This article was all started from an advert on a android site selling replica android devices from China, that itself wasn't what made me click on it. It was the price of it!
Now, chances are you've never heard of the companies names on the site. Names like OPPO, ZOPO, BlueBo and Ding Xuan. Sounds like I made them up but I can promise I didn't. Most of the phones and tablets that the Chinese make are pretty exact knock offs of brands we have ourselves. Instead of HTC one you get the HDC one.
(left) HTC one, (Right) HDC one
As you can see they are hard to tell the difference. I know it's wrong to copy and that's why there's patents and copy rights, as apple love to use against companies, but at the end of the day it's my hard earned pennies being spent on my shiny toys. I'll use this HDC as an example in why I'd be tempted to invest. If you compare the two phones side by side then you can see they are as close in internal as in looks.
4.7 inch Full HD 1080p 4.7 inch 720p HD
Qualcomm Snapdragon 1.7GHZ quad core 1.2 Ghz quad-core MT6589
2GB Ram 1GB Ram
2 MP front facing camera 2 MP front camera
4 MP with UltraPixel Rear camera 8 MP Rear camera
2300 mAh battery 16000 mAh battery
Android 4.2 Android 4.2.1
£529.95 preorder from Amazon £131 from android-sale.com
I've highlighted the price because that's the immediate draw to these devices. I know the knock off HDC does come up short in most of the caparisons, but i don't think it's worth the extra you pay for the real HTC. There are a couple of risks I'd imagine, like aftercare and warranty issues and I'm yet to find anything on import duty.
The list of chinese phones is long with a wide range of specifications, devices including tablets and prices. I'm hoping that having written this that people in the android community will have had some hands on experience with these cheap Chinese devices.
So if anyone can offer answers to the posts title please comment.
