In my previous post, I covered the first Mystery box I managed to get my hands on (LINK)! It was from Leapfrog Distribution – Overall, A pretty decent box, I Should say.
Well, for the second of my 2 part series, let’s examine a second Lazada Mystery Box! Today, I will be unboxing the second Mystery box i manged to grab from the sale sale – this time, from Memory World. As i said, This would be an interesting box! Read on and find out. XD
I was so elated to grab this box. Why? Because Expectations.
My initial Expectations: Ooo from memory world. Memory world should have lots of “memory” to throw out 😛 (Pun Intended!). And they box is supposed to be worth $100! Maybe I’ll get some nifty memory products. A 120GB SSD maybe? Or a 1TB Hard drive? Oooh man I was Excited (I hadn’t received any boxes at this point)
Then I found out another influencer post for the exact box I was to receive. Music Photo Life’s Tech blog apparently got a preview box early (A Sponsered Lazada box, it seems). He got an X-Mini WE, a 10000mah Powerbank, And apparently, 2 more ‘great items’ he could not reveal. here’s what he had to say:
“I’m not sure of the retail value, but in general, 10000 mAh power banks can cost from $30 upwards. Not forgetting, there are 2 more mystery items in the Surprise Box that I cannot reveal, but the total street value is around S$100”
Okay, all the items are not what I expected, but still sounded like a nice box on the way. Although the X-Mini WE is quite an old product. I know because I had this model before, and recently, I found it in Qoo10 for 9.90 in their clearance sale on 24-27 May. Usual price (in initial launch) was $39.90.
Anyway, Now. To face the reality – Here’s what I got. *Drumroll*
Yes. I had the box This time round, so i figured it’d be fun provide the actual “Unboxing” experience – on my tech blog. Well, lets open it!
And, this was what i got when i opened the box. My initial thoughts? WOW?! That totally looks like a $100 box. NOT!!!
Let’s examine all the products in the box:
Well, how crappy are the products sent? Well, clearly in my case, no X-mini WE. The shop either purposely or mistakenly left it out of my box. So Clearly there’s a lesson here: the box seems quite different from what the influencer got as an early “Present” – So be careful of expectations, some paid posts may look better than what you may get in reality
Product 1: Rapoo 10000mah Powerbank (Worth $16)
The other influencer’s posted that this powerbank is worth $39 – To me, that is being far too generous. Why? Because look at the specs.
That’s right, it’s a dual usb 2.4A “Quick Charging”. To me, that is NOT Quick charging. This powerbank only supports 5V, 2.4A. Most phones that use fast charging in 2016 and beyond, can deliver real “Fast Charging” with 9V/12V Power delivery. More voltage, faster charging.
Since this “Rapoo Powerbank” from the gift box does not state support for Qualcomm quick charge 3.0 or 9v/12v, then it’s pretty clear that this powerbank is pretty old. I can get a Xiaomi Powerbank of 10000mah Capacity, with real quick charging, from a local distributor (Hachi.Tech) at $28.80. Check out my review of the Xiaomi Powerbank I’ve bought here. If you’re willing to accept less warranty, Qoo10 resellers parallel import this product and you can get it from just $18.90 to $22.90.
Furthermore, this “Rapoo” powerbank is not a very well known brand (at least in my books). Considering all the above pitfalls, I value this powerbank at $16 at most.
Product 2: Transcend 8GB Rugged Thumbdrive (Worth $7)
I don’t even know what to say about this. 8GB Thumbdrives are like, worth $7 at most? You can’t even buy 8GB thumbdrives of this specification in most places today – Because they are old technology. Just look at the specification at the back – Sending a usb 2.0 Drive from Year 2010, being given out in this day and age!!!
Today a Sandisk USB 3.0 32GB Thumbdrive – 4 TIMES the capacity, is worth $13.00. You can get that price almost anywhere – Lazada, Challenger/Hachi, or even respected Sim lim square stores. Just for fun, as proof, i have attached the recent CEE Tech show brochure in this link as a price reference. Courtesy to Hardwarezone for this brochure upload. 
A USB 3.0 thumbdrive works wayyy faster than a USB 2.0 thumbdrive – USB 2.0 Thumdrives at best, would hit about 20MB/s due to technology constraints. As you can see, the thumbdrive i have referenced to (A Sandisk Ultra 3.0) can hit transfer speed of up to 100MB/s, so i can almost guarantee that no one in this day and age would buy this transcend thumbdrive sent to me. It’s simply not worth it. I mean C’mon Guys, it’s 2018. No one (who reads #TechWithAaron) would buy that kind of product….
Product 3: 2x Seagate Hard Drive Pouch (Worth $8 x 2)
This product is generally given as a free gift when you buy any hard drive during an IT show. See this recent brochure from Seagate in the recent CEE Tech show in May 2018, courtesy of HardwareZone.com. Free pouches (like the one you see in this link), with purchase of their 1TB external hard drive worth $79. So…I think i can value the pouch at $8 at most.
Product 4: Xiaomi Piston II Earphones. (Worth $22)
Well this one is worth about $22. I bought this like 2 years ago – To be fair, It’s a great earphones at the price. When i bought it back then, During the first Online Xiaomi Sale a couple years back (Yesss fast fingers!), I was really impressed with the sound for the price. Great bass, mids and highs! If the market still sells authentic models of this, I would review this one but I noticed that Xiaomi has moved on to selling better spec-ed earphones. I should add that this product should be a parallel import from china – The chinese letterings on the box says it all. So the distributor got this product at a cheaper cost price. Check out Xiaomi’s new earphones – Mi IN ear Headphones Pro (With 2 drivers, rather than just 1 in the pistons 2), being sold at $25 in Qoo10.
Product 5, 6, 7, 8: A load of Bad Freebies as box fillers. (Total value: $14? And I think i’m being generous here)
There are a few more bad box-fillers thrown in. A PVC/Leather looking Transcend Credit card pouch (Worth maybe $10), and a tools holder and 2x Inflatable Neck pillow. Oh, and a memory world branded SD card holder. (All these, maybe worth $4). Let’s face it – These are pretty much garbage. I know most of us won’t use them.
Total product value of Lazada X Memory World Mystery Box = $75
Let’s collate the valuations:
- Powerbank ($16)
- 8GB Thumbdrives ($7)
- Seagate Hard drive pouch ($8 x 2)
- Xiaomi Earphones ($22)
- Crap Freebies ($14)
But let’s face it. Honestly, the box feels horrible. If i had to rate it, it’d score 2/5.
All the items inside are old stock. Because of this, personally I would never buy anything from Memory World anymore. If this is the way they treat consumers who put their trust in buying a box, personally i think i’ll give my business to other distributor who treat their consumers well. There are many other shops that will satisfy my memory storage needs perfectly.
Personally If i ever had a business, i know the last thing i would ever do is to make consumers pay for a box stuffed with rubbish items that can’t be ever sold in the market.
And, i would have returned the mystery box. I should add, At this point, I lost all faith in Lazada and it’s mystery boxes. I felt like the mystery box thing was nothing more than another marketing tactic to get users pumped up for a sale.
Until…A few days later, Surprise!
Lazada Refunded me for the purchase of this particular crap of a box. Wow, Thanks Lazada!
So it seems, Lazada Stands behind their mystery boxes. I looked around and realized many people complained about the crap standard of Memory World box as well – Enough to get Lazada’s attention. Kudo’s to Lazada for their quick action. This action just saved their reputation.
Their brand name was on the mystery box – so the standard of the box reflects the way they would treat their consumers. I had a pretty negative impression of Lazada when i received the mystery boxes overall. Faith in Lazada Restored!
Conclusion: Now then, Should I Ever buy a Lazada Mystery Box?
Well, Maybe.
Overall, the mystery boxes, to me, are still worth a shot. But don’t expect too much. Realistically the boxes would be worth maybe 60-70% of the value, and unless you saw proof that a nice product would be in the mystery box, well…expect to receive anything related to the brand/retail shop, from the Lazada Mystery box that you buy.
And keep in mind, I think i’m lucky to get a refund on this box. It still is a risk, and one may not be as lucky in future boxes.
But with that in mind, I’m still going to continue Lazada Shopping as usual – With the exception of that Memory World Distributor. Personally, I’m going to avoid that retail store for a while.
Aaron Tech Tips | Advise and Reviews for Tech and Audio Gear 💻🎧 