Today we are talking about the differences between a fake Samsung Galaxy S10 and a real Samsung Galaxy S10. If you are looking to buy an S10 these days, unfortunately, there are a lot of fakes out there and you definitely don’t want to spend $500-$700 on a phone and then a few days later you find out that you actually have a fake device.
By the end of this article you should have enough knowledge so whenever you are buying a Samsung Galaxy S10 then you’re going to know if you’re buying a real one or a fake one.
I want to make it clear that the phone on the left-hand side is the fake one and the white one is the original one.
We’re going to start with the box. On the right is the box that comes with the original device and on the left is the box that comes with the fake one. The first thing you’re going to notice is the fact that the writing on the front of the real one is white and the writing on the fake one is black. Keep in mind that can always change.
On the back of the box, they are a bit different but keep in mind that the boxes aren’t always the same, depending on where you’re actually buying these devices in the world.
Opening the box is the main thing I’ve noticed is the fact that the accessories on the original device are white and on the fake device are black. So this may be something to look out for.
The next thing I’ve noticed is the fact that the USB-C cable in the original device comes wrapped in cardboard, on the fake device that it comes wrapped in plastic.
The same goes for headphones. Both devices get AKG headphones. Of course, the ones in the fake device are fake AKG headphones and these ones come wrapped in plastic, where on the original device they come in cardboard.
Always remember that the accessories in the fake box can change, these Chinese factories always try to make these devices as close to the original ones as possible.
We are moving on to the phones themselves. If you just glance at them they do look somewhat similar: on the back, they both have the Samsung logo and they do seem quite similar.
The main difference between these two is the fact that the original one has the back made out of glass, where the fake one has the back made out of plastic. It may be a bit difficult to tell if you don’t have both devices in hand.
If you take a closer look at the cameras here the first two cameras do seem somewhat similar but the third camera is much smaller on the fake device.
The flash on the fake Samsung Galaxy S10 looks pretty yellow where the flash on the original device looks more whitish.
Looking at that heart rate monitor next to the flash. On the original device, you can definitely see more stuff in there, where on the fake device the heart monitor sensor is actually faking that just looks like a heart rate monitor. Look at those small things because if you pay attention you’re definitely going to notice these differences.
The right-hand side of the devices looks pretty similar as well. The power buttons are sitting in the exact same spot.
On the left side there we have the volume buttons and the Bixby button but on the fake device, the Bixby button doesn’t actually work (nothing happens if you press the Bixby button).
At the top, we have something very similar looking and the same other button but if you take out the SIM card tray on these two devices you’re going to notice some differences.
On the fake Samsung Galaxy S10, the SIM card tray is actually made out of metal, where on the original device the SIM card tray is made out of plastic. At the top of the original one, we also have a rubber seal because the original device is waterproof. If the sim card-tray is made out of metal, you’re probably looking at a fake phone.
The next thing I’ve noticed is the fact that every time you take out the SIM card tray from the original device, you’re going to get this message:
Check the SIM/SD card tray
If you remove the SD/SIM card tray from the fake device, nothing happens, you don’t get any messages. If you don’t get the message you’re probably looking at a fake phone.
At the bottom of these two devices, you’re probably going to notice that the plastic around that 3.5 mm audio-jack is bigger on the fake device (at the bottom).
On to the front of these two devices, you’re going to see the biggest difference. Keep in mind that there are multiple fakes out there and some are better than others.
This particular one that I have does not have a camera right at the top in the top right corner. This one has a camera in the center.
The fake devices that are available today don’t actually have a little hole in the screen for the camera, it’s too complicated for those Chinese factories to make that screen with the hole in the top right corner.
If you press the Bixby button on the fake device, nothing happens. If you press the Bixby button on the original Samsung Galaxy S10, you do get Bixby.
If you open the Settings app and search for Bixby, nothing shows up on the fake device, where on the original device you do get a bunch of options for Bixby. So that’s definitely something that you should check if you’re looking into buying a Samsung Galaxy S10.
The camera app on the original device allows you to switch in between the lenses on the back of the device. We have three lenses: an ultra-wide lens, a zoom lens, and the regular lens. On the fake device, there is just one lens on the back so the other ones are fake. So that’s definitely something to easily look out for.
Another thing that you can check is the always-on display. Both devices have this always-on display but only the original Samsung Galaxy S10 has an AMOLED screen, where the screen on the fake S10 is an IPS screen.
If you tap on the original device you’re going to see the fingerprint scanner showing up. With the fake device, we don’t have an in-screen fingerprint scanner, so the screen will just turn on if you tap on it.
If you are still looking at a real or a fake device I do recommend that you install the Antutu benchmark. The fake device is going to get a very low Antutu benchmark, it’s going to be definitely under 50,000. With the original device, you’re going to get a score of over 200,000. So look at that if you’re still not convinced if you are looking at the original device.
If you do have any questions, if you’re not sure if you’re looking at the right device definitely leave a comment down below and I’ll try to help you out, so you can actually make the right decision and buy the original device.
Find the original Samsung Galaxy S10 on Amazon
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