It’s not only the big name brands that get cloned, but also popular devices from brands like JiaYu who are warning customers to be vigilant when ordering G4S and G5S models from China.
JiaYu’s reputation from launching quality smartphones has allowed the brand to sell their products easily both at home and abroad, but that popularity has also meant clone versions of their products are also on sale and customers are warned to check details before ordering from China.
JiaYu have told us that their popular JiaYu G4S and JiaYu G5S models are being targeted by resellers on popular e-commerce sites and that many of the new listings are for knock off versions of their phones.
The fake devices, which have been spotted in large numbers on Aliexpress, don’t look like the real JiaYu products, but customers unfamiliar with the brand could easily be fooled in to buying these inferior products.
The photos below show both the fake JiaYu G4S and G5S. As you can see the G4S looks more like an iPhone clone with a choice of gold, silver or white edging. The display size of the G4S is also incorrect as the real JiaYu model has a 4.7-inch 720p panel, not the claimed 5-inch 1080p seen here.
Fake Jiayu G4S
Real JiaYu G4S
A physical home button is the telltale giveaway of the fake JiaYu G5S. The real phone is manufactured from stainless steel with capacitive touch controls, with a 13 mega-pixel main camera.
Fake JiaYu G5S
Real JiaYu G5S
If you are looking at the specs of the clones and thinking that they look rather good and might be worth the chance, we would strongly recommend you don’t. The chances of these phones actually having 5-inch 1080 displays, 2.0Ghz octacore chips and 2GB RAM at these prices is highly unlikely.
So if you are buying internationally through Aliexpress, how do you know you are not buying a fake? Presumably Gizchina should list approved sites.
If the pictures are pictures of a fake phone then it’s a fake.
feedback…. can confirm i got original mi4 from this guy. and its cheap for eu. http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Orignial-Xiaomi-Mi4-Xiaomi-m4-mi4-Quad-Core-Mobile-Phone-5-Snapdragon-801-1920X1080P-3GB-RAM/1153179_1992706747.html
Check the feedback/description/price. If it’s too good to be true, it probably is!
So if you are buying internationally through Aliexpress, how do you know you are not buying a fake? Presumably Gizchina should list approved sites.
If the pictures are pictures of a fake phone then it’s a fake.
feedback…. can confirm i got original mi4 from this guy. and its cheap for eu. http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/Orignial-Xiaomi-Mi4-Xiaomi-m4-mi4-Quad-Core-Mobile-Phone-5-Snapdragon-801-1920X1080P-3GB-RAM/1153179_1992706747.html
Check the feedback/description/price. If it’s too good to be true, it probably is!
One of the main reasons I don’t shop on any of the Ali sites, they are a hotbed for knockoffs and fakes.
Good sellers and bad sellers, not unlike ebay really. Check the feedback first and you’ll be alright in my experience 😉
I just avoid them (and Ebay entirely). Don’t need or want to take that risk. For phones I have always had very good luck with Antelife.
That said, I do lots of shopping on Aliexpress and out of 50+ transactions I’ve only ever had one problem (item not as described) and received a full refund (your money is held in escrow pending acceptance of goods).
As always, caveat emptor.
You can find just as many complaints for Aliexpress or any other reseller. It’s part of shopping online. I know plenty of people who bought stuff from “trusted” sellers on both Ali and Ebay and they ended up being DOA or fake products. I have ordered all but 3 (All were Xiaomi’s ordered from Xiaomi World) of my phones from Antelife and never had a single issue with them. All were fairly priced, arrived quickly and the post customer service was excellent.
Aliexpress is a marketplace not a reseller. Look at the reviews for a trusted seller there and compare that to a google search of ‘antelife’.
I go by my own experiences not random people I never met. I have had very good experiences with Antelife over a 3 year period, I had two horrible experiences with Aliexpress and both were from “trusted” sellers.
I trust very little that I read on the internet especially reviews of things. Usually a negative review is written in haste because someone wasn’t satisfied with the product or service. A negative review is often written out of anger and the person will tend to over exaggerate every little detail because of their anger. Same with positive review they are just biased, I read the neutral reviews only because they are usually the most reliable. It’s the same with hotel reviews or anything on yelp.
Ignoring people’s reviews doesn’t seem like a good idea, but glad that it’s worked out for you!
+1, I always shop on aliexpress and never had a single problem. Plus they often give out coupons, so it comes out much cheaper than antelife and similar stores. For example, I bought my Xiaomi Note for $174 in June.