From apparels to electronics, there seems to be no stopping of shoddy knockoff products fooling people into wasting their money and thinking they’ve made a great purchase. Smartphones, in particular, are the craze these days, so counterfeiters are naturally taking advantage on the demand with fake smartphones. To avoid becoming a victim yourself, here are some red flags you should watch out for to expose a fake smartphone.
For the most part, fake smartphones mimic the appearance of legit ones but still have one or two features that somehow just don’t seem right. For instance, fakes tend to be lighter due to the use of cheaper, inferior materials; their body dimensions and color aren’t the same as advertised; the packaging and included documentations are either different or missing; and, the battery fails to hold up a charge for long.
When it comes to performance, smartphones posing as legit may have slower processing speeds. You’ll be able to notice that as you navigate through the user interface and run apps. Fakes may also come with different software. A simple online search will show you different iPhone clones that tout the iconic iOS when in fact they’re just running Android with a heavily customized user interface.
One more common denominator between fake smartphones is their cheaper price. And so before you get overly excited on that latest, high-end smartphone that’s being sold at a bargain, you may want to step back and be a little skeptic. When a deal seems too good to be true, there’s bound to be a catch. It’s also worth mentioning that fakes don’t usually come with a manufacturer warranty.
Your best chances of getting the real thing are through official company stores and authorized resellers. As for other sources, it is critical to examine the device scrupulously as suggested above. Do your research, and see if the item at hand matches the official description.