Fake iPod versus the real thing

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Eeny, meeny, miny, moe! Part I

CNET Australia's Shanghai correspondent heads down to the market and buys a fake iPod. To see how they compare, we not only give them a run, but also measure and take them apart.

Can you pick the fake iPod? Is it the blue or orange one?

8 October 2009, 10:00 am AEDTUpdated: 8 October 2009, 3:59 pm AEDT Photo by: Brendon Chase / Caption by: Brendon Chase, Derek Fung
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2 / 18

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe! Part II

Eagle-eyed readers should be able to pick which is which from this set of pictures.

8 October 2009, 10:00 am AEDTUpdated: 8 October 2009, 3:59 pm AEDT Photo by: Brendon Chase / Caption by: Brendon Chase, Derek Fung
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3 / 18

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe! Part III

The wording on the back of both devices is identical. Not a hint of Chinglish here.

8 October 2009, 10:00 am AEDTUpdated: 8 October 2009, 3:59 pm AEDT Photo by: Brendon Chase / Caption by: Brendon Chase, Derek Fung
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4 / 18

Fake contents

The accessories shipping with the fake iPod Nano include headphones, instructions and a USB connector. Interestingly, the replica's cable works with real iPods too.

8 October 2009, 10:00 am AEDTUpdated: 8 October 2009, 3:59 pm AEDT Photo by: Brendon Chase / Caption by: Brendon Chase, Derek Fung
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5 / 18

Getting naked

Still can't pick them yet? Well, to keep the suspense going, let's disassemble both units and see whether there are many differences under the hood.

8 October 2009, 10:00 am AEDTUpdated: 8 October 2009, 3:59 pm AEDT Photo by: Brendon Chase / Caption by: Brendon Chase, Derek Fung
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6 / 18

Casings

According to the tape measure, both casings have identical measurements.

8 October 2009, 10:00 am AEDTUpdated: 8 October 2009, 3:59 pm AEDT Photo by: Brendon Chase / Caption by: Brendon Chase, Derek Fung
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7 / 18

Gooey, gooey glue

Both the real and fake iPods have little dobs of glue holding down their bottom plastic covers.

8 October 2009, 10:00 am AEDTUpdated: 8 October 2009, 3:59 pm AEDT Photo by: Brendon Chase / Caption by: Brendon Chase, Derek Fung
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8 / 18

Not so bright now, eh?

The orange Nano's LCD screen is on the left, the blue one's is on the right.

8 October 2009, 10:00 am AEDTUpdated: 8 October 2009, 3:59 pm AEDT Photo by: Brendon Chase / Caption by: Brendon Chase, Derek Fung
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9 / 18

Mirror, mirror on the wall

Again, the orange Nano's screen cover is on the left, the blue one's is on the right.

8 October 2009, 10:00 am AEDTUpdated: 8 October 2009, 3:59 pm AEDT Photo by: Brendon Chase / Caption by: Brendon Chase, Derek Fung
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10 / 18

Coming in to dock

Both the Apple-endorsed product and the imitator conform to Apple's iPod connector specifications, as both work fine on iPod-certified docks.

8 October 2009, 10:00 am AEDTUpdated: 8 October 2009, 3:59 pm AEDT Photo by: Brendon Chase / Caption by: Brendon Chase, Derek Fung
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11 / 18

Power for all

For once the difference is more obvious: the power button on the fake Nano looks and feels inferior to the real thing.

8 October 2009, 10:00 am AEDTUpdated: 8 October 2009, 3:59 pm AEDT Photo by: Brendon Chase / Caption by: Brendon Chase, Derek Fung
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12 / 18

Packing light

The differences are beginning to build up. The orange unit (on the left) features a much larger battery, with all the appropriate markings.

8 October 2009, 10:00 am AEDTUpdated: 8 October 2009, 3:59 pm AEDT Photo by: Brendon Chase / Caption by: Brendon Chase, Derek Fung
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13 / 18

Would you like chips with that?

The top two photos are of the blue Nano's circuit board, front and back; the orange Nano's innards are the bottom two pics. We don't like to berate our readers, but if you can't spot the fake by now, well...

8 October 2009, 10:00 am AEDTUpdated: 8 October 2009, 3:59 pm AEDT Photo by: Brendon Chase / Caption by: Brendon Chase, Derek Fung
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14 / 18

Inside out

A quick look at each unit's bits and bobs before we attempt to put them back together.

8 October 2009, 10:00 am AEDTUpdated: 8 October 2009, 3:59 pm AEDT Photo by: Brendon Chase / Caption by: Brendon Chase, Derek Fung
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Side by side

When they're switched on, it's clear that the orange one was blessed by the hands of Steve, while the blue Nano was put together by a guy who only aspires to wearing a black turtleneck.

8 October 2009, 10:00 am AEDTUpdated: 8 October 2009, 3:59 pm AEDT Photo by: Brendon Chase / Caption by: Brendon Chase, Derek Fung
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16 / 18

Clunk clunk

The fake Nano's scrollwheel works, but the software is rather clunky.

8 October 2009, 10:00 am AEDTUpdated: 8 October 2009, 3:59 pm AEDT Photo by: Brendon Chase / Caption by: Brendon Chase, Derek Fung
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17 / 18

There is one plus

The fake iPod Nano won't sync with iTunes, so files need to be dragged and dropped onto the device. In many ways, this is a much easier solution than Apple's method.

8 October 2009, 10:00 am AEDTUpdated: 8 October 2009, 3:59 pm AEDT Photo by: Brendon Chase / Caption by: Brendon Chase, Derek Fung
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18 / 18

The whale says fail

We tried putting the fake iPod Nano together again, but this was the last time we were able to get it working. While attempting to stuff the copy's hardware back into its casing, the device broke.

8 October 2009, 10:00 am AEDTUpdated: 8 October 2009, 3:59 pm AEDT Photo by: Brendon Chase / Caption by: Brendon Chase, Derek Fung
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