Chinese knock offs of premium smartphones and tablets
Chinese knock-offs of super-successful
smartphones are nothing new. They have the same looks and, in some
cases, manufacturers have even spent copious amounts of time in making
the interface look as close to the original as possible. However, there
is a chance that unsuspecting buyers might be conned into buying a
GooPhone when instead they asked for an iPhone 5. We recently stumbled
upon Android-Sale,
which has quite a few of these knock offs. Let’s take a look at some of
the interesting (and by interesting, I mean hilarious) knock offs of
popular devices.
HDC Galaxy S4
Really like that Samsung Galaxy S4, but can’t afford it? Now you can fool your friends into thinking you have one with the HDC Galaxy S4. The smartphone looks more-or-less identical to Samsung’s handset, even down to the interface. The TouchWiz UX has been painstakingly recreated, but lacks many of the features (or, as some might refer to it, bloatware) of the original. The specs side of things, however, is where you’ll notice the difference.
HDC's smartphone is powered by a quad-core MediaTek MTK MT6589 processor clocked at 1.2GHz. It runs on the semi-latest version of Android—4.2 Jelly Bean. It has a large 5-inch display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. This gives it a pixel density of 293 ppi. The obvious difference between HDC’s device and the real thing is the considerably weaker MediaTek chip and the 720p display.
The HDC Galaxy S4 costs $199 (Rs 11,760 approx) online, if you desire to get your hands on it.
Goophone I5
The iPhone 5 has become quite a status symbol, and this isn’t just because of its high-end aluminium+glass design. The price tag of the entry-level 16GB iPhone 5 costs quite a bit (Rs 45,500, to be exact) and might seem a bit out of reach for most people. Fret not... Goophone is here to save the day! The Goophone I5 looks exactly the same as the iPhone 5, even down to the placements of the buttons and the 4-inch display. Costing $199 (Rs 11,760 approx), it might seem like quite a steal, but there are quite a few key differences between the Goophone I5 and Apple’s current flagship. Check it out in action:
Surprising absolutely no one, the Goophone runs on Android (4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich to be precise). Despite the size of the display being the same (4 inches), the resolution is only qHD at 960 x 540, giving it a nowhere-near-Retina-display pixel density of 275 ppi. The software, however, has been painstakingly redone to look as much like iOS as possible, even going so far as to hide Android’s essential Back button behind a long-press of the Home button. Keeping a GooPhone I5 and an iPhone 5 side-by-side will have you quite confused if you don’t know what to look for.
HDC One
Here’s another smartphone with an aluminium-based unibody design that may be just out of your reach because of its price: the HTC One. HDC has you covered, however, with the HDC One. If you look at a picture of this, it’ll look like a dead ringer for the Google Play Edition of the HTC One, since it runs on what appears to be stock Android 4.2.
Even though it looks like the One, the hardware is a far cry from it. HDC’s smartphone seems to be woefully underpowered in every department when compared to the One. It’s 4.7-inch display has a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels, as opposed to the original’s full HD 1080p display. Powering it is a MediaTek MTK MT6589 chip clocked at 1.2GHz (surprise, surprise!). It does, however, run on Android 4.2, which is the semi-latest version of Android.
It costs $219 (Rs 13,000 approx) and might just be a steal when you consider the fact that it has an aluminium body, the same as the original One.
GooPad mini
Smartphones aren’t the only devices being copied shamelessly. If a 7-inch tablet’s your thing, check out the GooPad mini. It’s a dead ringer for the iPad mini and is made by the same guys who made the Goophone I5. It’s 7-inch display has a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. Under the hood, it’s powered by a 1.2GHz MTK MT6589 quad-core chip (again?!) and runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.
Of course, Goophone has gone all the way with skinning the tablet’s UI, making it look as much like iOS as possible. Even the setting screen is a direct lift from iOS. Physically, it resembles the iPad mini in almost every possible way, with only the utmost scrutiny giving away its non-Apple origins.
The GooPad Mini costs $199 (Rs 11,760 approx) online.
These are just some of the blatant knock offs that we’ve seen. This is a cautionary tale. Be careful what you’re buying, online or otherwise, or it might just turn out to be a Chinese knock off. Let us know of any interesting or funny ones you find in the comments below.
HDC Galaxy S4
Really like that Samsung Galaxy S4, but can’t afford it? Now you can fool your friends into thinking you have one with the HDC Galaxy S4. The smartphone looks more-or-less identical to Samsung’s handset, even down to the interface. The TouchWiz UX has been painstakingly recreated, but lacks many of the features (or, as some might refer to it, bloatware) of the original. The specs side of things, however, is where you’ll notice the difference.
Could you even tell if this is a real S4?
HDC's smartphone is powered by a quad-core MediaTek MTK MT6589 processor clocked at 1.2GHz. It runs on the semi-latest version of Android—4.2 Jelly Bean. It has a large 5-inch display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. This gives it a pixel density of 293 ppi. The obvious difference between HDC’s device and the real thing is the considerably weaker MediaTek chip and the 720p display.
The HDC Galaxy S4 costs $199 (Rs 11,760 approx) online, if you desire to get your hands on it.
Goophone I5
The iPhone 5 has become quite a status symbol, and this isn’t just because of its high-end aluminium+glass design. The price tag of the entry-level 16GB iPhone 5 costs quite a bit (Rs 45,500, to be exact) and might seem a bit out of reach for most people. Fret not... Goophone is here to save the day! The Goophone I5 looks exactly the same as the iPhone 5, even down to the placements of the buttons and the 4-inch display. Costing $199 (Rs 11,760 approx), it might seem like quite a steal, but there are quite a few key differences between the Goophone I5 and Apple’s current flagship. Check it out in action:
Surprising absolutely no one, the Goophone runs on Android (4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich to be precise). Despite the size of the display being the same (4 inches), the resolution is only qHD at 960 x 540, giving it a nowhere-near-Retina-display pixel density of 275 ppi. The software, however, has been painstakingly redone to look as much like iOS as possible, even going so far as to hide Android’s essential Back button behind a long-press of the Home button. Keeping a GooPhone I5 and an iPhone 5 side-by-side will have you quite confused if you don’t know what to look for.
HDC One
Here’s another smartphone with an aluminium-based unibody design that may be just out of your reach because of its price: the HTC One. HDC has you covered, however, with the HDC One. If you look at a picture of this, it’ll look like a dead ringer for the Google Play Edition of the HTC One, since it runs on what appears to be stock Android 4.2.
At least don't be too lazy to change more than one letter in your name, HDC!
Even though it looks like the One, the hardware is a far cry from it. HDC’s smartphone seems to be woefully underpowered in every department when compared to the One. It’s 4.7-inch display has a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels, as opposed to the original’s full HD 1080p display. Powering it is a MediaTek MTK MT6589 chip clocked at 1.2GHz (surprise, surprise!). It does, however, run on Android 4.2, which is the semi-latest version of Android.
It costs $219 (Rs 13,000 approx) and might just be a steal when you consider the fact that it has an aluminium body, the same as the original One.
GooPad mini
Smartphones aren’t the only devices being copied shamelessly. If a 7-inch tablet’s your thing, check out the GooPad mini. It’s a dead ringer for the iPad mini and is made by the same guys who made the Goophone I5. It’s 7-inch display has a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. Under the hood, it’s powered by a 1.2GHz MTK MT6589 quad-core chip (again?!) and runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.
Disclaimer: we didn't pick this image up from Apple's website
Of course, Goophone has gone all the way with skinning the tablet’s UI, making it look as much like iOS as possible. Even the setting screen is a direct lift from iOS. Physically, it resembles the iPad mini in almost every possible way, with only the utmost scrutiny giving away its non-Apple origins.
The GooPad Mini costs $199 (Rs 11,760 approx) online.
These are just some of the blatant knock offs that we’ve seen. This is a cautionary tale. Be careful what you’re buying, online or otherwise, or it might just turn out to be a Chinese knock off. Let us know of any interesting or funny ones you find in the comments below.
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