Are cheap Chinese smartphones legit?

jakemartin68 · Nov 30, 2015

I'm looking for a new Android phone, and I stumbled across a load of decent looking VERY cheap smartphones (like £40/$60 or less).

This one in particular stands out to me:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-Android4-4-Unlocked-Dual-Core-4GB-3G-GSM-WCDMA-GPS-QHD-Smartphone-T-mobile-/262048352862?_trksid=p2141725.m3641.l6368

I only use my phone for video streaming, web browsing and checking social media. I'm fine with rooting and I always set up a large SD card to act as space for large apps. I never game on my phone.

Is this phone (and others like it) legit (i.e not fake and of decent quality), and if so is this particular one right for me?

Fahad78 · Dec 2, 2015

Any phone under $150 is going to be really crap, just get a Moto G 2015.

Rishabh Tatiraju · Dec 26, 2015

I knew a friend once who bought a Chinese replica of the Galaxy S3. It turned out to be a slow, data hog with an Android-like (But not Android, nowhere close) OS installed. The Chinese builds without a legit brand are always a risk.

meaga1n · Dec 26, 2015

Rishabh Tatiraju :

Not all of them are like this, but I'd still recommend buying from a well-known Chinese brand like Xiaomi, Doogee, or Cubot and make sure you look at reviews. Buy from a decent seller - not on eBay but on Amazon.

That one you posted doesn't look great - as I said get a Doogee X5 Pro for £20 more http://www.dx.com/p/doogee-x5-pro-quad-core-android-5-1-4g-phone-w-5-0-ips-hd-2gb-ram-16gb-rom-otg-gps-black-852411534 or the normal Doogee X5 for £40. Double/ quadruple the storage and RAM to the one you posted, IPS screen, better battery, known brand, quad core

If you don't want to buy from China, use the DX "EU Wharehouse" or use Amazon (but the prices are £10 more than DX)

Good luck. If in doubt buy a Moto E.

madmatt30 · Dec 26, 2015

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=131662785372&alt=web

Cheapest I'd go from eBay .
Thl - decent make & build quality , UK seller , runs on lollipop.
As said another £10-20 gets you something better.

meaga1n · Dec 26, 2015

That Doogee has a better 1280x720 screen and a nicer design for the same price from DX or £10 from Amazon.
800x480 on a 5" screen will be awful.

Rishabh Tatiraju · Dec 26, 2015

meaga1n :

Rishabh Tatiraju :

Not all of them are like this, but I'd still recommend buying from a well-known Chinese brand like Xiaomi, Doogee, or Cubot and make sure you look at reviews. Buy from a decent seller - not on eBay but on Amazon.

That one you posted doesn't look great - as I said get a Doogee X5 Pro for £20 more http://www.dx.com/p/doogee-x5-pro-quad-core-android-5-1-4g-phone-w-5-0-ips-hd-2gb-ram-16gb-rom-otg-gps-black-852411534 or the normal Doogee X5 for £40. Double/ quadruple the storage and RAM to the one you posted, IPS screen, better battery, known brand, quad core

If you don't want to buy from China, use the DX "EU Wharehouse" or use Amazon (but the prices are £10 more than DX)

Good luck. If in doubt buy a Moto E.

Definitely. I use a Xiaomi phone myself. That's the reason I said without a legit brand.

meaga1n · Dec 26, 2015

Sorry, didn't see that...! Thought you meant them all in general

Jon Johnson · Jan 22, 2016

jakemartin68 :

I think not. I suggest you choose Huawei brand. This brand is getting better in England now. I have a friend who is using Huawei, he think it is awesome, quite cheap and with enough RAM for basic use.

OmGTechFreak · Jan 26, 2016

Hi,

I would not recommend u to buy the mobile u have mentioned as it will work very slow and the battery could also burst , I have seen that usually this kind of phones tend to burst while charging.

If you want to buy then u can look for mobile of the following brands which are cheap and have great quality.

Huawei
Xiaomi ( I am using phone of this brand ,no issues faced and best in class )
LeEco
ZTE
Coolpad

nerro120 · Jan 26, 2016

Usually phones that come from China are clones of the original that are released in the US. You could pick one up from Walmart or something like straight talk or family mobile, they are relatively cheap if your not going for a flagship phone and they will be much better quality then what China would ship you

delee_123 · Mar 22, 2016

Get chinese phones made by Xiaomi and Huawei. They are reliable and have excellent performance.

yimmi · May 24, 2017

First things first you can get for 100 euros really good phones,around the range you say go for xiaomi redmi note 4.Just for informing some people,no phone is made in USA,it is either china or Korea(not anymore),about the chinese vendors like xiaomi,meizu etc are great manufacturers and no its not a cheap replicas,actually avoid the no branded replicas.I would suggest xiaomi,great performance and great battery life.

lazymonster123 · May 29, 2017

Yes Cheap chinese smartphones are legit if they are listed on top online stores like amazon & ebay. Actually chinese smartphone saves cost from logistics they do not have the distributor in every city they directly list their smartphones on the online stores.

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