Soon after the Galaxy S5 was announced by Samsung during the Mobile World Congress, cloners started making fakes of the new Android smartphone. Only two days after it was unpacked, a phoney S5 under the name of Goophone S5 started popping up in China. If you are planning on buying a Galaxy S5 soon, and not from a mobile provider or Samsung themselves, then it might be a good idea to take a look at these tips to know if the Galaxy S5 in question is fake.
Goophone produced a fake that could easily pass for the real deal if you look at it from afar, seeing as they also adopted the Band-Aid-like plastic on the back, and in fact, it isn’t that bad of a phone, though we don’t condone buying a fake S5, which is an IP infringement.
| Real Galaxy S5 | Fake Galaxy S5 | |
| Screen | 5.1-inch Full HD Super AMOLED (1920 x 1080), 432 ppi | 5-inch Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) 1080p |
| Dimension / weight | 142.0 x 72.5 x 8.1mm, 145g | TBC |
| Camera |
16 MP (front), 2.0 MP (back) |
13 MP (back), 5 MP (front) |
| Internal storage | 16/32 GB User Memory + microSD slot (up to 128 GB) | 32 GB + microSD |
| Memory | 2 GB | 2 GB |
| Connectivity | HSPA, LTE, Bluetooth®: 4.0, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, USB 3.0 | GSM, WCDMA (HSUPA, HSDPA) 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n |
| Processor | 2.5 GHz Quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 | 2 GHz Octa-core MediaTek MT6592 processor |
| Battery | 2,800 mAh | 2,800 mAh, six hours of talk time and 48 hours of standby |
| OS / Interface | TouchWiz/Android 4.4.2 (Kitkat) | TouchWiz imitation/Android 4.2 Jelly Bean |
| Other | Download Booster (LTE + Wi-Fi simultaneous reception), IP67 certificated Dust & Water-Resistant, Emergency Mode, Ultra Power Saving Mode, S Health, Quick Connect, Private Mode, Fingerprint, Heart Rate Sensor |
Dual-SIM card slots (Standard) / White / Black / Gold / Blue |
Another one has just appeared as well called the No.1 S7 made again by a Chinese manufacturer, this time under the name of GizChina. This fake model is waterproof, unlike the real S5 which is only water-resistant, but only has a 13 MP back-facing camera with autofocus and an octa-core MT6592 processor ticking at 1.7 GHz with 1 GB of RAM. On the other hand, it does come with USB 3.0 and a 5.1-inch Full HD display and microSD slot. It only comes with Android 4.2 OS though.
If you aren’t able to take a look at the phone’s tech specs, but are holding a potentially fake device in your hands, then here are things to watch out for so you don’t end up buying a Galaxy S5 clone:
- Take a few pictures to see how well the camera fares. Also, some new S5 camera features such as real-time HDR or Selective Focus might be missing.
- There is no fingerprint scanner on the home button or heart-rate monitor under the LED flash on the back.
- There aren’t any typical Samsung smart features, such as Smart Stay or other gesture controls, which you can find by going into the settings.
- Careful, some fake versions may still have the Google Play Store installed. If it's there, but you still aren’t sure, check to see if you can find any Samsung-specific apps, such as S Health, ChatOn, Samsung Wallet, SideSync 3.0 or Samsung Content Viewer.
- The USB is version 2.0 and not 3.0: the slot looks different. In the case of the v.3.0, it has two ports in one, while the v.2.0 only has one.
- The app names and settings might all be in Chinese.
The USB 3.0 port on the Galaxy S5 looks quite different than USB 2.0
The same goes for any other smartphone. It's best to check its authenticity if buying from a third-party provider or another person.
Via AndroidPIT