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There’s a world of excellent phones—flagship smartphones that push photography to new levels, and budget buys that defy expectations—that you won’t find in the US for various reasons. Some Chinese phone manufacturers are banned domestically, while other brands prefer to focus their efforts in countries where Apple doesn’t have a massive market share. Whatever the explanation, I have a strong grasp of the best phones you can’t officially buy in the US, having tested global handsets for years.

Many of these phone manufacturers release multiple devices under sub-brands. With that in mind, here’s some basic information: Xiaomi is the brand behind Poco and Redmi; Nubia came from ZTE; Honor was a subsidiary of Huawei but separated after Huawei was banned in the US; and Realme spun out of Oppo. Folks in the UK and elsewhere in Europe can buy many of the phones in our guides to the Best Android Phones, Best iPhones, and Best Cheap Phones that are for sale in the US.

Updated October 2026: I added the Oppo Find X10 Pro Max, Nothing Phone (4b), mentions of the TCL P80 Ultra, Xiaomi Poco F9 Ultra and Pro, and Xiaomi Redmi Note 17 Pro Max, and removed some older devices.

There’s a new camera king in town. Oppo has gone all out on the photography front with the new Find X10 Pro Max, packing the first triple-lens 200-megapixel camera system into a phone. The three Samsung sensors deliver a seamless experience, from close-up macro photography to 3X optical zoom. (You can zoom in further without losing detail by cropping.) There’s more to a camera than a megapixel count, but the Hasselblad partnership ensures excellent tuning for precise color matching across lenses, and a range of shooting options that will satisfy pros. I’ve been impressed with the photos I’ve taken with this phone, and the balance of light, detail, and natural color is fantastic. Each camera can also shoot 4K video at 120 frames per second (8K/30 fps). If you crave an even more powerful zoom capability, check out the Teleconverter Kit for a special case and a long zoom lens to take optical zoom up to 10X and beyond (if you crop).

The build quality is excellent, the finish leans heavily into Hasselblad’s design language, and it scores an IP68/69 rating for durability. The silky-smooth 6.78-inch AMOLED display is bright and crisp, with a 144-Hz refresh rate. There’s a MediaTek Dimensity 9600 Pro processor inside, with 256 GB of speedy storage (UFS 4.1) and 12 GB of RAM in the base model. The 7,150-mAh battery may stretch to two days for casual users, and it supports 80-watt wired charging or 50-watt wireless charging with the right gear (, no Qi2 magnets). The highly customizable and slick ColorOS 17 sits atop Android 17, and my only real complaint (apart from the translucent aping of Apple) is the bumper crop of bloatware.

For fans of OnePlus, no longer operating in the US or Europe, parent company Oppo's flagship is as close as you’ll get now. If you can live with a smaller screen and a 50-MP ultrawide, the Oppo Find X10 (£1,099) is otherwise identical, but much cheaper.

The latest flagship sailing out of Xiaomi is the 17 Ultra (there was no 16), and she's a beauty. The now familiar design, with that huge circular camera module on the back, has ostensibly dropped a lens, but the main 50-megapixel shooter boasts a new 1-inch sensor and lens pairing that helped me capture stunning shots in a variety of scenarios. There’s just one telephoto lens on this edition, but it’s a 200-megapixel shooter that slides between 3.2X (75 mm) and 4.3X (100 mm) optical zoom. A 50-megapixel ultrawide and a 50-megapixel front-facing camera round out a truly top-notch camera system.

The rest of the phone ain’t bad either, with a flat 6.9-inch OLED display, speedy processor, and generous RAM and storage. You also get improved battery life and fast wired or wireless charging. I love the speckled green finish (regular black or white are options). Xiaomi has committed to four Android updates and six years of security patches, too. But no device is perfect, so you’ll have to deal with flaws like bloatware, Xiaomi’s HyperOS software, and that colossal camera bump. I also think Xiaomi’s AI features are slightly below par.

Last year, Xiaomi leaned into its partnership with Leica with the 15 Ultra, but it goes even further with the special edition Leitzphone (£1,699, about $2,252). If you don’t mind spending a chunk more, this retro-camera-style beauty adds Leica touches inside and out but retains everything that makes the Xiaomi 17 Ultra so good.

The first folding phone to win me over was the Honor Magic V3. The Magic V5 (there was no V4) was slightly better, and the Magic V6 is another incremental improvement that brings better battery life, faster charging, and greater durability in a very similar book-style foldable form (4.1 millimeters open, 8.8 mm closed), ignoring the sizable camera bump. There’s also an interesting new red-and-gold finish with a vegan leather back that you’ll love or hate (black, white, and gold are available for the less adventurous). It’s a pleasure to use and feels close to a regular phone when closed, but it has two lovely screens (6.52-inch and 7.95-inch), a versatile camera, and a responsive fingerprint sensor in the power button. Honor’s MagicOS software includes potentially useful foldable and AI features, though I could live without all the bloatware.

Fitting flagship cameras into folding phones is tough, so they usually end up with a big camera module that undermines the svelte design and catches on your pocket. Honor has managed to keep the same excellent camera system as the V5 but slimmed that bump a bit in the V6 (it’s still big, though). It captures lovely photos in most scenarios, though the cameras in the Xiaomi 17 Ultra and Honor Magic 8 Pro are both slightly better. But the V6 does feel like a flagship, and this is a phone with no obvious weaknesses. Battery life is excellent; it charges up very quickly, performance is smooth, and the software is mostly slick. If Honor sold it in the US, the V6 would be a serious contender for top place in our Best Folding Phones guide.

If you’re a mobile gaming purist, the Nubia Redmagic 11S Pro is for you. From the transparent industrial design with built-in fans and RGB lighting to the unbroken, almost bezel-free 6.85-inch AMOLED (active-matrix organic light-emitting diode) screen and 144-Hz refresh rate, this phone is built for gaming. You also get a whopping 7,500-mAh battery and customizable capacitive-touch shoulder triggers. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 ensures snappy performance (overclocked here) and is backed by speedy RAM (LPDDR5T) and storage (UFS 4.1 Pro). The 11S Pro can run all your favorite mobile games, cranked to the max. The cooling is highly effective, and there’s a dedicated game space and mode. It also supports Wi-Fi 7 and has a 3.5-mm headphone port (a rarity nowadays).

This iterative update to the 11 Pro—itself a slight update on the Redmagic 10S Pro, which was a slight update on the 10 Pro (you get the picture)—is almost indistinguishable from that previous model. This pointless mid-cycle update purports to offer improvements over the 11 Pro (overclocked processor, better cooling), but the only difference you’ll notice is the hefty price bump. It still wins the dedicated gaming phone category, but mostly because there's no competition. The camera still disappoints; the main 50-MP shooter is passable, but it’s paired with a 50-MP ultrawide (I’d prefer a telephoto) and a subpar underscreen selfie camera. The software is also shoddy in places.

While the 11S Pro boasts stunning performance for the price, the virtually unchanged clunky design, software, and subpar camera erode its bargain credentials, particularly if you’re not using it for gaming.

The impressively affordable Honor 600 is a tempting package that includes a crisp, bright AMOLED display, long battery life, top-notch water resistance, and a powerful main camera. The design is derivative; my review unit apes the orange iPhone 17 Pro with the same color and camera module. But it feels nice in hand and can survive a dunk in fresh water. The Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 processor is fast enough for most folks; I had no issues switching between apps or shooting up the opposition in Call of Duty: Mobile. The battery life is great (even if Honor did cut down the size compared with the Chinese version), and this phone is quick to charge when you plug it in (it lacks wireless charging). The main 200-megapixel camera is very good, and it enables a decent level of zoom through cropping. Honor includes a bunch of AI camera tricks in the software if you want to play around.

But for all its strengths, the Honor 600 is ultimately a mixed bag. Shortcomings include a weak 12-megapixel ultrawide, the sometimes overzealous AI that makes shots look unnatural, and the pernicious presence of bloatware. The 8 GB of RAM also feels stingy. But flaws aside, the reason the Honor 600 claims this spot is the price. At the time of writing, you can snag this at Amazon for less than £400 (about $533). If you want better performance and wireless charging, you can opt for the 600 Pro, but for a price of hundreds more, it’s not nearly as attractive.

In a sea of black glass rectangles, it’s nice to see something different. Nothing’s style, mixing industrial translucent design with bright colors and fun features like the customizable LED Glyph Bar, is fresh, even if it is a little watered down here compared to the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro. With prices climbing and sales dwindling, the budget end of the phone market is being squeezed, and there’s little choice at this price. The design, the 6.77-inch Super AMOLED screen, and the 5,200-mAh battery are highlights. You also get an IP64 rating, decent stereo speakers, and Nothing’s monochromatic retro pixel software skin. The Glyph bar can light up different colors and pulse to help you identify an alert or a specific contact, but it’s a bit gimmicky. The main 50-megapixel camera is fine for a phone at this price.

Inevitably, there are compromises in cheaper phones. The main one here is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 4 processor, paired with just 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage. Everything is slower than a flagship phone. Games like Asphalt Legends are perfectly playable with the odd dropped frame, and I noticed some lag in the camera app, but nothing too annoying. Compared with pricier options, the Nothing Phone (4b) has larger bezels around a screen that doesn’t get as bright, lacks wireless charging, and has a pretty poor 8-megapixel ultrawide lens, with no telephoto for zoom. I was also disappointed to find a little bloatware. But this is the best option at this price right now.

Best Repairable Phone

Scoring a perfect 10 on iFixit's repairability scale is rare, but the Fairphone (Gen. 6) achieved it, making it a great pick if longevity is important to you. Fairphone also aims to be as environmentally friendly and ethical as possible, carefully sourcing components, using recycled materials wherever possible, and committing to decent wages and conditions. While previous Fairphone editions shared in that mission, those models often compromised on basic specs and had a dull design. The Fairphone (Gen 6) is different, with modular accessories, a clever distraction-free mode triggered by a dedicated switch, and a pretty decent camera system.

While the specs are respectable, you can find more powerful hardware in this guide for less money. The Fairphone also lacks wireless charging and only scores an IP55 rating for water resistance (which is fine for rain but don't submerge it). That said, ethical options are virtually nonexistent in the smartphone market, so the Fairphone is one of a kind in that sense. Good news for folks in the US: you can buy the newer Fairphone (Gen 6+).

Other Good International Phones

Haven’t seen anything you like? The following phones are also worth considering:

TCL P80 Ultra for £480: I love that the 6.8-inch AMOLED screen transforms into an e-ink screen at the flick of a switch; it’s also wonderfully matte, even in AMOLED mode, which makes it more comfortable to read for hours than most phone screens. TCL has also packed in a versatile camera, including a decent telephoto lens, and solid battery life. But the plain design and occasional sluggishness make it a tough sell at this price. If reading is your main priority, the compromises may be worth it.

Xiaomi Poco F9 Ultra for £999 and F9 Pro for £799: This year's unfortunate price jump, combined with Xiaomi's weird pricing (low early-bird prices and frequent discounts, but very high MSRPs), makes these phones tough to recommend. Both are actually very good, with lovely displays, good battery life and performance, great stereo speakers, and versatile triple-lens cameras. Naturally, the Ultra is slightly bigger and better. Sadly, they signal a major departure from Poco’s budget roots, but if you see them discounted (I’ve seen the Ultra for £669 and the Pro for £579), they are worth considering.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 17 Pro Max for £499: With a huge battery that easily lasts two days, a big screen, great build quality, and impressive durability, the Redmi Note 17 Pro Max makes a strong first impression. Performance is mediocre, the camera is limited, and it’s packed with bloatware. Unless battery life is your top priority, I’d pick something else.

Honor Magic 8 Pro for £894: This phone boasts excellent camera performance and AI assistance across the board, with a raft of refinements over Honor’s Magic 7 Pro. Its slimmed-down design with subtle curves makes it a pleasure to handle, and Honor has managed to pack in a much larger silicon-carbon battery. The versatile camera also zooms farther (3.7X optical zoom) and handles low light and shaky hands with aplomb (night photography is especially strong). That said, the image processing can be heavy-handed at times. The 6.71-inch screen is gorgeous, razor-sharp, and gets very bright. Honor’s Magic OS 10 is seriously slick on top of Android 16, and Honor AI genuinely adds value, from photo editing to contextual task handling; you can bring it to life with the dedicated AI button. There’s also support for Google Gemini, if you prefer. This is definitely not a phone for AI skeptics. Throw in secure face unlock, incredibly fast wired (100 watts) and wireless charging (80 watts) with the right gear, plus seven years of Android and security patch updates, and you get a supremely sophisticated smartphone with very few discernible weaknesses. But with its successor due to land shortly, you should only snag this right now if you can get a decent discount.

Xiaomi Poco X8 Pro for $390 (£479) and Poco X8 Pro Max for $510 (£599): If anything, a slight step down from the now-discontinued F7, the X8 sports a smaller 6.59-inch AMOLED screen, a MediaTek Dimensity 8500 Ultra chipset, and 8 GB of RAM in the basic model. Performance is solid (though it’s worth noting I used a 12-GB RAM review unit). And the slightly smaller body is a touch easier to handle. You get a big 6,500-mAh battery with plenty of stamina, plus 100-watt charging that gets you back to full in under an hour. The main camera is a solid 50-MP shooter, though the 8-MP ultrawide and 20-MP front-facing cameras aren’t great. I like the mint green model, but it also comes in black or white. There’s still too much bloatware to deal with, and Xiaomi’s software is not my favorite, but you get decent support, including four Android versions and six years of security updates. There’s no wireless charging, but that’s par for the course in this bracket. Overall, the Poco X8 Pro is the best phone for its price. If battery life is a priority, consider the X8 Pro Max, which jumps up to 8,500 mAh. It also has a bigger screen, a better processor, and Wi-Fi 7 support.

Xiaomi 17T for £649 and 17T Pro for $780: Without Honor’s aggressively low pricing, one of these phones (probably the 17T) would have claimed the best mid-range spot above. Compared with the Honor 600, the 17T offers slightly better performance with more RAM and a more reliable camera that has superior zoom capability. Unfortunately, it also comes with a lot of bloatware, and the software needs some tinkering to get the best it offers. The 17T Pro adds wireless charging, a bigger battery, much better performance with a faster chipset, and a larger screen—but it’s even more expensive, pushing the top end of what I’d consider midrange.

Oppo Find N6 for $1,899: Touting an 8.12-inch display, the Find N6 is a beautifully engineered folding phone that’s impossibly slim and light. Despite its creaseless promise, the fold is still discernible. You’ll hardly notice it with the screen on, but you’ll feel it if you use the optional stylus. Performance is impressively slick, with enough stamina to see you through a busy day, and the camera system is excellent. It’s a big step up from last year’s N5, with a 200-MP main shooter, 50-MP telephoto, and 50-MP ultrawide, though it can’t quite compete with the Xiaomi 17 Ultra above. The global model supports familiar Google apps, but you’ll have to import them, since the phone won’t officially launch in the West, which is why it can't edge out Honor’s foldable above.

Xiaomi 17 Pro Max for $1,129: The Xiaomi 17 Pro Max differs from the 17 Pro mainly with a refreshing design that adds a second, smaller screen on the back to house the camera lenses. Xiaomi offers several creative ways to use this auxiliary display, including a selfie preview for better main-camera selfies, music controls, customizable themes, and virtual pets. There’s even a retro gaming case that lets you play Angry Birds, though it feels a bit silly when there’s a 6.7-inch screen on the other side. Aside from the second screen, the 17 Pro Max is a typical Xiaomi specs beast, and the 17 Pro isn’t far behind, but neither has been officially released outside China yet.

Oppo Find X9 Pro for £1,099: Photography fans simply must check out the Oppo Find X9 Pro. The 200-megapixel telephoto lens supports 3X optical zoom and can take excellent shots at 6X zoom by cropping images down to 50 megapixels. To maximize camera capabilities, though, you’ll need the detachable Hasselblad Teleconverter Kit ($400). This enormous lens slots into place on the case and adds another 3.28X zoom, though it’s tricky to use without a tripod. An additional trio of 50-MP lenses, with all supporting 4K video recording at 60 fps with HDR, makes this a great pick for creatives. Impressive specs include a 6.78-inch flat display, IP66/68/69 ratings, and a 7,500-mAh silicon-carbon battery that’ll last for two days.

Xiaomi Poco F8 Ultra for £649 and F8 Pro for £406: Xiaomi’s cheaper, youthful brand Poco provides room for experimentation, but the company’s own 15T Pro is a better buy in this price bracket. What the F8 Ultra offers that you won’t find elsewhere is a fun (or awful, depending on your tastes) denim finish on the back. There are also Bose-tuned speakers, an excellent 6.9-inch display, and an enormous 6,500-mAh battery. It also has a flagship-level Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and generous RAM and storage. There’s even a trio of 50-MP lenses in the camera. The F8 Pro is slightly smaller but has similar specs, making it the better bargain.

Honor Magic 7 Pro for $985: Honor’s Magic 7 Pro features a solid triple-lens camera, a gorgeous 6.8-inch screen, speedy performance, good battery life, and dual IP68 and IP69 dust- and water-resistance ratings. Honor’s Magic OS boasts polished AI features, and Honor announced an increased commitment to seven years of Android version and security patch updates with this phone. The Magic 7 Pro’s downsides include its large camera cutout on the front, camera processing that’s sometimes heavy-handed, and an ultrawide camera that struggles to match the other two lenses.

Doro Aurora A20 for £250: Doro is a Swedish company focused on providing devices that are accessible for older folks. It primarily offers phones but also sells a decent video doorbell. The Aurora A20 is an odd spin on the flip phone that may help some people transition to a touchscreen device. It’s like an old candy bar HTC Android phone with a flip-out keypad attached to the bottom. There are lots of thoughtful features, including an alarm button, a spacious keypad, and simplified software. It’s also fairly cheap, but I found the performance sluggish, the camera poor, and the design a bit chunky and heavy.

Realme 14 Pro+ for €369: The color-changing finish may be gimmicky, but it's fun, and this phone looks and feels far more expensive than it is. There are more highs than lows on the spec sheet: You get a triple-lens camera, an IP68/69 water-resistance rating, a 6,000-mAh battery, and a 6.83-inch OLED display with a 120-Hz refresh rate. But the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset is limited, there's no wireless charging support, and you don’t get a charger in the box. Even so, it’s still quite a bargain.

Xiaomi 15 for $690: Folks seeking a compact phone could do a lot worse than the Xiaomi 15. It feels lovely and has a 6.36-inch screen, a decent triple-lens camera, and top-notch internals. But it’s a conservative design, and it has software and bloatware issues.

Honor Magic 7 RSR for £1,550: Designed with Porsche, this souped-up version of the 7 Pro above has a fancier design with a hexagonal camera module, a slightly improved telephoto lens, 24 GB of RAM, 1 TB of storage, and a bigger battery (5,850 mAh). It’s lovely, but it doesn’t justify the extra cost.

These aren’t necessarily bad phones, but I think you’d be better served by an option above.

Nothing Phone (3a) Lite: Nothing’s translucent hardware and pixelated software give it a retro-cool vibe, and it is currently the cheapest phone it offers in the UK (it wasn’t released in the US). The screen, battery life, and software are decent, but the camera and bloatware were disappointing. I don’t think the Nothing Phone (3a) Lite is the worst, but you can do better.

Nubia Z80 Ultra: Like my gaming pick above, the Nubia Redmagic 11S Pro, the Nubia Z80 Ultra trades a better camera for slightly lower performance and screen quality. It’s also a real brick, with an enormous camera module on the back that makes it awkward to handle, though I do like the dedicated camera button. Despite a very impressive spec sheet for the money, it manages to feel like less than the sum of its parts. Nubia’s software is subpar, and for this phone, it commits to only three years of security updates and a single Android version upgrade.

Oppo Reno 13 Pro 5G: This slim, lightweight midrange phone boasts a 6.8-inch screen (brightness is limited), a triple-lens camera (solid 50-MP main and telephoto lenses with a disappointing 8-MP ultrawide), and an impressive IP69 water-resistance rating. Battery life is good, and wired charging is fast, but there’s no wireless charging. It’s packed with bloatware, but it also adds AI features and tools for transcription, summarization, image editing, and more that may add value for some folks. After some time with the 13 Pro, I feel you can do better for the money.

Xiaomi Mix Fold 4: Officially released only in China, the Xiaomi Mix Fold 4 is a stylish folding phone with a 6.56-inch outer screen that folds open to reveal a 7.98-inch inner screen. It also offers solid performance and battery life, but despite having a large quad-lens camera module, the camera is underwhelming. The crease is also pronounced, and using a Chinese model is a bit of a pain, as various items are not translated and getting the apps you want takes work.

Realme GT7 Pro: This potential flagship killer has a 6.78-inch OLED screen, a Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, and an enormous 6,500-mAh battery. You also get a triple-lens camera, but the 50-megapixel main and telephoto lenses are let down by the 8-megapixel ultrawide. It also lacks wireless charging, and it only seems to be for sale in Germany.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 14 Pro+: Here, you get an attractive, durable design (IP68), a 200-megapixel Samsung camera sensor, and decent battery life with superfast charging (120 watts). But those wins come at the price of middling performance, poor ultrawide (8 MP) and macro (2 MP) lenses, and a ton of bloatware. Ultimately, there’s little improvement over last year’s Redmi Note 13 Pro+. Not only are there better phones for the same money, but there are also better Xiaomi phones.

Should You Import One of These Phones?

While some phones are not officially sold in the US (or certain other countries), you can still get your hands on them if you’d like. They're often easy to buy online, and you may even find some on Amazon, often via third-party sellers. But before you buy, you’ll want to consider a few factors.

Phone Model and Supported Bands

The technologies and specific bands upon which cellular networks rely differ from country to country. While models described as “global” and even specifically UK or European models are likely to work in the US, they may not support all the bands your carrier uses. Missing LTE or 5G bands can mean patchy service or even relegate you to 3G. Chinese and other country-specific models will almost certainly lack some common US bands and may not work on some carrier networks.

You will often find this information in the listing or aggregated on websites like Kimovil, but I recommend checking directly with the manufacturer and your carrier.

Depending on where you buy, importing a phone can lead to customs charges and add a significant expense to the overall cost. Do your research and factor in any extra fees before you buy.

Android and Google Services

It is common for phones released only in China to ship without any Google services, including the Google Play Store. Many Chinese manufacturers have their own app stores or preinstall third-party app stores for the Chinese market. Sometimes it's a simple case of checking a box to unlock and download Google services, but it’s not always so easy.

Even where Google services are supported, some Chinese phones won’t work properly with certain apps, such as Android Auto. Lack of support can leave you stuck with specific Chinese default apps and services, and many banking apps won’t work as they would on a US or global model.

With regard to Huawei phones in particular, the company developed an independent ecosystem of apps and services following its US ban. The latest models run HarmonyOS. Although it was originally forked from the Android Open Source Project, it is now completely separate, and Huawei phones can no longer run Android apps.

How I Test Smartphones

I try to use every smartphone I test as my main phone for at least a week, sometimes longer. I stress-test performance by playing the most demanding mobile games and recording videos at the highest resolution. I make calls to test the smartphone's microphone and speaker quality.

I often test the camera side by side with a competing phone and analyze the photos on a larger, more color-accurate screen. I've been reviewing all kinds of smartphones, from budget devices to flagships, for more than a decade.

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