Top 5 Best Value for Money Smartphones in the Philippines so far

Last quarter, there have been downpours of value-for-money smartphones from international brands which is basically a hybrid of good hardware and affordable price tag. Brands ranging from Asus all the way to Chinese players like Lenovo have been dominating the Philippine smartphone scene with their popular phones; in fact, these handhelds almost cannibalized a considerable market share in the local scene. 

We have made a list of the Top 5 value-for-money smartphones in the Philippines that are priced below Php 10K. These are definitely worth your hard-earned money so check it out right after the fold.

5. Meizu m1 note

The Chinese outfit has made a splash in the Philippine market with the initial release of this handset via Novo7 Tech. The white model variant is priced at Php 7990 while the colored versions at Php 8599. The main deal-maker of this handset is the iPhone 5c-ish design which is also made of premium polycarbonate plastic. It also boasts LTE connectivity, 5.5-inch full HD display, 2GB and 3140 mAh battery. The lack of expandable storage made most of its users wanting for more beef though.

Related: Meizu m1 note Unboxing and First Impressions

Meizu M1 Note Specs

150.7 x 75.2 x 8.9 mm at 145 g

5.5-inch full HD Sharp IGZO Display 

(1080 x 1920 Pixels at 403 ppi)

Corning Gorilla Glass 3

MediaTek MT6752 SoC

1.7-gigahertz octa-core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU

Mali-T760 MP2 GPU

2GB RAM

13-megapixel rear camera sensor by Samsung, LED Flash

5-megapixel 4-element front camera

16GB or 32GB Internal Storage

Dual SIM or Dual Standby

4G LTE, 3G and 2G

Dual Band Wi-Fi

Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy

GPS (A-GPS), GLONASS

FM Radio

USB OTG Support

Digital Compass

Gyroscope, Accelerometer

Proximity Sensor, Ambient Light Sensor

Android 4.4.2 Kitkat OS with Flyme 4

3,140 mAh non-removable battery

Php 7,990.00 (White)Official Price

Php 8,599.00 Other Colours

 4. Lenovo K3 Note

This is the phablet version of the Music Lemon handset from the popular Chinese giant. The K3 Note is directly pitted against the Meizu m1 note in terms of hardware. It also comes with the same 5.5-inch full HD display and MediaTek MT6752 chipset with octa-core CPU. The only difference between the two is that the K3 Note supports up to 32GB of expandable memory.

Related: Lenovo K3 Note vs Meizu M1 Note

Lenovo K3 Note Specs        

5.5-inch IPS Full HD display, 401ppi

1.7 GHz 64 bit MT6752 octa core

Mali-T760MP2 GPU

2GB of RAM

16GB Internal storage

MicroSD support, up to 32GB

13MP Autofocus main camera with dual LED (dual tone) flash

5MP front camera

Dual SIM (Micro), Dual Standby

4G LTE, 3G HSPA+

WiFi, WiFi hotspot

Bluetooth v4.0, A2DP, LE

GPS, with A-GPS, GLONASS

MicroUSB v2.0

3.5mm jack

FM Radio

Android v5.0 (Lollipop)

3000 mAh Li-Po battery

152.6 x 76.2 x 8 mm, 150g

Php 8,430 via Lazada (Imported)

3. Huawei Honor 4X

The Huawei Honor 4X is the better looking handset in this batch. Unlike the previous phablets, the Honor 4X only packs an HD display. However, it makes up to it with its superb battery life and capable cameras. The company's Emotion UI is also another interesting skin on top of Android KitKat. The handset comes with a home-brewed Hisilicon Kirin 620 SoC with octa-core CPU.

Related: Huawei Honor 4C now official

Huawei Honor 4x

5.5-inch HD display, 267ppi

HiSilicon Kirin 620 Chipset

1.2GHz Octa-core ARM Cortex-A53 processor

Mali-450 GPU

2GB of RAM

8GB internal storage

microSD support, up to 32GB

13MP rear camera, LED flash

5MP front camera

Dual SIM (Micro)

4G LTE, 3G HSPA+

WiFi and WiFi Hotspot

Bluetooth v4.0, A2DP

GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS

FM Radio

microUSB v2.0, USB OTG

Android 4.4.2 Kitkat OS with Emotion UI 3.0

3000 mAh Li-Po battery, non-removable

152.9 x 77.2 x 8.7 mm, 165 g

Php 8,290 Official Price

2. Alcatel OneTouch Flash Plus

Fresh from yesterday's Flash sale, the handset has been receiving a fair amount of following these days. Of course, it could be due to the fact that it only has a Php 6,490 asking price. You'll get the heavily-lauded 13MP Sony IMX214 sensor for the back camera, octa-core CPU, 2GB of RAM and 5.5-inch HD display. The gold variant of this handheld has already been on retail over Lazada.

Related: Alcatel OneTouch Flash Plus to hit the Philippines

Alcatel OneTouch Flash Plus

5.5-inch HD OGS Display, 267 ppi

MediaTek MT6752M Chipset

1.5GHz octa-core ARM Cortex-A53 CPU

Mali-T760 MP2 GPU

2GB of RAM

13MP rear camera Sony IMX214 sensor with LED Flash

8MP front camera, autofocus

16GB Internal Storage

microSD support, up to 32GB

Dual SIM/Dual Standby

4G LTE, 3G HSPA+

Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi Hotspot

Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy

GPS (A-GPS), GLONASS

FM Radio

Android 4.4.4 Kitkat

3,500 Li-Ion battery

152.3 x 76.4 x 8 mm, 147g

Php 6,490 Official Price

1. Asus ZenFone 2 2GB variants (ZE500CL / ZE551ML)

The concerted effort of the company to make a huge name out of the Asus Zenfone 2 is a commercial success. Of course, the smartphone series has become a household name; and the Zenfone 2 is the arguably the most popular handset of 2015 in this price bracket so far.

Related: Asus Zenfone 2 price in the Philippines

Asus ZenFone 2 2GB variants (ZE500CL / ZE551ML)

5-inch HD / Full HD IPS Display, 294 / 403 ppi

Gorilla Glass 3

Intel Atom Z2560 / Z3560 Chipset

1.6GHz dual-core / 1.8GHz quad-core

PowerVR SGX544MP2 / G6430 GPU

2GB of RAM

16GB internal storage

microSD support, up to 64GB

8MP rear camera with LED flash / 13MP with dual LED (dual tone) flash

2MP / 5MP Front Camera

Dual SIM (Micro)

4G LTE, 3G HSPA+

Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi Hotspot

Bluetooth v4.0

GPS with A-GPS and GLONASS

3.5mm Audio Jack

Android 5.0 Lollipop with Zen UI

2,500 / 3000 mAh Li-Po Battery, non-removable

Php 7,995 / Php 9,995 Official Price