The LeEco S1 Pro, an entry-level smartphone reserved for China, takes everything from the design of the iPhone 14 Pro. It is obviously very unlikely to see him land in France.
In a not-so-distant era, Chinese brands, and more generally Asian ones, did not have a very good image. Accused of copying the innovations of others, Asian manufacturers took several years to prove that they were capable of innovating, even of surpassing the competition. The hardware dominance of Samsung (South Korea), the beauty of Oppo devices (China) and the richness of the Xiaomi ecosystem (China) are proof that the game has changed, not to mention the incredible photographic prowess of Huawei before his banishment by the United States of Donald Trump.
Of course, there are always exceptions. The manufacturer LeEco, known for its entry-level devices of questionable quality, has just stood out with the S1 Pro, a smartphone so close to the iPhone 14 Pro that it is impossible not to speak of a copy. It is thanks to the site Gizmochina that we discovered its existence.
The Dynamic Island, first adaptation
Aesthetically, the LeEco S1 Pro resembles the iPhone 14 Pro. Its borders are the same, the appearance of the camera too… LeEco clearly didn’t bother. But that’s not even the most impressive part of the copy.
By “taking inspiration” from the Dynamic Island of the iPhone 14 Pro (a software element designed by Apple to display widgets around the front camera), LeEco becomes the first manufacturer other than Apple to recover this idea hailed by the critics and consumers. Will it also be the last? After the iPhone X in 2017, almost all Chinese manufacturers had copied Apple’s notch (we remember the Xiaomi Mi 8 in particular). The fact that the Dynamic Island is only now being copied, moreover by a little-known brand, is proof that the Chinese market has matured over the past 5 years. It no longer needs to copy Apple to exist.
Beyond looks, the LeEco S1 Pro shares almost nothing with the iPhone 14 Pro. Its 6.5-inch LCD screen is content with a 720p definition and a refresh rate of 60 Hz, where Apple offers 6.1 or 6.7-inch OLED with a much higher definition and a adaptive refresh from 1-120 Hz.
Nothing really works with this product, starting with its Zhanrui T7510 processor, unknown on the international market, or its photo sensors which seem very poorly equipped… From a software point of view, it uses the Huawei version of Android, with the services HMS (AppGallery) rather than Google. This device would have no chance of finding an audience if it came to France, but Europe is not its target at all. At 899 yuan (less than 150 euros), it is an entry-level device only available in China… before a phone call from Apple’s legal department?
