Samsung Galaxy or iPhone imitation? How to identify if a cell phone is fake
They look alike, but they are not even the same. One is the latest model of Samsung; another is a Chinese clone that is not worth a hard and that scammers use to try to trick people into believing it is an original S5. The difference with the naked eye is not noticed, even fixing it carefully will be difficult to decipher if it is the original or not. Something similar happens with every one of the high-end smartphones.
The second-hand market takes advantage of this similarity to try to trick the buyers with similar devices, but they are not even remotely up to the original. Beyond the technical specifications, we will be able to discover that it is a false clone looking at details.
How To check Samsung phone is original ?
How to Spot a Fake iPhone ?
The touch is different, the quality of the screen leaves to be desired, does not feel as fluid as a top of the range, the brightness is usually not so high, and generally, a high-end device should not generate us any doubt about its authenticity. We are going to make a small comparative list between the latest Android models and their Chinese clones when you go to buy them watch that they are not trying to sell you the Chinese clone that you do not want to buy.
And is that if the Chinese mobile has such a bad reputation is not due to the Xiaomi, Oppo or Jiayu, but to these copies that have nothing to do with real manufacturers. From here we break a spear to differentiate a Chinese mobile from a Chinese clone.
Due to the great success that smartphones have had among consumers, for some years they have become the favorite target of counterfeiters, who copy and market the main models of the best-known manufacturers in the market. Unfortunately, with the passage of time, these falsifications are becoming more perfect, becoming more difficult, and even almost impossible in some cases, their detection.
This should push consumers to be wary of many of the deals that can be seen on major auction sites and physical stores, But often ignorance, coupled with the deliberate deception on the part of these swindlers, can make us fall into an important error. That is why in this article we will find the best tips to avoid being punished with a smartphone, and that buying a new smartphone does not become a traumatic fact.
How to detect a fake smartphone
Customs Seals and Regulatory Entities
In most countries, there are regulations regarding the features and functionalities that communications devices should meet before they can be marketed within the territory, and manufacturers must subject each model to the approval of the entity Of regulation of communication activities of each country.
After being approved, each device has added a stamp or seal that identifies that it was approved and complies with current regulations, usually behind the battery inside the housing.
How to detect a fake smartphone
Obviously, if the device is not legal since it entered the country of smuggling or is a forgery, it will not possess this distinctive seal. However, if we buy a smartphone abroad, it will not have the respective stamps, but that does not mean that the device we just acquired is a fake, but it may also happen that we have bought a counterfeit abroad. Observe every detail
How to detect a fake smartphone
As we mentioned, fakes are increasingly perfect, and it is very difficult in some cases to detect a copy. First of all, the best thing is to learn about the real prices of the different models in the market, no matter if our budget does not allow us to buy an iPhone, Galaxy S4 or LG G2, the important thing is to keep in mind that if we Offer these models at a price much lower than the real, surely it is a forgery. The same will happen with cheaper, mid-range or low-end models.
But also there are several other details that we can take into account to detect a pirate phone.The first of these details, and the easiest to see with the naked eye is the lack of the respective brand. If we are trying to acquire a Galaxy S3 Mini, for example, and do not own the Samsung logo anywhere, it is unquestionably a counterfeit product.
Also, we can check if a cell phone is pirate or genuine observing the quality of the materials; Even the most basic and economical model of any manufacturer’s line, the plastic, and metal with which it is built is excellent and can be checked simply by touch. In the case of a counterfeit phones parts are coarse, discolored and often the matricerÃa leaves much to be desired.
How to detect a fake smartphone ?
In this sense, any detail that is different or suspicious means that the smartphone is false. Therefore we should always go out and buy with a certain idea of ​​the model we want to have, and having consulted abundant information and images to be sure that it is the model we want to buy.
Check the technical specifications
Another important point to keep in mind, especially when buying a phone via the Internet is that the specifications that are mentioned in the publication are those that the device that we want to acquire actually offers.
When a manufacturer launches a phone, it always makes available to the consumer a great deal of information about its technical characteristics. This information is an essential element if we want to make a good purchase and not be scammed, as we will simply have to compare the actual specifications with those of the product offered, and if they are minor, dismiss the acquisition as being a false product.
How to detect a fake smartphone
In this sense, surely on more than one occasion, we have stopped in a store or publication on the web where a certain smartphone was offered at a really comfortable price, but we ended up proving that the same is false or an imitation because the characteristics Techniques it offers are much lower than the real ones.
Buying only in reputable and reputable stores and sites
One of the best alternatives for us to feel secure when buying a smartphone, as well as anything else, is to use it on secure and reputable sites. The same applies when it comes to physical premises. We must always make sure that both the online store and the street trade are recognized and have a good reputation in their field.
Quick Tips to detect fake smartphone ?
IMEI number verification
The IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity), or International Mobile Equipment Identity is recorded on mobile phones which serve the purpose of identifying global code. As a rule, fake phones do not have this IMEI number, adopting a cloned numbering.
To check the IMEI of a smartphone, we can enter * # 06 #Using the device keyboard and then compare the resulting number with the number printed on the device label. If both numbers are identical, then it is a genuine IMEI.
How to detect a fake smartphone
Purchase invoice and warranty terms
Another point that we must take into account is to request the purchase invoice and the relevant certificate of guarantee at the precise moment of the purchase since both documents will serve us to have a record in case the Damage or malfunction. In case the cell phone is falsified, unfortunately, we will not get any coverage in case of failure because it is a false device and therefore is not endorsed by any manufacturer, but at least we will have useful documents if we want to initiate a judicial complaint.
In spite of everything said in this article, the sellers will not always want to give us “cat for hares,” since there are many, and very honest, who always make it clear that the items they sell are imitations or products “inspired” In famous models. At this point, we should not confuse any of these two terms with “falsification” or “fraud”.
Differences: Galaxy S5 and Goophone S5
Goophone S5
Goophone is in charge of bringing us a copy of the S5. With specifications very similar, but that is far from the level offered by the original. Its price is around 200 €, and it is not strange that some scammers try to sell them as if it were an imported S5 or second hand for about 500 €, a very succulent price that will drop more than one in the brew.
The original Samsung Galaxy S5 features a 5.1 “1080p screen, this clone maintains the same resolution but has a size of 5” and a rather inferior panel quality. However, unless we stop to analyze it with the brightness to the maximum and for a while, we will not appreciate that difference at the time of the purchase.
On the inside instead of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, we will find a MediaTek MT6592, powerful enough to make us believe that it is flowing but not at the same height. The original S5 also has a series of functions that the copy does not have; Such as the fingerprint sensor (say it is not configured yet), heart rate sensor, real-time HDR, very fast focus speed and USB 3.0 (dual port).
Differences: HTC One M8 and Goophone M8
Goophone-m8-clone-chinese
The HTC One M8 is 90% metal, and the weight is evident. The Chinese copy will also weigh, but the touch should make it possible to differentiate them. The original has the balanced weight, while the Goophone M8 does not. And attention, because it weighs 382g, yes, more than double the original. Pure metal, listen.
The specifications are also quite different: We have a MediaTek MT6592, 1GB RAM and a FULLHD panel. By contrast, there is no trace of the double chamber, a detail that should allow us to easily differentiate them. Blinkfeed and Sense6 also will not have all the functions in this copy.
Of course, we must be attentive, because it should not be long before we have better clones, with the double camera and a smaller weight. Attractive mobiles always generate a lot of attention.
Differences: Galaxy S4 and FEITENG H9504
Fake-s4-clone-Chinese
Not even with the photo ahead would be able to differentiate them. The replica is amazing, although if you look at its technical specifications, it is far from the original. 1.2 GHz Quad-Core Processor and 1 GB of RAM, pretty much 13MP camera and HD display.
The idea is that it cost only € 145 and even the case and the box were copies of the original. Be careful with this model, because it was precisely one of the devices most cloned and sold to innocent buyers who wanted to get the latest from Samsung. Many of them think that if it were so cheap, it would be because it would be stolen …
Differences: Galaxy Note 3 and SM-N9006
Note3-false-sm-n9006
Another of the cloned devices is Note 3. A high-end terminal that, as it also does not receive its Chinese copy. This time it is an original Samsung model for China. It has a metallic SPen that works minimally, a FULLHD panel with a much worse brightness and in principle the same battery of 3200mAh. As negative notes come with a MediaTek processor, 1GB of RAM and some versions come without access to Google Play.
That’s without taking into account that many of the functions of TouchWiz are not well implemented. Authorized Chinese replicas seem to be by Samsung itself in China and that the only thing that has caused is a confusion of specifications and a thousand different models of which can not be assured its proper operation. The original Note3 model is the N9005, the other models, including the one that includes an Exynos processor should be avoided.
General tips to avoid a scam in the purchase of an Android
Android-smartphone-shopping
In general, buying an Android device should not have more problems than the inherent to the price. However, in the search for the best offer we navigate through dozens of sites to save a few euros which mean the difference between a good purchase and an excessive caprice. The quality/price, however, is very tight, and nobody gives hard to four pesetas.
Common sense
So the first thing we ask for is a little common sense. A Galaxy S4 we will not find it for a hundred euros, a Note3 we will not find it to two hundred. You also have to look a little at the history of why it is sold and when the S5 and M8 have just come out, selling them in less than a couple of weeks is not very common.
False wrap
Do not trust the original box or the invoice. The two things are easy to get and do not have to belong to the device that you are trying to sell. Many times the scammers are very kind and try by all means to convince you of their truthfulness. Trust comes alone.
Modified AnTuTu
Another theme is accessories, many of them imitations as well (which as we will understand are easier to clone even than mobiles). Also, do not rely on the specifications that can show programs like AnTuTu, and is that although that program marks one thing, the actual result can be very different. They have even come to see AnTuTu that marked a Qualcomm chip, when in fact these Chinese clones have a MediaTek.
Serial number and search information
To differentiate them nothing better than look at details like the serial number, similar but not equal. And in case of doubts look for in the internet information of that model. Another detail is that these copies do not have the name printed on the phone casing, an important detail but that usually goes unnoticed when we have it in hand, and it seems so real.
This is briefly what we can tell you about a real problem that many people are taking advantage of. If our colleagues and family are aware of this market, they will start to leave aside the purchase of these terminals that are very nice and cool, nor are they equally right or generate resources for the people indicated. The best way to combat this market is to avoid buying anything.
If you have had any problem or experience with buying Chinese mobile clones, please tell us as much information as possible, and we will introduce you here to continue to deal with this problem.
