2022-10-21
Most Russian users of mobile technology are sure: domestic smartphones are a myth, they don't exist. They are partly right, because mobile gadgets are not assembled in Russia. The lion's share of all smartphones is made in China, and these are not just "no-name" devices with difficult-to-pronounce names, but also Apple, Sony and Samsung.
And yet there are Russian smartphone manufacturers. They are called such because the head offices of these brands are located in the Russian Federation, and the products are focused on the domestic market. The production of smartphones, as it usually happens, is carried out in China. We will talk about the main Russian brands and their popular models in this article.
BQ
To those who think that quality should always prevail over quantity, the Russian company BQ will probably be able to convince the opposite. The manufacturer releases new models with an incredible speed, so unsuccessful devices, if they appear, very quickly everyone forgets. The last ones are almost immediately removed from the conveyor belt, and new ones come in their place. The fact remains that having decided to buy a mobile phone, you will at any time find some inexpensive BQ, equipped with the necessary minimum.
This approach yields results. In the summer of 2018, the company BQ for the first time entered the top 5 manufacturers of mobile electronics in the Russian market with a share of 2.8%. And it has only existed since 2013! At the end of October 2021, BQ once again, for the third time in a row, received the title of "Brand #1 in Russia". One can only be happy for the manufacturer, because it is one of the few domestic brands of technology, showing a steadily positive development trend.
BQ 6645L Element
One of BQ's new products, released in 2021. Its cost is just over 8 thousand rubles. For this money, the user gets a large stylish smartphone with an IPS screen measuring 6.52 inches, made in three color variants (black, pink and dark green). The model has a budget octa-core processor, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of permanent storage, a dual 13 MP main camera with autofocus, a 5 MP selfie camera, 4G support and a 4000 mAh battery. The device runs on Android 11 OS, has a fingerprint scanner and Face Unlock facial recognition.
Where to buy Russian smartphones BQ?
In the online environment - almost everywhere. All of the largest online platforms - OZON, Yandex.Market, ONLINE TRADE, Wildberries - sell BQ products. The order can also be placed at the manufacturer's official store.
DEXP
DEXP is a Russian brand established in 1998 which is a subsidiary of DNS. It is in this retail network that the majority of DEXP appliances are sold. These are smartphones, tablets, smart watches, televisions, laptops, computers, etc. The products have a low price in comparison with competitors: for example, the cheapest mobile device on the manufacturer's official website costs 999 rubles.
The range of smartphones DEXP includes more than 30 models, the cost of the most expensive of them - 6,490 rubles. Gadgets differ from each other, in addition to prices, by functionality, technical characteristics and quality. New models appear regularly, the year 2021 was no exception.
DEXP BL160
Inexpensive smartphone DEXP 2021 is sold at a price of 6499 rubles. For this money, the buyer gets a device with an IPS screen of 5.99 inches and a resolution of 1440x720 MP. The body is plastic, with thin frames on the front left and right, and a wider frame on top. The model is equipped with an inexpensive quad-core Mediatek MT6739WA processor, 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal memory. A 5000 mAh battery is responsible for battery life, while the rear and front cameras with a resolution of 5 and 2 MP, respectively, are responsible for photography. The smartphone runs Android 10 OS. The model has a plastic body of blue-black color.
Where to buy Russian smartphones DEXP ?
You can buy smartphones brand DEXP in stores DNS or on the official website of the manufacturer.
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Maxvi
This Russian company was born in 2013 and is primarily engaged in the production of push-button phones, drawing and note-taking tablets, as well as accessories for mobile technology. The quality of the brand's products is constantly improving, so there are more and more positive reviews about it.
There are also smartphones in Maxvi's range, although they are few - just a couple of models. These are budget gadgets at an affordable price (up to 5000 rubles), with appropriate technical characteristics and good quality.
Maxvi Vega MS 531
Inexpensive smartphone, the cost of which on the official website is 4990 rubles. For this money, the buyer will get a device with a diagonal of 5.34 inches, a 3000 mAh battery, LTE support and a fingerprint scanner. The model has three color options, equipped with a primary and front camera with a resolution of 8 and 5 MP, respectively.
Gadget is powered by a quad-core processor, has 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of permanent memory. The operating system is Android 8.1. There is OTG support that allows you to connect USB peripheral devices directly. The body of the device is made of metal and plastic.
Where to buy Russian smartphones Maxvi?
Smartphones manufactured by Maxvi are available for purchase on Yandex.Market.
Texet
For domestic manufacturers, Texet is considered a long-lived company, because it was founded in the distant 2004. People are often surprised to find a Texet smartphone in the showcases of the stores, because they know this company for completely different devices.
Texet produces under its brand a variety of devices: E-books, radio clocks, navigation devices, video recorders, and, most importantly, the so-called granny phones - simple mobile phones without an OS, but with huge buttons.
The market share of Texet in Russia mobile gadgets is consistently low. The devices themselves are rather unsightly copies of Chinese devices and, as a rule, have the only advantage over competitors - the price.
Where to buy Russian Texet smartphones?
Texet has now stopped the production and production of smartphones. The official website of the company has information only on the button phones of different formats - with large batteries, large buttons, protected from moisture and dust, clamshells, monoblocks. In the online store Texet smartphones are also not available. However, on Yandex.Market you can still occasionally find some models.
Yandex.Phone
In late 2018, Yandex presented its first smartphone under the appropriate name - "Yandex.Phone". According to the company, it was developed by its own programmers, engineers and designers.
The model received an octa-core Snapdragon 630 processor, 4 GB of RAM, 64 GB of permanent memory. Dual 16 + 5MP main camera and a five-megapixel front camera were responsible for photography. The screen had a diagonal of 5.65 inches, a resolution of 2160x1080 and was protected by Gorilla Glass 3. The device ran on Android 8.0 OS with the Yandex.Loncher graphical shell. The feature of "Yandex.Phone" was "Alice" in the role of the main voice assistant and pre-installed services of the company ("Yandex.Money" as the default payment system, number identifier, connected to "Yandex.Directory", etc.).
The price of the smartphone initially was 17990, but after six months dropped to 9990 due to low sales, after which by November 2019 its stock was completely sold out. Reviews of the model have been mixed. Buyers spoke negatively about the price, problems with the software, weak iron, lack of quality support.
Where to buy Yandex.Phone?
The first "Yandex.Phone" has now been removed from production. The company promised to eliminate all bugs and defects in the new model, but to date there are only rumors about "Yandex.Phone 2", no official information about it yet.
YotaPhone
The company Yota, founded in 2007, has become nationally known as a provider of mobile communications and manufacturer of high-tech 4G equipment. In 2011 it has launched its own mobile gadget division.
Yota has chosen a different strategy for distribution of its smartphones than other domestic providers such as MTS and Megafon. Whereas the representatives of the "big three" offered very modest gadgets with SIM-Lock for little money, Yota did not seek to tie customers to their own SIM card and actively innovated.
YotaPhone 2
The YotaPhone 2 smartphone was unveiled at MWC in Barcelona and then appeared at the traditional international CES event in Las Vegas. It won awards at both exhibitions. The smartphone was worth mentioning at least for its uniqueness - in 2014 it was the world's only gadget with two screens.
The presence of a pair of displays is not just an advertising move to draw attention to the model. The second display, located at the back of the device, uses the E-Ink technology most commonly used in e-books. With its help you can see the time, check the weather forecast or received SMS messages, without activating the main screen and thus helping to save the device's charge.
YotaPhone 2 did not look like a "whipping boy" and in general parameters: the smartphone was equipped with a 5-inch main FullHD display, a camera with 8 MP resolution and 2 GB of RAM.
In late 2017 the Yota 3 smartphone appeared, but it was not a big event. The new Yotaphone never reached Russia, but it can still be found on the expanses of Aliexpress.
Where to buy Russian Yota Devices smartphones?
Finding a cellular smartphone from Yota Devices on sale is difficult enough. In 2019, the company was declared bankrupt. Devices of the brand and at the time of its existence were poorly represented in retail, and today the remnants can be found only on AliExpress.
Highscreen
Highscreen is a trademark previously owned by the company "Vobis Computer". Under its name go not only smartphones, but also other devices, such as video recorders.
The best description of Highscreen devices was given in 2013 rating, published by PC Magazine . In its version, Highscreen gadgets, in terms of price to functionality ratio, shared second place with Apple!
Wobis Computer placed an emphasis on functionality, rather than external effect, so the owners of Highscreen gadgets were the users, who appreciated the "iron" more than the original design solutions. Appearance, the manufacturer, unfortunately, paid almost no attention. Initially, the Highscreen smartphones were just copies of Chinese little-known devices.
In recent years, Wobis stopped "rebranding the Chinese" and generally lost interest to the direction of mobile electronics. The Heiskrin catalog is becoming more modest year by year, and the brand has passed into the hands of Heiskrin Smart Ltd. This firm is trying to resuscitate the brand by acting pinpoint rather than releasing useless gadgets in packs.
Highscreen Power Five Max 2
One of the first smartphones under Heiskrin Smart was the Power Five Max 2. It is not very different from the first "Max" visually, and the component base is still the same. But the manufacturer has added a few modern features, thanks to which the smartphone can even be called interesting.
The device has a smart fingerprint scanner, 6-inch Full HD screen, wireless charging support and NFC module, through which you can pay via Google Pay. It has a metal body and looks more than imposing in blue. Of course, and powerful battery (the main advantage) is in place. The battery capacity is 5000 mAh, and a full charge lasts for two days at least.
In 2019, the device received an update - came the Power Max 3. It has a more powerful processor Helio P35, a new version of Bluetooth, Android 9. Other parameters are almost similar.
Unfortunately, after the release of the Power Max 3, Highscreen did not release new smartphones. In 2020, the company announced a new Truesound audio adapter, but there is no information about the new mobile gadgets to date.
Where to buy a Russian-made Highscreen smartphone?
Highscreen smartphones are quite difficult to buy today. They are out of stock at the company's official online store. The same situation is in retail stores and other online shops.
Highscreen - a special smartphone?
In the summer of 2016, the company "Open Mobile Platform" (OMP) announced the first Russian smartphone "Ermak OMP" with the operating system Sailfish OS . Journalists vied with one another to write about the device, because for the domestic mobile market, the appearance of a completely "their" smartphone - an extraordinary event.
It would seem that patriots should be happy, because carry in your pocket the device, assembled by hardworking Chinese, they no longer have to. But there was no place to buy the "Ermak" - the leading retailers "M.Video" and "Svyaznoy" immediately announced that such a device would hardly cause interest among the general public, and refused to sell it. The reason for that was the cost of the gadget - 2 thousand dollars, which translated into Russian rubles amounted to 130 thousand rubles.
What was so good about the Ermak, if the price for it was so cosmic?
Features of national "gadget building"
In appearance, the Ermak, to put it mildly, was not impressive. It looked like a guest from the past and resembled the austere HTC Desire, Sensation and Mozart series. The functionality of the device left much to be desired too: 1 GB of RAM, front camera with 2 MP resolution, old Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM 8960 processor. All this looked ridiculous, especially if you compare it with the leading smartphones of the mobile market in 2016, which cost three times cheaper.
Well, "Ermak OMV" and was not designed for ordinary consumers - according to the manufacturer's plan, the users of this gadget were to be government officials .
The smartphone supported data transmission over closed communication channels, worked with RFID tags and bar codes, was equipped with a fingerprint reader, machine-readable passport and excise stamps zone, and could easily withstand temperatures of +60°. Does the average user need these options? The question is open.
Where to buy the Ermak?
In 2021, as in 2016, the Ermak is not sold in retail chains or in major online electronics stores. Today the project is considered closed and there are no fresh mentions of such an unusual (at least in terms of price) device.
Conclusion
Russian companies are quite extensively represented in the domestic mobile device market. But buyers, alas, are still unaware of this and, therefore, many of them mistakenly consider smartphones of some firms to be Chinese hackwork. These gadgets are indeed assembled in China, but because of this, they are available to any domestic consumer. How many would be willing to pay a hundred thousand rubles for a smartphone marked "Made in Russia"?
