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Chinese firm clones cheaper iPhone X with bigger battery

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Johannesburg - A Chinese smartphone maker has produced a device almost identical to the Apple iPhone X - at a fraction of the cost and with a bigger battery.

The Oukitel U18 is almost indistinguishable from the US company’s 10 anniversary iPhone when viewing it from the face. However, the rear of the device looks very different. 

The U18 Android smartphone features an end-to-end display similar to Apple’s almost bezel-less display on the iPhone X with a slightly larger display of 5.85 inches when compared to Apple’s 5.8 inch. 

A website for the U18 even shows a side-by-side comparison of the device against the “Iphone x” (sic).

Apple, however, kills the U18 resolution with 1125 x 2436 pixels, while the U18 offers only a 720 pixel resolution.

Borrowing more traits from the iPhone X - the U18 has the Face ID Unlock feature, mimicking Apple’s Face ID function, while also featuring a rear fingerprint scanner, which Apple does not have.  

The U18’s drawcard feature, which trumps the iPhone X, is the size of its battery. 

While Apple offer a 2716 mAh battery in its device, Oukitel feature a massive 4000 mAh battery, only comparable to devices such as the Huawei Mate series of smartphones which run over a day off a single charge. 

More specs of the U18 include 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage and a USB type C connection for charging. 

The device features a 16 megapixel and 5 megapixel rear dual-camera and a 13 megapixel front camera - when compared to the iPhone X’s 12 megapixel and 12 megapixel rear dual cameras and 7 megapixel selfie camera.

The U18 is currently retailing for $159.99 (around R1 900), while the iPhone retails from about R18 999.

The device is available at a slightly higher cost from online stores which import products for South Africans.

According to its website, Oukitel was birthed in 2007, at the time smartphones became more popular in the city of Shenzhen - renowned as the home of other popular Chinese smartphone brands such as Gionee, OnePlus and Huawei. 

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