Is my Note 5 a fake?

[superasian]

So I purchased a Note 5 on eBay, because my original Note 5 suffered water damage a week. I spent about $510 on a "refurbished" Note 5, and the eBay seller has good reviews and has been a seller for a few years.

eBay seller is: omelectronics14

Luckily, I still have my original note 5 to compare my new one to, and they're very similar but have some differences.
**Excuse the picture quality; I am currently using a cheap Walmart phone.**

In all the phones, my original phone is pictured on the left or is the first picture, and the new phone is pictured on the right. My original phone also has the AT&T logo on the back, and a chipped screen, while the new phone has the Samsung logo.

My new Note 5 was made in Korea while my original from AT&T is from Taiwan.

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My new Note 5's IMEI on the case is different from the IMEI on the phone. Both IMEI's are authentic when I look them up online. I connected it to Kies, and Kies told me it was only compatible with Smart Switch; Smart Switch does detect my phone.

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The look of the camera on the new Note 5 is different from the camera on my original Note 5. The camera and screen on the new phone seems to be of decent quality, but I can't compare it to my original since it doesn't work anymore. You can't see the camera differences in the pictures, but I can see little lines/texture in the lens of the camera on the new Note, but I can't see that in the original.

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The S Pen is also different between the two phones; however, the S Pen is functional on the new phone.
The left side is the original, and the right is the eBay phone.

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The heart rate app works well in the new phone, as well as taking pictures while recording a video.

Finally, the home button on the new phone is level with the rest of the phone, while the home button on my original phone is raised from the phone surface - it sticks out on the original.
The one with the cracked screen is the original Note 5 (left), the other is the eBay phone.

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Basically, my finding is inconclusive. :-:'(

I'm not sure if these differences are because they are manufactured from countries.

 

[SpookDroid]

I don't think it's a fake, but to be safe, check the available memory (RAM) and storage to make sure they match the Note 5 specs (most knock-offs will skimp on RAM).

Samsung did improve the design a bit, especially after S-Pengate, so that's probably why the S-Pen looks different to you. The Home button flushness might be because the AT&T version is a whole different phone than a non-carrier-branded one. They might have the same stuff inside, but it's a different model and made with different instructions and probably factory lines.

The only thing that I would worry about is the IMEI, but if it's a refurb that might explain it if they're using a different motherboard...maybe? If it's a knock-off it would feel VERY different from the real deal, especially because you've actually used one in the past.

 

[mark McWilliams1]

https://youtu.be/QaFYmXkpnco

Here's some videos you can check out hope its real that would suck but the fake ones are done with high grade material so its hard to tell but theses videos help

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[tlo07]

Go to the Playstore and see if there is still an app called Genuine Galaxy-Phone Info. I used that when I bought a Galaxy off Swappa and wanted to make sure it wasn't fake.

 

[ratsttam]

I don't think it's a fake, but to be safe, check the available memory (RAM) and storage to make sure they match the Note 5 specs (most knock-offs will skimp on RAM).

Samsung did improve the design a bit, especially after S-Pengate, so that's probably why the S-Pen looks different to you. The Home button flushness might be because the AT&T version is a whole different phone than a non-carrier-branded one. They might have the same stuff inside, but it's a different model and made with different instructions and probably factory lines.

The only thing that I would worry about is the IMEI, but if it's a refurb that might explain it if they're using a different motherboard...maybe? If it's a knock-off it would feel VERY different from the real deal, especially because you've actually used one in the past.

Well, the IMEI is specific to the individual phone, and should be unique. I would be more worried it it matched anything else.

 

[ratsttam]

Around the camera on my t-mobile Note 5, I do have some very faint lines, almost like a record. I don't see anything obvious in your new one, that makes it stand out. Your more flush home button, is actually closer to how my home button is, that is sticking up just a little, but not too much like your original one looks like.

 

[SpookDroid]

Around the camera on my t-mobile Note 5, I do have some very faint lines, almost like a record. I don't see anything obvious in your new one, that makes it stand out. Your more flush home button, is actually closer to how my home button is, that is sticking up just a little, but not too much like your original one looks like.

Again, they did improve the home button and the S-Pen since the whole 'I can put it in backwards and break things' debacle, so '2nd run' Note 5's won't match the first few batches.

 

[SpookDroid]

Well, the IMEI is specific to the individual phone, and should be unique. I would be more worried it it matched anything else.

That's what I mean... the IMEI is specific to each motherboard. If it was a new unit, it matches the number etched on the back, but if they are re-furbishing it and they changed the motherboard but not the casing, then the IMEI wouldn't match because they don't re-etch the back. Again, not sure if this is how they do it, but that could explain if the actual IMEI differs from the printed one (the one on the box, however, should have matched).

 

[meizuhunzai]

the simplest way to check a device is to install CPU-Z app which tells you the complete hardware details. a chinese or korean ripoff would come with a mtk-series of a board while the architecture and processor of a samsung comes with exynos chip.

 

[meizuhunzai]

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cpuid.cpu_z

 

[JannyMaha]

...but I can see little lines/texture in the lens of the camera on the new Note, but I can't see that in the original.

I can see lines/texture in the lens of the camera on my Samsung Note 5.

...the home button on the new phone is level with the rest of the phone, while the home button on my original phone is raised from the phone surface.

The home button on my Note 5 comes out just a tiny bit.