Eg OnePlus, Archos, ZTE, Xiaomi etc?

Are they any good?
Is customer support any good if you have a problem?

For example, the Archos 50 Diamond looks amazing spec for the price but it’s a bit of an unknown quantity. I know they used to make amazing mp3 machines when iPods were in short trousers but like ZTE, Huawei etc their phones are not that well known to most people

I have a one plus and can’t complain. I have never had to deal with customer support but is customer support ever that good even from the big boys? Regarding Huawei, they are rumoured to be the next nexus builders so can’t be that bad.

I’ve got a CAT as in the earth mover manufacturers. Works as a phone and hammer.

I’ve just inherited my sister’s Archos 40T. After, I’m not sure, about a year and a half or so the battery is now at the point where it needs to be charged every night. Also, because it’s dual sim it was a faff getting my data to work. Fortunately a lovely lady at the shop sorted me out. Can’t complain, I mean, a day of battery life is a bit sucky… but when I dont have data and wifi on constantly… it lasts almost 3 days, so that’s what’s killing it really.

I’ve got a Huawei Honor 6. Great phone for the money (£250)

Thanks
I assume that they’re like laptops in that they’re all using recognised components but are “finished” slightly differently.

Generally yes, there are only so many manufacturers of components so it’s how they combine those components and how up to date the components are when they build the phone.

I’m after a One Plus at the moment but they are releasing a new handset towards the end of year so may hold off.

I got a Leagoo Lead 1 off Amazon for about £80. Does the job, a bit unstable at times but I have rooted it. It’s a random Chineese maker so one has to wonder about the data security. I mainly got it as a stop-gap as my old phone was rather dated and struggling to keep up, but it’s done surprisingly well.

You may want to look at this Fairphone which is an interesting concept. I have not used one yet, but I will need to wait for the next batch to see what they are like.

Wife and daughter have both had generic Orange branded phones, I think one’s made by Huawei and the other by Alcatel. No problems, except my daughter dropped hers and the screen broke – can hardly blame that on the manufacturer though!

Had an Orange branded ZTE Crescent, great phone, £40 of ebay. hardly any storage, but microSD slot. lots and lots of slim roms on modaco and the like, great for messing about with, and pretty good as a phone.

Then got a THL W8, fast mediatek turbo chip thingy, good camera, dual sim. only problem was GPS and endomondo. wouldn’t track accurately so had to use runkeeper instead. No great hardship cost about £100.

Now have a xperia Z3 through work. I miss fiddling about with the ROM to be honest..