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When Pinoys discuss the subject of top of the line smartphones, the top brands that come to mind are usually Apple and Samsung. These two companies have been at the forefront of high-end, high-performance phones for the past decade and they probably wouldn’t be leaving those top spots soon.
But in recent years, more and more brands have become more aggressive not just in their marketing efforts but also in terms of technological specifications like CPU and RAM, camera and displays, and security features. So yes, iPhones and Samsungs are definitely great but these aren’t the only options you have. Here are just a few remarkable smartphones that you might want to consider.
OnePlus 5T
The OnePlus 5T is a formidable daily driver, with its Snapdragon 835 octa core processor, 8GB of RAM, and 3,330 mAh battery enabled with Dash Charge, OnePlus’ proprietary quick-charging technology. This gives the already-excellent battery life even more juice, especially when you need a quick boost — just plug it in and watch it charge up to 60 percent in a little over 30 minutes. Dash Charge also has the benefit of keeping low temperatures while charging; you can also play games or watch videos without experiencing a drop in charging speeds.
The OnePlus 5T also packs an Adreno 540 GPU, all the better to support its sharp, beautifully detailed display at a stable 401 ppi and its aspect ratio of 18:9, a growing standard in smartphones today. Its dual camera setup also allows you to take better low-light photos, since the secondary lens is equipped with a wider aperture.
Huawei Mate 9
Huawei smartphones have been making waves in the past couple of years, especially since the company released the P9 and P9 Plus, which can be considered the first truly promising dual rear camera implementations on smartphones (along with the LG G5). And with the release of their Mate series, the Chinese ICT company has become a considerable presence in the “power user” arena.
For those looking for a beautiful, reasonably priced, and powerful device, the Huawei Mate 9 is a prime candidate, even with the Mate 10 Pro in the market. It’s got a little bit of the Samsung Galaxy Note series, with its stunning 5.9-inch full HD display, and a little bit of the iPhone too, with its powerful cameras and long battery life. It also packs the Kirin 960 processor to support its myriad features without slowing down. And if you’re worried about processing speed issues after a couple of years of use, you can rest assured that that won’t happen with the Mate 9 and its Machine Learning algorithm. This technology adapts to the way you use your phone, prioritizing the performance of the apps and features that get the most use.
ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra
It may be considered old in today’s standards (it was released around May 2016), but make no mistake, the ASUS ZenFone 3 Ultra stands the test of time wonderfully. Indeed, it’s a quality that many of the phones in the ASUS ZenFone Series possess.
But back to the ZenFone 3 Ultra. This phone packs a 6.8-inch full HD IPS display, ensuring sharp graphics, vivid colors, and great contrast no matter the angle. The 23MP rear camera shoots great quality photos with a great deal of accuracy, color-wise, and the autofocus is excellent whether you’re shooting in bright or low-light environments. The front camera is a decent 8MP shooter with a face tracking feature for those great selfies. Finally, the battery life is superb. The ZenFone 3 Ultra can last anywhere between 12 and 13 hours even with heavy social media use, some light gaming on the side, on-browser surfing, and watching videos. The 4,600 mAh battery takes about 2 hours to charge from 0 to 100.
The ZenUI may not be everyone’s cup of tea, especially with the amount of cleanup it involves (lots of pre-installed apps that you may want to remove). However, the phone’s other specifications more than makes up for the ZenUI, including the 64 GB internal storage, with about 52 GB of usable storage, that can be further expanded with a 200GB microSD card.
LG G6
The LG G6 seems to have everything going for it: a beautiful display that supports HDR content, a capable processor and RAM to go with it, dual cameras that take stunning low-light photos and scenic wide angle shots, and, perhaps more importantly, a reasonably price tag. It’s also solidly built with a metal unibody design, with the entire back panel covered with Gorilla Glass 5 and the display with Gorilla Glass 3.
