From what I've seen and heard about some of these budget brands, the quality can actually be very decent. For me, at the end of the day, as long as the neck is reasonably stable and of decent quality and the fret work doesn't suck, the rest of the bass is negotiable. Light weight is preferable.
My SX 5-string jazz is fretless, so I can't talk about the fretwork, but the neck is good and very stable. Not super light, and a little neck divey, but I put ultralight tuners on it. I also replaced every other component that wasn't made of wood. It happens.