Both DITO and Smart have released their budget-oriented smartphones. The two are priced well below the PhP 6,000 mark. But which one has the better bang-for-the buck?
itel P55 5G
DITO and Smart are taking advantage of itel and ZTE, respectively, for their 5G smartphones. The former’s offering is slightly cheaper at PhP 4,999 while the latter is positioned at PhP 5,450.
The itel P55 5G and the ZTE Blade A75 5G have comparable hardware. The two come with 50MP main shooters and an 8MP front-facing camera, 128GB of internal storage, 5,000mAh batteries, and Android 13 with their respective companies’ skin on top.
Smart 5G ZTE Blade A75
These smartphones also come with 6.6-inch HD+ IPS displays, but the ZTE Blade A75 5G edges out with 120Hz refresh rate compared to the itel P55 5G’s 90Hz. Itel, however, pulls ahead in charging speeds as it supports 18W Fast Charging as opposed to ZTE’s slower 10W charging.
They use different chipsets for performance. The P55 5G has a MediaTek Dimensity 6080 while the Blade A75 5G comes with the Unisoc T67 chip. Both have largely the same performance well-tuned for the entry-level market. itel does come with more physical RAM at 6GB while the ZTE smartphone uses only 4GB RAM boosted to 8GB by virtual RAM.
DITO is bundling a SIM bundle on the itel P55 5G and comes with Level-Up99 promo plus Unlimited 5G for 1 year according to their promotional materials. We don’t think that DITO is actually offering a year-long unlimited 5G connectivity with the smartphone, and it’s more viable to believe that the promo will last for a year.
Their Level-Up99 promo comes with 9GB of open data, unlimited in-network calls, 150 minutes of calls to other mobile networks, unlimited texts to all networks, DITO to DITO Video Calls, and data rollover.
The itel P55 5G is currently exclusive to DITO’s Experience Stores within the National Capital Region.
On the other hand, Smart is bundling the ZTE Blade A75 5G with Smart Prepaid. It will come with 5GB open access data, 300 texts to all networks, and 30 minutes of calls to all networks valid for 3 days. They are also throwing in 8GB of TikTok and unlimited in-network texts once a month for 3 months with the device.
Smart is also offering their budget 5G smartphone via Smart Postpaid Plans+ 999, which comes with 20GB open access data, unlimited all network call and text, and unlimited landline calls.
You’ll be able to get Smart’s ZTE Blade A75 5G via Smart’s website or through their concept stores nationwide.
Both DITO and Smart have largely similar offerings in terms of their smartphones. Both come with near identical hardware. Even though the ZTE Blade A75 5G has the faster 120Hz screen, some of you may prefer the itel P55 5G’s faster 18W charging plus it comes with 2GB more physical RAM.
As for their services, it would entirely depend in your area. While Smart has more coverage in the Philippines thanks to more than 3 decades of experience, DITO has expanded rapidly throughout the country. DITO has also signed a facilities-sharing agreement with Converge ICT to improve their Internet services.
