Anyone running a dual-i1600 Chinese DTG (Sublistar / SinoColor) in production? Worth it vs Epson?

Trying to get real production feedback before I commit, not marketing.

I'm looking at a dual Epson i1600 DTG from either Sublistar (DTX-4050i) or SinoColor (TP-600D). Both hit ~16x20-16x24 print area, both have white circulation, and they land at roughly a third of an Epson F2200 all-in. Ink is way cheaper too on the open platform.

My use case: launching my own streetwear brand, full-color designs on black tees, small drops (10-ish per design), quality has to be premium not just "acceptable." I'm technical and can self-service (head swaps, damper/capping changes, RIP tuning don't scare me), and I'd run quality aftermarket ink (FIREBIRD / Image Armor) rather than the cheap included stuff.

What I actually want to know from people who've run these:

1. Print quality on dark garments, does the white underbase hold up opaque and consistent, or does it go smoky/patchy?
2. Real-world reliability over 1yr+. i1600 head life with disciplined white-ink maintenance?
3. How bad is support when something actually breaks? (China WhatsApp situation)
4. SinoColor vs Sublistar specifically, anyone compared them?

I know DTG white ink is a maintenance grind on ANY machine (Epson forums are full of the same clogging horror stories), so I'm not looking for "just buy Epson bro" unless you've run both and can tell me the Epson premium is actually worth ~7k-15k for my situation.

Anyone been down this exact road? Even the bad experiences, especially those.