These brands look to replace Huawei
Huawei’s fall has left space in the Australian market for other phone brands to thrive.
The smartphone market is largely dominated by Samsung and Apple and the majority of consumers will look to those brands for their next phone assessing their large range. A third player once stood close to Apple and Samsung until May 2019 when the United States placed a ban on Huawei trading with American companies. That has also seen the brand almost vanish entirely in Australia.
With Huawei falling from the smartphone ranks, it left an opportunity for other brands to be the alternative to Samsung when choosing an Android phone. These upcoming brands are not holding back when it comes to innovation making it one of the more exciting battlegrounds in recent years.
TCL 20 Pro 5G
TCL is a company more commonly known for its televisions, ranking second in terms of sales volume globally. This year we have seen a number of products announced from the brand highlighting the innovative spirit we once expected from Apple, from kids smartwatches to cinematic glasses and even a tablet that doubles as a true e-reader. The brand has a long history in smartphones also and in 2021 it is displaying the full force of its strategy to provide affordable smartphones and now a premium smartphone in the TCL 20 Pro 5G.
This is the best smartphone TCL has offered to date with a tall 6.67-inch AMOLED display and 256GB of storage as standard. You’ll find a front-facing camera along with four lenses on the back, each with their own purpose and the objective of capturing the perfect shot each time.
The 4500mAh battery will power you through a day, even while connected to 5G. Battery life is restored quickly thanks to fast 18W charging via USB-C or 15W fast wireless charging. The real strength of this device however is in the features you don’t see on the surface.
A display of this quality is not something you see at this price point. It offers vivid colours and adaptability for bright sun or use at night. An on-display fingerprint sensor will keep your phone secure while Super Bluetooth will allow you to connect up to four individual wireless speakers at the same time.
Taking a leaf from Apple, TCL is adding tighter integration between the phone and the devices around it. Multi-screen collaboration is a feature which will allow you to copy text from your TCL 20 Pro 5G and paste it when using your tablet. It allows you to use your phone while touching your tablet or laptop, a handy way to interact with your smartphone without leaving your work. You will be able to have a Chromecast like experience with the phone doing the work on supported televisions. The phone can act as the remote control and show the content you want to watch, including presentations.
I couldn’t help but be impressed by how well it performs in my testing. Lag is non-existent, the cameras will surprise the keenest eye and you’ll keep looking at it and wonder how it can carry a $799 price tag.
ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip
The Zenfone 8 Flip has a similar screen size to the TCL 20 Pro 5G at 6.67 inches with the same in-display fingerprint sensor. The three cameras on the rear are from Sony with a large 64MP sensor followed by an ultrawide and telephoto lens.
You won’t see a camera on the front. When you do open any application that requires the use of a front facing camera, the three rear cameras will flip to face you. This means the best front facing cameras you’ll see from any brand.
What’s more, you can use the mechanism to shoot photos and videos at different angles as you move the camera mechanism and not the phone itself. Panoramas are completed automatically in vertical or horizontal modes and the cameras can be used to follow the object you’re focusing on. This is innovation we simply don’t see from other brands and ASUS has executed it with purpose and finesse.
The ASUS Zenfone 8 Flip is also a great all round Android smartphone with 5G and a large 5000mAh battery. Priced at $1199 it is biting at the heels of the big two players.
Google Pixel
The obvious but often overlooked contender to dominate the 3rd biggest smartphone brand is Google. Its Pixel smartphone range offers advantages even Samsung cannot compete with. The phone is tailor made to work with Google Android.
Any Android updates and new features always come to the Pixel first. The range starts with the Pixel 4a at $599, the 4a with 5G at $799 and the Pixel 5 at $999.
The sweet spot for the brand is in the middle. The 4a with 5G is a device with the largest display of the range, 128GB of storage with unlimited Google Photos storage and the same cameras as the Pixel 5. The camera technology on these devices are exceptional, their ability to capture high quality night photos is unmatched by the big names and continues to evolve with every update.
Conclusion
The relative newcomers are not afraid to innovate, try new things and provide a new level of affordability at the same time. We continue to watch this space.
Geoff Quattromani is the host of the Technology Uncorked podcast. Continue the conversation with Geoff on Twitter at @GQuattromani
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