10 MOST MASSIVELY POPULAR SMARTPHONES YOU’VE NEVER HEARD OF

The 10 Most Massively Popular Smartphones You’ve Never Heard Of
By Pranav Dixit, Wired, 14 April 2014.

Good old America, land of the hot new smartphone. HTC Ones, iPhones, Samsung Galaxies - these devices are relatively common here and, thanks to the subsidized structure of our wireless plans, mostly within financial reach for large segments of the population. But in the rest of the world, only the elite can afford the ridiculously high price tags these devices command. Look beyond the one percent and you’ll see a different picture - a panoply of smartphones being churned out by gigantic corporations you’ve never heard of, and often incorporating features you’ve never dreamed of. These are the smartphones of the world. Meet them now for the first time.

1. KT Tech KM E-100

WhatsApp doesn't reign supreme everywhere. In South Korea, they're obsessed with KakaoTalk, an insanely popular instant messenger app that - in addition to providing the usual stuff like photo sharing and text messaging - lets people call each other. KakaoTalk moves 3 billion messages each day, so it stands to reason that any phone which integrates KakaoTalk would be a winner. KT Tech's KM-E100, a middle-of-the-road Android smartphone with KakaoTalk built in, offers undeniable proof - and right in Samsung's own backyard. A genius feature allows users to split the screen in half and simultaneously chat on both Facebook and KakaoTalk at the same time. All bases covered, just like that.

2. Coolpad 9080W

China might be the biggest smartphone market in the world, but the reality is that only the wealthy - a small section of the population - can afford to buy the latest iPhone or Galaxy. For the rest, price trumps all else. No one knows this better than the dozens of home-grown Chinese brands. One of them, Coolpad, which ranks number three behind Samsung and Lenovo with 11 percent market share, according to The Wall Street Journal - makes one of the most popular smartphones in China. The company's 9080W runs Android Jelly Bean and retails for just over US$300. It comes with a massive 5.7-inch screen, an 8-megapixel camera, a quad-core 1.2 GHz processor and dual SIM slots, which allows the phone to be used with two carriers at once.

3. QMobile Noir Quatro Z4

Pakistan's QMobile is the country's self-proclaimed "largest mobile phone brand." We believe it - in aggregate, the company sells 85 models of smartphones, feature phones, and tablets, the bulk of them at ridiculously low prices. For under US$70, you can buy a mid-range Android phone complete with all the usual bells and whistles, including a nice camera and a decent screen. At the higher end is the QMobile Noir Quarto Z4. It sports a 5-inch display, a quad-core processor and 2 GB RAM, all loaded up with Android Jelly Bean. The price? Just under US$350, unlocked.

4. XOLO LT900

LTE is scarce in India; you can only find it in a few major cities, and even then the pricing is outrageous. That didn't stop XOLO, a popular Indian manufacturer of smartphones and tablets, from releasing XOLO LT900, the country's first LTE-enabled smartphone at the end of last year. For about US$300, you can get a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, a 4.3-inch display, an 8-megapixel camera, and, thanks to XOLO's partnerships with Indian carriers, the ability to stream movies and TV shows directly to your device over the wireless data connection. In a uniquely Indian twist on after-sales support, XOLO also provides doorstep smartphone repair service in over 50 Indian cities.

5. YotaPhone

Have you ever had the urge to mash your phone and Kindle together to create the ultimate dual-screen device? Save yourself the trouble and just get a YotaPhone. This gorgeous piece of Russian tech has an e-ink display on its back that shows notifications like texts, alerts, and weather. You can even use the e-ink screen to answer phone calls or post to Twitter and Facebook. There's a thoughtful little light built in if you want to use it in the dark, and if you stick to the e-ink display exclusively, Yota promises 50 hours of battery life.

6. Gradiente iPhone Neo One

Brazil is one of the most expensive countries in which to buy an iPhone. A 16GB 5s, for instance, costs a seizure-inducing US$1,200 if you buy it unlocked. The iPhone Neo One, however, costs just US$250. It's not an Apple device - IGB Electronica SA, the company that makes it, trademarked the "iphone" name in Brazil way back in 2000. Talk about being ahead of the curve. So instead of chamfered aluminium, a fingerprint sensor, and iOS, you get a low-end plastic device that runs Android 2.3.

7. Karbonn Titanium S5

The Titanium S5 from Indian smartphone maker Karbonn isn't made of titanium, sadly. But at least that keeps the price under US$200 for a 5-inch Android phone powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor and an 8-megapixel camera. It actually looks pretty slick for the price, which is why it's one of the most popular phones in India right now. Karbonn isn't resting on its laurels, however. The New Delhi-based company recently launched the world's first hexa and octa-core smartphones in the Indian market - both under US$250.

8. Nokia Asha 303

We know Nokia as the world's premiere Windows Phone maker. But at the lower end, it also makes a series of wildly popular feature phones under the Asha brand. Pick up a Nokia in sub-Saharan Africa, and it's bound to look a lot like the Asha 303. This BlackBerry-style handset combines both a 2.6-inch touchscreen and a traditional QWERTY keyboard. The software is System 40, the camera is a low-end 3.2-megapixel shooter, and Nokia doesn't even quote processor specs on its website because, let's face it, it doesn't matter. Also, there's no app store, but it does run Whatsapp and has customized versions of Facebook, Angry Birds and Shazam - in other words, about half the apps I regularly use on my iPhone anyway. All this for just over US$100.

9. Oppo N1

The Oppo N1 looks like someone took an HTC One and unceremoniously clipped a webcam on top. Fortunately, the capabilities of the camera more than make up for its clunkiness. The 13-megapixel shooter rotates 206 degrees - enough swing to cover the front, top and back - and locks at any angle. It shoots long exposures up to 8 seconds, shots can be controlled from afar via a Bluetooth remote, and your phone will instantly wake up if you swivel the camera. But there's more to the N1 than the fancy optics. The entire back is touch-sensitive, which means you can use the touchscreen from behind without your fingers getting in the way - it would probably make playing a Flappy Bird knockoff a tad easier. Oppo is currently setting giant markets like India on fire, but you can grab an N1 stateside for US$600 on Amazon.

10. NEC Terrain

Finally, here's one for the Americans. If you're scared of taking your dainty little iPhone on your next hike, may we suggest you take a look at the NEC Terrain? This rugged beast from Japanese maker NEC is designed to be the Hulk of phones. The Android handset is built to military specifications, so it's dustproof, waterproof, and shockproof, and capable of withstanding extreme temperatures and UV exposure. You get a touchscreen, but there's also a backlit QWERTY keyboard for those who just can't say goodbye to hard keys. Admittedly, the display is tiny - but you're not exactly planning to watch Netflix on this, are you? Here in the U.S., it's free with a 2-year contract on AT&T.

Top image: The YotaPhone. Credit: Yota Devices.

[Source: Wired. Edited. Top image and some links added.]