If you’ve been following my articles here, you’ll know that I always try to find a cheaper alternative of almost every tech product that I can find. If you put just a little bit of time into researching, you can easily find a hidden gem on the internet.

However, the cheap price tag always comes with its cons. In raw performance, the product might match its more expensive counterparts, but in terms of build quality, visual appeal and most importantly, customer supports, such brands still lag; or do they?

Most people have a belief that if they’re buying from an unknown brand which is way cheaper than the same thing sold by a reputed brand, it will automatically be bad. Well, that’s not always the case.

Most budget brands are trying to improve the user experience with a heavy focus on customer support. I use such brands and have had an excellent experience dealing with them. Following are two of the most notable experiences I’ve had.

Also read: Does buying a Gaming Mousepad makes sense?

Boult Audio: Tru5ive truly wireless earbuds

If you’ve read my review of the Tru5ive wireless earbuds, you know that I absolutely love them. They have great audio, great build quality, water resistance and ear hooks all for roughly INR 3000.

To put things in context, that’s almost a quarter of what you’ll pay for the first-generation AirPods. And the audio quality is just as good if not better.

But what about customer support? Boult is an American company; however, they do sell products in India via Amazon.

One month after buying my wireless earbuds, I plugged them the wrong way in while charging and blew the case. Luckily for me, the earphones came with a year’s warranty. So, I thought that I should at least try to get them replaced.

I visited the Boult India website, found their customer support email address and sent them an email enquiring how to claim the warranty. In the followup emails, they took me through the process of raising a ticket to claim warranty as well as gave me instructions on how to ship the earphones to their testing facility in Delhi.

I did as asked, and within a week, I had a brand new pair of earbuds in my hands, no questions asked — superb customer support for such a great and affordable piece of tech.

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RedGear: MK881 mechanical keyboard

Again, if you’ve read my review of this keyboard, you’ll know I’m madly in love with it. It’s excellent value for money.

However, about eight months into using the keyboard, the RGB lights on a couple of keys died out. As the keyboard has a year’s warranty, I immediately did a Google search to find out the replacement procedure.

RedGear is covered in India by a company called RedWood, which also includes a couple other very famous gaming peripheral brands like DragonWar.

I had to go to their customer support site and raise a warranty claim. After filling in a small form and uploading the invoice, I got an email a couple of hours later saying that a courier guy is on his way to pick my keyboard up. I packed it, sent it off and in about five days, I had a new keyboard on my desk.

Also read: RedGear Pro Wireless gamepad review: Value for money?

Should you buy products from budget brands?

Of course, you should unless you can afford the big boy toys. Products sold by reputed brands have their charm and functionalities as well as a great user experience. And that’s precisely why they’re relatively costlier. Once bought, most probably there won’t be any further headaches.

Budget companies do cut corners on their products to make them competitive to the likes of more prominent brands. This means you’ll have to go a little bit extra to get that claim, but it isn’t too much of a hassle at all.

Try it for yourself, and you’ll be amazed.

Also read: Best gaming accessories for every budget