The HTC One S is currently my second favorite top of the range Android smartphone on the market, so I was pretty excited when I learned about the knock off version and couldn’t wait to get my hands on one!
Before I get in to telling you about just how great this knock off HTC One S is, I would first like to thank Shine over at Android-sale for helping me out with the review unit, cheers Shine!
The Packaging
Some knock off Android phones try to hide the fact they are clones of popular products by slightly changing the name or the logo, the makers of this knock off have taken a different approach.
The packaging is nothing like the real HTC One S box and instead is a bright orange box with AT&T branding. There is no mention of what treasures are hidden inside other than the claim that whatever is a refurbished device:
This is a REFURBISHED DEVICE.
But we know better!
Inside the box
Upon opening the box you will find the fake HTC One S, more on that later, below that there is a rubber case, charger, USB, a couple of batteries and a pair of knock off Beats headphones!
Like the outside of the box the inside isn’t very fancy and is a far cry from the package HTC craft around the genuine One S, but it get’s the job of keeping your phone safe done, and probably doesn’t cost all that much which is important on a device costing just $179.
The Phone
Loathe or love it the idea but more and more phones, including the One S have built in batteries and don’t allow the users to easily open the rear, this clone however allows easy access to the battery with a easy to snap off rear panel. With the rear of the phone removed you can insert your SD memory card along with your 3G sim card (no 4G LTE on this phone) and swap between the two included batteries if you find you’re running low on power.
The body of the phone is as you would expect from a high class knock off such as this, it is almost indistinguishable from the real thing, and feel very well made and comfortable when in your hand.
A textured surface ensures you can keep hold of your phone while on the go which is a nice design touch. Something we didn’t quite like, however is that the rear camera protrudes slightly from the body meaning you will actually be resting your phone on its camera every time you place it on a table or desk, this is the same case for both the real HTC One S and One X also.
Speaking of the camera the rear unit is a 5 megapixel camera, while the front camera is a 0.3 megapixel video chat unit. Photos from the rear camera aren’t anything spectacular and you don’t get all the cool camera filters you would on the real One S, but it would make do as a backup camera while out on the street, plus the LED flash ensure night photos turn out quite well.
Technical Specifications
- 4.3 inch QHD screen.
- 960 x 540 resolution.
- 1GHZ MTK6575 CPU.
- PowerVR SGX51 GPU.
- Supports GSM & WCDMA 3G.
- 512mb RAM
- 5 mega-pixel rear camera.
- 0.3 mega pixel front camera.
- Built in Wi-Fi and GPS
- Android ICS 4.0.
In Use
With the battery firmly pressed in to place, a short press of the power button boots the phone in to a very genuine looking HTC One boot screen!
The Android ICS 4.0 operating system boots up surprisingly quickly and once ready for use presents you with a very good replication of the HTC Sense 4 UI. The lock scree even gives you the convenient unlock ring found on HTC devices plus lock screen shortcuts for the phone, camera, contacts and messages.
Sweeping from one screen to another is fast and responsive and the large 4.3 inch QHD screen does a great job of keeping everything clear and easy on the eyes. In fact once you start to play around with the fake One S you will be sucked in to thinking you have a real HTC One S in your hands! The response and interface is that good!
You will be sucked in to thinking you have a real HTC One S in your hands! [embedtweet text=”Tweet This!” tweet=”I just read about the awesome fake HTC One S https://www.gizchina.com/?p=10289″]
As mentioned above Android Ice-cream Sandwich is installed as standard and has been given a faux HTC Sense 4 make over.
Underneath the great looking Sense 4 launcher is your standard Ice Cream Sandwich build, which isn’t that flashy but certainly get’s the job done.
Opening apps is fast, and most games run smoothly, obviously you’re not getting the same level of performance you would when using the real HTC One S, but as far as good looking, well made and functional phones goes, this knock off is hard to beat!
Conclusion
If you are in the market for a great looking budget phone with a larger than average screen, and what a taste of Ice-cream Sandwich, then we would definitely recommend you take a look at this $179 knock off HTC One S, while the camera isn’t the fastest in the world it certainly isn’t disappointing, and the overall user experience of this knock off is very satisfying!
If you want to buy one of these excellent replica HTC One S phones, contact the guys over at Android-sale.com.
you’re doing an awesome job with this site…but if you could include sample daylight photos from your phone reviews, would be great. i’m finding it extremely frustrating trying to find sample photos from most of these chinese phones.
also, wanted to add. looks like this phone now available with mtk6577 dual 1.2ghz on aliexpress… unless it’s a copy of a copy…? cheers.
If they can make a knockoff phone that isn’t that bad at all, then they can make non-knock off phones that are decent as well. However, maybe the company behind this won’t attempt to do so as they still feel unconfident about Chinese branded Android phones in the world market. However, once Chinese companies such as Xiaomi and Meizu that design and manufacture quality devices establish a greater confidence in Chinese-made electronics worldwide, I am confident that the creation of knock offs in the range of decent to great quality will decline in favor of more original designs.
I think it is more to do with cost of marketing a new brand. Sure they can make the phone, but they might not be able to (want to) market it. If they make a fake of a well known phone though then the marketing is already done for them.
Hey! I was really happy to see this. I bought this phone off taobao.com just a while back (I am living in China). My hardware looks identical to this even though the packaging is slightly different (same size and everything, just a different graphic). It also looks like you have a different ROM on your phone. On my phone the Play Store is not working.
Is there any way you could point me into the right direction of where I could find a ROM for this phone? That would be fantastic. I really like this phone but it is basically worthless without me being able to use the Play Store.
@McKay Hi mate glad you liked it. I got the phone from Android-sale as test unit, they might know where you can download the roms from.
I bought one from them and did ask the question but Shine advised that they only have Chinese ROM’s. Would also love to get the Play store working as well.