Hisense, ZTE, Huawei – get used to these names especially if you are looking for great value in the midrange smartphone market. It was proved so again last night at the launch of the new Hisense Infinity H6 smartphone and Sero 8 Pro tablet, both solid mid-range offerings at very decent prices.

The H6 smartphones comes with a 5” screen, 1 GB of RAM, a 1.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon CPU and 16 GB of storage space (expandable via MicroSD). All this retailing for a very solid R3 500. From our interaction with the device it feels extremely light, while offering a no frills Android KitKat experience. The 720×1280 resolution of the screen ensures decent browsing and viewing of pictures.

Talking of which, an 8 MP rear camera and a 5 MP front facing one takes care of the photography side of things, rounded off by an interesting gesture-based selfie taking feature. When taking selfies, if you spread out your hand in front of the camera and then clench your fist, it starts a countdown before taking the photo automatically. This seems to work well as demonstrated by the amount of selfies taken this way during the night (if you are a man however, it works a bit differently - before taking a selfie, clench your fist and then punch yourself in the face for even considering doing so).

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Apple must feel pleased since the back of the H6 certainly takes more than a few design cues from Sir Jony Ive.

More exciting however, is the Hisense Sero 8 Pro tablet. The 7.85” device comes stocked with a quad-core 1.6 GHz processor, 2 GB RAM and 16 GB of storage, but it’s the thinness of the tablet that’s really the talking point. At 6.35 mm, Hisense claims it’s the thinnest Android tablet so far.

With its metal casing the Sero 8 Pro feels damn good in hand, and it’s difficult to imagine not enjoying browsing the internet or watching movies on this unit. The screen also offers a solid 2048x1536 resolution, while a 4400 mAh battery takes care of the power. If you are looking for a Sero 8 Pro with SIM, tough luck, since it will be Wi-Fi only, retailing for just below R3 000.

It should be in store come March, available in red, silver, gold and grey, a bit more exciting that the regular white and black.