iPhone 7
The successor to the iPhone 7 is bound to face touch competitors this year. Reuters/Regis Duvignau

The technology industry is a very competitive place. Companies always try to deftly one-up each other. This year is no different. So as Apple preps the launch of its 10th anniversary iPhone, its competitors are also hard at work in doing the same. In fact, the Cupertino giant’s rivals will try to gain an advantage by releasing their flagship phones way ahead of the iPhone 8’s debut.

On Wednesday, DigiTimes rounded up the Android phone makers that will be releasing powerful flagship devices ahead of the iPhone 8’s arrival. The Chinese electronics newspaper even noted that such companies have planned to launch their new devices in the second quarter just to establish a good following prior the release of the iPhone 7 successor.

Among Apple’s competitors, Samsung Electronics is expected to make a big impact on the market with the introduction of its Galaxy S8 this March. The South Korea giant is even anticipating its first shipments to reach 10 million units. Despite suffering from the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco, Samsung is still expected to do well this year, especially now that the company already confirmed the rumored Galaxy S8 Plus by putting up a support page for the handset, according to Forbes.

The iPhone 8 will also see a tough competitor in Huawei’s next flagship model, the Huawei P10. The P9 successor is making its debut at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona later this month. As previously reported, the Chinese phone maker is preparing a smartphone with a 5.5-inch display, a Kirin 960 chip, 6GB RAM and Leica cameras.

Also arriving in the second quarter are the LG G6, Asus Zenfone 4 and Xiaomi Mi 6 and Redmi Note 4X flagship phones. If rumors are to be believed, the LG G5 successor will sport thin top and bottom bezels and an upgraded Quad DAC for exceptional sound quality. As for the Asus flagship device, a leaked benchmark already revealed that it is sporting a 5.7-inch 2560 x 1440 display, a Snapdragon 820 chip and 6GB of RAM, as reported by BGR last week.

Meanwhile, Xiaomi’s upcoming phones, the Redmi Note 4X and the Mi 6, are reportedly debuting sans Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors. IBTimes Australia reported the handsets will come equipped with Xiaomi-owned company Pinecone Electronics’ Pinecone processors. Other than that, both flagship devices will come with premium specs and features.

Which Android flagship phone do you think will put up a good fight against Apple’s iPhone 8 this year? Sound off in the comments below.