Chinese phone brands had a good 2026; they delivered meaningful camera innovation and broke new ground in battery tech. Devices like the Vivo X200 Ultra, X300 Pro, and the Find X9 Pro are easily among the best phones you can buy today, and these brands are doing a better job selling their devices outside Asia.
Looking ahead to 2026, I predict a continuation of the dominance around imaging, with even bigger cameras and better tuning. I also see the likes of OPPO and Vivo establishing a solid presence in Western markets, rivaling Xiaomi and Huawei.
Cameras that are even better
If you need the best possible cameras on a phone, you’ll need to get the Vivo X200 Ultra, Find X8 Ultra, or the Vivo X300 Pro — there’s no question about that. With the X300 Pro delivering noticeable gains over its predecessor, where does Vivo take things in 2026? There’s obviously going to be an X300 Ultra, and that should also get a 200MP tele lens.
Where I see Vivo differentiating its Ultra models is with the tuning; this was evident on the X300 Pro, and it’s clear that Vivo wants to focus on its tuning algorithms as much as the physical sensors it uses on its phones. That’s a good thing, because it allows the brand to meaningfully stand out against its closest rivals.
In a similar vein, I see OPPO and Xiaomi going all-out with their Ultra models, and I’m excited to see what they can deliver. While Xiaomi was the only brand out of the trio to sell its Ultra models outside China, that may change in 2026, with both OPPO and Vivo set to launch their best phones globally.
Increased global presence
What’s the point of having a brilliant phone if it’s limited to just a few countries? While Vivo and OPPO focused on Asian markets, that narrative is changing, and either brand is keen on building out a presence in the West. OPPO introduced the Find X9 and X9 Pro in the U.K., and Vivo debuted the X300 and X300 Pro in Germany and other markets in the region.
While either brand had a limited presence in these countries, they didn’t market their products aggressively — that’s going to change in 2026. In conversations with both brands, I got the feeling that they’re enthused about expanding outside Asia in earnest.
Better panels
The latest wave of Chinese phones has a meaningful display upgrade: they go down to 1 nit. Chinese manufacturers have closely collaborated with display vendor BOE to deliver this, but the downside is that the resolution is lowered to 1.5K. There’s no tangible difference in day-to-day usability between 1.5K and 2K.
That said, we should get phones with 2K panels that go to 1nit in low-light use in 2026. BOE is doing all the right things in this area, and it’s clear that the manufacturer is able to work with phone brands to tailor panels to their needs.
Even bigger batteries
My Find X9 Pro has a 7,500mAh battery, and the phone lasts a day and a half with heavy use. Battery sizes are only going to increase in 2026, with brands set to cross 8,000mAh. This is made possible by silicon-carbon tech; the initial wave of phones with these batteries had 10% silicon in the anode, but silicon content is increasing, allowing brands to fit ever-larger batteries into their phones while still retaining a thin-and-light design.
Silicon batteries are just better; the greater density means the phones aren’t bulky, and they hold up much better in challenging weather conditions.
Limited DRAM
We got phones with 1TB of RAM and 24GB of RAM, and while these models tend to be limited to China, I don’t see this trend lasting. The meteoric rise in DRAM prices means brands will only deliver 12GB of RAM on their phones in 2026, and that will likely be the case even with 512GB and 1TB storage configurations.
Whether that’s going to be enough in the AI-everything era needs to be seen. As it stands, I don’t see any problems with 12GB of RAM on Android, but as more and more brands start switching to on-device AI models, it may turn into a bottleneck. Regardless, if you need 16GB of RAM, you’ll want to buy a phone that’s available now instead of waiting for a 2026 device.
I don’t see the status quo changing too much with Chinese manufacturers in 2026. OPPO and Vivo will be looking to increase their imaging lead, and while Xiaomi didn’t have a strong 2025, I want to see the brand do better next year. Huawei is once again likely to roll out a roster of devices with meaningful innovation (I’m testing its latest products, and they’re wild), and Realme is guaranteed to deliver phones with the biggest batteries.
