In the just-past October, mainstream mobile phone manufacturers, including Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo, and Honor, have all updated their flagship series, with the arrival of new technologies and designs truly catching the eye. And in November, brands represented by vivo, OPPO, and Honor are also about to bring their respective new models, but not flagship series, but "offline mobile phones".

On November 6, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology approved the network access certifications for four new Honor models. It is understood that these four new models are all Honor 300 and Honor 300 Pro. Just two days ago, vivo's S20 series new models also obtained network access permits.

(Image source: Weibo)

At the same time, blogger Digital Chat Station also released a bombshell, revealing that the OPPO Reno 13 series is scheduled for the end of this month, continuing the "Apple-flavored" approach of the Find X8 series, with the spokesperson also being a very popular Chinese member of the new generation of girl groups.

(Image source: Weibo)

In fact, since Honor's 100 series brought flagship technology to the offline mobile phone market last year, various companies have begun to re-emphasize this less-discussed niche market segment, following Honor's approach, stirring up waves. And this wave of offline mobile phone updates following the flagship new products may push the battle to a climax.

vivo, OPPO, Honor, decisive battle in the offline market

Unlike flagship and performance phones, offline mobile phones often place more emphasis on portrait photography, design, and texture, which has always been OPPO and vivo's strengths. However, when Honor began incorporating eye-care, long battery life, and robust durability features into its digital series, market preferences shifted once again. It can be said that the current offline mobile phone market is even more competitive than the flagship market.

1. vivo S20: Innovative design, emphasizing durability.

The vivo S20 series, like its predecessor, is divided into two models: the S20 and S20 Pro. The former is equipped with the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 processor, while the latter uses the Dimensity 9300 mobile platform. There is not much performance improvement.

However, the S20 series will have many clever designs, and the screen form factor will also be changed to a 1.5K straight screen. Unfortunately, it is currently confirmed that vivo does not plan to make small-screen phones in the S series for the time being, which may disappoint those who are looking forward to new small-screen models.

(Image source: vivo)

Of course, vivo made some changes to the positioning of the S series with the previous S19 series. For example, the standard S19 model placed more emphasis on durability, not only increasing the battery capacity but also improving charging speed. Network access information reveals that the S20 standard model will roughly carry a new generation of 6500mAh Blue Ocean battery with 90W fast charging, while maintaining a body thickness of 7.19mm.

2. Honor 300 series: Enhanced with Elegant Look portrait support, imaging is the selling point.

Honor is also taking the durable route. In the Honor 300 series, both the standard and Pro models will come with a 6000mAh battery capacity, with the standard model featuring a flat screen and the Pro model featuring an equal-depth micro-curved screen. As for performance configuration, it is still the familiar combination of Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.

After introducing Elegant Look portraits in the previous generation, the Honor digital series received unanimous praise from the market. Honor also capitalized on this success by adopting this portrait photography solution in subsequent Magic6 Extreme Edition and Magic7 series. The Honor 300 series will also receive a new Elegant Look portrait algorithm with improvements in hardware specifications. For example, the Honor 300 Pro will be the first to carry a new periscope telephoto lens, significantly enhancing telephoto and portrait close-up photography capabilities.

(Image source: Weibo / Honor 300 Pro render)

3. OPPO Reno 13 series: Maintaining an "Apple-flavored" appearance, imaging supports Live Photo.

The OPPO Reno 13 series continues the approach of the Find X8 series, focusing on appearance and imaging, in other words, maintaining an "Apple-flavored" aesthetic. Digital Chat Station revealed that the Reno 13 standard model's rear camera module Deco has been changed to a vertical left-side arrangement, essentially aligning with the iPhone 16 in design. Of course, considering that the Reno 13 series is positioned only as mid-range overall, it makes some trade-offs in other hardware.

The Reno 13 series will be the first to carry the Dimensity 8350 mobile platform. From the naming, it should be an upgraded version of the Dimensity 8300, but specific improvements will have to wait for MediaTek to release official data. In terms of imaging, the Reno 13 series will come standard with a large-base 50MP main camera across all models, supporting Live Photo across all focal lengths, and the popular Fuji filters from the Find X8 series will also be available.

(Image source: Weibo)

It is not difficult to see that although this year's offline mobile phones from various manufacturers still revolve around imaging, thinness, and texture, they also have different main directions. For example, both vivo and Honor focus on portrait photography and ultra-large capacity batteries, but the vivo S20 series retains a portrait flash, giving it a greater advantage in night portrait photography; while Honor boasts exclusive Oasis eye-care technology and more user-friendly AI system functions. As for OPPO, it has fully embraced the "Apple-flavored" family, catering to the needs of Xiaohongshu users to create popular models, filling the 2-4K price range market not covered by the Find X8 series.

To please offline consumers, mobile phone manufacturers are holding back big moves

In fact, the offline mobile phone market's approach of not focusing on performance and not stacking peripheral configurations is unacceptable to many internet users. A simple example is the vivo S19, which starts at 3299 yuan. You can buy the powerful iQOO Neo9S Pro+ for the same price, with even double the memory and storage space.

But are offline mobile phones devoid of selling points? Of course not.

Offline mobile phones have always emphasized appearance, and the core element of appearance is naturally not being too bulky, which forces mobile phone manufacturers to focus on balancing thinness and lightness with battery life. Currently, vivo's S series and Honor's digital series both use flagship-level Blue Ocean and Qinghai Lake batteries. These batteries are silicon-anode batteries characterized by high energy density and high charging power.

And this year, offline mobile phones have been even more aggressive in the direction of durability, not only focusing on usage duration but also designing robust bodies. OPPO's recently released K12 Plus is actually a good example. It not only supports high-specification IP68 dust and water resistance but also offers ten-sided drop resistance, easily winning in durability challenge tests.

(Image source: OPPO)

Most consumers prioritize first impressions when selecting mobile phones offline. In short, it is the most intuitive functions that can be experienced at a glance, such as whether the screen is bright and how it feels to hold. Many consumers are often motivated to purchase after taking a photo. This brings us to the imaging strategy of offline mobile phones.

Over the past two to three years, offline mobile phones have placed more emphasis on portrait photography, essentially a combination of a main camera and a 2x telephoto lens. However, as the telephoto performance of flagship phones continues to expand, a significant hardware gap has emerged. This time, the Honor 300 series takes the lead in using a telephoto lens, which is rare among competitors in the same positioning. It is currently expected to be a 3X periscope telephoto, offering greater advantages in portrait photography and telephoto capabilities.

Another "unorthodox" approach may belong to OPPO. Since the Reno 12 series ushered in the Live Photo Xiaohongshu era, Android mobile phone manufacturers have also begun to fully embrace the Live Photo ecosystem. With this highly dynamic feature, the sales of the Reno 12 series were also the strongest among offline mobile phones of the same generation. Continuing the success of the Reno 12 series, the Find X8 series also completely abandoned pretense, whether it was enabling Airdrop file transfer with Apple or supporting Fuji filters, it was all about catering to the preferences of Xiaohongshu users.

(Image source: OPPO Official Weibo)

According to industry insiders, the initial sales performance of the Find X8 series was more than ten times that of the previous X7 series. This product positioning strategy has also allowed OPPO to taste success. Currently, the three retro filters of the OPPO Find X8 series are temporarily exclusive to new models and have not been made available to the Find X7 series, which means that OPPO is likely to reserve these new features for the Reno 13 series, capturing the 2-4K price range.

Although each has its own approach, the offline market has always been the main battlefield for mobile phone brands. These relatively low-cost models still have considerable profit margins. According to Tech Insight market reports, in the third quarter of 2024, smartphone shipments in China reached 65.7 million units, representing a year-on-year increase of 3%, with vivo, OPPO, Xiaomi, and Honor temporarily ranking in the top four. Considering that the third quarter is during the transition period between old and new flagship models, the main sales force during this period is naturally such offline mobile phones.

The increasing balance of offline mobile phones is actually a favorable trend for the entire smartphone market. Consumers' pursuit of texture and design often stimulates manufacturers to research more new technologies. For example, to maintain the competitiveness of flagship phones, hardware iterations are accelerated, and high-end technologies can reach mid-to-high-end product lines faster, realizing technology inclusion. The Honor digital series, vivo S series, and OPPO Reno series are all good examples. They have all coincidentally adopted flagship-level technologies in their core components, allowing consumers with lower budgets to also experience the joy brought by technological progress. When these consumers gradually become loyal fans of the brand, they will naturally support flagship products when their budgets are sufficient, contributing to technological iteration.

The consumer market is always a continuously cyclical and mutually beneficial ecosystem. Only with the support of users and common progress will it get better and better.

Source: Leitech