, 1Ghz, MediaTek MTK6735P processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of ROM, 8MP front camera, 13MP back camera, 4G connectivity, and a 5,200mAh battery with Android 5.1 Lollipop pre-installed. The Cubot H1 costs $149.99 and allows you to choose from Gold, White, and Black colors.
Lenovo K3 Note
The Lenovo K3 Note is one of those phones that really got the smartphone world going when it was announced. The phone has proven to be good with high-end hardware for the money, but slightly let down by Lenovo’s rather buggy Vibe UI.
Different from many of the phones on this list is the use of a Mediatek MT6752 chipset running at 1.7GHz. Although released earlier in the year, the MT6752 is still a promising chipset, with a ton of potential.
Lenovo have also given the K3 Note 2GB RAM, 16GB internal memory, 5.5-inch 1920 x 1080 display, 13 mega-pixel main camera, and colour choices of white and even bright yellow. Have a hunt around online and you can find the Lenovo K3 Note for just $153. Read our Lenovo K3 Note review here.
Doogee HomTom HT6
The first of the Homtom range is the Homtom HT6, a 9.9mm smartphone with 6250mAh battery! That huge battery would be a nightmare to charge under standard conditions, but fortunately the HT6 comes with Mediatek’s PumpExpress Plus fast charging system which will reportedly charge the 6250mAh battery to %75 capacity in only 30 minutes!
A 5.5-inch 12280 x 720 display, and quad-core Mediatek MT6735 processor means lower power consumption for even longer run times. Other details include a 13 mega-pixel Sony main camera and 5 mega-pixel front sensor, alloy chassis and Android 5.1 Lollipop.
The HomTom HT6 has had pricing announced and amazingly the phone will cost just $139.99 through resellers!
Bluboo X550
If you like your phones to have the look of a regular device, but the battery of a monster then the Bluboo X550 has it. Inside the standard looking body is a huge 5300mAh battery which can be changed using Mediatek’s fast PumpExpress quick charge system.
Specs read similar to other phones and include a 5.5-inch HD display, 2GB RAM, FDD LTE support, 13 mega-pixel main camera, but Bluboo have actually proven to be releasing updates to their phone and improve performance.
The Bluboo X550 has been on sale for a short while already and pricing starts at around $140.
No.1 X-Men X1
The No.1 X-Men X1 is a water and dust-resistant smartphone with a 5-inch HD display with 1280 x 720p screen resolution, a 1.3Ghz, quad-core MediaTek MTK6592 processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of ROM with a 128GB expandable storage card slot, a 5MP front camera, 13MP back camera, with 3G connectivity, 3300mAh battery, with Android 4.4.2 KitKat pre-installed. The No.1 X-Men X1 has an IP68 water and dust resistance rating to protect against dust and some water submersion, and costs $144.99.
UMi Hammer S
The UMi Hammer S is another UMi branded phone that shouts from the rooftop, but will this finally be a bug free UMi device. It’s hard to focus on just one feature of the Hammer S as UMi have done such a good job of covering all the bases to make the phone as desirable as possible on paper.
The Hammer S will feature a 5.5-inch HD display, 2GB RAM, quad-core Mediatek Chipset, 2GB RAM, 8 mega-pixel Sony main camera, metal chassis and rear fingerprint scanner! UMi started Hammer S pre-sales last week with prices on-line ranging from $129.99 to $139.99. Our advise is to keep well clear until reviews start rolling in.
Check out our UMi Hammer S first hands on here.
Siswoo C50A
A quick look at the hardware and design of the Siswoo C50A and you might simply see this as a smaller, and more affordable version of the C55, but there is a little more to it than that.
If you happen to be shopping for a budget phone in the U.S then the Siswoo C50A is one of the few entry-level Chinese smartphones that may actually work on your carriers network. Siswoo actually say that the C50A will support all major U.S carriers, and we will soon find out if this is true as we have a sample heading to the U.S right now!
The phone can be picked up fro just $129.99 and features a 64bit Mediatek MT6735 chipset, 1GB RAM, 8GB memory, 5-inch HD display, dual SIM support, 3000mAh battery and even FCC approval!
You can read our Siswoo C50 (European version) review here.
Digoor DG1 Plus
The Digoor DG1 Plus features a 4-inch IPS display with an 800 x 480p screen resolution, a quad-core, MediaTek MTK6582 processor, with 1GB of RAM, 8GB of ROM, 2MP front camera, 5MP back camera, 3G connectivity, 3,200mAh battery, with Android 4.4 KitKat pre-installed. The Digoor DG1 Plus costs $155.89.
Blackview BV5000
The Blackview BV5000 featues a 5-inch display with an HD resolution of 1280 x 720p, a quad-core, MediaTek MTK6735P processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of ROM with expandable storage up to 32GB, a 2MP front camera, 8MP back camera, 4G connectivity, 5,000mAh battery (for which the Blackview BV5000 is named), with Android 5.1 Lollipop pre-installed. The Blackview BV5000 costs $159.99 (special offer).
Zopo Speed 7
Officially the Zopo Speed 7 should cost $199.99, but since the phone launched there has been a $40 discount on the device bringing the cost down to just $159.99. The Speed 7 is the baby brother of the Speed 7 Plus and gets a more compact 5-inch 1920 x 1080 FHD display, but a health dose of 3GB RAM!
Zopo have also provided the Speed 7 with a 13.2 mega-pixel main camera, 16GB internal memory, Mediatek MT6753 quad-core chipset, Android 5.1 and a 2500mAh battery. While Zopo phones do tend to be more expensive than other devices, the Speed 7 does have a rage of accessories available and the source code has been released unleashing custom ROM potential.
Top 25 Chinese phones you can buy for $150
So there you have 25 phones available for $150 or there abouts. Have you any experience with any of the above devices? Do you plan to buy any of the phones listed? Are there devices missing? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
A lot of the phones being recommended are not yet reviewed. I don’t like this list of ‘top’ phones, feels half assed. Putting a phone with great reviews like the Lenovo K3 Note beside a phone from a shady company like UMi feels wrong.
Agree. Article called “TOP 25” and author is asking “has anyone tried this phone? If so let us know what it is like”. Sounds very unprofessional and doubtful.
no m2 note? no umi emax mini? no redmi note 2?
and, most of all, a list of “top” phones full of doogee phones is really worthy to be kept in consideration?
so you have half the list made by doogee, no1, elephone and totally unknown brands and your problem is Umi?
Yes
Because my current phone is an UMi eMax, I have heard of the shady stuff done by doogee and elephone but I don’t have experience regarding those brands. However I do have personal experience with UMi so I do have a problem with their actions.
I aslo have an eMAX and has been one of the best devices my money could have bought. What kind of problem do you have?
I don’t care about defending companies, since they already got my money and that should be enough from my side, but some things you say are inaccurate:
1) how camera optimisation could be related as a “shady” thing? we should probably consider every chinese manifacturer eccept the top 3-4 shady then.
2) Zero has mt6592, I don’t have it but have you seen a single mt6592 properly updated by sources by any company? and I don’t mean that half-assed cm ports that don’t work, but proper android lollipop right out from the manifacturer. I’ve not seen any, and I own a coolpad f1, a lenovo golden warrior and a redmi note, not exactly small brands. Coolpad promised 5.1 and then announced they couldn’t make it, guess they are shady as well, right?
3) I don’t have hammer but I’ve seen that an official version of lollipop exhists and also some custom roms are made from it, so don’t know what are you talking about there.
4) they say on forums they are still working on emax 5.1 update, personally I couldn’t care less to update my perfectly optimized kitkat with the worst android release to date, but if you care so much you should get in contact with them and pressure them to release it as soon as possible if you can’t wait anymore, and when they will officially say the project is discarded then you can bash them whenever you like, no ne could tell you not do to it.
5) Don’t know about Iron and its issues, but I saw on a review on another website they release frequent otas and have been fixing issues here and there, so it seems they are trying at least, even if I’d left the talking to an iron user who should know better.
1. how camera optimisation could be related as a “shady” thing? we should probably consider every chinese manifacturer eccept the top 3-4 shady then.
http://community.umidigi.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=57&extra=page%3D1%26filter%3Dtypeid%26typeid%3D29&page=4
nananaRev
“it’s various /hal/imgsensor/config.ftbl pointing to nowere and missing denoiser (ISOXNUMBERX_resXres.ncf) along many unconfigured camera feature and perhaps unchecked current through the sensor – a sort of working dummy. Can be fixed tough, by the owner of the kernel or by someone with lot’s of time in his hand!
I’ve already asked for refund, but you should ask to fix this seriusly, it’s disappointing!”
2. Coolpad promised 5.1 and then announced they couldn’t make it, guess they are shady as well, right?
The Zero lollipop wasn’t the only reason why I call them shady, there’s the Hammer, eMax and Iron stuff too. The last 4 phones released by UMi suffer from customer support problems, does Coolpad have this problem too? If they do then yes they might be shady as well.
3) I don’t have hammer but I’ve seen that an official version
Full of bugs, probably a ported rom. UMi’s ‘roadmap’ states they will release an Android 5.0 (different from buggy 5.1 release) via rootjoy that has not been delivered.
4) Yes they said they are working on it like they said before, can’t be helped if people don’t trust them anymore.
5)From Gizchina facebook page
Szymon Adamowski Andi Sykes They used Diret Path Audio system by hardware without implementing it into software, so the AUX is not using DP at all.
Also their forum moderator uses an alternate account to post as a regular member, I’d consider that shady.
so you are frustrated because you have a so and so camera and not crappy lollipop on a 150€ phone with many great specs and you want to discredit the brand with stupid motivations common to 99% of chinese manifacturers? do yourself a favor and buy a samsung next time, seems chinese phone market is not for you.
Chinese phone market companies like Xiaomi, Lenovo or LeTV? I haven’t heard them do things that Doogee, UMi or Elephone has been doing, so don’t know what are you talking about there.
Also thank you for your opinion but I’d still buy from trustworthy Chinese phone manufacturers that isn’t named Doogee, UMi or Elephone, although Elephone looks like their doing good with Trunk so maybe they’d recover their brand.
Please do us a favor do as he says and buy a samsung device, you obviously have no idea of what a “shaddy” brand is
One last thing, please get out of here
its just a fucking dumb way to do it. Eveyone agree EXEPT YOU ANDY ! because you profit from the lies