The looks are as important as the specs as well, a really good looking phone can save you from many embarassing moments or situations. Maybe these phones aren’t the best on paper, but man they’re gorgeous.
POCO M5
This phone evokes a strong Pixel-esque vibes with its horizontal bar design that screams ‘modern’ with its tasteful placement of the POCO name on the right corner unlike past iterations that didn’t aged well in the design department and instead of looking different, you can be mistaken for being tacky. But the greatness doesn’t stop there, as the M5 also has a faux-leather back so you can say goodbye to fingerprint prone back glass, plastic housing, or cases. This is the only reason to ditch the cases without being called a ‘heathen’.
POCO M5 specs: https://unboxdiaries.com/phones/poco-m5/
realme C35
Say what you want about this phone but man, this is the closest you can get to an iPhone-looking Android one. And the sales reflected many consumer’s desire to own an Apple device but in a much more affordable price point. Of course, the glory can be appreciated fully if you won’t look at its front which looks like your typical standard smartphone. But yeah, give credit where credit is due.
realme C35 specs: https://unboxdiaries.com/phones/realme-c35/
Redmi Note 11
This entry here shows the elegant-looking smartphone that instead of copying from other brands’ design language, the peeps at Xiaomi decided to pave their own way and the result is really stunning. The Redmi Note 11’s design is very timely and subtle on its prism-esque effect on its back, and the camera bump took inspiration from modular aesthetics that gave the phone a modern look with a classic tinge (think of cameras from early 90’s to 00’s) and that’s the reason why the Redmi Note 11 gets a spot on our list.
Redmi Note 11 specs: https://unboxdiaries.com/phones/xiaomi-redmi-note-11/
Infinix Hot 20S
To quote Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman in American Psycho, “Look at that subtle off-white coloring; the tasteful thickness of it… Oh my God, it even has a watermark!” That’s rings true for the Infinix Hot 20S looks, even if you’ll take a hard look, it can pass as a premium device, only Infinix’s name gave it away, but hey for under 10K pesos, you can have a phone that will not let you down in formal gatherings, meetings, or even those classic internet dick-measuring contests.
Infinix Hot 20S specs: https://unboxdiaries.com/phones/infinix-hot-20s/
vivo Y16
We are lying if we didn’t say that this phone still has a sluggish Helio P35 chipset for over 8K pesos, and an overall lackluster specs for our taste (even the realme C35 is better by a mile), but man– what we wouldn’t give for that impressive body design. It’s like an old car that had just recieved a fresh new paint job. Yes it’s beautiful, but it doesn’t change the fact that you can’t bring it to long road trips, as this phone is designed to be. It’s perfectly fine though if you’ll avoid gaming on it.
vivo Y16 specs: https://unboxdiaries.com/phones/vivo-y16-2/
Honorable mentions:
WIKO 10 – a really elegant looking design let down by its subpar software, let’s hope that they will make it better on next year’s WIKO 20 because we’re definitely for them!
OPPO A17 – Another case of a three-year old budget phone encased in a leather-like design, the results are really great, but smart users can easily spot the difference (hint: microUSB)
vivo Y02 – Yet another vivo phone with a solid design choice, but fell short within the usability and actual experience if you are one of those people who bought this device.
So there you have it, while some of the phones on this list is more beauty than brains, in the end of the day, it all boils down to personal needs and preferences. So you go ahead, buy that iPhone-looking Android device if that’ll make you happy.
