Help solve this mystery. What is the true identity of this phone that claims to be an HTC One M8?

[huhphone]

So I purchased this phone used thinking it was an HTC One M8. My only interest in the phone was to install a Lineage based rom. It worked. Every step of the unlocking and installation went as expected. And the phone claims to be an M8 in the "about" section in settings. But here's the strange part...

I received it without the top plastic faceplate. After using the phone for a while I decided to buy a replacement plate on ebay. I received it and realized it was a completely different shape and didn't fit the phone. This spurred my curiosity so I started researching the M8 and none of the photos I found matched the phone I have.

The back cover looks completely different. The bottom faceplate on the front of the phone looks different. The back cover doesn't detach and I can't access the battery. The front is a different shape. Even the holes on the back where the mic and speaker should be are different from the standard phone pics. The rear camera doesn't work so one possibility I thought of is that someone took the guts out of an original and put them in a replacement shell in an attempt to repair it. Or this could be a counterfeit phone. Or perhaps a prototype that wasn't commercially released.

Were there different versions of the M8? Can anyone identify this phone? Why does it vary so much from a standard M8?

https://i.ibb.co/SVB84rV/20201130-121328.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/8jHJvRN/20201130-121347.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/dtwsFT1/20201130-121403.jpg

Compare to the true HTC One M8 below

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipe...c_One_(2014).svg/220px-Htc_One_(2014).svg.png

 

[mustang7757]

Hi, welcome to AC!

This what my HTC M8 looks like , yours has one flash on the back mine got 2

 

[Rukbat]

The specific model number on the label under the battery will tell you. (Or you can look for a site that lists model numbers by IMEI number and look it up.)

 

[mustang7757]

The specific model number on the label under the battery will tell you. (Or you can look for a site that lists model numbers by IMEI number and look it up.)

Battery is sealed , that looks like fake M8
Notice the camera on mime all the way on top.for depth is missing, and the 2 flash on side of main camera

 

[L0n3N1nja]

Battery is sealed , that looks like fake M8
Notice the camera on mime all the way on top.for depth is missing, and the 2 flash on side of main camera

Looks like one of the budget HTC Desire phones to me, I wouldn't know specifically what model. Either it's a counterfeit phone(I've seen a few in the past) or it's had the wrong firmware installed on it if that's even possible.

Either way, that isn't an HTC One M8 in the OPs photos.

 

[B. Diddy]

You might want to try multiple different system info apps, since some of them can see through false information better than others: https://www.androidcentral.com/best-apps-checking-your-phones-specs

 

[huhphone]

EDIT: Posted before I saw the above reply. Thanks for the link. I'll try a few of those apps.

Could someone post the specs of an official M8 so I can compare? Thanks!

 

[mustang7757]

Looks like one of the budget HTC Desire phones to me, I wouldn't know specifically what model. Either it's a counterfeit phone(I've seen a few in the past) or it's had the wrong firmware installed on it if that's even possible.

Either way, that isn't an HTC One M8 in the OPs photos.

Yeah probably a budget HTC phone .

 

[mustang7757]

Are there any adb/fastboot commands that would list hardware/software specs/versions? Or could you recommend an app I could install to grab all available hardware info about the phone and compare to a genuine M8? Thanks.

I don't think you need to go that far , physically it's not the same.

 

[B. Diddy]

Could someone post the specs of an official M8 so I can compare? Thanks!

Check it out here: https://www.gsmarena.com/htc_one_(m8)-6074.php

 

[J Dubbs]

Looks like one of the budget HTC Desire phones to me, I wouldn't know specifically what model. Either it's a counterfeit phone(I've seen a few in the past) or it's had the wrong firmware installed on it if that's even possible.

Either way, that isn't an HTC One M8 in the OPs photos.

Yep that's an HTC Desire..... I ordered 2 in a row back in the day from Amazon that were supposed to be brand new, both were used and neither worked. The only good thing about Amazon is their return process :-\

 

[mustang7757]

I think it's pretty safe to say this is not a HTC M8