I’m going to be honest here: I very much miss the glory days of this forum during the pandemic years. It was a perfect storm. People were stuck at home with extra discretionary income and free-time, while major bike brands were dealing with fulfillment delays. The rise of Chinese alternatives during this time brought so much excitement to this forum. Forum members were passionate about helping each other, and the overall vibe felt like a positive community of budget-minded enthusiasts. You could easily spend hours each day reading pages upon pages of new posts. The forum was basically a party everyday. I’m lucky to have joined during COVID.
I think that this rises and falls with economics conditions and location. I bought my first (and only - so far) Chinese frame in 2014 from Velobuild. I've ordered a variety of Chinese parts since then, but have always kept a pretty close eye on the market (and your videos have been a great resource here - so thanks).
Market conditions have changed a lot since 2014 in Australia. When I bought that Velobuild frame, I was able to import a full Shimano 105 5800 groupset (at that time, newly released) for $290 USD. Similarly, international shipping was cheaper, and I was able to import some decent aluminium wheels for around $270 USD, and the frame itself - the VBR-016 - plus a seatpost was about $600 USD with a custom paint job. Total build then ended up being around $1300 USD, and to buy something equivalent locally was maybe 1.5x that price. A big part of the appeal to me was a threaded bottom bracket - which at that time was quite a novelty as basically every major brand had moved to press-fit.
A big part of being able to build that frame economically was being able to get the groupset at close to OEM prices. That has changed significantly now. Shimano and SRAM have both blocked sales across borders, and Campagnolo have priced themselves out of the market. To buy a mechanical Shimano 105 R7100 groupset now appears to be at least $1200 - and now that nearly all Chinese frames are fully integrated, there's no way I would use a mechanical groupset with one.
Additionally, I also chose that frame because there was not much on it to screw up in the build process. The BB was threaded and never gave me any issues. The headset used a standard integrated size (and the included Neco one was just fine), and the cabling was only internal through the downtube and came out at the bottom bracket - very easy to build. It still lives on as a spare bike.
The list of potential issues now is just so much longer that it is difficult (for me) to recommend a Chinese frame to most people unless they go in fully aware of all the issues. For example, this forum is filled with people having various issues with headsets and integrated bar/stems. If an integrated bar/stem is of poor quality, finding a replacement is a much more expensive and labour intensive job. Disc brake mounts often tend to be poorly faced and have problems from overspray. Seatposts are often proprietary with no alternatives available - as someone who rides a 0 offset seatpost this is a critical factor. If you're not doing your own labour, then it's very likely that having someone deal with these issues for you will not be worth it and a previous generation second-hand disc brake bike will represent better value for money.
During COVID, the market changed significantly in favour of Chinese frames. Wait times for Western brands were long, discounts were rare, and as a result the second-hand market was priced far higher than normal. The price of Chinese components did not change so much (the price of a Velobuild frame is not that different to ten years ago) so the prices became more competitive. Now we're seeing a correction in the second hand market, and the prices of full bikes and groupsets have come down as various distributors are overstocked in a cooling market. Recently, I was able to buy a Merida Scultura with 105 Di2 for around 1800 USD. At that price, and knowing that I wouldn't have to deal with the kind of issues mentioned above, it was an easy decision to choose a big brand frame this time around.
Step 1: Passion Project vs Functionality
As a cycling reviewer, I obviously don’t have any emotional attachments to my bikes. Except for my believed T1500. To me it’s about being functional and fast. If the “best” frame for (my) price range and riding style only offers matte black…I’ll take it every time. Custom paint means nothing to me if the frame is either a noodle or destroys my back. But I’m a performance-first person.
Fully agree with this. For what it's worth, the paint on my Velobuild frame was not particularly thick and chipped quite easily (noting that this was 10 years ago - maybe it's improved since then) - this would not be as much of an issue if it was just black.
Step 2: Riding Style and Geometry
Can you slam your stem? Cool for you. Do you prefer an endurance style bike? Also very cool. Geometry is critical obviously. I cannot stress seeking a professional bike fit enough. Or just comparing your current bike to your target bikes using something like Geometry Geeks.
This is particularly critical with the advent of fully integrated frames - though that goes for both Chinese and Western bike brands. With Chinese brands though, there definitely tends to be less endurance options available. Most of the popular models here are race geometry and there's a lot less information online around the endurance geometry frames. Perhaps it's because many of us here are looking for a cheap bike for racing that they won't be heartbroken over crashing.
Step 3: Budget vs “True” Budget
If your budget is “only $600” for a frame, ask yourself if an extra $300 will be significant to you a year from now. How about an extra $500? How about two years from now? Buy nice or buy twice. Might be worth spending the extra money if you plan to keep your bike for longer than two years. But be warned: cheap bikes are addicting.
There's no such thing as a free lunch. You'll remember the quality long after you've forgotten the cost. Which leads to...
Step 4: What is your “pain” threshold for cheap bikes?
Cheap bikes are cheap bikes for a reason. Sort of. The value-add for these types of bikes is you are willing to put in the work yourself to troubleshoot, should bike build problems arise. If you do however find yourself frustrated, fear not! The forum is here to help. Typically the more you spend, the less potential for problems to arise. Or the brand will be faster to rectify. Unless you’re Yoeleo… 
... this. The lack of customer support from these brands is always a risk, and you really have to consider that you're entering these transactions with the thought that you will never get any help from the brand with the product. You never want to be the test case with Chinese products (or at least, consider it money thrown away, and anything that works is a bonus) - I would always advise waiting until a number of people have tried the product, and hopefully see some anecdotal reports of how the brand has dealt with any issues that have arisen.
