Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but when it comes to high-end smartphones like the Nokia N8, there's nothing flattering about finding out the handset you've just bought is actually a fake. Want to know how to spot the knock-offs? Join us after the cut to find out.
Buying smartphones from online vendors is always a bit of a lottery, especially when you're buying from a site like eBay, where there's little direct contact between buyer and seller. Fake mobile phones are big business, after all, and typically it's the most popular handsets that are targeted – such as the Nokia N8.
Some fakes are more convincing than others, of course. For example, if the Nokia branding on a Nokia N8 you're looking to buy says “Nokai” instead, it's normally a good sign that the phone isn't genuine.
Check out our Nokia N8 Review Roundup
Most of the time, though, the fakes are a lot harder to spot than that – in fact, to the untrained eye most fakes appear identical to the real deal at first glance. So how do you tell the difference and avoid buying an illegal Nokia N8 knock-off?
As you'd expect, the devil is in the detail, so avoid buying a phone without seeing a picture of it first, as this is your first port of call for weeding out the fakes.
Typical differences between a real Nokia N8 and a knock-off include the appearance of the signal strength bar and battery indicator – both should be narrow bars and have the 3G/GSM indicator and battery bar to the right and left respectively, not underneath.
A chrome bezel is another giveaway. It may look snazzy, but you can be sure it's not Nokia's doing, and most probably denotes a fake. Round the back, twin SIM slots, the absence of the N Series branding and a Nokia badge printed or pressed into the back cover, rather than raised above it, show the device in question is a fake.
A fake Nokia N8 will almost certainly have a different spec to the real deal, too. Some imposters will actually have a bigger screen than the genuine article, and offer stereo speakers as opposed to the genuine Nokia N8's single speaker. But don't be fooled: even leaving aside the fact that these devices are fake, these supposedly superior features won't match the quality of genuine Nokia components.
One area of the spec the fake is unlikely to get anywhere near is the Nokia N8's stunning 12-megapixel camera. Knock-offs have been known to feature camera resolutions as low as 2 megapixels.
Keep a cool head and check out the photos and the supplied specification as closely as possible, and you'll invariably steer clear of danger. Ultimately, though, if you're in any doubt over whether the Nokia N8 you're about to buy from a third party reseller is genuine or not – if the price looks too good to be true, for instance – simply walk away. You'll be saving money in the long term.
For more details on how to spot a fake Nokia N8, check out eBay's detailed guide.