I often find myself on Avito looking for goodies at low prices. Yes, I haven’t leveled up my luck yet, so I wasn’t as lucky as our editor-in-chief was recently. But a couple of times we managed to profitably exchange smartphones.
It is important to understand that any platform with advertisements is a field of action for various scammers and, in general, unscrupulous people. It’s easy to run into an unpleasant surprise here.
Therefore, any equipment must be inspected in detail before purchasing. I bought an iPhone several times - I’ll tell you how to check them.
The easiest. Is he untied
A smartphone can pass any test with flying colors, but if the seller finds it difficult to disable “Find iPhone” - goodbye, nothing will work.
For those who are not in the know: this tightly ties the iPhone to the owner of the Apple ID, and, in fact, gives him the keys to control the device. For example, he can remotely lock your newly purchased iPhone and demand money to unlock it. He will know where you are. That's another pleasure.
The required item is hidden in the settings, in the “iCloud” section, but it is much easier to type “Find iPhone” there in the search.
operating system
There is no less of a catch here. When you turn it on for the first time, the fake smartphone behaves like a real one. Everything you need is present - both the boot screen and the operating system shell.
The developers of the add-on must be given their due - a colossal amount of work has been done. I want such a launcher for my Android device. It is VERY difficult to distinguish from iOS. If you don't look closely at the applications.
They are the ones who give away the fake. This set, to put it mildly, is unusual even for Chinese Android, so an inexperienced user may not recognize it.
However, an avid iOS fan should quickly notice the absence of Apple-branded services. There is nothing associated with the company. Of course, iTunes, Apple Music and other proprietary iOS features do not work.
The application store is our own, Chinese. The main language is English, the set of programs is from the Play Market. But the choice is very poor. Naturally, installation is impossible.
Fortunately, the fake does not have pre-installed cross-platform applications on board. But if the manufacturer of the fakes guesses, some of the icons in the next revision of the fakes may turn out to be copies. Yes, and the set of applications can be adjusted.
By the way, there is no “About phone” menu item proprietary to Android. At all. I was unable to find hardware combinations for the engineering menu - the manufacturer cut out the option completely. Accordingly, it will not be possible to flash it.
When connected to third-party devices (routers, smart home elements, and even a computer), the fake iPhone is identified as real. Even many services do not notice the substitution.
Such a mess has a terrible impact. And like an iPhone, you can’t use a fake, and you won’t be able to use the Android ecosystem.
How to check iPhone by IMEI
IMEI is a unique international identifier for mobile equipment. This 15-digit number must match within the same set. We check:
- IMEI on the back of the case
- IMEI in “Settings - General - About this device”
- IMEI on request *#06#
- IMEI on the SIM card tray (not relevant for iPhone SE and “fives”)
- IMEI on the box (if available)
The box is the last thing we care about. If everything matches except for it, it’s okay, the seller just brought the device in non-original packaging. Another question: why didn’t he warn you about this? This is another reason to double-check everything.
iPhone 5/ iPhone 5s/ iPhone SE
Many Internet sites are literally filled with these iPhones with a 4-inch display diagonal. Outwardly, it is quite easy to distinguish them, but you need to know what to look for. It is on such devices that scammers try to deceive buyers by passing off an older iPhone 5 as an iPhone 5s or an “esque” as an iPhone SE.
The screen size, dimensions, color and weight of the devices are almost the same. Of course, the iPhone 5 was not sold in gold, and the 5s in rose gold, but the craftsmen from Gorbushka will be able to install a case of any color on the desired model, so you shouldn’t rely on color.
Storage capacity: iPhone 5 16/32/64 GB, iPhone 5s 16/32/64 GB, iPhone SE 16/32/64/128 GB.
Model number: iPhone 5 A1428, A1429, A1442, iPhone 5s A1453, A1457, A1518, A1528, A1530, A1533, iPhone SE A1723, A1662, A1724.
How to check iPhone on Apple website
There, in “Settings - General - About this device” the serial number is written. It can be used too. Go to the Apple website and check the status of the device.
This is how you can understand that this is not Frankenstein with the body of a conventional 6s and the filling of a six. The page will show the device model, the expiration date of the limited warranty and information about the date of purchase.
iPhone 6/ iPhone 6s
Here lies another potential scam site. Often they try to pass off the “six” as an “esque” and add an extra 8-10 thousand to the price of the device.
The models can be distinguished from each other by the back cover. The newer iPhone 6s has an “S” symbol on the back, and the iPhone 6s line also has a rose gold color.
Again, we don’t trust the appearance alone, we check the model number in the settings and the presence of 3D Touch on the iPhone 6s (you need to press hard on the application icons to call up the additional menu).
Storage capacity: iPhone 6 16/64/128 GB, iPhone 6S 16/32/64/128 GB.
Model number: iPhone 6 A1549, A1586, A1589, iPhone 6S A1633, A1688, A1700.
No locked iPhones
Nowadays such devices are becoming less and less common, but suddenly you are a retro lover in pursuit of an iPhone 3G. There is a possibility of running into a locked smartphone. These iPhones were purchased overseas on a contract basis. Such tubes can cause a lot of inconvenience, for which, moreover, you have to pay.
Here are a few signs by which you can understand whether a smartphone is locked or not.
- There is a substrate chip in the SIM tray.
- The device is not updated to the highest possible OS.
- In Settings - General - There is an operator about this device that is different from the one in the status bar.
- After a reboot, the device takes a long time to catch the network or requires a call to a specific number.
Such smartphones cannot be updated without the necessary manipulations; I see no reason to pay for them.
Body like a bar of soap
A little later, the thickness of the protective glass on the screen catches your eye. Yes, this is window glass, not protecting the screen of a modern gadget! And the edges are noticeably rounder - like thousands of cheap Chinese smartphones.
Let's look from a different angle - the fake is almost one and a half times thicker ! The neat edges turned into a hemisphere: even the Chinese cannot break the laws of geometry.
Where it leads? The slightest impact will crack the screen like an eggshell.
By the way, please note: the inscription on the back of the device does not correspond to the original one. There was an attempt to reproduce, but the information and font do not match.
Swimmer or not?
Buying recessed smartphones is extremely dangerous. You don't know how they dried it after falling into the water. Perhaps the iPhone was in the hands of adequate service providers, or maybe it was simply put in the rice. At the same time, the oxidation of the components is still ongoing, and the smartphone will “move its horses” at any minute.
It’s a pity that this only pops up after opening the device. However, one marker is visible from the outside.
- For iPhone 5 and later: Open the SIM card tray and look inside.
- For other iPhones: look at the 30-pin connector and the headphone port.
Here you can see what a triggered marker will look like in a specific iPhone model. If there are no red dots in the designated areas, then everything is in order, the iPhone did not flood on this side. More precisely, only a service center can clarify the situation.
How to tell the difference?
The devices are as similar to each other as two peas in a pod. If I had not known that one of the smartphones was a fake, I could have been mistaken.
With poor lighting and insufficient testing, even our editor couldn’t point his finger at the original iPhone. And after they put on the covers, the whole team got confused. And the traditional inclusion for checking the first 5 minutes did not bring the fake to light.
Let's take a closer look - there are still differences, but not everyone will notice them.
Classic. Battery status
It is clear that when buying a smartphone second-hand, you will have to endure all the problems of a worn-out battery. But the wear and tear of a one- to two-year-old battery is insignificant.
Typically, an iPhone will last up to 500 charge cycles, at a minimum. In this case, the loss of battery capacity is not felt. Don’t think about it, the device continues to work after that, it’s just that the time “without a socket” is reduced.
The number of full charge cycles can be checked using the free coconutBattery utility. If you are too lazy to take your laptop with you, you should discuss with the seller in advance the possibility of installing the appropriate utility on your iPhone. Here, Battery Life, for example.
Plus, in the latest iOS, it became possible to see the percentage of battery wear in the settings. Saves time.
Instead of a preface
M.Video experts shared a smartphone that looks surprisingly similar to a real iPhone.
The device was spotted on sale in some Russian online stores under the guise of an original device. The first fakes arrived in Russia a week after the presentation. [UPDATED] After working on the article, it became known that customs officers in one city shared information about the detention of several thousand iPhones without boxes . Upon closer examination, they all turned out to be very exact copies.
Bought for only 10 thousand rubles! And if it weren’t for comparison with a real device, the difference would not have been noticed immediately. The original box and fake documents are misleading - you don’t expect such a serious trick anymore.
Studying the screen
The display is just a storehouse of weak points. What you need to pay attention to.
Press the screen in different places with little force. There should be nothing crunching, creaking or loosening here. Otherwise, the smartphone was dropped or opened.
The illumination should be uniform. Open an image with a white background and a black one and notice the glow around the edges. There should be no obvious spots or too bright areas. If there are no such images, open any application with a suitable background. Well, or take a photo, for example.
There should be no yellow spots on the screen. Those that appear after the smartphone overheats. The fact is that under the influence of temperature, the glue between the touchscreen and the display changes color. Similar jambs appear if the device is constantly squeezed, for example, kept in the back pocket of jeans and sat on hard surfaces.
We use the same set of pictures to check for stripes and dead pixels.
What to pay attention to
There are several ways to check whether an iPhone is original or not. To do this, you need to pay special attention to the main points:
- packaging design;
- stickers;
- equipment;
- appearance of the smartphone;
- software.
When identifying a fake gadget from the original, you need to take into account all the little things, because many manufacturers of fakes do not take such nuances into account.
In order to protect yourself from purchasing a copy, albeit a high-quality one, it is best to buy a branded smartphone in branded stores and official Apple sales points. Of course, the cost of the gadget here will be somewhat more expensive, but you can be sure of the authenticity of the iPhone you are buying.
Important! One of the most common signs of a clandestine iPhone production is the presence of two SIM card slots, the presence of a removable back panel and battery, a telescopic antenna and a slot for memory cards.
All sensors must work
Few people want to discover a couple of dead zones on the display after some time. So check everything at once.
The easiest way is to go to the menu, turn on the icon arrangement mode (hold one of them for a long time) and drag it across the screen. It should move evenly, smoothly, not stop, and not twitch.
Open the keyboard, click all the keys. Pull down the shades of notifications and Control Center in both portrait and landscape modes. Everything should work.
Don't forget to check Touch ID. Ideally, stick your finger in there and unlock the device a couple of times, but you can also watch the owner of the smartphone.
iPhone 6 Plus/ iPhone 6s Plus
Apple phablets have the largest display in the Apple line with a diagonal of 5.5 inches. The body is larger than the regular 6/6s (158.1 x 77.8 x 7.1 mm versus 138.1 x 67 x 6.9 mm).
The models differ from each other, just like the previous ones, by the markings on the back panel.
Storage capacity: iPhone 6 Plus 16/64/128 GB, iPhone 6s Plus 16/32/64/128 GB.
Model number: iPhone 6 Plus A1522, A1524, A1593, iPhone 6S Plus A1634, A1687, A1699.
Necessarily. Test call
Don't miss this moment: you need to insert your SIM card and make a test call to a friend's number. This kills two birds with one stone; We check the operation of the speaker and the cellular communication module.
As a last resort, if you don’t have a SIM card at hand, you can dial 112, listen to the answering robot, and then reset without waiting for the connection. Better than nothing.
Check by serial number
The American company Apple has provided a special page where you can use the serial number to check at any time which model is associated with it, when the device was sold and find out about the possibility of warranty service. If the serial number cannot be read or it gives data for a different model, you can rest assured that this is a replica iPhone.
The information found on the device practically guarantees that you are purchasing an original device. However, there is another way to verify the origin of the gadget.
Need to go online
At this stage, your own SIM card with the Internet will also come in handy. It is enough to go to any page to understand that the smartphone works in LTE networks.
It’s also worth finding a Wi-Fi point nearby, or distributing one yourself. Nobody needs problems with wireless Internet.
It would be a good idea to go to Maps and determine the current location of the smartphone to make sure that everything is in order with GPS.
What's wrong with Chinese refurbished iPhones?
It’s easy to figure out defects and parts identical to the original ones, but not real ones - the screen creaks or is uneven, the fingerprint may not work at all, the speakers sound terrible and disgusting, there is no Wi-Fi module at all, the battery quickly fails or may originally have been used in use (with version 12 of iOS this is easy to check through the settings, since the level of wear is displayed there).
It is also not uncommon for such iPhones to stop holding a charge or even simply charging. The Lighting cord either breaks or fails to work after a short period of time. If the headphones work at all, then this is a great success. They are not covered by a warranty - it has long expired, and this is also one of the distinguishing features.
The colors of the case are also different - study the colors carefully, there are a few shades for each model. It would also be useful to note the material of the case - some have glass, others have metal, but not plastic or anything else.
Chinese Aliexpress does not sell iPhones with genuine components. Remember that you have no guarantee that the iPhone will not soon turn into a useless piece of hardware.
But to say that only fakes are sold on Aliexpress is not entirely correct. The Tmall platform has appeared in Russia. It works closely with the service and differs from Chinese goods in that they are fully certified and original, coming from official Apple warehouses. This is the only department that can and should be trusted. Why, you ask? Firstly, delivery arrives in just a few days by courier, and secondly, the cost of Apple products is significantly lower than in stores.
Don't forget the buttons
Dumbly click each button. Nothing should crunch, dangle or sink. The silent mode rocker should vibrate, just like the Home button on the new iPhones. By the way, do not try to press this button on the iPhone 7 and 8 - it will not move a millimeter.
Don’t give in to persuasion; a broken Home button is almost impossible to fix. After replacing the part, you will be left without Touch ID.
Method 2: more difficult
A person with a trained eye will be able to distinguish a fake, not only without turning on the iPhone, but also without opening the box. There are several true signs that will help you immediately identify a clone. Here they are.
Box
kiancheonglim/Flickr.com
Apple has a very meticulous attention to detail, and it shows in everything about the iPhone, starting with the packaging. The actual box should be made of thick coated cardboard with straight corners and an embossed logo. On the bottom there is always a sticker with the model name, serial number, IMEI and storage capacity. But the main thing is, of course, the contents of the box.
Accessories and equipment
Spieler Family/Flickr.com
Every iPhone comes with a charging cable, headphones, a USB adapter, as well as an envelope with documentation, stickers and a paperclip for removing the SIM card tray. All accessories must be carefully wound and packaged in transparent films. Original cables, unlike fakes, are much softer, and the plastic on their connectors is immaculately smooth and has no burrs or sagging. Of course, everything must be put in its place in perfect order.
iPhone appearance
SaggiaMente/Flickr.com
The smartphone itself should give the impression of a quality thing: you can feel the weight, the metal pleasantly cools your hand. All modern iPhones are made of aluminum, but in fakes the case material can be anything, even painted plastic.
On a real iPhone, the parts fit tightly together and have minimal gaps. The buttons and silent mode switch should clearly respond to pressing and have no backlash. There is always an IMEI on the back cover of the smartphone, which matches the numbers on the box and SIM card tray.
On the contrary, there is no need to be afraid of the Assembled in China inscription. It is completely legal, because the iPhone is only developed in the USA, and produced and assembled in China.
An outright fake will be revealed by details that simply cannot be in a real iPhone. These signs include:
- removable back cover and battery;
- support for two or more SIM cards;
- memory card slot;
- microUSB connector;
- telescopic antenna.
But even if the fake is of high quality and outwardly difficult to distinguish from the original, all doubts should be dispelled after switching on.
Checking the camera and microphone
Make sure there is no debris or condensation in the camera eye. Check the flash, take a couple of photos and videos. There should be no artifacts in the frames. Don't forget to play back the video you shot with sound - this is how the rear microphone is checked.
It is also easy to check the microphone in the standard Voice Recorder application. Leave a couple of recordings and listen to them. There should be no extraneous noise.
To the heap: sensors and accelerometer
iPhone can determine its location in space thanks to its accelerometer. Open Notes and rotate your smartphone, check how changing landscape mode to portrait mode works.
You can also go to the new Measure app (or the old Compass) and turn on Level. Check how the accelerometer works in different planes.
Don't forget other sensors. How to check them?
- Turn on auto brightness and place your palm near the front camera - the screen should become dim.
- Call someone and put your palm in front of the same camera - the screen should go dark.
Initial examination of the phone
Hull inspection
First of all, look at the geometry of the case, position the iPhone in front of you as shown in the photo.
The iPhone should be straight and without banana-shaped bends. No one knows how the curvature of the case can affect the electronics of the iPhone, but a crooked iPhone is definitely bad.
PHOTO OF THE CASE
Look at the gaps between the display and the body - the original iPhone has none of this, everything is tight and even.
Press the display in each corner - there should be no backlash or clicks. If they are still there, this indirectly indicates that the iPhone has been disassembled and the seal has been broken.
Checking for signs of tampering
Take a close look at the screws on the bottom of the iPhone where the charging connector is located. You should not see any scuffs or licked screw splines. The screw should look like new without damage or scratches. This is especially noticeable on black iPhones.
In the photo we showed how untouched screws should look and what those that have been serviced look like.
Check the dust in the camera
In the original iPhone assembly, dust access to the inside of the device is limited to the IP67/IP68 standard. The iPhone must be completely sealed. There should be no dust inside the chamber, even the smallest amount .
The same applies to the front camera. If there is dust, the iPhone has been opened and its seal is broken.
