I have a Starrett 721 digital caliper, full function, carbide faced, a Mitutoyo 6" digimatic caliper, Mitutoyo 293-721 digital mic and Mitutoyo digital depth mic set which uses the same head. I also have several Chinese clones of the calipers.
I have never found a more annoying product than the Starrett 721 caliper. When you pause movement for a few seconds, it no longer updates until after a brief delay after you move it again. This is a PITA when you're trying to zero in on an accurate reading. The beam is much thinner than the Mitutoyo and you can get several thousandths variation by applying gentle flexing pressure. The Mitutoyo is rock solid, exhibits none of this nonsense and the battery seems to last forever.
IMHO, one of the reasons that the Chinese clones never feel the same is that in many cases, they were probably reverse engineered. If they don't have the prints for the parts, they will not have the tolerances, finishes and fits that give Starrett and Mitutoyo their "feel" (except for Starrett digitals). This will change in time as they learn these things for themselves.
In some product areas where corporate fools have gone to China to have a "licensed" clone created, guess what ... the prints are left behind.
This has happened to some top notch companies, for instance, Leica / Wild went to China years back to negotiate the manufacture of one of their top selling stereo microscopes used for bio - dissection applications. The negotiations fell through (AFAIK) but the prints were left behind
Guess how long it took and how many clones appeared. This will probably happen to those Starrett products for which they are dabbling in Chinese manufacture.
In summary, I'd strongly recommend Mitutoyo for just about anything, Starrett for non-digital stuff (can't beat their mics and verniers) and Chinese clones for either expendable applications (high probability of theft or damage) or for tight budgets.
Sorry it's so long winded but just recalled a problem on one of the Chinese digital calipers. The ID jaws were ground so poorly that one varied from a flat to a knife edge while the other was a wavering flat.
Den