Took the plunge!

[Christopher Matthews Jr]

So, about a week and a half ago, I took the plunge and decided to buy a cheap china made mobile device (Star S2000), to tinker around with. (Not to replace my GS4 mind you ) And I must say this: I am more than pleasantly surprised by the functionality of the device! It runs on a quad core MTK6589 processor, overclocked to around 1.5 Ghz, has 1 Gb of RAM, and runs on android 4.2.1. Dual SIM phone, so internationally, a good buy. It has a 5 inch FWVGA screen, with very admirable screen sharpness and quality (yes, I know, not the best, but pretty dang good. Whites and blacks are almost on par with my GS4) I didn't trust the Antutu benchmark scores for the device, (the application came pre installed, and was installed in the SYSTEM directory? Obviously someone tinkered around with the results!) It claimed to get 13,500, so I rooted, uninstalled it, and re-installed the one from the play store, and get consistent 11,750 scores. The phone's a quad band, that runs on the 850/900/1800/1900 GSM frequencies, and supports the 850/1900 WCDMA (3G) frequencies. It functions on ATT's 3G network quite well, I must say! I get about a full day on moderate usage (maaaaybe around 12 hours or so). Overall, for a 160 dollar phone, this thing kicks behind!

 

[Fairclough]

Solid. I was going to commit to an Asian phone or xiaomi before I got my nexus. Some look exactly the same as other big brand phones - hopefully same digitiser if you need spare parts. I thought repairs might be difficult.

I am glad your happy with it. I always wanted to hear someone's experience with one rather then the ?ratings" on the site you order it from.

Posted via the mystical forest creatures that power this Nexus 4.

 

[Christopher Matthews Jr]

It's definitely something to look into if you break your main phone! And they actually have huge phones too. We're talking 6.8-7 inch phablets, with 3200 mAh batteries!

A friend of mine bought a knockoff GS4 and it fits the cases the same, and everything! 1:1 with the original phone.

 

[Fairclough]

There will always be haters for knock offs but it is a great substitute for those who can't afford the real deal or who just need a lower end quality phone without paying for the reputation of a company.

Posted via the mystical forest creatures that power this Nexus 4.

 

[Christopher Matthews Jr]

EXACTLY! Sometimes you don't need a phone with 2 GBs of RAM, and a 1.6 GHz processor, when 1.5 GHz, and 1 GB of RAM suits your needs. You'll end up paying 400 dollars less, so why not?

Tapatalked from my Nexus 10

 

[zorak950]

When it comes to knock-offs, I'm personally more concerned about lack of support than inferior components; if they're cheap enough, though, I suppose you can afford to replace your phone if it breaks after a few months.

Beyond that, the real major question mark is software integrity. We trust major manufacturers implicitly not to build in spyware, malicious apps, and other nasty things because they have hundreds of billions of dollars of skin in the game that they stand to lose if they violate the public's trust- not to mention they're answerable to the legal authorities in multiple countries. What a shady, niche manufacturer in the business of copying other companies' designs is willing to do in the name of making a quick buck is arguably more suspect.

 

[Christopher Matthews Jr]

When it comes to knock-offs, I'm personally more concerned about lack of support than inferior components; if they're cheap enough, though, I suppose you can afford to replace your phone if it breaks after a few months.

Beyond that, the real major question mark is software integrity. We trust major manufacturers implicitly not to build in spyware, malicious apps, and other nasty things because they have hundreds of billions of dollars of skin in the game that they stand to lose if they violate the public's trust- not to mention they're answerable to the legal authorities in multiple countries. What a shady, niche manufacturer in the business of copying other companies' designs is willing to do in the name of making a quick buck is arguably more suspect.

Very well spoken. I agree, as well. One of the first things I did was install Avast on the phone, and it found several apps that were preinstalled, to be suspect.

Tapatalked from my Nexus 10