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Opinions: Samsung S4, Real or Fake?

E

ESPJ

Lurker
I just recently ordered a Samsung Galaxy S4 from, god forgive me, eBay. I am aware that there are a ton of copy phones out on the market and so when mine arrived I had to check.

The phone came with all the accessories and looks very real. The hardware is almost spot on, I took it to my local carrier to inquire about its authenticity. They took it to the back and came back out telling me, "It's real, or a very good fake." I'm not sure what they did exactly, but the it passed some kind of test. The only thing she pointed out was the font of the "Samsung" title on the front and the back was noticeably different than that of an original S4. (compared the two)

I tried to do as much research as I could, but I'm still not 100% sure.

I've ran "Vellamo" benchmark tests, and those scored low.
I downloaded the "Genuine Galaxy S4" app, and it failed that test.
-also worth noting that the phone came with "Antutu Benchmark". I cannot uninstall or update the app. Do the S4's come preloaded with this?

As of right now I'm pretty convinced that this is a higher end copy phone, I've opened a case with the seller and currently trying to solve it.

Just wanted some second opinions/ a confirmation.

Got pics of the phone + some other things I've mentioned.
picsofthephone671's uploaded images - Imgur

The phone almost perfectly matches the one in this video, with the exact same score of 28222.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDD_TLwl_DE
 
Additional information,
Air Gestures seem to work.
Camera quality is really bad.
Bought from outside the US, assuming this is an international version. Phone is unlocked.
 
One thing I've often found useful is to look at the baseband version. A lot of the software info is easily faked, but that tends not to be, and a quick web search will usually tell you whether it's genuine or not.

Of course in this case, sadly, we already know the answer.
 
We've seen this before. It is a fake. It has a fake Antutu app preinstalled that doesn't actually run a benchmark and reports a fake score.

Try to work it out with the seller and EBay ASAP.
 
I'm betting it's a low-ish end Mediatek device (MTK6577 dual core @ 1GHz if you're lucky) with a 3MP 'camera' at best.
 
There is an app, free, from the Play Store that can be downloaded to determine the authenticity of most of the popular S4 models... GT-I9500， GT-I9502, GT-I9505, GT-I9508, SCH-I959, SGH-I337, SPH-L720, SHV-E300S, SGH-M919.*

It is the Genuine Galaxy S4/S3/Note II that checks the phone's details and hardware configuration and also runs performance tests and compares with other phones in the world.

* For models not included above, I would suggest downloading, free from the Play Store, Android System Info and checking your phone in the System tab > OS.



Whilst it cannot prevent anyone buying a fake S4 it can at least go some way to determining if a phone is fake or not without having to ask a lot of questions.

For anyone thinking of buying a phone from the web or, indeed, any untrusted source, the watch words are...

caveat emptor... Let the buyer beware!
 
I would imagine Paypal will side with you on this. Hell, it could be genuine and they would side with you ;)
 
Well, I hope the seller will honor his reputation on Ebay, and return your purchase price without a hassle. He also needs to rethink using the original source who provided him with fake phone.
I wish you good luck.
 
Hmm, they are getting good - that's the first time I've seen a faked baseband :(. Makes the 4.2.9 slip up more surprising.

But I've found someone else with exactly the same info, and it's in a thread about rooting an MTK-based clone phone: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=45169063. And I've found Russian sales links to "samsung style S4" phones quoting that kernel and android version in their specs, but for a fraction of the cost of a real S4 (no links because I don't want to waste the mods' time removing them, but all I searched on was the kernel and android versions).

Good luck with eBay.
 
damewolf13 said:
Well, I hope the seller will honor his reputation on Ebay, and return your purchase price without a hassle. He also needs to rethink using the original source who provided him with fake phone.
I wish you good luck.
Click to expand...

I bet the vendor is actually in China, more than likely a Shenzhen or Hong Kong trading company.

My thinking is basically if you want a real Samsung, buy it from Samsung or a carrier, and NOT Ebay. After all I would NOT buy a Rolex watch from Ebay. :rolleyes:

But I'm sure if the OP raises a dispute with Ebay or Paypal, they'll get it resolved.
 
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