HOW TO SPOT A FAKE/CLONE ANDROID DEVICE ( GALAXY, HTC, XPERIA AND LG) REVEALED!

So many times, many people walk in to mobile phone retail shops to grab a new Android phone but unlike iPhones that run on Apple's proprietary iOS software, Android phones run on Google's open Android operating system, making it easier and cheaper for cloning manufacturers to produce fakes - and harder for consumers to distinguish between a genuine model and a fake one thereby making many people end up buying the cloned ones.

Buying a fake phone is one thing that I wish will happen to no one. It is just a waste of the money. Not only does the phone not last long but also very poor in;
*camera quality
*speed
*battery life
*storage ( very low in storage but displays a very high value when checked on the phone)

SO THE BIG QUESTION IS; HOW WILL YOU KNOW IF THE SMARTPHONE YOU ARE BUYING IS ORIGINAL?

Let's start with the Samsung galaxy:
The galaxy range of phones are the most common hence are the ones with the highest number of clones in the market. Manufacturers of such fake products take extra caution so as to make the phone resemble the the original as much as possible.

HOW TO CHECK IF IT'S FAKE

There are numerous ways to check if the galaxy phone is fake.

1. The use of Samsung's internally embedded codes. Just enter the phone's dialer and dial any of the codes below;

*#06# [Displays device IMEI number]
*#1234# [Displays device current firmware]
*#*#1472365#*#* [GPS test settings]
*#*#197328640#*#* [Service mode main menu]
*#*#4636#*#* [Diagnostic and general settings mode]
*#0*# [General Test Mode]
*#0228# [ADC Reading]
*#0283# [Audio Loopback Control]
*#0289# [Melody Test Mode]
*#03# [NAND Flash S/N]
*#0588# [Proximity Sensor Test Mode]
*#0589# [Light Sensor Test Mode]
*#0673# [Audio Test Mode]
*#07# [Test History]
*#0782# [Real Time Clock Test]
*#0842# [Vibra Motor Test Mode]
*#12580*369# [SW & HW Info]
*#1575# [GPS Control Menu]
*#2263# [RF Band Selection]
*#232331# [Bluetooth Test Mode]
*#232337# [Bluetooth Address]
*#232338# [WLAN MAC Address]
*#232339# [WLAN Test Mode]
*#2663# [TSP / TSK firmware update]

When these codes don't work for you, then the phone is fake.

2. Checking the physical features of the phone

From the above picture, we can see so many differences. The first most observable difference is that, while the real phone has a very brightly coloured interface, the fake has a very dim and blurry coloured interface. It can also be observed that the the gap for between screen to and the side of the real phone is much smaller than that of the fake. Also when the hand is rubbed on the Samsung logo, the fake's can be felt and also be pulled out but that of the original's cannot be. The home button is also one of the key features that can be used to check the authenticity of the phone. Whiles that of the fake's is hard to press, the original's is very soft and you can almost feel the smoothness in the press. 

You can also check the picture  above for observable features.

3. Booting the phone into ODIN mode:

This is by far the best way to check if your phone is original. All you to do is;

*Press and hold the volume down button

*Press and hold the home button

*Now press and hold the power button too all simultaneously

Now you just wait for the phone to boot into the ODIN mode as in the image above. If it does, then your phone is original (Now just press the volume down button the for the phone to restart.) but if the phone keeps giving vibrational feefeedback for more than 30 seconds but the phone doesn't boot into the ODIN mode, then the phone is a fake.

HTC, XPERIA AND LG

For these phones, it's quite easier to differentiate between their fake and original. This is because even with the touch of the phone, one can feel if it's the fake or original. Also, the UI (User Interface) speaks for itself. But sometimes, it can be difficult finding out. Therefore, I will like to introduce you to what is known as 'adb' mode of booting into ODIN mode since these devices don't really allow for key combinations.

HOW TO BOOT INTO THE ODIN MODE USING 'ADB'

Requirements :

*Working rooted or unrooted Android device

*USB cable and PC

*Installed your device USB driver( Google it) 

*Android debugging bridge “adb”(Google it)

Steps :

*Enable USB debugging on your android device.

*Install adb and USB driver for your device model Samsung, HTC, Sony, LG, Motorola, Google.

*Connect your device to PC by USB cable

To boot into recovery mode for all Android devices type in cmd window :

adb reboot recovery

Here are also few pictures showing the difference between the fake and original of some HTC phones:

ALL YOUR SUGGESTIONS, QUESTIONS AND CORRECTIONS ARE ALL WELCOME IN THE COMMENT BOX. 

Author : Tipsandgist360

Share this

Related Posts