After visiting three digital malls across the country, I found that this generation of young people are hard to be "hoodwinked" anymore.

In Xiaolei's impression, every summer vacation is the busiest time for digital malls. Whether they did well in the exams or not, high - school graduates who are about to enter university usually buy a laptop. On the one hand, many majors are closely related to computers. Although schools generally provide computer rooms for students to attend classes, it is still very inconvenient not to have their own computers. On the other hand, many aspects of university study, such as writing papers and taking notes, need to be completed with a computer.

So, do prospective college students still buy things in digital malls nowadays? What will they buy? And what do they value more when buying devices? With these questions in mind, Lei Technology visited Giga Mall and JD Mall in Guangzhou and found that the situation was a bit different from what we expected.

Whether online or offline, young people are harder to be deceived

The first stop was Giga Mall. As one of the most famous chain digital malls in the country, it is also the preferred place for many Guangdong people to buy computers.

To be honest, looking at the entrance of Giga Mall, I couldn't help but recall my first computer in college. Although I had been quite interested in digital products since high school and did a lot of research before going to the computer mall, I was still slightly scammed. I spent thousands of yuan on a "gaming laptop" equipped with a GT750.

Although it only differed from the GTX750 by one letter, the performance gap was quite significant. The only thing to be grateful for was that it had a discrete graphics card, which was okay for playing the popular game LOL at that time. After arriving at the college dormitory, I found that one of my roommates was deceived because he knew nothing about computers. He bought an office laptop for gaming, and the result was, of course, tragic (the integrated graphics performance at that time was barely usable).

Of course, relatively speaking, Giga Mall in big cities is much more regular. Judging from previous visits, although the prices may differ from those online (after all, there are labor and rent costs), the kind of cheating scenario like "I wanted a gaming laptop but ended up buying an office laptop" rarely happens anymore.

After arriving at Giga Mall, Xiaolei found that the footfall was not high on the afternoon after the college entrance examination results were announced. There were quite a few people strolling by the entrance, but the crowds in the mall were mainly concentrated in a few mobile phone stores. There were very few people consulting about computers in the computer stores.

Image source: Lei Technology

Fortunately, my target today was not limited to those who were buying computers. So after waiting around the stores of Xiaomi, OPPO and other brands for a while, I quickly "caught" two young guys who looked like high - school students. They had just come out of the Xiaomi store, carrying a Xiaomi tote bag in their hands. It seemed that they had made a good purchase.

After a simple conversation, the two young guys were very straightforward in answering my questions. For example, when asked why they chose Xiaomi, one of them said that he had read many reviews online and thought that Xiaomi had better hardware configurations at the same price range. Since his budget was limited, he finally chose Xiaomi. This was an expected answer. "Cost - effectiveness" is indeed a label that runs through its mobile phone product line.

As for the other guy's answer, it really surprised me. "Since junior high school, I've been going to the Xiaomi Home with my friends on weekends to play games when I had nothing to do. I felt the experience was quite good, and I've gotten used to it (accompanied by the laughter of his companion). Now that I can buy my own phone, the first brand that comes to mind is Xiaomi."

Image source: Lei Technology

To be honest, I really didn't expect that the so - called "Xiaomi Internet Cafe" that people used to complain about would actually help Xiaomi gain a group of fans. Even if the conversion rate is not high, this kind of cost - free advertising is really a pure profit. However, sometimes when there are too many young guys, it will also affect the experience of ordinary customers. The staff at Xiaomi Home should make some rules with them. At least, they should leave one phone for passers - by to experience.

One of them bought the Xiaomi 15s Pro, and the other bought the K80 Ultimate Edition. Since the latter was still in the pre - sale period, they agreed to pick it up on the 26th. When asked why they didn't buy it during the 618 promotion, the answers were exactly the same: "The scores hadn't come out yet, and my parents didn't approve the budget." It's no surprise to hear this answer.

However, the models they chose were both newly launched recently, and there weren't significant discounts during the 618 promotion. So overall, it wasn't a bad deal.

Interestingly, when I asked them if they planned to buy a laptop, their answers were very consistent: "Yes, but I'll buy it online." The reason for not buying offline was also very simple: "I've come to see the laptops before. The salespeople are so persuasive that I always feel like I'm being led by the nose. It's more comfortable to just make a decision online."

After saying goodbye to the two young guys, I had a preliminary understanding of what these prospective college students were thinking. Born in the Internet age, they will frequently search for information on various platforms, compare and filter out those obviously "sponsored reviews", then list the candidates, rate them based on their experience, and finally make a decision according to their own needs.

Image source: Lei Technology

For example, the young guy who chose the Xiaomi 15s Pro gave three main reasons:

• It was newly released. It's better to buy the new model than the old one.
• It has an AR anti - reflection coating.
• It's Xiaomi's own product, and they will pay more attention to its subsequent maintenance.

As for the requirements for imaging performance and other aspects, after comparing several other models in the same price range, the young guy thought that the Xiaomi 15s Pro could meet his needs.

To be honest, this is much better than what I did back then. At that time, I just browsed the Tieba forums and at most posted a thread to ask netizens for advice. Finally, I chose Meizu over HTC. It turned out that the choice was right. After all, HTC declined faster than I expected, while Meizu still had several "golden years" later.

However, I don't think there are many student users like them. The two prospective college students I interviewed seemed to pay frequent attention to digital products. If they only start researching at the last minute, it's hard to have such in - depth knowledge of mobile phones and other digital products. But this also shows that today's prospective college students are much more shrewd than previous consumers. With the increase of personal voice channels such as Xiaohongshu, Video Accounts, and Douyin, it's easier for people to verify information. Reviews and promotions that are full of exaggerated claims and false praises don't work well and may even arouse people's disgust.

If the budget allows, they'll go for the Apple ecosystem. The ecosystem is the killer feature

In order to learn more about what prospective college students think, I waited at Giga Mall for a while. Finally, I saw a father and daughter walking out of the Apple - authorized store with big and small bags in their hands. It seemed that they had bought the entire Apple product lineup at once, including an iPhone, an iPad, a MacBook, and maybe even some small accessories like headphones.

To be honest, although I noticed that there were people shopping inside the Apple - authorized store when I passed by the door, I thought they were just buying an iPhone. But then I saw they had bought the whole set. It seemed that this prospective college student must have done very well in the college entrance examination - so they got a fully - equipped reward from their parents.

After a simple conversation, I got the answer to my question. "Buying the whole set of Apple products was promised to my child before the college entrance examination. I've been using Apple products for her since junior high school. She's used to it, and we also think Apple is great... What are the advantages of Apple? Well, it's not easy to explain. One is that it doesn't lag. My iPhone 12 or 11, I can't remember exactly, is still usable now. And the Family Sharing feature is also very practical. Sometimes when she goes to tutoring classes and it's inconvenient for us to pick her up, we can still know where she is," the father explained to Lei Technology.

In Lei Technology's view, Apple's ecosystem is still its greatest advantage. Although domestic mobile phone manufacturers have been catching up, there is still a gap, especially in the experience of wearable devices. Apple is still in a league of its own globally at present.

Image source: Lei Technology

Maybe in the eyes of many netizens, this father is the kind of "controlling" parent. But later, the father further explained, "We don't really control her. It all depends on her self - awareness. The location feature is just a safeguard when we can't get in touch with her." I agree with this. Parents will inevitably worry about their children when they are out. The accurate real - time location function of the iPhone is really useful. Even if the phone is forcibly shut down, it will still record the last location.

Maybe many readers will ask, "Don't these functions also exist in Android phones?" Indeed, the family guardian function is basically a standard feature in mainstream mobile phones. But from Lei Technology's experience, the difference is actually quite significant. Even OPPO, which does the best in this regard in China, has many limitations and can't achieve the same positioning accuracy as Apple.

So, can't domestic mobile phones compete with Apple in terms of smart interconnection? Not really. Most of the devices released by Huawei after 2024 support the StarLink technology. Even after the device is shut down, it can still achieve meter - level accurate positioning for up to 48 hours. However, the overall popularity is not high, so many people don't even know about it.

Image source: Hisilicon official website

From the perspective of user experience, if the budget allows, there's no problem going straight for the Apple trio. Except that it can't meet the needs of PC gaming well, whether it's a mobile phone or a tablet, the experience is top - notch. If you don't have the need for PC gaming and your professional courses don't require software that only runs on Windows, the MacBook offers the best experience among thin and light laptops. And because of its "average gaming experience", it also better meets the parents' underlying concern of "fear of their children playing games too much" when buying devices for their children.

Although Apple's share in the domestic mobile phone market has indeed declined in the past two years, its share in the PC and tablet markets has increased. And in the wearable device market, Apple still has an obvious advantage. Coupled with years of ecosystem stickiness, Apple still has strong competitiveness in the high - end market.

When buying mobile phones, they focus more on the product rather than "chasing the brand"

After visiting Giga Mall, Xiaolei decided to go to JD Mall. As a large - scale offline flagship store of JD, Lei Technology has always paid close attention to it. I visited it not long after it opened. At that time, I thought that compared with traditional digital malls, JD Mall was more like a "theme park" for digital enthusiasts. You can find most mainstream digital products here for trial, and the sales staff won't pester you for sales.

It's been exactly one year since JD Mall opened, and it has also invested a lot in subway and outdoor advertisements for promotion, so it's not unknown. Sure enough, the footfall at JD Mall was significantly higher. The mobile phone stores of Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, vivo and other brands were all crowded with people, and many of them looked like students.

Image source: Lei Technology

After spending about an hour randomly interviewing some college - entrance - examination candidates, I gained new insights into what today's young people think when choosing digital products.

Firstly, the popularity of domestic mobile phones has increased significantly, and their high - end strategies have achieved remarkable results. In the high - end price range, there are people asking about and experiencing the top - of - the - line flagship models at the sales points of almost every brand. Even within the ten minutes I was strolling around, OPPO and Xiaomi each sold a Find X8 Ultra and a Xiaomi 15 Ultra respectively. "If you want good photography, choose the top - of - the - line model" has almost become a consensus.

According to a young guy, "There aren't many students in my class using Apple phones. Most of us use OPPO, vivo, Xiaomi, and there are also some using Huawei. We've compared the photography of these phones when we go out. Apple is good sometimes, but in most cases, domestic mobile phones at similar prices can easily outperform it." Well, I dare not say "outperform" like that. I'm really afraid of being scolded by Apple fans.

This young guy's view is basically correct. Taking the starting price of the standard iPhone model as a reference, it is comparable to the Pro - version flagships of various brands at the initial release. These domestic flagships are equipped with large - sensor main cameras, periscope telephoto lenses, and large - sensor ultra - wide - angle lenses. Some models, such as the Find X8 Pro and X200 Pro, even have a dual - telephoto configuration. In terms of imaging performance, the standard iPhone model can't compare.

Moreover, they generally think that fast charging is very important. Being able to recharge the battery in a short time is very suitable for students' usage scenarios. For example, when using the phone in areas with limited charging sockets such