Words Best 5 "unknown" smartphones of 2014!!!!!

We all know Samsung, Motorola, HTC and other "mainstream" brands, but today we will talk about some of best alternatives to the major OEMs. The top 5 unknown smartphones list we've pulled together may have an entry or two you know, but chances are you've never heard of most of them. If you've had it with the empty promises of the big boys, then why not take a chance on a newcomer? Here are the five best unknown Androids of 2014.

The Oppo Find 7 is pretty well known amongst tech circles, but not elsewhere. © ANDROIDPIT

Energy Sistem: Energy Phone Pro Qi

Some of you may know Energy Sistem for their MP3 players, speakers or small appliances, but I doubt many of you know they also make smartphones. Energy Sistem designs its products in Spain, but manufactures them in China.

Energy Sistem has managed to combine a metal frame with Qi wireless charging. / © Energy Sistem

For an unknown smartphone, the Pro Qi has pretty enviable hardware: 1.7 GHz octa-core ARM Cortex A7 processor, Mali-450 GPU, 5-inch Full HD IPS LCD, partial aluminum frame, 32 GB of storage, 2 GB of RAM, 13 MP main camera and 5 MP front-facing camera, dual-SIM and Qi wireless charging. If that hasn't caught your attention then perhaps the price will: 275 EUR on the Energy Sistem website. Of course, take a look at the bands first if you're thinking about buying one.

Coolpad: Magview 4

It's probably no surprise that there's an unknown Chinese device on this list. And while it may look suspiciously like another flagship smartphone we all know oh so well, there's some pretty good performance in this Galaxy Note 3 lookalike. Coolpad has earned the third spot on the podium in sales in China and a lot of that is due to top performance.

Is this the Galaxy Note 3 or the Coolpad Magview 4? / © Coolpad

The Coolpad Magview 4 is a phablet with a 5.9-inch Full HD screen, backed up by a Tegra 4 processor clocked at 1.8 GHz guaranteeing sufficient power. The Magview 4 also packs 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of on-board storage and an aluminum chassis. The icing on the cake, however, is the 13 MP rear camera. Unfortunately for the Magview 4 though, the price of around 490 EUR (converted), on the Coolpad website, is a bit too high for a device running Android 4.2.

Micromax: Canvas Knight

In 2013, the Indian company Micromax managed to ensure that only Samsung beat them on handset sales in India last quarter and managed to push Apple into third spot in the same quarter for tablet sales. Micromax is now trying to expand their budget empire into Europe through Russia and Romania.

Micromax is seriously topping the charts in sales volume. © TechinAsia

The Canvas Knight packs a Mediatek octa-core processor clocked at 2 GHz with a 5-inch Full HD display. The Canvas Knight also houses a 16 MP rear camera that offers good results, together with an impressive 8 MP front-facing camera. Sadly it also runs on Android 4.2.2, but this time the price is more affordable: about 260 EUR on Micromax's website.

Oppo: Find 7

OK, we know you know all about Oppo. Unless you don't. Strangely the Oppo offshoot OnePlus seems to be much more well known abroad than Oppo, despite bringing out several impressive devices. The Oppo Find 7 is its current flagship device and is also probably the most "famous" on this list.

Despite the Find 7's serious credentials, Oppo is still relatively unknown. © Oppo

The Find 7 is a very stylish device with a quad-core Snapdragon 801 running at 2.5 GHz, Adreno 33 GPU, 3 GB of RAM, 13 MP camera with 4K video and an impressive 3,000 mAh removable battery and SD card slot. Powered either by the Android 4.3-based Color OS or a custom build of CyanogenMod, the Oppo Find 7 has a Full HD version and a QHD version: the Find 7a. The Find 7 costs 479 EUR via Oppo's website.

• Check our Oppo Find 7 vs OnePlus One specs comparison.

Karbonn: Titanium Octane Plus

The prize for the coolest bunch of words to get together to form a smartphone name has to go to this bad boy: the Karbonn Titanium Octane Plus. I feel like I need a fireproof suit and helmet just to talk about it. Last year they sold about 10% of all smartphones in India, which is not bad for a phone I've never heard of from a manufacturer I've barely paid attention to.

Another Samsung lookalike, the Karbonn Titanium Octane Plus has a great name at least. © TechinAsia

This smartphone features a classic MediaTek octa-core processor ticking away at 1.7 GHz with Mali-450 GPU and 2 GB of RAM. Add a 16 MP rear camera, a front-facing 8 MP shooter, Android 4.4.2, 16 GB of internal storage and microSD expansion and you're looking at about 200 EUR via Karbonn Mobile's website. As with some other spec sheet-friendly low-cost devices, you can't believe everything you see on a specs table, but phones like this prove that good components don't cost the earth.

These are the top 5 alternative Android smartphones around. While some are a little pricey and others don't quite hold up to what their specs promise, if you wanted what you already know you wouldn't have read this far. If you can think of any other little-known devices worth our attention, please let us know in the comments!