I'd caution people to assume they are the same. Easily could be different factories. They are at least using the old software on the chip. We made several updates to it since the first one that displayed EL. There's actually a lot of options when it comes to having a product made. Like used parts. You can save money if you used parts from recycled electronics. We would never do that, but you can see this a lot in the random Chinese brands. It's not meant to scare you, but also just keep in mind, just because it looks similar doesn't mean it is. You can see in the car industry, the same exact car using the same parts, put together in a different country has different issues.
My advice is approach any brand, whether it's eheim, tetra, chinese brand, Aquarium Co-Op Etc. How do the heaters do over 1-3 years, with 10 units. That's a baseline to start from. However, I'd say there is just as much chance of the AQQA heater doing well as a sicce, eheim, etc.