better, faster, cheaper, without backdoor access by western spy agencies. on all metrics the better deal.

probably, yeah. But two differences: The backdoor access to Western phones has been proven. There's hacker material on how the hardware is compromised. No similar proof exists for Chinese phones, though if I had to bet on it, yeah, I assume there's something there too. More importantly though, whatever a Chinese phone would maybe collect doesn't end up in hands where it cancels my bank account, gets me under surveillance, nudges employers not to hire me, puts me on an extra-check list at airports, or any such thing where I live. So I don't give a damn.