The hottest budget phones of 2018 so far
This year's crop of budget-priced smartphones feature powerful performance, long battery life and more.
Picture: iStock
The latest flagships from tech giants generally don’t go unnoticed, with billboards teasing the newest features in big cities all over the world so passersby are well informed.
However it’s harder to keep up with all the new budget-friendly smartphones from manufacturers such as Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi. Here is a look at a few of the more talked-about models.
Honor Play
Honor Play, with a price of $362 (R5 500, is a good choice for a budget gaming phone, featuring the same processor as in the Huawei P20 — Huawei Kirin 970 — for boosted performance. Furthermore the brand’s special GPU Turbo supposedly uses 30% less power while providing 60% more efficiency.
Encased in a matte aluminum body for better grip, it also won’t be covered in fingerprints after a session of playing.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BnnSITklrbb/?tagged=honorplay
Xiaomi Pocophone F1
Pocophone F1 by Xiaomi “is the most-loved phone in a long while” according to a poll carried out by the well-known smartphone reviewers GSMArena, who also note that it “easily scored an excellent result in our battery test with a 94-hour Endurance rating”.
Additionally, for only $300 (R4 600) users get a high-end camera setup — front and back — with face unlock, the latest Snapdragon chip, expandable storage, all the ports and excellent stereo speakers.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BmywXFrhz3c/?tagged=xiaomipocophonef1
Oppo Realme 2
Oppo’s sub-brand Realme sold 200 000 units of its second ever model — Realme 2 — in just five minutes. Not surprising as it has a big battery, relatively powerful Snapdragon chipset and costs only $130 (R2 000). The next sale will be on September 11, but you have to be in India to get your hands on one.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BnDy3TjHw21/?tagged=opporealme2
Huawei Mate 20 Lite
Huawei Mate 20 Lite is a hotly anticipated upcoming model; thankfully fans won’t have to wait much longer as it is set to launch October 16 in London, featuring Huawei’s latest and most powerful Kirin 980 processor and the brand’s camera technology, while most likely costing less than $500 (R7 500).
https://www.instagram.com/p/BnMECZuH0We/?tagged=huaweimate20lite
Vivo V11 Pro
Vivo V11 Pro has not yet been released with speculations suggesting a September 12 launch for what could be a somewhat more premium model in the Chinese market. However, with a potential price tag around $350 (R5 300) and loaded with the latest brand technology, it could still be considered a bargain.
Vivo has gained a lot of attention this year, being one of the first brands to embed an in-display fingerprint reader, which the V11 should have also, as well as introducing the revolutionary prototype — Vivo Nex — that kicked off a trend for sliding cameras, solving the problem of the notch.
So a Vivo newcomer is generally worth watching out for.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BneNBF4n-vD/?taken-by=vivov11pro
For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.
