It was only 7-8 years ago that this trend of “Chinese” mobiles flourished in India. At first, they were of some good quality. But the increase in demand and the expected “low quality” level made them flow freely to our market as if in a flood. And that resulted in low quality devices. Still the Chinese market in India is a hit. By “Chinese” we mean the low priced, low quality devices, no offence are intended on the original Chinese devices.
Let's check the pros and cons of the Chinese smartphones.
1. Low budget:
Obviously, the main attraction of a Chinese phone is its attractive budget friendly price. The phones come in that tempting low a price that any tech freak with a poor pocket would fall for it. High features smartphones at low price tag is always tempting, especially in a budget conscious consumer market like India.
2. Rich features:
Yet another temptation caused by the Chinese mobile. A China mobile will have so many features, as many features as in a flagship phone that you will be amazed how they manage it. The apps that yo see in a high end smartphone will b seen in a China mobile too. It will be really tempting when the low price combines with high spec.
3. Dual SIM:
All of the China mobiles come with dual SIM feature. In a country like India, where everybody would like to draw a line between the office and family, and those who are not satisfied with the tariffs and plans of a network provider, having an option for choosing two SIM cards will be accepted widely.
4. Scaled down flagships:
Have you noticed a certain trend? Whenever a flagship smartphone gets released anywhere in the world, a duplicate of the same with a pretty low price tag would be released in the “Chinese” mobile market in India. It is a good thing in a way that there is no ways that a middle class or a common man can ever buy a flagship smartphone at its releasing price.
5. Disposable:
What is wrong in buying a smartphone at a sky high price? After one year of buying, the phone will be so out dated. There will be new phones available in the market with updated features. You will be badly longing to buy a new one. But you know that you will not be getting any good price if you decide to sell your current phone. The sky high price at which you bought it will prick you and you will start regretting buying the phone at that price. This is where the Chinese phones hit. They come at such a low price that you will not feel stopped from going for a new one after some time. You can sell it/ gift it/ keep it aside and buy a new one without much regrets.
6. New apps:
You can see so many new apps in a China phone. Most of them would be meant for entertainment. But some good feature would also be there. Remember the Talking Tom? An earlier, unpolished version was there in China mobiles before it came to popular mobile brands. So, if you are fun loving person, you will love the silly- small features in a China mobile.
7. Different Varieties:
One plus point of the China phones is that there are numerous devices available with similar specs and almost similar price tag. There would be a wide variety to choose from. This is an advantage as far as a customer is concerned. The devices are available in different colours too.
Now let's list down the drawbacks of Chinese Phones:
1. Third rated:
This is the first disadvantage of Chinese phones. The very first impression that comes to our mind is “third rate”, which is disappointing and discouraging. This is due to the deteriorating quality of those kinds of phones. If things were going perfectly like in the earlier times, there would have been a bunch of good quality phones and people would have loved them more.
2. Copy Cats:
there are barely innovative ideas in a Chinese phone. Whenever a new feature is released by any major companies, these guys merely copy it. If they had tried for something unique in their design, or features or apps, the world would have given some credits to them.
3. No guarantee:
There is no guarantee or warranty for any Chinese devices or accessories that come along with it. The manufacturers themselves know that the device will not pass the test of time.
4. Use and throw:
Chinese mobiles have now a banner “Use and Throw”. This is due to the poor build of the device. In order to cut the cost, the companies cut short the cost of production of these phones. This results in poor quality devices, which are easily breakable, scratch magnets and hang prone.
5. Decreasing quality:
The quality of the Chinese phones are decreasing day by day. The more the demand rises, the cheaper the device gets as the companies try to release as many devices as possible at a time and this results in bulk production of low quality phones. If this tendency reverses and the companies build good quality phones with warranty and good features, the Chinese phones will rule most of the markets in the world for sure.
6. Scaled down features:
The features available in a Chinese phone will be scaled down versions of popular smartphone features. The scaled down versions will have their own limitations. They can never perform as crisply as their originals. If the China phones had come with good features, good build and low price, the trend prevailing the current would have been changed.
7. eWaste:
The “Use and throw” motto of the Chinese phones are making more ewastes by creating numerous useless phones. Though some of them can be recycled, most of them can not. So, finally they heap up and becomes a bunch of e waste. It is high time he companies should realise the threat and build more eco friendly, recyclable devices.
These are the major advantages and disadvantages of Chinese phones.
