Chinese Android phones pros and cons part 2: aftersales service, perks and cameras
This article may contain personal views and opinion from the author.
Note: This editorial is part two of two. See part one.
He's dead, Jim! Technical and firmware support
CONS (Victor H.): Imagine a situation: you have ordered your brand new deal-o-tastic Android phone from China. You have waited a couple of weeks to get it. The gadget finally arrives. You are excited, pumped up, opening the box with trembling hands. You fire up the phone and it does not work. Or it has a few dead pixels. Or something else comes up. Can you imagine all the hassle of returning it back, getting a replacement or your money back? Are you even sure you can return it to the seller, and that customer support will understand any proper English? I honestly don’t have the time and will to deal with all of this, and probably nor do you.
Perks: a phone with a built-in projector? A 3D display? Dual SIM? Biggest battery? You can have one from China
PROS (Chris P.):
Lenovo P780, a 4000mAh battery in a 0.39in/9.95mm thick body
CONS (Victor H.): There’s no arguing that it’s plain cool to have a built-in projector in your phone, and dual SIM connectivity would not hurt either, but truth is those are decisions that translate into compromises. A built-in projector works out in a bulkier, larger device and dual SIM also ensues design compromises.
Cameras: is it all show?
PROS (Chris P.): There’s no denying that, in China, cameras have been a department that has received a disproportionate amount of attention in the past.
The camera-centric ZTE Nubia Z5Sn
A camera is about the overall experience, the camera interface, editing features, and so much more. Common sense tells you that a white-box Chinese manufacturer simply does not have the resources and the team that would build such a great all-around experience. It’s no surprise then to see that a lot of them rely on a generic Android interface. There is nothing wrong with generic as long as it usable (it is), but if you are looking for more advanced features and shooting modes, those might not be there. You can also often see Chinese phones advertised to have impressive cameras on paper. A ‘13-megapixel’ front facing camera sounds great, doesn’t it? It’s just that it’s often times not capable of recording even 720p videos, and the still images turn up surprisingly awful. The takeaway is to not rely on just reading the specs, as they don’t always paint a full picture.
With that said, there are clearly some exceptions. Companies like Huawei, Lenovo, ZTE and Xiaomi have both the resources and the will to bring decent cameras. The problem is with the real dirt cheap white-box Chinese makers, that often cannot deliver a great camera.
Intellectual rights and workers’ rights: should you support “Made in China”?
PROS (Chris P.): Stealing is wrong. Period.
Of course, that never stopped the top dogs in the industry from copying each other. To try and put it all on the Chinese manufacturers seems unfair to say the least. Nobody is promoting iPhone 5s knockoffs here. Just like nobody is suggesting that you buy into one of those. There are plenty of manufacturers, like Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, Meizu, etc., that offer original designs that don’t blatantly copy. Those, not at all accidentally, are also the ones that offer the highest levels of quality on all fronts.
To try and put a nation of over a billion people under a common denominator, to me, is downright wrong and misguided.
CONS (Victor H.): Hey, I might be old-fashioned here, but I think stealing is wrong. It does not take a genius to accept the fact that Chinese companies, often enamored with Western gadgets and design, shamelessly steal and copy. It actually takes a genius to make up excuses for that. Not all companies do copy, of course, but those who do are never punished. When it comes to intellectual rights, China is a jungle with its own selective laws, or rather - lack of such. It all boils down to the fact that originality and creativity are values worth defending.
Final words
This last section is purposefully not tagged as a conclusion. We want you to make one for yourself -- we've already provided enough food for thought. Whether you'll end up buying a phone born and raised in China is a matter of choice, but also a commitment. We've seen the local market there break free from its infancy, and that's no surprise -- we're talking about the world's biggest smartphone market after all. The Chinese manufacturing machine has been put into motion, and if it manages to keep as steady a pace, we may very well be hearing more about currently obscure brands. But it'll require an effort that transcends far beyond cheap prices -- the worldwide smartphone market is a killing field, and only the very strongest survive. In the end, it feels like both sides agreed on one thing: China is way too big for every single smartphone to be put under a common denominator.
Things that are NOT allowed: