My Experience Buying A Smartphone In Aba
Some days ago, I decided to get a new phone and I had to choose between buying from Jumia or buying from a shop, I chose the latter as it was going to be more fun. (This post was originally posted in 2016)
As a Techie, I'd say buying things from Aba is fun and interesting but you'll have to be really smart. I also had to choose between buying in the Market (Ariaria) or going into the main town. I didn't want a too expensive phone so I placed my budget between 30-40k.
I ended up taking a bus to St Michael's Road, Aba. I walked around the shops, bargaining and I noticed something quite common among the people selling the smartphones.
They always try to make you feel like an inferior device is good. My advice is " no matter what don't listen to them" . Buy what you want and leave.
Something really funny happened at the last shop I went to :
I initially requested for a phone with a battery capacity of 3000maH and above between 30-40k. They brought out an Infinix Note 2. Looking at the device, I was really happy but always remember - you don't judge a book by it's cover. I opened the back of the phone and checked the battery, 4040maH. (quite impressive)
I turned on the phone. The boot transition wasn't too smooth, it seemed like a fake Infinix phone but I decided to investigate thoroughly before concluding.
After the phone finished booting, I opened the app drawer and went through the system apps. The icons looked bigger and lacked quality, unlike the ones in most Infinix phones.I spotted something strange again - Tecno's Boom Player installed on an Infinix Phone. I was shocked. (Chai).
The next discovery gave me a massive blow. I checked the phone's RAM Capacity and to my greatest surprise it was just 218MB while on the pack it was 2GB. I was dumbfounded. At that moment, I realized that if I didn't know anything about smartphones, I would have just bought a fake phone for about 36k and later regret it.(In this recession, it's unfair nah).
The same fake infinix device I dropped, an unsuspecting lady, unaware of my discovery picked it up and started asking about the price. I shook my head in pity. I always stay out of trouble so i couldn't tell her she was about to buy a fake phone in front of the shop owner.
I decided to overlook the battery capacity and get another phone. I looked around the shop and spotted a TECNO W4 with a 2500maH battery, I went through the phone and everything was okay. I paid for it and left. (I bought the phone for N32,000). On my way out of the shop a guy met me and asked if I wanted to install apps on the phone so I decided to play along.
I asked how much to install WhatsApp and Facebook. The guy told me N500. I laughed and told him not to worry, maybe next time. If only he knew what I was saying in my mind. (hehehe.. You don't know who you're talking to.)
I just took a bus home.
That was quite an adventure . If you're not smart you may end up with a fake phone.
Lesson - If you're not good in detecting good smartphones always go with someone who knows about it. All that glitters is not Gold.
