The US has increasingly shut out Chinese smartphone makers in recent years with outright bans and punitive tariffs, not to mention Apple’s dominance. Photograph: Simon HillChinese or Global Phone ModelsSome Chinese smartphones are only released in China, while others are released elsewhere, usually labeled as a global model. The phone will come preloaded with Chinese apps and will default to Chinese apps and services. Sometimes you need a Chinese number to register a manufacturer account on a Chinese phone, so you may miss out on some features. Chinese and other country-specific models will lack common US bands and may not work at all on certain carrier networks.