My Nokia N72 had gone bust in about a year and half. I continued with it till it died about a couple of months ago. Around this time I had landed in the Gaffar Market in Karol Bagh, Delhi. There is a big mobile bazaar there. I was at a loss as to how to buy a mobile there on my first visit. The place was choc-a-bloc with vendors and buyers. However most vendors were selling cheap Chinese duplicate. Once I realized how to proceed, my eyes found an Omnia and an iPhone. Both were Chinese copies, but unless you try to use it, you will not be able to discern it as a lookalike from their look. The market had everything to offer – from Chinese copy of any mobile you name to unlocking and software update services.
Impressed by the variety on display, I bought one. The price I paid was just 4100 for a sleek looking phone. I expected it to last for at least 6 months till I get my second official handset. I paid another 50 bucks for a iPhone case. Other accessories like iPhone dock were also available.
I came back and decided to do some research on iPhones. I gathered information not only from Indian mobile sites, but also from international sites giving good information on iPhone, mainly to know what are the features available and what are missing. The iPhone is actually not sold in India. One of my colleagues had it from USA and then got it unlocked here. Both looked identical, the original one being heavier. But everything just stops there. There is no internal memory in the copy, neither its touch screen is very responsive. But the phone did have some very good feature. However, the problems outweighed the good features. In fact this 4K iPhone impressed everyone.
The phone also passed the IMEI no. test imposed by government few months back. The batteries use to last about 2 days of normal use. Then one fine day it stopped detecting SIM. This is the end of it. It probably last about 4 months. It has now become my daughter’s iPod to play music as except for the SIM detection, everything else still works.
This is my brief encounter with a Chinese mobile. I tried it to know why so many people keep buying them. But it is certain that I will not buy another again. My opinion is that Gaffar Market is good for iPhone accessories, not for mobiles.
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