Best smartphones you cannot buy in South Africa

Three of the best smartphones that are not officially available in South Africa are the Google Pixel 9 Pro, Xiaomi 15 Ultra, and Huawei Pura 70 Ultra.

While South Africans can buy a wide range of smartphone brands and models, some of the best devices must be specially imported.

One of the glaring absences in terms of major brands is Android owner Google, which has been releasing Pixel smartphones every year for nearly a decade.

Pixel availability has gradually expanded to 32 countries, but South Africa continues to be neglected.

To get one of Google’s smartphones, South Africans must import them or use a specialist importer like Connected Devices or Tech Warehouse.

Google offers three major selling points with its Pixel devices — a bloat-free “vanilla” Android operating system, monthly feature updates, and excellent camera performance.

Google’s most recent premium smartphone is the Pixel 9. The best-equipped and priciest model in the range is the Pixel 9 Pro XL.

The Pixel 9 Pro XL tied at second with the Honor Magic 6 Pro in DXOMark’s smartphone camera rankings, with a score of 158.

Its LTPO OLED display was ranked the highest of any smartphone, which makes sense when considering its 486 pixel-per-inch density, and 3,000 nits peak brightness.

The Pixel 9 series has also received high praise for its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and intuitive software, which is why prominent tech YouTuber MKBHD has called it the “smartest smartphone.”

At the time of publication, Connected Devices offered the most affordable imported Pixel 9 Pro XL at R21,999.

That price is excellent considering its US price tag of $1,099 (R19,805), excluding sales taxes.

While it may be possible to directly import the smartphone for cheaper, Connected Devices also offers a special 12-month warranty on imported smartphones.

Below are the specifications and design of the Pixel 9 Pro XL.

Xiaomi 15 Ultra

Chinese tech giant Xiaomi is known for packing its smartphones with powerful hardware at competitive prices.

While it has a significant presence in South Africa, its local smartphone selection has primarily been geared towards the budget and mid-range markets with its Redmi series.

Although this strategy makes a lot of sense considering the average South African’s affordability profile, Xiaomi fans with deeper pockets are missing out on some incredible options.

Its latest flagship — the Xiaomi 15 Ultra — pulls no punches in hardware. It includes a 1,440 × 3,200 LTPO OLED screen boasting 3,200 nits peak brightness, 5,410mAh battery, and 90W wireless charging.

The Xiaomi 15 Ultra’s quad camera system consists of a 200MP periscope telephoto lens and triple 50MP sensors for its wide, ultrawide, and telephoto cameras. It also has a 3D depth sensor.

However, the camera system may be lacking in the software department, as it ranks 13th on DXOMark’s list.

That said, its score of 153 is on par with the Google Pixel 8 Pro and just one point short of the iPhone 15 Pro Max, so it will still produce excellent photos and videos.

The table and image below show the specifications and design of the Xiaomi 15 Ultra.

Huawei Pura 70 Ultra

Another formidable Chinese tech brand — Huawei — has seen a gradual decline in smartphone sales in South Africa since losing support for Google Mobile Services (GMS) and apps.

However, it continues to regularly roll out some formidable devices, particularly when it comes to camera performance.

Its latest top-end smartphone is the Pura 70 Ultra. The Pura branding replaced Huawei’s P-series a few years ago and according to a source at the company, this has sparked fresh interest in Huawei’s flagships.

However, Huawei only launched the Pura 70 range’s Pro models in South Africa, while the top-end Ultra was not.

The Pura 70 Ultra has the best camera system of any smartphone in the world, according to DXOMark’s rankings.

Despite being over a year old, it has a 5-point lead over the second-placed Google Pixel 9 Pro XL and Honor Magic 6 Pro.

Other standout features include a minimum of 512GB storage, 100W wired charging, and 80W wireless charging.