Although there are a lot of devices on Android that are more expensive than the iPhone, they are perceived as a choice for those who usually do not have money. The statement, frankly, is twofold. After all, there are also cheap devices based on the OS from Google, and many of them. For this, consumers appreciate this platform, which allows them to buy a smartphone for 8-10, and in some cases even for 3-5 thousand hryvnia. But when choosing an inexpensive device, you need to be aware that it can be really dangerous.
Many people think that cheap Android smartphones are bad for their slowness due to weak iron. In principle, this argument is often not meaningless. However, practice shows that modern devices – regardless of cost – are powerful enough to pull Android without lags. So you have to be afraid of something else.
Cheap Android smartphones – worth buying
A key problem with cheap Android smartphones is the mediocre quality control of the components they use. Manufacturers are trying to save with all their might, so they turn to suppliers who offer the lowest prices – sometimes even to the detriment of the quality of components.
The most striking example of recent times is smartphones based on Unisoc processors. Despite the fact that it is the fourth largest supplier of processors in the world in terms of production, quality control is not established. Therefore, the chipset that it produces suffers from critical vulnerabilities, which greatly affect the smartphones themselves.
Check Point experts have found that Unisoc processors contain a vulnerability hidden in the modem’s firmware. It allows you to remotely connect to a smartphone via GSM and either disconnect it or start listening to the smartphone. And you can do this using the simplest Trojan, which will break the protection of the processor.
It would seem where we are and where Unisoc is. What kind of manufacturer is this? But in fact, the company’s processors are installed in almost all smartphones in the segment up to 10 thousand rubles, and about a third of devices in the segment up to 12-15 thousand. For example, they are very popular with brands such as LeEco, Vivo, Oppo and other Chinese manufacturers.
Android is not updated. What’s up
But hell with her, with this audition, right? Cheap Android smartphones have a number of other disadvantages. Not the ones you notice or don’t. And those that catch the eye, if not immediately, then at least some time after the start of operation. Here they are:
Lack of security updates and fixes;
Lack of new versions of Android;
Intermediate after-sales service;
Problems with the provision of repair services;
Quick debit after the start of the sale.
In fact, I would call all these shortcomings a lack of interest from the manufacturer. The brand is simply not interested in supporting the device, which costs 3-5 thousand hryvnias. What updates can we talk about if the smartphone is sold at a price close to the cost? So, spending time and resources on updating it just doesn’t make practical sense.
You can track this feature on a variety of smartphones. And this is the fault of even more or less smart brands. For example, Xiaomi allows itself to stop supporting an inexpensive device, even if it has not yet received any updates. So what? I released my smartphone – I traded with them for six months – I collected all the cream, and that’s it. No updates or even small security patches.
So, if you choose a new smartphone, pay attention first to its price. My personal experience tells me that with devices for 8-10 thousand hryvnias, manufacturers simply will not allow this. Therefore, at least one or two Android updates and a dozen or two security patches for such a device definitely shines. So, it is not a sin to overpay now, so as not to regret it later. Is not it?