Re: Cheap... Too cheap?
"hard to know for sure if it has a special 'phone home to some agency in China' bit of firmware buried deep in there somewhere"
In a business context I wouldn't want a Chinese spyware infested phone, but I'd be quite happy with that for domestic use. If chairman Mao's successor want to go through the few dull snaps on my phone, peruse my contacts, or see who I phoned when, then that's no threat to my civil liberties, whereas it definitely is if my own government are doing it (or their "allies" doing it on their behalf).
Biting the hand that feeds IT
