Gionee launches an iPhone 13 clone starting at less than US$100 in China

iPhones are demonstrably popular in China, which may be why Gionee now caters for those who want a device with such a design at the fraction of the price with the G13 Pro. The phone does indeed look quite like a vanilla 13, with flat edges and a rear camera hump with 2 lenses arranged in a diagonal.

The main shooter found therein is rated for a 13MP resolution; however, whether it can live up to Apple's reputation for camera quality has yet to be seen. The Gionee G13 Pro's display even has the traditional notch, although it may not match that of the 13 exactly. Its contents are restricted to just 1 5MP shooter that could just as easily have gone into a central punch-hole instead: cutting-edge 3D sensors and wide-angle specs are nowhere to be found here.

The new Gionee phone's screen is also 6.26 inches in diagonal length rather than 6.1 inches, and is an HD+ LCD panel rather than "Super Retina XDR" OLED. The processor behind it may also be at the opposite end of the mobile spectrum to the A15 Bionic, being Unisoc's Tiger T310 paired to 4GB of RAM.

The G13 Pro might have the edge for some consumers in one way, in that it has a USB type-C port to power its 3,500mAh battery. Then again, Gionee has decided to become one of a handful of OEMs to take Huawei's Mobile Services up. It is reported to have overlaid this alternative to Google services with a version of HarmonyOS, although this is not confirmed outright on the company's website.

Given its looks, however, few might anticipate its price: the Gionee G13 Pro currently starts at just 529 yuan (~US$83) for a SKU with 32GB of ROM. Unlike the iPhone 13, however, it comes in just 4 colors: gold, purple, blue or graphite, and is available on JD.com from now.