You no longer have to spend a lot to get the best
2018 is fast becoming the best year for consumers who are looking for flagship features at mid-range prices. While there were a bunch of impressive flagship releases recently from the usual suspects, the mid-range and premium mid-range market is absolutely on fire with competitive smartphones that deliver many of the same features at half or even a quarter of the price.
There’s been quite a lot of phones released in the two hyper-competitive segments which makes choosing the right smartphone for you difficult, but we’ve listed down 5 smartphones that should be on your shortlist of phones to check out.
ASUS ZenFone 5Z
When ASUS announced their top-tier smartphone, the ZenFone 5Z, it managed to beat the pricing of OnePlus, which has long been known as the company that regularly pumps out flagship killers. While it’s been usurped by other phones in the market in terms of pricing, it’s still a good choice for people looking for a pretty phone with powerful innards. ASUS also recently pushed out a software update for the ZenFone 5Z (as well as the ZenFone 5) that supposedly improves image quality from its dual cameras but we’ve yet to test it ourselves.
Related: ASUS ZenFone 5z Review: Yet Another Flagship Killer?
Honor 10
If you didn’t know, Honor, Huawei’s sub-brand is back in the Philippines, and it made a big splash a few months ago by making their Honor 10 flagship available for local audiences. Packed with a Kirin 970 processor, AI-infused dual cameras, and a beautiful glass finish, it’s one of the prettiest flagship-level phones under 30K that you can buy today.
Related: Honor 10 Review: Best Budget Flagship So Far?
Huawei Nova 3
It seems like Huawei can’t avoid competing with its sub-brand in places where both of them operate it, and that’s also the case here in the Philippines with the Honor 10 and the Nova 3. The Nova 3 has similar hardware to the Honor 10, though it ups the ante by using a glass back that’s reminiscent of their more expensive offering the P20 Pro as well as 4 cameras – two in the front and two in the back.
Related: Huawei Nova 3 Unboxing, Quick Review: The Super Nova!
Honor Play
Up until the announcement of the next phone in this list, the Honor Play was considered as an absolutely insane device for the price. Packing a flagship Kirin 970 chipset in an aluminum unibody device with all the trimmings and features of a flagship phone, the Play was and still is an undeniable a steal at just Php 15,990.
Related: Honor Play Review: Flagship Power for a Steal?
Pocophone F1
We had to see it to believe it, but it’s true – the Pocophone F1 undeniably offers the best price-to-performance ratio in any smartphone yet released this year. When people talk about paying less for more, they will, more than likely, point to the Pocophone F1 as the perfect example of a bang-for-the-buck phone.
Sure, the plastic exterior isn’t going to wow anyone and it certainly won’t win any beauty contests, but just like the old saying goes, it’s the inside that counts. A flagship Snapdragon 845 processor, 6GB of RAM and 64GB of expandable storage plus a formidable dual-camera setup makes it difficult to argue with the Pocophone F1’s Php 16,990 price tag.
Related: Pocophone F1 Unboxing, Quick Review: Meet The New OnePlus
Special mentions:
Xiaomi Mi 8
Xiaomi’s offerings have always been market disrupters, delivering truly awesome performance at the fraction of the cost of their competitors. Their newest flagship, the Mi 8, continues that tradition, delivering truly flagship-level hardware for cheap. There are a few compromises though, like the missing 3.5mm jack as well as the non-expandable storage option, though at the price we’re really not complaining too much.
Related: Xiaomi Mi 8 Review: Xiaomi’s Definitive Flagship This Year
Huawei Nova 3i
The Nova 3i follows the footsteps of its more expensive brother, though both phones obviously share the same design pedigree. It also has a quad-camera setup but it swaps out its flagship Kirin 970 processor for a more sedate Kirin 710 processor.
Related: Huawei Nova 3i Unboxing, Review: An Heir to the Mid-Range Throne?
