From a distance of 1 meter it is impossible to distinguish between the original Apple Watch Ultra for $1000 and a good Chinese copy for $40. And if you can’t see the difference, then why pay more? In this article, we will arrange a battle between an original Apple watch and a Chinese fake, which I bought at a local flea market.
What is the difference? How do they work? What about activity and health measurements? What features and features does the fake have that the original does not? Is the copy suitable for diving? And let’s see what’s inside them.
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Packaging and kit
The original Apple Watch is at the top, and the fake one is at the bottom (further in the photo). The obvious difference will be the quality of the box itself. In the original it is not bleached gray cardboard, but in the fake it is a typical white glossy one, which is more suitable for regular Apple Watch, but not for luxury Ultra.
There is no embossing, the name is simply cut out in cardboard. The sticker on the back has little in common with the original, but the Chinese have transferred the main information. LTE support, titanium case, warning that the Apple Watch is not a medical device, this time even without typos and with straight fonts. But judging by the packaging, the counterfeit was not made in China, but assembly takes place directly in the USA. A real product from Cupertino))
By the way, the Chinese copied the real serial number. Apple Watch Ultra, everything is as it should be, but the warranty has already expired. Of course it won’t work as new, but as a used one it’s quite possible to sell it.
The box also has an embossed clock, and the copy is identified by the presence of hieroglyphs. The watch itself is packaged in the best traditions of caring for the environment: magnetic charging with USB-C, the cable itself has nothing in common with the original. And by the way, the original does not charge from the fake, and the fake does not charge from the original.
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In the original, the loop of the bracelet has a fashionable titanium clasp; in the fake, the design is simpler, but the loop can also be removed and moved to another hole in the strap. The straps, by the way, are interchangeable. You can easily use a fake one on an original watch, and vice versa.
Appearance
As for appearance, it is far from easy to distinguish a copy from the original. The original ones in the photo are with a white strap, and the copy is with an orange one.
If you have not seen the original in person, you most likely will not be able to identify a fake. Upon closer examination, of course, you pay attention to the gaps, the thicker frame of the display itself, as well as the quality of this very display, other buttons, holes, but technically everything is in its place.
The only thing that the fake does not have is the antenna rim on the case around the screen. At the same time, the watch is quite heavy and does not feel like a “Chinese rattle”.
On the back of the watch there is a similar set of sensors, an inscription and a button to turn off the strap.
Please note that this copy also contains 4 real screws. In early versions of fakes, I saw just stickers with pictures of cogs, but the Chinese skills are still growing.
Display
The display itself in the copy is not so elegant. Obviously, this is not an OLED, but a regular IPS matrix. There is even a parody of the Always On Display, which, however, still goes out after 10 seconds.
Connection
To connect your watch to your iPhone, you need to scan the QR code, which can be found in the control center or in the settings. There are many watch faces available, some similar to the original.
You can set up notifications, reminder modes, health monitoring settings and other basic things. A tab is also available for launching workouts, of which there are only 4.
And the main screen displays your activity, pulse, oxygen, temperature and pressure.
Features and functions
You can activate the screen by raising your wrist or pressing the power button. The watch does not react at all to a simple tap on the screen. Pressing the wheel activates the main menu, and on the main screen you can use the wheel to switch between watch faces. Most of the chips drawn on the dial, of course, do not work.
Swipe from above pulls out the Control Center, where you can control the brightness, open reminders, contacts, phone, see the battery charge, heart rate, settings and information about the watch.
Swipe left activates another widget item with the date, weather and recently opened applications. Swipe from below opens notifications.
The Chinese copy has an action button. Here it can be programmed to launch any application that is on the watch.
The main menu interface works quite cheerfully, and most of the icons are quite logically responsible for the functions that are drawn on these icons. For example, a calculator is a calculator, and the weather is the weather, but not everything is so simple.
For example, Home is screen brightness, diving app is body temperature, podcasts is device information, and Photos is menu settings. This is Chinese logic.
Of course, there are questions with the Russian language, translation of menu items and fonts, but figuring out what is where is not particularly difficult. The vibration switch turns on the vibration, and the item next to it contains information about the device. The system is banal, most applications are limited to one function, for example, in the weather you can simply look at the temperature. You can use this, but without any complaints about the quality of execution.
The speaker in the fake is loud enough, and notifications from instant messengers are duplicated correctly.
The Chinese watch is connected as 2 separate Bluetooth devices. The first is a watch, and the second is an audio headset.
But what about monitoring activity and health indicators? The Chinese must be given their due – the watch is capable of measuring your pulse without contact. The fake completely immodestly shows the pulse, even if the watch is not on the hand. The copy is also unable to correctly count your steps.
Immersion in water
Apple Watch Ultra is not only about sports. The original watch is certified to the military standard Mill STD-810H with support for diving to a depth of 100 meters. But will Chinese watches survive immersion to a depth of at least 10 cm?
Based on my experience of disassembling a fake 8th series (Apple Watch 8), I expected that the fake would turn off almost immediately, but the watch continued to work without problems. So 10 minutes passed, and the watch was working – I definitely did not expect this from a Chinese fake. As a result, the watch lasted under water for about 20 minutes, and there was little point in continuing this experiment further.
A copy of the Apple Watch Ultra has withstood immersion in water.
While the screen was wet, the sensor did not work well, but this is normal for any display. And after drying it a little with napkins, I was surprised to find that the screen, buttons and other functions worked without problems. But I definitely didn’t expect this.
What is inside?
First, a few words about how the original Apple Watch Ultra works. For the first time in the history of an Apple watch, the Ultra has external screws on the back panel, under which there is a protective plate for the motherboard. And to get full access to the original’s internals, you need to peel off the OLED display, which is very well glued to the body.
Inside there is a huge, by watch standards, Taptic Engine, a battery packed in a separate case – all this is connected with cables and a lot of glue.
The original Apple Watch looks beautiful not only on the outside, but also on the inside, unlike similar devices from other brands that are in the same price category.
Having unscrewed the 4 screws of the Chinese copy, I found that the back cover was very tightly glued to a thick piece of foam tape. Now it’s clear why the watch lasted without problems under water.
The case is aluminum, the back panel is plastic. Here you can see the battery, in the center on the cable there are just 4 LEDs, so they cannot measure anything purely technically. There is a motherboard, a magnet for attaching charging, a wireless charging coil and a vibration motor.
As expected, there is a regular LCD screen installed here, which was also glued to the body very well. You can see a speaker, a Digital Crown, and a 260 mAh battery (the original watch has a 540 mAh battery).
Results
Globally, of course, this is Chinese junk with a very bad interface, fake health monitoring sensors and crooked software. Even at 40 bucks, this watch is not good for virtually anything other than telling the time.
The main emphasis of the Chinese counterfeit was on copying the appearance of the original product, rather than on any truly useful features. I would advise you to buy a better Mi Band or something similar for the money.
I am sure that you can find a more decent copy, but again, the question arises: why and how to distinguish it when buying? But if you really want to seem like the owner of an Apple Watch Ultra for cheap, then the flag is in your hands. And how long the copy will work is unknown.
Based on @NewtonLabs
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