Mid-range Chinese phones are continuing to punch above their price class. The latest entry is the Meizu E3, a smartphone with a 6 inch, 2160 x 1080 pixel display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 octa-core processor, and 6GB of RAM.
The phone was unveiled in China today, and a model with 64GB of storage will sell for about $285 in that country, while a 128GB model is priced at about $315.
The phone also sports a dual camera system that pairs a 12MP Sony IMX362 image sensor and a 20MP IMX350 camera with a telephoto lens for zoom photos or portrait-style photos with a blurred background.
Meizu also equipped the phone with an 8MP front-facing camera, a 3,300 mAh battery with 20W fast charging capabilities, and a fingerprint reader placed on the side of the phone to allow for a slim bottom bezel.
There’s also a microSD card reader, and a USB Type-C port.
One thing the phone lacks? A notch. The bezel above the display is big enough for the front-facing camera, earpiece, and proximity sensor.
Looks like great specs for the money… but a more expensive phone used longer can be a much better value.
(This was written on a 2013 Nexus 7)
I am not sure “Mid-range Chinese phones are continuing to punch above their price class” as there are a bunch of phones in the $300 range that are very nice phones (i.e. the 2018 Nokia 6). I think the price/class proposition has changed. Budget phones used to mean having to reduce your expectations in user experience. That isn’t as true anymore. Mid-grade phones are probably what most users actually need. The top tier phones are really only necessary for the high end gamers these days. In fact, if you want such niceties as a microSD card slot or headphone jack you are more likely to find them on the mid-range phones.