Are these Chinese Galaxy clone phones actually any good?

[bo659258]

I just wondered if anyone knows if these Samsung clone phones are any good, example below:

256/8 GB S23 Ultra Original 5G Unlocked Smartphone by XIDI Total price £83. 

It seems a bizarre price for an 8 gigabyte RAM phone. 

Obviously a true Galaxy is around £700 pounds new. 

Personally 

I've never heard of XIDI.

[four_mid_able]

Old Chinese proverb

"Cheap no good ,good no cheap"

[messier44000]

If the price is too good to be true, it probably is

[bennotbill]

I've had a few clone phones pass through my hands. I've found often what's written is a total lie. A few had multi camera lenses on the back that were no more than decoration. Or saying 20mp next to the lens when it's actually a blurry .3mp. Or 4g when it isn't even 3g.

There's specs and there's specs. One you can believe the other not so much.

Though to be fair some are nice to use even if they are missing many of the bells and whistles.

[gallovidian]

So how come people are still buying fully accredited Galaxys through the UK distribution network?

I doubt if you will get expert insider knowledge on this board. About whar is inside the phone, I mean. It isn't unknown for grey imports, sold perfectly legitimately under a brand-name on the Far Eastern market, to be unrepaorable to  through the brand owner's UK service organisation. I would suspect that the chances of this are greater with these clones.

At that price difference, you might think the occasional replacement isn't too bad a deal. If you can get your data out.

[plpmr]

Any good?

It's a criminal offence to trade in fake brand name phones.

Factually trading in counterfeits supports slave labour and organised crime.

[bo659258]

There are many similar brands from China on Ebay (which is where I first saw them). They mostly show 16 gig of RAM and a 512 of storage and they're about £100 pounds.

Also,many show 16 gig of RAM and a terabyte of storage, and they're about £160 pounds.

Many claim android 12 (some only Android 😎 

The phone specs look quite sophisticated, but is any of it true? 

They don't actually say Samsung, they just say 'S23 ultra' leaving off the Samsung part, I suppose we're meant to infer the rest. Another example: 'Note 11 Pro'  the add says 'by Generic' in small print ; I suspect we're supposed to think this is Xiaomi Redmi phone. 

[bo659258]

This is a typical spec, but is any of it true, or even meaningful. I've no idea what most of it means. 

Essential details:

Brand Name: OEM

Model Number: S22+ ULTRA

Screen Resolution: 1280x768

Feature: Dual SIM Card, Qwerty Keyboard, Waterproof, Shockproof, Gaming, Beauty Camera, Gesture control, Face Recognition, SDK available

Operation System: ANDROID 12

Screen: 6.7

Cellular: GSM, WCDMA, LTE, 5G, CDMA, CDMA2000, TD-SCDMA, Others

CPU: Quad Core

Front Camera: 16.0MP

Quick charge: 65W

Rear Camera: 32MP

Display Type: TFT

Battery Capacity: 6000-6999mAh, 6800 mAh Lithium Battery

Processor Brand: Spreadtrum

Display refresh rate: 120Hz

Mobile phone type: Smart phone

Product Name: S22+ ULTRA Smartphone

Screen Size: 6.7 Inch

OS System: Android 12.0

SIM Card: Dual SIM Card Dual Standby

Resolution: HD 1920x1080 pixels

Colour: BLACK BLUE GOLD

RAM/ROM: 16GB/512GB

Version: Global Version

Private Mold: Yes (the mind boggles) 

[papso22]

Surely a 'clone' is just a clever way of describing a knock off, or fake?

[bennotbill]

I expect the intention of these clone manufacturers is to make potential buyers believe that the look alike model name means it has the same spec. When the reality is, it has anything but.

Remember when Apple was insinuating that any phone with a rectangular touch screen was a knock off. Because they looked like iPhones. How could they not.

As I previously said some of these phones are nice to use, but you do get what you paid for. A cheap price, a lower spec phone.

[bits_n_bobs_heaven]

Are these Chinese Galaxy clone phones actually any good?

No, they freeze at the slightest issue or weak phone signal:-( Do yourself a favour and save up for at least a half decent phone:-)

[*knight-rider*]

`Surely a 'clone' is just a clever way of describing a knock off, or fake?`

Which is what the Chinese are good at, they simply buy everything that comes out, reverse engineer it, build the same thing a slightly different way and sell it under another name. i remember watching an old episode of top gear once where the guys went over to china and were looking at the cars they were making and selling and they were doing the same thing, just building copies of cars sold, making slight design changes and calling the car something different.

[unclestein]

I've had a few clone phones pass through my hands.

Passed through your hands into the bin I hope!

[four_mid_able]

Copy and pasted from the website of the genuine makers no doubt.

Reminds me of how many believe all that they see in black and white on the net ," read it on FB so it must be true " 😎

[four_mid_able]

They make nice paperweights i hear ......

[new-beginnings-uk]

Seriously you're asking if one of these phones with them specifications cost £80 is any good? you need to give your head a wobble.... These phones are rubbish and not even the correct specs.. Fake as hell... Buyer beware 

[bo659258]

Well, you see, the thing is, one person has so far replied to say that these phones are okay'ish, but they tend to get thrown away after a year, because they are cooked by then. But, if you bought one a year for 10 years that would cost you £800 quid, which would be the same cost as buying a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra in the first place; but spread over 10 years. So I'm not so sure. Which is why I put the question out there. 

[bo659258]

I wish I could afford 800 pound and I would buy a phone like that; or a Xiaomi Redmi, or a Nokia or a Oppo, or a Huawei, or a Vivo or.... Well any Android 8/12 GB Ram phone would do me.

There are other phones out there 😊

But if I could get, an even roughly equivalent phone, for 80 pounds per year, that would be fantastic. 

[unclestein]

Cash converters have loads of pre-loved phones, just saying, they are sold with a warranty etc..

[coshell501]

I brought a phone that was similar to a different brand. It really isn't worth getting one like that. I ended up sending back due to not as advertised, as lots of specs inaccurate including android version. If you want a good value phone, there are good Chinese brands with decent specs.