14 new smartphone makers taking the fight to Samsung and Apple

Samsung’s top spot is not guaranteed in 2015 however, with a new crop of smartphone makers taking the fight to the big wigs. A lot of these new smartphone makers are already winning the fights in terms of sales in their native countries, so Samsung has its work cut out. Even in countries where Samsung is still king, like Thailand and Indonesia, the crown lies uneasy on its head.

These new phone makers are employing a very effective strategy of strong specs coupled with keen prices to win over the Asian region. Here are 14 of the strongest contenders across Asia:

1. Xiaomi (China): Xiaomi released is first phone in 2011 but has already broken a Guiness world record as well as expanded into India and Southeast Asia, making it a threat to any other Android based phone brand. Regardless of where Xiaomi is planning to expand to next, it plans to sell 100 million smartphones this year.

Flagship phone: Xiaomi Mi Note has a 5.7-inch 1080p HD screen; Snapdragon 801 processor; 3GB RAM; 13MP rear and 4MP front camera. Price starts at about US$370, but it’s not yet available outside of mainland China.

2. OnePlus (China): OnePlus is China’s newest phone maker and it came on the scene in 2013. It only sells online and has strong hardware at low prices.

Flagship phone: OnePlus One has a 5.5-inch 1080p HD screen; Snapdragon 801 processor; 3GB RAM; 13MP rear and 5MP front camera. Costs US$299 (16GB) or US$349 (64GB) unlocked.

3. Oppo (China): Oppo birthed the spin-off OnePlus brand, but isn’t doing as well as its brainchild internationally. Nevertheless, its wide array of strong specced phones are solid alternatives to Samsung’s phones.

Flagship phone: Oppo Find 7 has a 5.5-inch 2K HD screen; 2.5GHz Snapdragon 801 chip; 3GB RAM; 13MP rear and 5MP front cameras. Costs US$499 unlocked.

4. Coolpad (China): Coolpad is China’s least cool brand, but it has recorded huge success in the low-end market. According to IDC, Coolpad was China’s fifth largest smartphone brand in 2014.

Flagship phone: Coolpad Halo has a 7-inch 1080p HD screen; MediaTek processor; 2GB RAM; 13MP rear and 5MP front cameras. Priced at about US$350.

5. Micromax (India): Micromax is gradually shaking op the (occasionally unsatisfactory) quality of its hardware and smoothness of its UI.

According to Canalys, it is now India’s top smartphone brand, even though IDC disagrees. Either way, it is making a case for itself slowly but surely.

Flagship phone: Micromax Canvas Gold A300 has a 5.5-inch 1080p HD screen; 2GHz MediaTek chip; 2GB RAM; 16MP rear and 5MP front cameras. It’s priced at US$260

6. Karbonn (India): Karbonn is also prepping itself for the battle ahead. It has created an Android One phone for Google priced at around $100. It is much smaller than Micromax but it has the potential.

Flagship phone: Karbonn Titanium Octane Plus has a 5-inch 1080p HD screen; 1.7 GHz MediaTek chip; 2GB RAM; 16MP rear and 8MP front cameras. The price tag is US$160.

7. Xolo (India0: Xolo is smaller than both Micromax and Karbonn but it’s also keen for a slice of the low-end to mid-range smartphone market in India.

Flagship phone: Xolo Q3000 has a 5.7-inch 1080p HD screen; 1.5GHz MediaTek processor; 2GB RAM; 13MP rear and 5MP front cameras. It costs US$240.

8. Smartfren (Indonesia): Smartfren is different from the others on the list because it’s actually a mobile telecommunications company – like MTN and the rest.

Flagship phone: Smartfren Andromax V3s has a 4-inch 720p HD screen; 1.2 GHz Snapdragon; 1GB RAM; 8MP rear and 2MP front cameras. Costs US$155.

9. Himax (Indonesia): Himax may have learned from some Chinese brands and is making stronger phones than rivals Smartfren. Not only are it’s phones stronger, but it’s also offering cheaper prices than other brandsand developing better looking software too.

Flagship phone: Himax Polymer X has a 5.5-inch 720p HD screen; Snapdragon 615 processor; 2GB RAM; 13MP rear and 5MP front cameras. Launch pending, so no price revealed yet.

10. Mito (Indonesia): Mito makes smarthones, tablets and feature phones as well with operations in India. Mito has also ripped-off the rotating camera from Oppo for some its devices but that aside, it is one maker to watch out for in the expanding smartphone market.

Flagship phone: Mito Fantasy Selfie 2 A18 has a 4.7-inch 720p HD screen; 1.3GHz MediaTek chip; 1GB RAM; 8MP camera that rotates to front or rear. Costs US$110.

11. Cherry Mobile (Phillipines):

The Phillipines recently surpassed Vietnam to become Southeast Asia’s third largest smartphone market so it’s interesting to see Cherry mobile take advantage of that.

Cherry already outsold Samsung, both in 2013 and 2014, according to IDC so there really isn’t much of a challenge. The company has a confusing 38 different phone brands under its belt.

Flagship phone: Cherry Cosmos One Plus has a 5.5-inch 1080p screen; 2GHz MediaTek; 3GB RAM; 14MP rear and 8MP front cameras. Priced at US$320.

12. MyPhone (Phillipines): MyPhone is the second largest home based phone brand and third placed brand in terms of shipments – Samsung was second.

Flagship phone: MyPhone Infinity has a 5-inch 1080p HD screen; 1.7GHz MediaTek chip; 2GB RAM; 16MP rear and 8MP front cameras. It’s costs US$295.

13. I-Mobile (Thailand): I-Mobile used to be a cloner of feature phones but is now slowly making the changes its own fully developed hardware. Although is current flagship is over-priced for what it offers, I-Mobile phones are generally priced to compete with most of the phones mentioned above.

Flagship phone: I-Mobile IQ X KEN has a 5-inch 1080p HD screen; 2.2GHz Qualcomm chip; 2GB RAM; 13MP rear camera and a meager 1.3MP front camera. Priced at US$520.

14. Q Mobile (Pakistan): Q Mobile is the largest smartphone maker in Pakistan, dishing out a mix of feature phones, smartphones and tablets – it only just started recently in 2009.

Flagship phone: QMobile Z8 has a 5-inch 720p HD screen; 1.2Ghz MediaTek chip; 2GB RAM; 13MP rear and 5MP front cameras. It costs US$200.

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