This is akin to asking "Is there a difference between that pen you stole from the doctor's office, and a Bic you bought at the store?"

The answer will always be "maybe?"

Maybe that free pen sources their tubes/tips from Bic, and it's literally the same thing in a different shell. Generally speaking, these companies will straight up tell you their chip/part numbers, to show they're using the same stuff.

Maybe they sourced their parts from high end manufacturers in Germany/Japan, and actually have superior quality. Rule of thumb for these: They'll provide verified test results, like Schiit showing off APx reports.

Maybe they use cheap chinese crap, and it'll be a piece of shit in comparison. You already know the red flags for this stuff. Wish/Alibaba listings, no specifics on hardware, no verified specs, and a focus on claims/features rather than stats/figures.

Point is, without digging deeper into the specifics, there's no way to know.