There is a
lot of money in the cell phone and smartphone market and when money is involved
there are always fraudsters looking to make quick profit from it.
Since high
quality smartphones can cost thousands of naira it makes sense that you will
want to search for the best deals on such devices. By using the suggestions in
this guide and by keeping its advice in mind when
searching for a smartphone to
buy you will be more likely to be able to spot a fake or imitation smartphones
and avoid those types of devices. I hope this article helps you differentiate
between the fake and original smartphone.
Clones and
copies of actual smartphones are just that, clones and copies and these devices
are meant to look like their legitimate counterparts. As such finding
reproductions is often meant to be a challenge. Make sure to review all of the
suggestions in this article. You are going to want to pinpoint abnormal
qualities in order to spot a fake smartphone.
Some
clones might be spot on in some areas while lacking in others. Don’t check just
a single feature on the phone and assume that it’s the real. Keep all of the
following tips in mind when reviewing and assessing a smartphone; especially if
the phone or deal for that phone seems too good to be true.
Most
smartphones, especially expensive ones, are going to include some kind of
branding. After all a brand helps show a products reputation as a quality piece
of merchandise.
So look
for these brands somewhere on the phone.
Typically
you can expect to see the name of the phones manufacture somewhere on the
device. An iPhone is going to have an Apple name or logo somewhere on the
device. Samsung is going to put “Samsung” somewhere on the device. This holds
true with most of the well-known manufactures; Apple, Samsung, Sony, Motorola,
LG, HTC, Blackberry, etc. They like to put their brand on their product and
usually it’s in plain sight.
This often
(but not always) includes the name of the phone as well or at least the name of
that line or series of phone. You will likely see “XPERIA” branded somewhere on
an Android smartphone produced by Sony. You’re going to run across the word
“Galaxy” on Samsung’s line of Galaxy phones. “iPhone” on Apple’s smartphones.
LG has their Optimus series. Motorola has their Atrix smartphones. Although for
some reason while the name of the manufacture is usually well branded LG and
Motorola have not chosen to brand the word “Optimus” or “Atrix” on their lines
of smartphones for some reason…
So don’t
always count on the name or model of that specific phone to be branded or shown
on it but you should certainly seek out the name of the manufacture on just
about every phone you encounter.
So for
example, if someone is trying to sell you a Samsung Galaxy smartphone and that
smartphone does not show the word SAMSUNG printed anywhere on the exterior of
the phone itself then that phone is NOT a Samsung Galaxy phone and you should
automatically assume that it’s a fake.
Genuine vs fake smartphones
Now that
we have discussed branding this next tip is a fantastic tool and a great method
to use when verifying if a smartphone is real or not. After all an imitation
Samsung could just as easily say “Samsung” while not actually being a phone
manufactured by Samsung. This is true for just about any smartphone clone or
counterfeit.
So how can
you tell the difference between a legitimate brand and a fabricated one?
Check to
see how it feels. A genuine logo will almost always be flat and you will not be
able to feel it at all. If the logo is raised and you can feel it when you run
your finger over it then that phone is likely a counterfeit. That brand or logo
should be smooth to the touch and you shouldn’t be able to feel a difference
between it and the rest of the phone. If you run a fingernail across the
manufactures name and you can feel your fingernail meet resistance because that
name was painted on or is a decal or sticker that was applied to the phone then
that phone is likely a phony.
This is a
powerful tool to use when identifying a clone as a replica may be designed to
look exactly like the genuine article but this little flaw can give it away as
just another imitation.
Check
the Device Identifier
Every
genuine smartphone will have its own device identifier which is unique to that
specific phone.
This
number may be referred to as the phones IMEI (International Mobile Station
Equipment Identity) or MEID (Mobile Equipment Identifier) number and you should
be able to locate this unique number somewhere on the device. Many phones include
this number printed on a sticker within the phones battery compartment. You can
also sometimes find it by typing *#06# in the phones dialer as though you were
dialing a telephone number, or within the phones settings.
This
unique number can be used to verify the legitimacy of a smartphone and can also
be used to determine if the phone was reported lost or stolen.
Counterfeit
phones will not have a legitimate device identifier. It may not show one at all
or it may show one that is fake.
If the
device identifier in your phones settings, or dialer, does not match the device
identifier printed on that label found on the exterior of your phone then there
is a problem and you should be concerned.
After
seeking out and locating the phones device identifier take a look at the
information and placement of that sticker. That label should not be crooked and
should be pretty straight; aligning evenly with the sides of that battery
compartment. If that sticker is unevenly placed then chances are it was placed
there by hand and would indicate tampering or counterfeit.
You might
think that a manufacture would simply use the same exact buttons on the next
generation of smartphone as to avoid the expenses involved in redesigning and
manufacturing completely different pieces of hardware but you might be
surprised.
Take this into consideration when reviewing a smartphone. If you are thinking of buying the newest phone in a line of phones and the one you are looking to buy seems to look exactly like a previous model then perhaps it is and has been tampered with to look like one of the newest models.
Take this into consideration when reviewing a smartphone. If you are thinking of buying the newest phone in a line of phones and the one you are looking to buy seems to look exactly like a previous model then perhaps it is and has been tampered with to look like one of the newest models.
We
discussed branding and logos a little bit already and chances are the
suggestions already mentioned will help you identify a forgery but try not to
neglect the size and placement of brands and logos as well.
If a quick
image search online shows that the device in question is supposed to have its
manufacturers brand displayed on the top of the phone above the screen and the
phone you are inspecting shows the logo on the bottom under the screen then…
it’s likely a fake.
If the
logo or brand displayed on the phone you are examining seem smaller or larger
than it should be then maybe it is. Another quick image search online should
help you locate what the brand is supposed to look like and allow you to
compare the two in order to determine if the size and placement is how it
should be.
When
physically examining the phone in question the screen can be a good thing to
review when trying to spot a fake.
Here are a
few things that you might want to look for when inspecting the screen:
·
Material – does it seem to be made of a cheap
glass or other cheap looking material? Or does the screen seem to be the tough
Gorilla Glass that the phone is supposed to come with?
·
Location – is the screen too far from the edge
of the phone?
·
Appearance – is the screen as bright and vibrant
as it’s supposed to be or does is seem like it might be a little dim?
·
Resolution – along with the brightness of the
display you should also check its clarity. When the phone is powered on is the
image on the screen as sharp as it should be?
If color
of the phone you are investigating is dark blue and the manufacture of that
device doesn’t sell that model of phone in blue then chances are good that it’s
likely a counterfeit.
The
physical dimensions of most high quality smartphones are often easy to locate
and are freely available online.
Before
purchasing a smartphone you might want to, at the very least, pull up the
dimensions of that phone just to compare them with the phone you are interested
in acquiring just to make sure that everything matches up as it should.
Sleek and
light weight smartphones are the goal of most legitimate and higher quality
manufacturers. If you pick up a supposedly new smartphone for inspection and it
feels like you’re holding a brick in your hand then chances are it might be a
fake smartphone made from cheap and heavy parts.
Sensors
Scanners and other Hardware
It seems
like smartphones are being built with more and more features and abilities
which require more and more pieces of hardware to be installed on the phone. If
one of these pieces of hardware doesn’t seem to be included on the phone you
are inspecting then it might just be a fake.
So for
example if you were interested in buying a Samsung Galaxy S4 S5 S6 etc. then
these phones are supposed to come with an infrared emitter at the top of the
phone which allows you to utilize the smartphone as a TV remote. If this
infrared emitter is missing then the phone is most likely a counterfeit.
This can
be applied to many different smartphone features and hardware including but not
limited to:
·
Proximity sensors
·
Fingerprint scanners
·
Facial recognition
·
LED notifications
·
Front and rear cameras
·
LED flash (for the camera and flashlight)
·
SD card tray
·
SIM card(s) slot
·
Infrared emitter
·
Heart-rate monitor
·
Etc.
Some
research may be required in order to discover which of these features and extra
parts are available on the cell phone in question but once you know what to
look for you will be able to more easily avoid a clone or copy of that cell
phone.
Software
If you
purchase a new iPhone and that iPhone is running on software that appears to be
more like Android then perhaps it is Android and some caution should be taken
as far as the validity of that smartphone. This holds true for any smartphone
operating system.
Software
Version
If you are
thinking about purchasing a smartphone and can access that phones settings then
you should be able to locate the software in which that phone is running on. If
that software version doesn’t match up with a software version released by the
manufacture then you should stop and consider this…
So for
example, if you are examining an Android smartphone and it is currently running
on the latest version of Android but that version of Android has not yet been
released for that specific make and model of phone then for some reason that
phones software has been tampered with for whatever reason and could lead to
problems later.
Brand Spelling
Check the
label on the phones battery as well. If you bought a Samsung phone and the
battery in that phone says “Sunsang” as opposed to “Samsung” then there is an
astronomically high chance that it’s a fake or knock off.
Language
The
language printed on the battery should, at the very least, include the language
of your current location as well. If you’re located in the USA and you
purchased a phone that’s supposed to be of higher quality then you should be
able to read the majority of the text printed on that battery.
Specifications
If
possible you might want to consider comparing the specifications listed on the
battery that came with the phone with the specifications of the battery that is
supposed to come with the phone by default.
If you
bought a used phone and the battery that came with that phone seems to be
slightly off of what it should be then it could indicate that the battery was
simply replaced with a cheap or knockoff battery as opposed to the entire phone
being a knock off but if the phone was supposed to be new and the battery
within that phone doesn’t seem to match up with what it should be then the
phone might need a more thorough inspection just to make sure that everything
is indeed kosher.
A person
might expect you to check the phone but probably won’t count on you checking
the battery so don’t overlook it.
If the
smartphone you are thinking of buying is supposed to have a 16 Megapixel camera
(or any high definition resolution) and the pictures you take with the phone
seem blurry or the resolution seems mediocre at best and simply have a poor
picture quality then the camera may be damaged or malfunctioning or it may have
a cheap camera installed as the phone itself could be a counterfeit.
Either way
you would likely want to reconsider purchasing that specific device.
New
smartphones can be pretty pricy. If an unknown person is selling a phone online
or locally and the price is just too good to be true then you should exercise
caution. Often times when something seems too good to be true it often is.
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