Budget multiscale 8 strings: Harley Benton or Gear4Music?

I'm looking to get either a Harley Benton Multiscale-8 QEB or a G4M 529 Fan Fret 8 string, but there isn't all that much online which compares them directly so I thought I'd ask here: which one would you recommend? Also bearing in mind that I'll likely replace the pickups at some point and maybe other parts if required, which is the ideal starting point? Currently I'm leaning towards the G4M because of the longer scale length.

(I also have been led to understand that the entry level Ibanez and Jackson models aren't actually all that much better despite being double the price, but do correct me if that isn't true.)