A clone cell phone is a cheap counterfeit of a particular cell phone model. It looks very similar to the original, making it easy for you to get confused between the two. Its price is much lower, but also its technical specifications, which is why these phones usually perform very poorly.
Generally these “generic” devices or components in common, are camouflaged under the name of recognized brands, such as iPhone or Samsung Galaxy. They are not recommended because they run out of storage quickly, get too slow, die suddenly, and there are insufficient resources or information to help you in case of problems.
Can you tell which cell is clone and which original?
Contents
Difference between clone and original
Currently cell phone clones are as well made physically as at the software level, so that at first glance it is very easy to confuse them with their original versions.
Physically, a clone may be very similar to the original, but the materials used in the first one are cheaper and vulnerable to damage, including here the screen, which is the most delicate component. The only way to perceive this difference is by looking in person at the original version, which looks and “feels” better.
But most concerning are the internal components. Being of much less “power” or capacity, a clone cell phone can be or become very slow. Since it can be a physical problem, it won’t do much good to restore your factory settings. Memory or storage can fill up very quickly with just a few applications (even though system information indicates there is still a lot of space available).
A clone can also fatally fail at any time from a bad soldier or assembly, something that even hierarchy marks have suffered from. If it’s an Android software or system issue, it can be very difficult to find online to reinstall it.
Avoid being sold a clone
Price
The first thing you should observe is the price. If a cell phone costs too good to be true, it probably is and you are facing a clone.
Visible details
Galaxy S8 Plus AUTHENTIC (left) vs. Galaxy S8 Plus CLON (right)
You must also be very observant. The difference is in the details of the exterior design, the typography, spelling, sharpness of the logo and text engravings, for example. Clones are not perfect and there are always little things that fail, both externally and in the Android software or system and factory applications.
If you are not very clear where to observe exactly, I advise you to look at photos and videos on the Internet of the original device, its box and accessories. I mean, you know him very well physically. Search YouTube for the unboxing or unpacking and review of the equipment.
Performance test
Galaxy S8 clone cell (left) vs. original Galaxy S8 (right). The clone’s score (23,000) is absurdly lower than the original team’s score (165,000). Source: Youtube
If possible, install the Antutu Benchmark application (APK) on the device, run the performance test and check the number or “benchmark” you get with the device’s Internet score (on the Antutu website, kimovil.com or Googling “team model + antutu benchmark”). If the first value is too low compared to the second, then surely you have a replica or clone in your hands.
The Antutu test is one of the most effective for internally evaluating a cell phone, because it scores its “power” based on the performance or processing capacity of its critical components, such as CPU, GPU and memory. A clone will be fully exposed in this test with a ridiculously low score compared to the original, due to its poor components.
Do not trust the technical specifications
Technical specifications of a Samsung Galaxy S8 CLONE. They are identical to the original equipment in the Antutu application.
Previously, I used to recommend reviewing the technical specifications of the equipment with applications such as Aida64, CPU-Z or the same Antutu Benchmark and comparing them with those of the original device on the Internet, on websites such as GSMArena. The clones showed their real components and you could easily tell. But since these apps extract this information from the Android system, the replica manufacturers are now also in charge of manipulating the system and replacing the real specifications with those of the original equipment. Therefore this method is no longer usable.