The author's Experience with Redmi Phones and Data Privacy Concerns

A few years ago, I was giving my family members, including someone who is over 70 years old, Redmi phones. The reason for this was that these phones were relatively affordable and had a good processor. However, it became apparent that the phone's battery life was not sufficient to last a full day, resulting in frequent breaks due to phone-related issues.

As time went on, I stopped giving out Redmi phones to my family members due to data privacy concerns. The problem was that older individuals would often accidentally download apps and install them without understanding what they did. This led to a significant amount of spam and unnecessary notifications on the devices. Furthermore, with everything being done through smartphones these days, including banking transactions, it became increasingly difficult for me to ensure my family members' safety online.

I recall giving my dad an older model Galaxy S8 Edge about a year ago. Just one week later, he accidentally dropped the phone and cracked the screen. Despite his age, he was able to notice what had happened and took responsibility for his actions. This experience made me realize that older individuals often lack the technical savvy required to navigate smartphones effectively.

In light of this realization, I have stopped giving out Chinese smartphones to my family members, including my mom and daughter. Instead, I opt for Samsung phones, which I find to be more reliable and user-friendly. My daughter, who has an LG V30 Plus, is not too fond of it, but she seems to tolerate it.

Personal Preference: Not Using a Chinese Smartphone

Personally, I do not use a Chinese smartphone. While I can afford one, I prefer Samsung phones due to their convenience features like Samsung Pay. However, I recognize that there are alternatives available for those who cannot afford high-end devices. For example, the Redmi phone's processor is comparable to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865, which is often used in gaming smartphones.

Alternatives for Those on a Tight Budget

For individuals with limited budgets, there may be alternatives to Chinese smartphones. OnePlus and Realme, both Chinese brands, offer devices with the same Snapdragon 865 processor as their high-end counterparts. These phones can provide similar performance to Samsung or Apple devices at a lower price point.

The Importance of Accessibility and Affordability

In conclusion, it is essential for people on tight budgets to have access to reliable smartphones. Brands like Samsung, LG, and others may be charging too much for their products, leaving users with limited options. Rather than criticizing individuals who choose Chinese smartphones due to financial constraints, we should consider the challenges they face in accessing more affordable alternatives.

The Role of Privilege and Affordability

As someone who has a comfortable income, I can afford high-end devices like Samsung or Apple. However, I recognize that this privilege comes with its own set of responsibilities. Rather than bashing individuals who choose Chinese smartphones due to affordability concerns, we should strive to create more inclusive options for all users.

Ultimately, it is crucial for brands and manufacturers to consider the needs of their target audience. By providing affordable alternatives, they can cater to a broader range of consumers and promote digital inclusion in our society.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhi guys this is raunchy then this is going to be a different kind of a video and this is regarding Chinese smartphones in India and there does mean a lot of what do you say stuff going around about Chinese products because of the coronavirus and the stuff that is going on I'm also not happy about it but I just want to state the facts and also will let you guys know what are the first smartphones that I personally use myself and in my family so let's talk about that and if we talk about what do you say the mid-range smartphone market in India and I would say that is the 90 percent of the market this is far lastly now dominated by Chinese smartphone makers for example if you could not talk about Xiaomi real me 1 plus Popo vivo xx these are the big ones and if you notice most of the the smartphones are sold by these Chinese manufacturer Samsung it also has gains of market because of the m-series but largely if you look at it the Chinese vendors have taken up the market and the thing is that they have taken up this market because of very aggressive pricing and the specs that we give and and they have realized that India is a country where people have very conscious about how much do they spend and that's why they're able to gather the market but before we continue let's talk about what are the non Chinese smartphone options that we have here in India I would say Samsung is one of them yes it's a Korean company but the Samsung biggest smartphone plant in the world is near no doubt that is in Delhi and they're actually not only manufactured mid-range phone but even the flagship smartphone starter the Samsung Galaxy S 20 series even notify recall etc were all made in actually India and something is one of the rare companies where most of the components are non Chinese yes it might have some component from China but most of them and a lot of components are actually being manufactured in India their imports and stuff from other countries but Samsung is sort of an exception and then we also have LG I mean some of their products are made in India some imported from Korea then we have issues as a diamond company but again lately in the mid-range market I don't know how relevant as a source because the last mid-range smartphone that was the max-flow m2 was lost over 1 so I don't know what's happening with them then we also have a Nokia it's sort of a finished company but most of the smart phones are actually made again in China and then again we also have to talk about Apple I guess we know Apple is a US company but 95% of the smart phones are actually made in China so I don't know what you call happen you call it a Chinese company or not I don't know what it is the thing is that then we have another category because I was reading a lot of comments and stuff people argue that a lot of companies what if these Chinese companies if you even talk about Xiaomi then Oppo acceptor have very big factories in India and if you see some of the phones it's labeled as sticker as made in India actually this made in India is actually not technically correct what is happening currently in India is these products are getting assembled in India most of the parts the main parts I would say not every part some of the components are being made in India but majority of the important parts like chips etc displays etc are actually imported from other countries and most of them are actually important in China so even if you see some of the stickers that says made in India it's actually technically assembled in India and that's the case for many of the companies for example Swami's plant opal plants actually they assemble in India and they get tax benefit because of that that's the reason and but again Swami does not manufacture all their devices in India for example the flagship meat and it's totally imported from China so it depends from product to product but most of the mid-range smartphones are actually assembled in India even by these Chinese vendors now I would say why are these Chinese vendors capture the market if you look at the situation before Xiaomi came about four five years ago we had established players in the mid-range smartphone market HTC was there it's now gone when something was a very big player but if you recall what was happening that time was that in the mid range we were getting very how to craft sort of smartphones remember the Jay series the famous so we are paying a lot of for mid-range smartphone even basic stuff like auto brightness haptic feedback used to be disabled and these Chinese manufacturers came actually and started giving actually very good specs for the price and that is the reason they got hold of the market and something realized that just last year for the new M series but other manufacturers for example didn't care that much LG does release some phones here and there I would say in India but their frequency is very very less we do have other manufacturers like lava etc from India but in feature phones they are good but in the smartphone market hardly they have any presence so and don't let's not even talk about Micromax and stuff that that was just a rebranding company importing stuff mostly from China and labeling it so we were left with this one and because of this aggressive pricing Xiaomi actually gained the market and then we have other players like real me etc and I feel they were able to get to this market and because of the aggressive pricing they understood and I don't know I guess their profit margins are not lower than some of the other brands that were they thought that's that's how I think so they were able to capture the market and just look at the recent things what is happening and there's a lot of ante what is a China's sentiment and I want to talk about this one get me right guys no Indian person would be willing to buy a Chinese smartphone if he has a better alternative at that price point and India being a poor country I understand when people say okay you have this X phone for 10 or 12 thousand that's from a Chinese brand but from another brand Nexus Samsung or any other brand that same nokia etc you can get something for seventeen eighteen thousand you guys have to realize there's a price difference of four five thousand and that's almost 55% price difference for that person it might be easy for you to say that 50% price difference but I know India being what do you say poor country even that ten or eleven thousand per price point that that particular person is paying is difficult for him so you just can't expect that person to pay a fifty percent premium for some of these Brants I am pretty sure if they had money left they would have done that but the fact is that because of extra taxes now also we have the GST etc people are already getting pressurised because of the covert situation many of them have lost their jobs or they have got what we say pay cuts etc already they have less money to spend so asking them to spend a little bit more on some of these other brands like Samsung Nokia cetera might be difficult it might be very easy to say being nationalist whatever buy these brand owned by Chinese brand and I'm pretty sure these people would have done that if they had that flexibility of spending extra but I know many people even that 10 12 thousand rupees what they are spending on smartphone they think 10 times so so you just can't expect them to spend 50% more that's the reality and just notice what happened now with Samsung I like Samsung because mostly as I've told you they have the biggest plant in India etcetera but see what ha what they did with the Galaxy emblem in which I just unboxed yesterday see the specs and that's priced for thirteen thousand I just don't get it Samsung had a huge opportunity right now to capture the market but they did the exact opposite like what they were doing with the J Series the m11 actually reminded me of the J Series so I feel it's not that anti in these people are not loyal to India all it didn't love India but I feel the pricing matters a lot to a particular segment of people specially in this mid-range market and expecting them to pay five six thousand extra that is about a forty fifty percent margin extra simply they won't do that if they had it they would have definitely done that now let's talk about what are the smart phones that I personally use the personally 1/2 purchase and as you can see guys I have the Galaxy fold that I have purchased last year and I still use this smartphone and personally after this one I haven't to purchase any particular smartphone to use myself yes I purchased some iPhones etc this is the last one that I did the iPhone se but this is for review and stuff and I want to have more iPhone that's in my car because of the apple carplay that is needed and I used that Apple watch so I need one iPhone but apart from that I would say I haven't purchased any other smartphone personally and in fact I would say from last year onwards even in my family members have stopped then for example my dad was using the mean smartphones that means smartphones earlier I actually gave him some high-end smartphones about two years ago but he has a very he's pretty old over 70 years old and he accidentally drops one pretty frequently so he was breaking all the phones about every two three months so he only told me I don't want don't give me expensive ones give me a cheap phones so I was giving him the redneck phones but from last one year I've stopped giving any of these red many Xiaomi Chinese phones to my family members because of the data privacy issues for example if you recall from last one and a half years onwards that odd situation started happening and the problem is that old people just don't have an idea what because of the spam and unnecessary notifications comes canny stuff that is coming on no difficulty just click on it and they might install it thereby compromising that and these days everything is on the smart phone your banking everything so I was scared of that hence I've stopped giving what do you say the Xiaomi phones etc Chinese phones to my family members in fact I gave my dad the s88 Galaxy s8 edge about a year ago and just after a week when I had to install one more app notice that he already cracked the screen from this edge he told accidentally it slipped out but yeah that's another Satori so personally in my family I have stopped giving Chinese smartphones even my mom my if I recall I've given her the Samsung some a series that she's having in fact my daughter had the LGV 30 plus which I had to chase for review so hard like this so this is the one my daughter uses and it's and this is all bigger not because of Chinese thing that is going this is because the data privacy I was created what is happening through the odd situation tracking and all this thing so personally in my family yes I don't use what do you say a Chinese smartphone but I can afford to do that for example I if you guys know I don't do heavy gaming and in fact I was very happy with the Samsung Galaxy S 20 plus which I reviewed earlier it's a review on it that I had and I enjoyed using it because I don't do gaming it was perfectly fine for me I'm used to Samsung pay because it's so convenient so it was a very convenient phone for me but let's say a person and something that is about seventy four thousand certainly a very high premium smartphone but let's say a person who does not have this high budget what are the alternatives that he has for example he wants the great processor like a snapdragon 865 the other alternatives that are available right now are most of the chinese smartphone for example oneplus real me etc that are offering star dragon 865 let's say for a heavy gamer if you get to a gaming a lot those will be better obviously than the samsung galaxy s 20 plus because of the Exynos processor so again it depends from user to user you just can't blank it say that okay why are you using a Chinese smartphone there might be reasons and that person might be willing to go for what he say higher branch like let's say Samsung or Apple but he simply might not have that budget extra budget of spending 30 to 50 to 60% extra for those plants so if you have that luxury of spending extra money on other brands like LG Samsung Apple X go ahead and do that I support that I personally can do that I am using the Samsung phone I have iPhone also but again what about most of the users who cannot afford that they are on a very tight budget then that is the reason they are using some of these shiny smartphones and if other vendors like Samsung LG issues etc app will realize this and they lower the price why would they buy it but again that's not how the market is working these other brands are still charging quite a bit of a premium and I would say it's very easy to sit on the other and the computer screen and just comment and bash others about it think about that other person who has a strict budget of just about ten or eleven thousand put yourself in his shoes and see what are the great options does he have does he have some great options retire a brand Darwyn brands like Samsung LG and other non Chinese brand and just think about it before bashing them on social media and stuff if you are able to do that you're privileged you have that extra cash to spend on that and I I feel if you have that extra cash you should do that but again just simply bashing anyone who is buying what do you say Chinese phone this is stupid he's not buying because he wants to is simply that he does not have any other good choices there might be choices but those choices might you might have to spend 30 40 or 50 percent extra and realize that not everybody can do that anyways guys that's it for now thanks for watching this is Ron G that I hope to see you in my next videohi guys this is raunchy then this is going to be a different kind of a video and this is regarding Chinese smartphones in India and there does mean a lot of what do you say stuff going around about Chinese products because of the coronavirus and the stuff that is going on I'm also not happy about it but I just want to state the facts and also will let you guys know what are the first smartphones that I personally use myself and in my family so let's talk about that and if we talk about what do you say the mid-range smartphone market in India and I would say that is the 90 percent of the market this is far lastly now dominated by Chinese smartphone makers for example if you could not talk about Xiaomi real me 1 plus Popo vivo xx these are the big ones and if you notice most of the the smartphones are sold by these Chinese manufacturer Samsung it also has gains of market because of the m-series but largely if you look at it the Chinese vendors have taken up the market and the thing is that they have taken up this market because of very aggressive pricing and the specs that we give and and they have realized that India is a country where people have very conscious about how much do they spend and that's why they're able to gather the market but before we continue let's talk about what are the non Chinese smartphone options that we have here in India I would say Samsung is one of them yes it's a Korean company but the Samsung biggest smartphone plant in the world is near no doubt that is in Delhi and they're actually not only manufactured mid-range phone but even the flagship smartphone starter the Samsung Galaxy S 20 series even notify recall etc were all made in actually India and something is one of the rare companies where most of the components are non Chinese yes it might have some component from China but most of them and a lot of components are actually being manufactured in India their imports and stuff from other countries but Samsung is sort of an exception and then we also have LG I mean some of their products are made in India some imported from Korea then we have issues as a diamond company but again lately in the mid-range market I don't know how relevant as a source because the last mid-range smartphone that was the max-flow m2 was lost over 1 so I don't know what's happening with them then we also have a Nokia it's sort of a finished company but most of the smart phones are actually made again in China and then again we also have to talk about Apple I guess we know Apple is a US company but 95% of the smart phones are actually made in China so I don't know what you call happen you call it a Chinese company or not I don't know what it is the thing is that then we have another category because I was reading a lot of comments and stuff people argue that a lot of companies what if these Chinese companies if you even talk about Xiaomi then Oppo acceptor have very big factories in India and if you see some of the phones it's labeled as sticker as made in India actually this made in India is actually not technically correct what is happening currently in India is these products are getting assembled in India most of the parts the main parts I would say not every part some of the components are being made in India but majority of the important parts like chips etc displays etc are actually imported from other countries and most of them are actually important in China so even if you see some of the stickers that says made in India it's actually technically assembled in India and that's the case for many of the companies for example Swami's plant opal plants actually they assemble in India and they get tax benefit because of that that's the reason and but again Swami does not manufacture all their devices in India for example the flagship meat and it's totally imported from China so it depends from product to product but most of the mid-range smartphones are actually assembled in India even by these Chinese vendors now I would say why are these Chinese vendors capture the market if you look at the situation before Xiaomi came about four five years ago we had established players in the mid-range smartphone market HTC was there it's now gone when something was a very big player but if you recall what was happening that time was that in the mid range we were getting very how to craft sort of smartphones remember the Jay series the famous so we are paying a lot of for mid-range smartphone even basic stuff like auto brightness haptic feedback used to be disabled and these Chinese manufacturers came actually and started giving actually very good specs for the price and that is the reason they got hold of the market and something realized that just last year for the new M series but other manufacturers for example didn't care that much LG does release some phones here and there I would say in India but their frequency is very very less we do have other manufacturers like lava etc from India but in feature phones they are good but in the smartphone market hardly they have any presence so and don't let's not even talk about Micromax and stuff that that was just a rebranding company importing stuff mostly from China and labeling it so we were left with this one and because of this aggressive pricing Xiaomi actually gained the market and then we have other players like real me etc and I feel they were able to get to this market and because of the aggressive pricing they understood and I don't know I guess their profit margins are not lower than some of the other brands that were they thought that's that's how I think so they were able to capture the market and just look at the recent things what is happening and there's a lot of ante what is a China's sentiment and I want to talk about this one get me right guys no Indian person would be willing to buy a Chinese smartphone if he has a better alternative at that price point and India being a poor country I understand when people say okay you have this X phone for 10 or 12 thousand that's from a Chinese brand but from another brand Nexus Samsung or any other brand that same nokia etc you can get something for seventeen eighteen thousand you guys have to realize there's a price difference of four five thousand and that's almost 55% price difference for that person it might be easy for you to say that 50% price difference but I know India being what do you say poor country even that ten or eleven thousand per price point that that particular person is paying is difficult for him so you just can't expect that person to pay a fifty percent premium for some of these Brants I am pretty sure if they had money left they would have done that but the fact is that because of extra taxes now also we have the GST etc people are already getting pressurised because of the covert situation many of them have lost their jobs or they have got what we say pay cuts etc already they have less money to spend so asking them to spend a little bit more on some of these other brands like Samsung Nokia cetera might be difficult it might be very easy to say being nationalist whatever buy these brand owned by Chinese brand and I'm pretty sure these people would have done that if they had that flexibility of spending extra but I know many people even that 10 12 thousand rupees what they are spending on smartphone they think 10 times so so you just can't expect them to spend 50% more that's the reality and just notice what happened now with Samsung I like Samsung because mostly as I've told you they have the biggest plant in India etcetera but see what ha what they did with the Galaxy emblem in which I just unboxed yesterday see the specs and that's priced for thirteen thousand I just don't get it Samsung had a huge opportunity right now to capture the market but they did the exact opposite like what they were doing with the J Series the m11 actually reminded me of the J Series so I feel it's not that anti in these people are not loyal to India all it didn't love India but I feel the pricing matters a lot to a particular segment of people specially in this mid-range market and expecting them to pay five six thousand extra that is about a forty fifty percent margin extra simply they won't do that if they had it they would have definitely done that now let's talk about what are the smart phones that I personally use the personally 1/2 purchase and as you can see guys I have the Galaxy fold that I have purchased last year and I still use this smartphone and personally after this one I haven't to purchase any particular smartphone to use myself yes I purchased some iPhones etc this is the last one that I did the iPhone se but this is for review and stuff and I want to have more iPhone that's in my car because of the apple carplay that is needed and I used that Apple watch so I need one iPhone but apart from that I would say I haven't purchased any other smartphone personally and in fact I would say from last year onwards even in my family members have stopped then for example my dad was using the mean smartphones that means smartphones earlier I actually gave him some high-end smartphones about two years ago but he has a very he's pretty old over 70 years old and he accidentally drops one pretty frequently so he was breaking all the phones about every two three months so he only told me I don't want don't give me expensive ones give me a cheap phones so I was giving him the redneck phones but from last one year I've stopped giving any of these red many Xiaomi Chinese phones to my family members because of the data privacy issues for example if you recall from last one and a half years onwards that odd situation started happening and the problem is that old people just don't have an idea what because of the spam and unnecessary notifications comes canny stuff that is coming on no difficulty just click on it and they might install it thereby compromising that and these days everything is on the smart phone your banking everything so I was scared of that hence I've stopped giving what do you say the Xiaomi phones etc Chinese phones to my family members in fact I gave my dad the s88 Galaxy s8 edge about a year ago and just after a week when I had to install one more app notice that he already cracked the screen from this edge he told accidentally it slipped out but yeah that's another Satori so personally in my family I have stopped giving Chinese smartphones even my mom my if I recall I've given her the Samsung some a series that she's having in fact my daughter had the LGV 30 plus which I had to chase for review so hard like this so this is the one my daughter uses and it's and this is all bigger not because of Chinese thing that is going this is because the data privacy I was created what is happening through the odd situation tracking and all this thing so personally in my family yes I don't use what do you say a Chinese smartphone but I can afford to do that for example I if you guys know I don't do heavy gaming and in fact I was very happy with the Samsung Galaxy S 20 plus which I reviewed earlier it's a review on it that I had and I enjoyed using it because I don't do gaming it was perfectly fine for me I'm used to Samsung pay because it's so convenient so it was a very convenient phone for me but let's say a person and something that is about seventy four thousand certainly a very high premium smartphone but let's say a person who does not have this high budget what are the alternatives that he has for example he wants the great processor like a snapdragon 865 the other alternatives that are available right now are most of the chinese smartphone for example oneplus real me etc that are offering star dragon 865 let's say for a heavy gamer if you get to a gaming a lot those will be better obviously than the samsung galaxy s 20 plus because of the Exynos processor so again it depends from user to user you just can't blank it say that okay why are you using a Chinese smartphone there might be reasons and that person might be willing to go for what he say higher branch like let's say Samsung or Apple but he simply might not have that budget extra budget of spending 30 to 50 to 60% extra for those plants so if you have that luxury of spending extra money on other brands like LG Samsung Apple X go ahead and do that I support that I personally can do that I am using the Samsung phone I have iPhone also but again what about most of the users who cannot afford that they are on a very tight budget then that is the reason they are using some of these shiny smartphones and if other vendors like Samsung LG issues etc app will realize this and they lower the price why would they buy it but again that's not how the market is working these other brands are still charging quite a bit of a premium and I would say it's very easy to sit on the other and the computer screen and just comment and bash others about it think about that other person who has a strict budget of just about ten or eleven thousand put yourself in his shoes and see what are the great options does he have does he have some great options retire a brand Darwyn brands like Samsung LG and other non Chinese brand and just think about it before bashing them on social media and stuff if you are able to do that you're privileged you have that extra cash to spend on that and I I feel if you have that extra cash you should do that but again just simply bashing anyone who is buying what do you say Chinese phone this is stupid he's not buying because he wants to is simply that he does not have any other good choices there might be choices but those choices might you might have to spend 30 40 or 50 percent extra and realize that not everybody can do that anyways guys that's it for now thanks for watching this is Ron G that I hope to see you in my next video\n"