Ultimate guide for N95 and N95 8Gb copies.

I know there areother guides warning about fake N95 being sold through okay. The purpose of this one is to keep up with the current level of sophistication that some of these fake devices reached.Up until afew months, it was easy to identify a fake Nokia N95. They usually had a different name (NOKIR or NOKLA), touchscreen and that characteristic grid on the bottom of the screen. Nowadays, it's virtually impossible to distinguish between an original N95 and a copy. If you search for FAKE N95 on youtube you will be amazed by some of these clone devices.
On any day, if you search for N95 on okay, chances are that at least50% of the results are going to be scams. By scams I mean almost perfectcopies (at least in hardware) of the flagship Nokia device that are made (supposedly) in China. These devices resemble the originals in almost everything.
- They slide both ways
- The shape and logos look almost the same
- They have the Carl Zeiss optics logo
- They are not named NOKLA or NOKIR anymore
- The user interface of these fake devices was designed to look like the Symbian S60 3rd edition FP1 on the original N95.
Although virtually identical to the original N95 on the outside, please don't make any mistakes about these fake phones. They don't have a 5MP camera, 3G, S60, GPS or WiFi. I don't even know if they work in the US. Of course there are little details here and there that may give it away that it's a fake, but if you're not familiar with this model (and its variants) it's impossible to tell. The easiest way to detect a clone it's the UI.The user interface of these fake devices was designed to look likethe UI ofthe original N95 but there are many differences, especially on the thumbnails available in different menus and in the fonts.
But then again, if you've never seen an original N95, how are you going to know? There's no way of knowing. You may buy one of these fake N95, use it for months thinking it's the original and maybe sometimes wonder why your 5MP pictures look so bad or why your GPS doesn't work.
So, if you're thinking of buying a N95 on okay, my advice is to follow the steps below:
1. Stay away from postings that don't show the actual device being sold.
2. Ask for pictures of the phone with the screen turned on so you can see the UI. Actually, ask for several pictures of the UI.
3.Look for a Nokia forum(google howardforums, n95users, etc) andaskpeople if it's a fake.
4. Follow the consensus.
Of course you don't want to bother people with several postings. Only ask people about the postings that you actually think are for original devices. The following tipsmay helpyou:
- Even powersellers nowadays are selling fake N95.
- If it says MADE IN FINLAND, chances are it's an original device. Even then, ask for UI pictures.
- If it has touchscreen,it's a fake.
- If it's named NOKIR or NOKLA, it's a fake.
- If the posting mentiones NO WIFI an/or NO GPS, it's a fake.
- If the N95 8Gb (the black one) has a micro SD slot, it's a fake.
If you're still convinced one particular posting is for an original device, please follow the steps I mentioned. I'm telling you guys, this is the only way to actually know if a N95 is fake or not if you're not familiar with the phone.