How to Differentiate between Original and Fake Nokia

I decided to write a post on how to identify the original and fake symbian N & E series Nokia mobiles due to a reason. Last week my friend came from Malaysia and brought a Nokia N96 for me. He does not know about Nokia mobiles. He called me that here Nokia N96 was very cheap.

I was astonished when I saw that phone. It took me two hours to believe that this one was not original but a fake nokia mobile.

So I decided to write a post on how to differentiate between original and fake nokia mobiles because Chinese have defeated all those common check-lists which are commonly used to identify them.

Check-List to Identify Original and Fake Symbian Nokia:

1. IMEI: The imei of any mobile can be checked by the code *#06#. Some people will try to cheat you that the imei number starting from 35 is of nokia. In fact it is not true. It can be of any mobile as it was in my case. Some people will say that 7th and 8th digit shows something about manufacturing. It is also not true. In short with the help of imei you cant decide the mobile is original or fake.
2. *#0000# Code: In new coming fake mobiles, it will not help you. When I entered this code in the fake N96 mobile, it was showing all the details which are shown on the original nokia mobile. So don’t trust on this code as well.
3. Battery and Under the Battery: hmmm, many people say the original Nokia mobile will have original nokia battery and under the battery some information like mobile name, model no., imei number, and other things are written. But for your information all these things were present in that fake nokia N96 mobile as well. And even the battery was original.
4. Screen Colours & Menu and Applications Layout/Appearance: These things can help you a lot in identifying the original nokia mobile but the conditions is that you have seen the original mobile before. If you have not seen the original mobile and there is a plastic cover on the screen, it will be difficult for you to identify. Same is the case with menu layout and appearance.
5. Multitasking: If the nokia mobile is symbian S60 series like N and E series of Nokia, you can identify the original nokia mobile by a simple trick and that is called multitasking. You can see here how the multitasking is done in S60 mobiles. Simply keep pressed the menu key and a taskbar will appear on left side. But don’t trust on this one thing.
6. Check by installing Theme: Check the theme already installed on the phone. The themes files should have .sis or .sisx extension. Keep a theme in a separate mobile and try to install that theme by bluethooth. Fake nokia mobiles are not compatible with these themes.
7. Camera Resolution: Everything will be written on the camera according to original nokia mobile. But when you take a picture, you can easily judge the picture quality in fake mobiles.
8. Help Menu and Tutorial: In almost all original nokia s60 mobiles, you will find an icon of help somewhere like in application or in settings. In new nokia mobiles an animated tutorial is also included. These things will be missing in fake nokia mobiles.

There are a lot more things by which you can determine the originality of nokia mobiles. I will share more tips with you people later. Please leave your tips in the comments.