does it look like the original?
A counterfeit Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, how closely can it resemble the original? We look at one of the copies of Samsung’s top device that is for sale from China for less than 100 euros. Do the counterfeiters come close to the original?
Fake S21 Ultra
The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is one of the best premium phones of the moment, and that comes with consequences. For example, that the devices are counterfeit from China. XDA Developers was able to order a fake S21 Ultra for 85 euros, and compared it with the original in the video below.
When we see the back of the phone, we notice that it is also made of plastic, but has a cheaper glossy finish. The camera island has the same shape as the original, but it doesn’t flow seamlessly into the housing, and it seems to have been glued on rather.
Fake-Bixby
Furthermore, there is the screen that has a water drop notch, unlike the real S21 Ultra. That, together with the large screen edge at the bottom, you can best see from those external features that it is a fake device. It is also remarkable that the phone comes with a headphone jack and a charger in the box, so you seem to get more with this 85 euro phone.
The fakers have also gone out of their way to make the smartphone’s software look like One UI. The animated Samsung logo is visible at startup, and Samsung’s default wallpapers are recreated. Furthermore, the navigation buttons are almost identical to those of Samsung, and recent apps have been swapped with the back button. The Chinese also copied the icons of default apps, and strangely, the Spotify logo was misused for the default music app on the phone. The copiers even went out of their way to copy Bixby, though it’s far less helpful than the original.
1 GB RAM, 2 GB storage
Still, if you use the phone for a while, you will soon see that it shows serious problems. The phone’s software and packaging indicate that it will come with a whopping 6 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage, but in reality it only has 1 GB of RAM and only 2 GB of storage. You can literally install one app before the phone asks you to free up space. In addition, it works very slowly with a working memory that corresponds to that of the Galaxy S2 from 2011.
There are other things that stand out. For example, the phone comes without an AMOLED screen and it only has one working camera that takes very bad pictures. Although it is mainly the limited storage and RAM that makes this phone unusable in reality. Have you ever bought a fake phone, and what were your experiences? Do you know someone who has bought one? Let us know in the comments at the bottom of this article.
Do you want to stay informed of the latest news about Samsung? Then download our Android app and follow us on Telegram and Twitter. Also check out our new AW Community for an overview of the most popular AW members.
