This new $400 phone is as strong as the Google Pixel - for $250 less

The best thing to happen to smartphones this year has nothing to do with dual cameras or Google hardware.

Instead, it's the increasingly heated competition in the price tier just below the iPhone 7s, Galaxy S7s, and Google Pixels of the world. Specs and features that were once exclusive to phones that cost close to $700 are now freely available in devices that cost $300 less.

A handful of Chinese companies have led the charge. You won't find the $400 OnePlus 3, ZTE Axon 7, or Huawei Honor 8 on a carrier store shelf, but in terms of pure horsepower, there's very little separating them from the higher-priced flagships you see on TV. They look nice, too.

Now, you can add another to the list. The LeEco LePro 3 is the first phone to hit the US from Chinese (not French!) tech conglomerate LeEco, and makes it even harder for every company not named Apple, Samsung, or Google to sell a phone for more than $400.

It's also not going to be the hit LeEco wants - and possibly needs. Let's take a closer look.