The iPhone 6 and the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge may be the best smartphones in the U.S., but a good portion of the world outside America are having their own smartphone party.
Chinese smartphone manufacturers are quickly catching up to Apple and South Korea's Samsung, and their latest handsets are proof of that. The 2014 Xiaomi Mi 4 and the recently unveiled Oppo R7 and Meizu m2note are all smartphones technology enthusiasts are missing out on. Xiaomi, in particular, is fast dominating the massive Chinese market with its Mi devices, but Oppo and Meizu are also blazing their own trail.
Check out these three smartphones and you'll realize that Apple and Samsung have more work to do when it comes to taking over the rest of the world.
Xiaomi Mi4
Xiaomi is believed to be working on the new Xiaomi Mi5 as its next flagship, but the Xiaomi Mi4 is still a good smartphone to contend with. And for the price of $299, it certainly has a competitive edge over the iPhone and Galaxy S6, which each cost more than double the price of a Mi4.
The Mi4 boasts of good performance powered by the 2.5 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 and 3 GB of RAM under the hood. It features a good camera with a 13-megapixel Sony Exmor sensor, an f/1.8 aperture and software that allows users to shoot in HDR, burst and panorama mode. It is also equipped with 4K video shooting capabilities, which is nice but not necessary to have, and is paired with an eight-megapixel shooter in front.
Battery on the five-inch smartphone is huge enough to power the 1,080 x 1,920 display. Storage options start at 16 GB up to 64 GB, although there is no way for users to expand the existing space on the Mi4.
The Xiaomi Mi4 runs on MIUI 6, which is based on Android KitKat 4.4. It's not Android Lollipop, yes, but a key differentiator of Xiaomi's user interface is that most of its features are co-developed by the firm's loyal fan base of 100 million, who make recommendations about what they want to see in MIUI, with Xiaomi actually listening to them.
Oppo R7
The Oppo R7 is a beautiful five-inch smartphone crafted with an aircraft-grade magnesium alloy unibody that Oppo claims is velvety to the touch due to its multiple polishing processes. Powered by a 1.5 GHz Qualcomm octa-core processor with 3 GB of RAM, users will find that the R7 is smooth and fast for all of their needs. Storage begins at 16 GB and, unlike the Mi4, is expandable via microSD.
Users constantly on the go will love the R7's flash charging feature, which Oppo says can generate enough power for a two-hour phone call for just five minutes. Only a half hour's worth of charging will push battery life to 75 percent, according to Oppo, which is good since the 2320 mAh battery doesn't seem enough to power the smartphone, with its full-HD display, to last through an entire day of constant activity.
Still, it's a good handset that's equipped with a 13-megapixel rear shooter that has support for image stabilization, HDR and 4K video recording. On the front, it has an eight-megapixel camera for the selfie lover, outfitted with a selfie-tweaking software to let users adjust their selfies with various filters and even create a selfie time lapse.
Like the Mi4, the R7 runs on Android KitKat 4.4, with Oppo's custom ColorOS 2.1 Android skin, which has a number of useful interesting features. These include the ability to automatically organize the homescreen by shaking the phone, activating certain features with the lockscreen by using certain gestures, and mini mode for one-handed operation. Users also get lockscreen notifications similar to Android Lollipop, so they know when something important comes up.
The R7 is currently sold for 6,450 Indian rupee on Flipkart, which would be approximately U.S. $100.
Meizu m2note
The Meizu m2note is the only handset among the three that runs on Android Lollipop, with Meizu's Flyme OS on top. At less than $130, it is also very competitively priced. Building upon the earlier Meizu m1note, this new smartphone has a physical home button that functions as a back button when tapped and as a home button when pressed.
It is also bigger with a 5.5-inch Sharp IGZO IPS display with a 1,920 x 1,080 resolution, making it a better choice for those who prefer large-screen smartphones. The dual-SIM m2note runs a 1.53 GHz MediaTek processor with 2 GB of RAM and is available in 16 GB and 32 GB versions.
The camera is a 13-megapixel rear shooter with five-element f/2.2 aperture and a burst mode that can take up to 30 pictures per second. On the front, users will find a five-megapixel camera with four-element lens and selfie enhancement software.
