Let’s take a brief look at smartphones that were released last week between 10 to 16 May 2020.

The Oppo Reno3 and the Oppo Reno3 Pro

These are your typical large screen (6.4in) mid-range Android Smartphones. Its main gimmicks are its double digits megapixeled cameras (48MP, 64MP main. 44MP Selfie), large memory (8GB), and large storage (128GB, 256GB).

Note that these phones use the Mediatech chips which usually means late OS updates. Also, the prices for these phones are RM1699 for the Reno3 and RM2,399 Reno3. That is way too close to the price of the iPhone SE.

My recommendation: Just get the iPhone SE instead.

Huawei Y6p

Apart from the fact that this phone doesn’t run Android, this RM559 quite a bargain. Its gimmicks checklist includes a large battery (5000mAh), a good camera (13MP main, 8MP selfie), good storage (64GB), and good memory (4BG). It also runs the MTK 6765 chip, but that doesn’t matter much for an entry-level phone.

Note that this phone, much like an iPhones runs exclusively on the phone maker’s OS, and AppGallery. No extensive suite of Google’s apps and services here. But again, this is fine for an entry-level phone.

My recommendation: Get this phone if you’re adventurous or don’t mind diving into a new smartphone system.

Realme 6 Pro

At RM1,399, this Android smartphone has long list of gimmicks such as a Snapdragon 720G processor, 30W Flash Charge, 6.6-inch 90Hz Ultra Smooth Display, Ultra Six Cameras, 64MP Quad Camera with 20x Hybrid Zoom, and a press release that is trying it’s darndest with the title: Realme’s Killer Smartphone With Ultra Six Cameras If Out For Malaysians.

In plain English, this translates to a mid-range smartphone with a great processor and a lot of bells and whistles that you’re probably not going to use. However, at that asking price, it’s not too bad. If it works for you, it is worth it. No one is going to pick this phone over others just because of its shtick. Also, it has 128GB of storage and 8GB of memory, if you’re wondering.

My recommendation: Get this one if it fits your budget. Compare the processor storage and memory to your other options.

iPhone SE

This is the reason why no other smartphone maker should make a device that has a price tag that is anywhere close to RM1999. Take the most powerful mobile chip today, put it in the most affordable package and you will get the iPhone SE. Its camera features alone are worth the price tag. Add Facetime, iMovie, memoji and the suite of iOS apps in the AppStore, and this is a hard package to beat.

But, it’s not perfect. The RM1,999 model is the baseline (64GB). Most people would jump to the RM2,199 model for the extra storage and budding content creators would want the extra space (256GB) for RM2,699. Also, some people just do not like Apple.

My recommendation: Just get this one if you can afford it. I know some photographers at the office who are already excited to get one.