With 2 of the big Chinese releases completed and only Oppo left to launch the N1, we thought we would ask “Which Chinese phone would you choose?”.
Even if you aren’t planning to buy a new phone, or weren’t looking to spend so much money on a new Chinese phone, we want you to take part in this and give your reasons to what you would choose and why.
For myself it is the second time I have had to choose between Xiaomi, Oppo and Meizu. I chose Xiaomi last time and I have already made my decision on which my next phone will be, but I wanted to go through these 3 brands and their new phones to see which you would buy and give reasons for my next choice.
Let’s start with the company who have done the best internationally and the only one of the 3 who hasn’t launched it’s new phone yet, Oppo!
Oppo
Oppo have been making phones for the Chinese phone market for years, but only got serious when they launched the first Find phone 3 generations ago. The original Find was an alloy device with slide out Qwerty keyboard and their first phone to run Android. The Finder 3 came next with a 6.65mm body, and now we have the quad-core Find 5 with 1080 display.
Oppo are the only one of the 3 who are actively marketing their phones internationally,and encourage user input and support independent development of custom ROMS and tweaks.
Oppo N1
Although the Oppo N1 hasn’t been launched yet we know enough official details about it for me to know I don’t want it. We know for a fact it will have the new N-lens system, rear touch screen, 5.9-inch display and Oppo’s new Color ROM. We also know it won’t have a Snapdragon 800 chip as Oppo have told us!
For me the size of the screen coupled with the detachable rear lens system is enough for me to decided I don’t want this phone. 5.9-inch on it’s own wouldn’t be that bad, but with the lens system we are talking about a seriously large piece of kit! I’m turned off and so are many other possible Oppo N1 customers.
Meizu
When I first started GizChina I quickly learned about Zhuhai based Meizu and became an avid fan of the brand. They were doing things that no other Chinese phone company were doing, and producing device that rivalled Samsung and Apple at a time when the world saw Chinese phones as nothing but cheap knock offs and I admired them for it!
Meizu MX3
The Meizu MX3 launched on Monday of this week and was the first next-gen handset to launch. The MX3 looks like a bigger version of the MX2 and many people have accused Meizu of being lazy and lacking innovation, but this is unfair.
Gizchina News of the week
Meizu have taken the MX2 and refined it and made some risky decisions that they believe will create the ultimate Android phone. The MX3 has a 5.1-inch 15:9 ratio display and they chose an 8 mega-pixel camera with F2.0 aperture, bucking the trend of more mega pixels equals better images.
The MX3 is priced well and has a powerful Octa-core processor, 2GB RAM and stylish design, it is a great phone! But I won’t buy it either, not because of the phone but because I have no feeling towards the brand anymore. I wouldn’t be excited to own a Meizu and I’m not interested in their Flyme ROM.
Xiaomi
Xiaomi are the youngest of the 3 brands but are the fastest growing and most exciting to watch. Although their phones are only available in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, the company have caught the attention of the world with fast growth, new hires (Hugo Barra from Google), exciting launches and true loyal fans.
Xiaomi Mi3
You have probably guessed that I would choose the Xiaomi again, but it’s probably not for the reasons you think.
The Xiaomi Mi3 is the most powerful phone here, possibly the most powerful available today, yet it is also the cheapest! The choice of either a Snapdragon 800 or Tegra 4 processor is enough to get gamers excited, an excellent 13 mega-pixel camera produces great images while allowing the phone to remain phone size.
But the reason why I will ultimately buy the Mi3 is not for the price or the performance, it is for the excitement and the feeling to be a part of a fun and fast-moving brand. Xiaomi’s marketing is exciting and their product range is growing from strength to strength and includes TV’s Android boxes, accessories, toys, clothing and of course phones.
Xiaomi are a hype machine which makes them exciting to watch. Meizu unfortunately have Jack Wong who sounds like a bitter old man, and Oppo don’t allow hype to grow but prefer to stamp out possible leaks rather than let them spread and build excitement (very honest of them but not exciting for the fans).
If Meizu had Xiaomi’s marking, fan base and excitement I would probably go for the MX3, if Oppo had a smaller phone and were more exciting to watch then the Oppo N1 could have been a choice, but as it stands today I will buy the Xiaomi Mi3 (64GB, Snapdragon 800).
Which phone would you choose?
Which phone would you choose? Choose the phone you like for your own reasons, perhaps you like big screens (Oppo N1), beautiful design and build (Meizu MX3), or you want the most bang for your buck (Xiaomi Mi3). Or maybe you are like me and prefer one brand over the others.
Whatever your choice of next Chinese phone or reason, let us know in the comments below.
Oppo for me I’d say. Still cheap compared to international markets with exceptional build quality.
Really depends what happens with the Nexus 5 though
First I wanted Oppo, mainly due to international support, until they revealed the size. Now it’s more likely going to be the Xiaomi. And what I understand they are planning on international release also
Xiaomi without doubt the prettiest!
Oppo and Meizu will be my choices if the prices are at par with the currently available Chinese phones but not if their prices are many fold without any reason.
Hi Andi. No to anything bigger than 5″ and that wont work in the uk. Are any of these dual sim?
Cheers
These are all 5-inch or more, no dual SIM yes to the UK
I am a true follower of technology and not just brand, whether it be international brand or chinese brand. If I get better technology with more features , I will go with that. To be honest when I got ipad [ as prize for best review on popular international site ] I was not that excited, but I was more excited with my first Android Tab.The other important factor is touch and feel of the product. If touching and having generates a good feeling, then who cares for the brand. The other important thing is for what use, you plan to buy this phones. I will not prefer more then 5.5″ as phone.
So I will go for Xiaomi which is fastest and cheapest among the lot, whose screen suits my need and also have feeling of device from vibrant manufacturer.
I think that although the Oppo looks most attractive, the screen size is a turn off.
At the moment Xiaomi has captured me. But I agree with @Lee, it all depends on the Nexus 5. The community support that comes with Nexus phones is second to none.
i think that Oppo has a good advantage among them,due to its high -quality sound ,we can fluent enjoy melodious country music.
mi3 or mx3…. 5.9 is 2 much !! for the phone
That depends only of the whole phone size.
If the 5.9 screen size could fit the Meizu or Xiaomi phone without bezel, that could be amazing !
We need to wait some weeks to have the answer.
I’m definitely behind Xiaomi with this.
I’m liking their new phone design, where Meizu looks like more of the same and Oppo? I haven’t seen or heard much from them, but I’m not sure how well the novel Idea of interchangeable lenses will sell.
In the end, how many of us will need this.
Between Xiaomi and Meizu I think Meizu looks better (but Xiaomi is cheaper). I think that the perfromance is at the same level, some points in Antutu really don’t make any difference in the real world. I like the ideeas of Oppo with rear touch panel and advanced camera but I think it’s going to be a very expensive phone. So I guess I would choose Meizu.
Oppo.
None of the other manufacturers are even close!
Xiaomi!
i follow Xiaomi MI3 which is my first smartphone and i’ve waited so long to make the final decision. Althouth i’m a bit sad about the 5′ display, i like bigger, i think Xiaomi will make bigger one after that and i’m very passionate to the brand ever! The feeling was the same when i became a huge and loyal fan of Ubuntu Linux some years ago… so, yes i choose Mi3! the One to Rule ’em All!! :)) Very nice article, Andi! great thanks for keeping our Xiaomi entusiasm!
Meizu for me.
Mi3. looks awesome and is not so expensive
I’m actually thinking of getting an MX2 now. One of these maybe 6 months later.
What about the Mi2S?
Hey andi and Yash.. wait.. oppo may surprise with upgrade to find 5 with launch of N1. Either a find 5 price drops or with S800/ S600. Still fan loyalty to xiomi and price to usablity ratio may change the game. Let’s see.
S600 Find 5 is already on sale in China, has been for a while but it is the TD-SCDMA model
I don’t know Andi, the Xiaomi design simply doesn’t appeal to me as much as the Meizu does. I mean… at one time I wanted to have the MX2 real bad, that was about 5-6 months back.. now with the price drop it’s become much more affordable 😀
But yes like you suggest, the M2S is the more practical choice.
The Meizu does look a lot better 🙂 I think you will be happy with which every you choose both are great phones.
Although I’m in support of Meizu, I would advice against getting the MX2 until it gets an update for Fly me. It’s buggy and nowhere near as polished as the MX3 version.
Thanks! Let’s see how it goes. Believe it or not I’m still torn between looks (MX2) and practicality (Jiayu G4). One of these phones will be my daily driver, don’t want to use the Find 5 outdoors since I like using it without any case/cover.
Btw.. Yash can u help to to get one.
Hi Atul, I think we had a good enough conversation at the OPPO forums 😀 Sorry I saw this reply late!
Most likely Z1.
Too many compromise on those Chinese phones.
if the price is right, the oppo n1 for me, SD card, super thing bezel, good community of developers, like the big screen but the small form factor , unlike sony z1\xiomi mi3 that got huge bezel with wasted space.
If the Mi3 launches in October, and the Nexus 5 launches around the similar time, I might go for the Nexus 5. Although having an Xiaomi Mi3 would be standing out from the crowd 😉
Really? I didn’t really like the Mi3 design… and the fact that they’ve started calling it the Miphone 3 :/
I choose Mi3. @Andy: The back of Mi3 is metal or plastic? Thanks!
It’s alloy all round
I’m probably going to go with the 2s, as all these phones are too big for my taste, and I want to get a phone on contract with Unicom. But if I can’t get a 2S soon (as its been out-of-stock at Unicom for almost a monthy), I’m not getting a Chinese phone then… will either go for the water resistant Xperia ZR… or get a Japanese or Korean varient of the Samsung s4 …or even better yet, get a Korean “Pop” with quad-core proc, but 4.5 screen.
To add to this. With Oppo N5, its likely BBK will rebrand it with an Xplay 2 based on the 800 series.
ZTE will probably launch a new Z6 end of year.
Huawei will do a Dx and would be interesting to see whether their V3 SoC stands up.
And Lenovo K9xx ahh Intel are coming….
Problem with all these devices is that they may end up expensive and hard to get outside of China and in places where there is already 4G, not being enabled puts a lot of people off. In some ways, it almost makes sense for them to launch these 4G enabled for perspective International Users since the hardware supports it. Just the MTK based budget devices that are waiting for a new upgraded SoC. Or is the lack of 4G on these devices the reason why their costs are low because they have specifically just used 3G only versions of the 800 chip that is now becoming much cheaper to license in bulk?
How come the Xiaomi Mi3 doesn’t support either FD-LTE or the Chinese TD-LTE, given that the MSM8974 supports both? And given that NVIDIA i500 software modem in the Tegra 4 version can also be tuned for both FDD and TDD LTE, how come it isn’t either (or even the Qualcomm RF360 if they wish to combine vendors). Why not have a single worldwide SKU?
I’ve read Brian Klug’s preview of the LG G2 on Anandtech, and apparently that records 1080p60 at 30Mbit (vs. 1080p at 20Mbit in the Nokia Lumia 1020) although the MSM8974 supports 2160p30 (as on the Acer Liquid S2 and Samsung Galaxy Note 3) or 1080p120.
Why can’t someone make an Android superphone that combines the best features of the Xiaomi MI3, Oppo N1, Meizu MX3, Acer Liquid S2, Galaxy Note 3, forthcoming 5″ LG Nexus and also the Ubuntu Edge and Nokia 808 and 1020:
1. MSM8974AB with full worldwide FD-LTE and TD-LTE support
2. 4GB RAM
3. 32GB / 64GB / 128GB fast NAND
4. microSDXC support
5. USB 3.0
6. Removable 3000mAh battery minimum with options for SEIDIO/Mugen Power/ZeroLemon-esque 9000mAh, and official cases for both stock and aftermarket batteries, with lanyard hole and wriststrap. If the phone is IP68-certified then an Incipio ATLAS-style case won’t be required.
7. Wireless Qi charging.
8. Mount NFC chip at top of phone.
9. Huge camera sensor and large pixels similar to that in the 808, with the xenon flash, reframing, high-quality microphones and dedicated shutter button of the 1020. Lens covered with Sapphire Crystal.
10. 24bit/192kHz sound with front-facing stereo speakers
11. Vanilla Android
12. 4.0″ / 4.5″ / 5.0″ / 5.5″ / 6.0″ 1080p (or higher) screen sizes with LCD and AMOLED options covered with Sapphire Crystal.
13. Strong build quality – Nokia-esque polycarbonate plastic, aluminium, steel, titanium, magnesium etc. with different colours
This wouldn’t be cheap, but each of those features is available on one of the aforementioned handsets. If they were combined then it would sell to enthusiasts.
The Companies are not Idiots,
They can make such phones but they don’t because the phone would cost a Pretty Penny (as in very beautiful)
What about Lenovo K910, Andi?
its my question too.
@Andi
I think I will go with the Nexus 5 (although it isn’t a Chinese phone). The rumors say Nexus 5 is based on LG G2. It could have Snapdragon 800, 5 inch display, wireless charging, LTE and a much improved camera sensor. The price is similar with Xiaomi Mi3.
It will probably come with KitKat 4.4 also. Which is really strange because i’ve heard virtually nothing about Key Lime Pie 4.3 on devices.
4.3 is still Jelly Bean. There is no Key Lime Pie. It was replaced by KitKat 4.4. Next version (whatever will be…) will need to have another name as “K” is taken.
After K is L. Probably going to be lime pie.
Could be Lion Bar (it’s also a Nestle candy bar).
What happened to Key Lime Pie ? I’m confused !!!!
Initially I heard reports that Key Lime Pie was going to be version 5, then 4.3, now its just disappeared and been replaced by KitKat.
http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/3/4690214/android-kit-kat-is-the-next-version-of-googles-mobile-operating-system
mi3! best value for money!
Probably xiaomi mi3 if it is really available in october (I’ll leave China in November).
The size is a bit too big but the weight is reasonnable so it should be fine.
I would preferer to buy Oppo because they support cyanogen but the find 5 is really too heavy and the N1 should not be improving in that regard.
certainly at this time choose Xiaomi mi3 64gb .. best hardware on the market at the best price, and a rom miui that even if not the best is constantly evolving. (I would have preferred a version with stock rom with google updates google)
But I wait for the release of Nexus 5 ….
I can’t stand the Flyme rom from meizu, and I don’t like MIUI, so the next one will be a smartphone with stock rom (nexus 4 or 5).
Being from India–my choice will be dictated by the compulsion of availability of local service backup- which none of these three have at present- though i believe Xiaomi will perhaps move service and sale to India the soonest of the three.. But of all the above 3– I desire N1 the most because photography matter to me and N1 camera looks very intriguing and inviting.
Good points! But according to me, it is OPPO with the availability at no 1. I just hope they improve their service infra
Xiomi for me. But would have loved a dual sim phone. Makes its extremely useful for traveller like me
I am leaning towards the Xiaomi as well. Price/Performance ratio hard to beat.
I’d love to get my hands on the mi3, just don’t know how and where to get it from where i am. It’s just really good all around. Screen, cpu, gpu, battery, price, build… Its juzt excellent overall and well balanced.. And for the devs to support it with a stock jb rom…
Would you guys know if the snap dragon 800 supports LTE?
I hope xiaomi goes international soon… I’d also love to get my hands on that tv that thsy showed!!
Xiaomi… Miui…
Xiaomi Mi3.The KING is back! 😉
First I prefered Xperia Z1 out of these 3 Chinese phones. But because of Z1 price is expensive, I will go for Xiaomi Mi3 plus Sony QX10 or QX100 lens-style camera. Paring them together is perfect for taking pictures.
I want Mi3 for sure… It is the prettiest phone among all of them & the best performing available in the market !
It is also the cheapest phone which offers all these features with great aluminium build quality & superb software & development support…
Hence i am planning to sell my 2 months old Mi2S 32GB version & i will buy Mi3 for sure….
I am just waiting for the news about when Mi3 will be available in the market for sale !!!
Great going XIAOMI !!! keep it up… we all love you !
Hello. Would u be kind to sell me ur Mi2S when u are ready for the switch. I’m an avid fan of this site and Chinese phones but I’ve never had the chance to own one. It’s so said anytime I read Andi’s write-ups and still remember how hard it is to get this phones. I’m in Doha, Qatar. Thanks.
which of these is suitable for Ireland? are they all international?
I am buying my next phone based on camera performance, however as said above more pixels don’t necessarily mean better camera? Which will have best camera ?front and back!
If you choose the China Unicom version of either the Meizu or Xiaomi you should be ok. Oppo will probably have an international model
Gonna skip all three and wait for the find 7,although if I was to get one of the three the Meizu is the most compelling.I’d get rid of flyme though,old hatred…
None of them has LTE? This is a deal breaker in locations where there are LTE services (e.g. U.S.). LTE is being deployed in China later this year and next year. Won’t these phones be out of date in a year or sooner?
Please stop calling anything bigger than 5″ a phone. Those are not for humans. I surprise how people buy those devices as a phone.
1. For this age, I think the perfect size of a phone should be 4.5″ – 5″ with ppi more than 300.
2. Should have a quad core processor w/o any GPS problem
3. RAM should be 1GB, more will be welcome but w/o making a hole in pocket
4. Should have internationally compatible dual sim
5. Should have support for SD card, irrespective of the builtin memory size
6. Camera mega pixel of 5 PM even enough but quality should be more. There is no point of having a 13PM or more lens w/o less quality than a 5 MP. Of course we will print a photo of a wall size
7. Zero tolerance on build quality
8. Battery should be at least last for 2 days and should be user removable
Having said all these for this time, I’ll go for Xiaomi Mi3 even though its BEYOND my reach (max $200 for a phone)
1: xiaomi
2: meizu
Not oppo 5,9″ is to much
I hope only that in europe (and in italy) meizu and xiaomi will open an online store like oppo.
This make the differenze for us…
At moment it’s not easy for us to’ choice a device for this reason.
I know for meizu and xiaomi how is important to’ stay only in china (to much big number in china)
But for us The only simple way it’s oppo…
In my POV the race which Meizu started against iPhone long back, they have lagged too behind. Now they have to fight with in house competitors like Oppo and Xiaomi which got more number of fans compared to them. I think Meizu is in same scenario finding itself standing between more popular brands and struggling to restrict his area.
Style wise MX3 is better than Mi3 and price wise Mi3 is better. Also Mi3 will be more stable with reference of it’s apps and usability. Flyme is not that good.
My vote goes to Xiaomi
@Andi.. what’s your opinion on ZTE nubia? i think this phone is lost somewhere with specification almost same to Find5, is this phone still worth the price tag it got? Was there any issues with this phone?
I remember ZTE wanted to showcase this model as their benchmark phone .
It’s still a nice phone but compared to the new phones it is lagging behind.
Im going for the Xiaomi! Anyone recomend a reliable site to get this internationaly?
where can international buyers get the Xiaomi?
Back in the days where I needed search the entire web to find a ROM to make my phone any usefull I learned about MIUI, Fell in love. When I found out they made phones, I realised it would be amazing… Develop a phone around the software, instead of adapting the software to the phone. This mi2 had tot be mine!
Pre ordered the mi3 soms while ago before i even knew what the specs were or how it would look like.
Mi 3 for the most powerful and most cheapest!
I’m in the same boat as you for cheap and powerful phones!
Definately would be getting my hands on one(If i can get them outside China,HK or Taiwan)!
Time to upgrade my imobile IQXA!
I’m rating style high on my requirements.
Oppo will look great, but is large, if the CPU if not a Tegra4 its less likely. I Like the XDA support over all others apart from Google. If it will fit in my pocket and zero bezel then perhaps. microsd and availability a plus
Google 5, looks ugly but with nice camera unless they decide to copy Motorola and make it in wood. If so then a reluctant maybe after faulty Nexus7 / sales stuff ups.
Xiaomi is up there, camera isn’t great and the front is a bit ugly, but made from magnesium and decent battery a plus, availability, lacking xda support and export price annoying.
Sony Z1 looks ok, atm it’s coming bundled with a watch/addon camera (although the 20mp included seems fine). Construction seems better. It will cost though.
I think unless Oppo do a lens attachment, the Sony QX10 is a very cool thing, fantastic image quality and pocketable, so this + Mi3.
17 days and counting for N1 … Google the day after ?
Forgot to add – Meizu… not interesting in any way. IMHO should not be in this premium list other than it get easily confused in name with the superior Mi3.
Meizu deserves to be in the comparison because they created the category.
I would have loved the xiaomi, but i’m not confident about their international support and availability, so i would have to wait for the nexus.
Before the final decision i would like to see TCL N3! The Idol X is still the most beautiful one on the table. They only have to shrink the Y910 to phone size. Looking forward to it 🙂
Truth be told, I love meizu, but xiaomi is just better this time around. On a side note, if Thl release something along the lines of the THL W11 with A Snapdragon processor, I’m definitely getting that.
Actually, forget that, if THL release that device with an MTK octa core processor I’d still get it.
Hey @Andi ! Why do you choose Snapdragon 800 instead of the Tegra 4? Isn’t Tegra 4 more powerful?
Because I use China Unicom and I want to use the phone when I travel to Europe
Hey @Andi, I live in Bulgaria but do travel around, mostly in European countries, should I also pick the Snapdragon 800 version? Or can I also go with the Tegra 4? Doesn’t matter all that much to me, honestly, I just want to make sure it works on our networks here (which are gsm obviously) 🙂
Snapdragon 800 if you want 3G, if you don’t care about it then the Tegra 4 should work on GSM
Powerful depends.. if u just seeing it by core.. 4+1 vs 4 it is more powerful.
for GPU Tegra does better little, if u r hardcore gamer u can consider.
But there’s not much game for Tegra, where snapdragon is open for most game.
you can refer this thread.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2487424
Hi,
The look of MX3 is better than MI3. Lumia look of MI3 I don’t like at all. However the costing of MX3 really on higher side but still some features are good apart from, MI3. I will choose MX3.
Oh so it’s better to buy the Snapdragon version if I’m a traveler?
I’ll wait for the nexus5 and then I’ll buy the cheapest one available internationally. I really like miui, but I also like meizu’s gesture control and the Wolfson audio chip, so maybe I’ll buy an mx3 and bake an hybrid miui/flyme rom! 🙂
Andy , Will their handset lauch with dual CDMA evdo – GSM umts , and extra sdcard Like HTC one 802d ?
I have to go with the Oppo, I actually want to try out a phablet and that doesn’t seem like a bad choice!
I am a chinese, living in shanghai.
If you like shape and simple, you may chose meizu because the circle looks very cool, and flyme is minimalist style.
If you like cheap and full function, you may chose xiaomi because meizu‘phone to price reduction need about 6 months, and MIUI is complex.
And oppo I don‘t know what feature in it.
PS1: There are almost level in china.
PS2: I don’t know whether there are working properly in your country.
Yeah, I will go with Xiaomi too. For both reason 1. Price Performance 2. Branding. But I will have to trade off the F2.0 camera on the Meizu. I will need to refund my pre-order for Meizu. The price difference for Meizu and Xiaomi is too wide for me.
Need some help to decide (will be in china in oct) At 1500rmb, 2G Ram : jiayu g4, neo 003 and iocean elite which one and why? Or go slightly highter 1700rmb xiaomi 2S?
I would suggest the 2S, simply because I think the Qualcomm on the device is better than any MTK at the moment.
Xiaomi Mi3!!! Been with xiaomi since mi1, mi1s & mi2.
I would say it’s long lasting with my personal experience.
I like to flash roms or upgrade (torture my phone since WM6 OS)
but most phone can stand my torture,normal life would be 6-8 months.
But mi2 been with me 11 months.. still smooth and fast.. and of cos, miui is powerful enough to fulfill all my need with roots(developing os)
I will go for Mi3, waiting for WCDMA 64GB!!!!!
since i already own an htc one and i didnt mind the size of my next device i purchased an oppo n1! it might not have top end hardware (snapdragon800, tegra4 or octacore) but it rocks! its a high build quality phone with a great screen, great camera and lots of innovations. They only thing that would prevent me from using it as my main device is the size. if you dont mind using handsfree or bluetooth for answering calls then its a great device.
It also gives you the option to officially use Cyanogenmod for those who are interested.
i tested my new oppo n1 with OFFICIAL cyanogenmod cm10.2
results
Geekbench2 – 2951
GLbench Egypt offscreen – 44
Epic Citadel – 59,3
Sunspider – 1014
Vellamo – 2408 / Metal – 760
Antutu 4 – 26601
Quadrant Professional – 12400
if you can wait a few months go for OPPO Find 7