AliExpress Phone Scam - Exposing The Truth Behind AliExpress’ Affordable Flagship Phones

[@SMOOREZ]

Thanks Hugh for shouting me out on the channel! Happy to help to show these fake devices that are on all these sites. I'll definitely try your app on future devices but it is unfortunate it doesn't work on older ones as Android 4 - 6 WELCOME things are still being sold. Nonetheless I hope you enjoyed looking at some of the cheaper WELCOME things :)

[@2ndheyyou904]

Glad to see an hugh and smoorez collab

[@stevejobs1955]

Hi Smoorez! Love your videos. You should review the LG Prada which was basically the first modern smartphone before the iphone 2g.

[@blakegriplingph]

All that's missing is Wade of DankPods and we got the Unholy Trinity of Aussie tech tubers.

[@hyperturbotechnomike]

The collab i waited for years to come has happened. Thank you smoorez and hughjeffreys.

[@2ndheyyou904]

@@blakegriplingph and psivewri dont forget him

[@TheDreamDynasty]

Samsung and Apple are real silent when they hear about that Rubik’s Cube Technology 😂😂😂

[@awdev123]

Looks like we can twist phones!

[@omarking1411]

🤣

[@Crimsxn_K1ra]

@@awdev123 we can also use CFOP agls too!

[@UserT5959]

They should be

[@logictv6667]

But samsung and iphone is definitely expensive even other people had a afford

[@CrayCrayslab]

"PCOC" and "PIPI" will forever be iconic brands

[@atomstarfireproductions8695]

And also PIPI is yellow

[@Xbox_Minecraft_gamer]

i wanna know PCOC it’s so good and cool

[@taiwanluthiers]

It's weird that they even try to make fake Xiaomi phones...

[@Junden-w1u]

​@@taiwanluthiersxiaomi phones are not even good in the first place. So what is the point of copying them????

[@taiwanluthiers]

@@Junden-w1u There's a sucker born every minute? If you can't even afford xiaomi phones (they are really cheap), then I don't know. Maybe it's made for third world countries, probably not even allowed to sell within China.

[@robsquared2]

Conspiracy brain idea: these phones are made just so youtubers can buy them.

[@zetsubou3704]

Would be the biggest comeback if Welcome gathered all the negative reputation, became extremely well known and then launched a real flagship phone for cheap which KZbinrs would review expecting a fake but instead end up promoting the phone.

[@MrQuackthethird]

Haha yeah I'm ready for the new ready phone 13 +5g with Rubik's cube technology​@@zetsubou3704

[@Kcii-99]

most of these phones actually have rootkits installed and let the makers access your info and even your bank account

[@Schule04]

One of the reasons they are made is money laundering.

[@GinsengStrip-wt8bl]

My friend once bought something called S20, which looked like an S10. What’s funny it was displaying two fake cameras at the screen, yeah displaying cause there was no cameras in the screen but just one above it 😂

[@TheSpotify95]

The reason why the battery is so small at 4:40 is probably because it was scavenged from another used electronic device, then soldered into the phone for re-use. Don't expect the capacity to be even the original capacity of the cell, let alone whatever the manufacturer (Welcome) claimed.

[@TicTacBell_]

Yes it is, the motherboard is from a vivo phone, battery is from a smaller phone, like the jelly max and the screen is an after market xiaomi screen

[@taiwanluthiers]

What's worse is that the battery they scavenged might even have become a spicy pillow, and they just poke a hole in it to make it not "pillow", meaning the battery is likely bad as well, and is liable to explode.

[@2048Megabytes.]

where have i seen you before i recognize the name spotify95

[@trop1cal_blossom232]

Rubiks cube technology has to be the biggest innovation in the last 10 years

[@LOOKATMYUSERNAM]

Fr! Also with the milions of rear cameras

[@Burns_RED]

I can't believe Smoorez didn't send the infamous PiPi 😂

[@2ndheyyou904]

True i wish lol

[@SMOOREZ]

It's in the video :)

[@2ndheyyou904]

@@SMOOREZ yeah on the b-roll but not actually reviewing it or attempted to say the name but good video overall

[@Burns_RED]

@@SMOOREZ I didn't see it. I only saw the pcoc

[@Karlenk0]

pipi mean piss in french

[@joshmwaniki]

Rubik's cube technology killed me🤣🤣

[@pringlestreams]

Likewise 🤣

[@phoenix15_]

It’s real bro

[@murder.simulator]

Rubik's cube technology? So like the phone spins, twists, and rotates? I gotta have one!

[@emxsq.]

“not afraid of being killed even if hung up for a long time” is crazyyyy 💀😂

[@amvboost7681]

😂😂😂

[@ikilleduku]

Phone is badass snd super cool

[@foxyfoxfilms]

“New highs of camera fakery. Apparently the battery can have a camera too” 😂😂😂

[@rorykelly8275]

Yeah the camera needs a camera to keep an eye on its charge state lol.

[@TheTundraTerror]

As a treat.

[@MoonStudioAnimation]

Battery can now spy.

[@rorykelly8275]

@@MoonStudioAnimation everything about this technology can spymate

[@PinkAgaricus]

PCOC and PIPI just makes me think of Smoorez' review and the fact those names made him lose maturity for a bit (can be said for many of us if we think like a 10 year old when we read them). Also, the fact that the PIPI only seems to be available in yellow is amusing.

[@JankPods0201]

The PIPI phone only in yellow, Is just perfect.

[@Carnyzzle]

Cannot believe that someone would take the time to knock off Poco

[@aesthet1kal]

i think the pcoc and the pipi actually got sent by smoorez to hugh

[@foxyfoxfilms]

4:48 I’ve never ever heard Hugh laugh.

[@gteixeira]

Someone send him the medical tablet that another Australian KZbinr, EEVBlog, did a tear down. It literally had AA batteries inside.

[@JezTune]

I've never hear so much emotion from him either!

[@crazimathx4905]

ikr 💀

[@satsumagt5284]

@@gteixeira so someone’s been in there?

[@gteixeira]

@@satsumagt5284 It was EEVBlog. No, the tablet was built using rechargeable AA batteries taped together with wires welded to the terminals. Not even a battery case. The thing was gross, and it was built in Europe.

[@2048Megabytes.]

That part where he saw the tiny little battery really caught me off guard, I’ve never heard him laugh before

[@im.animesh_2]

I loved the fact that while unlocking the device with fingerprint, it’s asking to touch a lower/different area than what was used to set the fingerprint initially 😂

[@Creamypie626]

The first device wasn't even an original Techno Pova. It's an imitation of an already dirt cheap phone that cost about $150 USD. The original Techno Pova is a really good phone for it's price but it's so cheap that if your's break, repairing it almost doesn't make sense unless you have parts from other dead phone lying around.

[@sihamhamda47]

My daughter bought the original Tecno Pova 5 Pro during its launch. It's powerful enough to run a heavy game like Genshin Impact, but definitely needs an external cooler because it heats up so quickly at full load. Otherwise it's one of the highest spec budget phone. Dimensity 6080, 8GB RAM and 256GB of storage for only 150 dollars

[@Unlucky1776]

​@@sihamhamda47yea them and Infinix make spec heavy phones but they never last. (Speaking from experience lol)

[@rizkyadiyanto7922]

​@@Unlucky1776typing this from a 1,5 years old pova 4 pro. no problem so far.

[@IslamistSocialist371]

@@Unlucky1776 they last... for 2 years at least lol

[@Unlucky1776]

@@IslamistSocialist371 honestly I've been using mine for almost 3 years and it just keeps restarting and deleting all of my data. Same thing happening with my sister lol

[@mahalisyarifuddin]

4:23 Remember: licking phone screens is illegal on other planets!

[@elithzy]

ok i have heard this reference before but i forgot

[@SaitoTheSmashGame2005]

That’s something Plainrock124 have done

[@prw56]

I'm a bit bothered that the title didn't mention iTest, just to be more honest that this is basically a giant advertisement. That being said, it is a very effective and decently entertaining advertisement that fits into your channel pretty well.

[@oggilein1]

get the de-arrow extension, it uses community-sourced descriptions (and optionally thumbnails taken directly from the video) to more accurately represent a video's content

[@Dedubya-]

Yes it certainly seemed to be more a promotion of his itool - nothing really wrong with that but should probably be a bit more open about the app, if it generates him income, in which case it probably needs a "sponsored by" tag

[@NethirOsman]

No one asked him to make this video also lol 😂

[@account-now-closed]

It's his own app

[@linussextips2328]

I feel like a lowered api minimum would make this app a lot more useful for someone who lives out of pre 2013 phones like me that cant comfortably run any custom rom younger than android 6

[@HughJeffreys]

I will investigate if I can gain android 5 support. I did have a quick attempt while creating this video and it was giving me to many errors to fix at the time :)

[@JankPods0201]

@@HughJeffreys Or, you can develop iTest on the lowest API that is still supported, So you can get a wider range of users. But I'm not sure if it is a good idea.

[@doobybrother21]

@@HughJeffreys App Inventor from MIT lets you make apps starting at android 3.0.

[@techcube7291]

I am also a diehard phone user living off an iPhone 4s (I am very patient to an extreme degree and I know how to tweak an iPhone this obsolete to use it as needed ) and it is a good idea to have this app working for older iPhones as well such that anyone with a collection of old iPhones can check the state of theirs. It's also important to provide the IPA file of the app (and the APK for Android) on the internet as the App Store/Play store may not work properly old smartphones.

[@TheTundraTerror]

Battery can have a little camera as a treat

[@rodentartmouse]

Good to see you working with smoorez ! He good!! Hope you 2 can collaborate sometime on some dodgy fones!!!

[@finkelmana]

Who is actually buying these phones? In the US, cellular providers will literally give you phones for free if you sign up. They will even keep giving you free phone, some even yearly, as long as you keep renewing your contract. The free phones arent bad either, ranging from mediocre to top of the line, depending on various factors.

[@dlewis9760]

I don't feel bad at all for people being taken over these phones. As you say, while you can bring your phone in the US, the standard way is the companies phones. The phone companies are not going to push junk on you that they have to support. I'm imagine the wholesale cost of phones in bulk is a lot less than the advertised price. Customer support will surely eat into that.

[@Sashazur]

I don’t think these phones are big sellers in the US because as you say, many phone customers in the US just expect to get a phone from their phone company. It’s a leftover from when most plans had a contract and providers weren’t compatible with eachother so you couldn’t take a phone from, say, Verizon to AT&T even if it was unlocked.

[@SlartiMarvinbartfast]

Who buys them? Idiots of course, and the world is full of them. They are ignorant, impatient and don't bother to do any research. They are easily fooled due to their innate idiocy.

[@jamesrowland9982]

Years ago, I bought a supposed Samsung Galaxy A21 via Docomo in Japan. Various sources on net the said that Docomo has or had an arrangement with Samsung. When I got it, it was .5 inch smaller than the A21. It worked fine at first and some months later, the it died. Apparently it need a screen replacement. I could not find anyone who had that size of screen. I complained to Docomo that the phone is a fake and not good. I contacted Samsung and they never responded of their supposed association with Docomo. Long story, made short. Ebay gave my money back to me. Docomo Japan was not happy.

[@kaminekoch.7465]

Because in the rest of the world, the phones aren't fully subsidised even on contract. iPhone in Japan is given away on contracts that wouldn't even pay for the phone itself, but if you want an Android, you have to pay MSRP even on contract. In Europe it varies, but you will probably not find a deal where the phone is sold at a loss. They are usually discounted at best.

[@Cuby3212]

The PCOC one is so funny lmao

[@Random_4400]

I absolutely lost it when he used his tongue to unlock the phone 🤣

[@6StringPassion.]

I am totally shocked! Who would have suspected these phones have only 1 camera and not millions of cameras?!!

[@simonfischer4437]

The best part about those fake fingerprint sensors: The indicator during setup is on a different position than during unlock suggesting the phone actually has two under screen fingerprint sensors :D

[@anins1der]

2 fingerprint sensors, made possible by Rubik's Cube Technology™!

[@Lucas_emmsz]

Hugh and Smoorez.... Who would imagine it

[@joshuaoostveen1200]

As a beginner in repairing phones, sometimes I thought it would be very nice to have a tool that tests your phone. And now it's here, thanks Hugh!

[@mactep1]

To me, the best budget phones are always used flagships, they can go for really low, depending on how old, and its always gonna have better cameras, screens and build qulity, even if the performance is no longer what it was. There are plenty of shops dedicated to this, here in the EU, and they are all obligated to offer the same 3-year warranty as a new device.

[@TheOnjLouis]

Hi Hugh. I test apps for accessibility, specifically in the realms of VoiceOver and/or Talkback, and there are a handful of very minor places where VoiceOver doesn’t track properly in your app. Is there a way we could perhaps have a chat, and I could screen share my findings? I’m happy to help demonstrate the places it’s either unclear, or where there may be unlabelled elements that could be confusing. Thanks for making this, it’s very interesting and honestly more than 85% there in terms of accessibility right now, so there shouldn’t be much to do.

[@melley420]

5:39 that looks dangerous how the just threw the battery in there and how it can wiggle around.

[@TicTacBell_]

It wont swell atleast, like a note 7

[@wagnerwolf]

Your app is awesome. Just bought it to test my phone, but it didn't pass the light sensor test. My phone detects change of light and all, but it's kinda slow, but adjust the brightness automatically. That's the only thing I noticed with my phone. I use a umidigi phone, never doubted its functions. It's a good phone, been using it for the past 2 years. Your app will be a lot useful, since I keeping buying these phones from aliexpress. Thanks for that mate.

[@rosaria8384]

PIPI and PCOC are so hilarious.

[@sjdoiajsd]

These kind of apps were already widely available for years. Just another hardware test app but this one costs money, whereas many of them don’t.

[@Dr.Arin.]

Only if it was free.. maybe with some non-intrusive ads?

[@yendayo]

2:21 fake phones are giving out 2 chargers 🤣🤣

[@JankPods0201]

Still better than what most large OEMs provide us! But those chargers and cables will set fire to your house quicker than it can take to charge your phone.

[@EverDodd]

Its so you can still charge your phone when one charger burns up

[@techcube7291]

@@EverDodd it'll burn the house, and eventually the other one

[@jer1776]

The fact some of these fake flagship phones have more features than the actual flagship phones (headphone jack, SD card slot, included charger and headphones) is hilarious.

[@monstrixmonstrousx2842]

1:26 "Rubik's Cube Technology"!🤣🤣!

[@Carguy925]

The first phone was a tecno pova 5 pro, from a chinese manufacturer called tecno. Now i know it is a rip off of the og. Seriously guys? This is the first time that I have seen a low end phone having a rip off. The real one is really good though.

[@TheUltimateNoobHD]

How ironic is that I got an AliExpress ad while watching this

[@Euroblitz]

"I hope it's not stealing my fingerprint" don't worry Google already does it

[@voltare2amstereo]

What's worse. It's the malware they come shipped with, designed to access your credentials

[@kurasibe8405]

I don't think these phones are even capables of running malware 😂

[@TicTacBell_]

​@@kurasibe8405 Lineage os can be installed for safty

[@EvanPang-w4i]

1:29 Rubik’s cube tech? Can the phone be twisted around?

[@superNova5837]

Yes But only once

[@JankPods0201]

😂

[@Avalische]

TIL there's a fake Tecno Pova with advertised spec way higher than the real phone itself, bootleg stuff never fail to amaze me 💀💀💀

[@FailRaceFan]

Just don't buy at wish, aliexpress or temu. And if you have realtives or friends who do it, show them this video. If you need a cheap phone, buy an old flagship phone. Still pretty good performance, just change the battery... if the company allows you to do it.

[@MakoaK-v4c]

I bought a Xiaomi Redmi 5G phone from Temu for $200 and it works very well.

[@KristianNowak]

never would i think smoorez would be mentioned on the hugh jeffreys channel that is so based and true

[@muhammadrizqanilmi1301]

The iTest apk you made is very awesome to verify any specifications if it's fake or not.

[@1vbAPiYk]

Hey Hugh, have you considered publishing the app to F-droid repository?

[@d9zirable]

1:44 the boot animation is literally a zip file full of prerendered frames theres no way the phone cant handle drawing bitmaps at 60fps

[@PGW90RU14]

Even in Amazon, even low-end Android tablets are sold with misleading advertisements. Some advertisements say that "RAM: 20GB" but its processor (Helio G99) can handle 12GB at most (8GB must be a page file at least). And cheating Android version is a very common technique. Be careful when you buy devices from online shops.

[@TheAkashicTraveller]

"Even in Amazon" Amazon's been Aliexpress with better shipping for years now.

[@opposedscroll7596]

1:18 for anyone who's confused by this, the term for 'Megapixel' in China is 'Million Pixels'

[@TicTacBell_]

Confermed

[@TicTacBell_]

If it says welcome, its generaly a chepo device and if you get scamed by one, flash a custom rom on it

[@SHADOW17018]

so this video was just a 10 minute advertisement for your new app

[@DenshyOwO]

I feeel like AA Batteries aren't far away man xD

[@samtheruby]

Just brought the app to support, thanks for making it, I'm sure it will come into use soon when I get my new phones!

[@SDRIFTERAbdlmounaim]

the average Chinese smartphone has more cameras than the population of Europe combined 🌍 😂

[@Organham4903]

1:29 I’m sorry, Rubik’s Cube technology 😂

[@TheGFS]

lol.. hold the press, he found out that maybe the specs on Aliexpress are NOT real 🤣🤣

[@TheGFS]

@@earl_gray LOL dude I was making fun of you cause this has been common knowledge among EVERYBODY on the planet for the last 15 years

[@TheGFS]

@@earl_gray You are not exposing anything my man .. there are 30000 youtubbers for the last 15 years that beat you to it

[@xandygameryt]

108 Million HD cameras got me 💀

[@techcube7291]

imagine 108 Million HD cameras spying on you

[@alejandroalzatesanchez]

him losing it after seeing the comically tiny battery is priceless

[@ozzelot3349]

Hi, is an APK of iTest available? I have some of these phones and I don't even wanna put a burner Google account onto them. Thanks!

[@sas408]

Unofficial

[@penguthepenguinj]

Nice app I'm interested in how you built it, did you use java? I know android is largely based off java and personally the language is pretty solid for oop

[@nikoraasu6929]

Java is so trash I can't even

[@penguthepenguinj]

@@nikoraasu6929 is it really? Android is basically built upon it

[@muhammadrizqanilmi1301]

Smoorez: *test fake fingerprint with knuckle JOhnZoid: *my nose and cat even bypass those easily Hughjeffrey: screw it, it's *TONGUEPRINT* time

[@mr.number9279]

That one with the actual (low-quality) glass back was funny, lol. It was almost... freemium feeling!

[@teugeneo]

What a way to show capabilities of your app.

[@Slay1337pl]

The Oz collab we all needed!

[@techyme8884]

Haha, looks like China isn't even trying anymore. The app is amazing, I downloaded it yesterday to check out my refurbished Samsung phone. Thanks Hugh is awesome.

[@CommanderQ]

Another thing to note; is that these won't be legal to have in Australia - they likely won't have their Regulatory Compliance Mark (RCM)- (silly tick in a triangle) and won't have been tested to Australian Standards. Apart from perhaps not supporting all the Australian mobile frequencies (and not having the best coverage due to it) - biggest consequence is they may have issues making 000 calls.

[@rayoflight62]

Buying such a phone is equivalent to buying a laptop computer with DOS 5.0 and Windows 3.11. I can't imagine the reaction of a non-tech savvy person when faced with an ancient release of Android. Hugh, I highly appreciate the fact that you are showing to the world the insane amount of scam and fakery going on these shady marketplaces. Since it is possible to buy an excellent budget phone like the Galaxy A04 for an $100 or less, purchasing from these scammy places is no longer just a form of honest incompetence, but an unhealthy attitude toward avoidable risks. Greetings, Anthony

[@梅森]

awesome app! i cant wait to see it used more in future videos

[@Lorenzo_Velasquez]

What annoys me regarding these fake phones is the impact on the environment, not been a product that can last by any chance they'll be scraped sooner then others.

[@poeterritory]

Bought iTest to support this channel.

[@นรบดีฤดีนรเวท]

7:55 The ugliest clone I've seen.

[@Galaxy.Windows]

3:03 that has to run Android 8.x due to the ".0" after the "14" yet it has the modern stock android icons. the other one might run Android 9 or newer due to the lack of the ".0"

[@markusTegelane]

"welcome" boot animation immediately tells you everything you need to know lol

[@BeIlG]

I love smoorez too! you both have such amazing channels! subbed 2 both for years

[@JoBlower]

I just bought your app. Very reasonably priced. It's very good. I have never been tricked by one of these scam phones.

[@CrystlizeWorld]

4:59am, I’m here checking out knock off Chinese phones life has peaked officially!

[@DavidHolroyd]

So my question Hugh and everyone else is - can anything be done with the machine I paid 84 GBP for? - can it be flashed to get some use out of it?

[@elm.0]

The moment I saw the developer's name, I immediately purchased the app. Thank you, Hugh.

[@RicardoRamosRetrocomputacao]

I don't understand why the Chinese insist on being cheats and trying to deceive. I believe there is an audience for a cell phone with this spec, I myself still have a Moto G6 with similar specifications, and it serves me well to this day. Just like one of those Chinese notebooks, which have a tiny tablet motherboard, atom or celeron processor, 2 or 4gb of ddr3 ram, and between 32 and 128gb of eMMC, despite the low quality, if it costs a few dollars, it is sold usually for people who need a simple and cheap computer to access emails and watch KZbin.

[@SuikaIbuki]

It would have been nice for the app to have an ad-supported version, and if you wanted, to buy it.

[@Furina-de-Focalors101]

Can you Make iTest Free and iTest Pro because people can get it for free With Ad and paid for Pro or Ad free like CPU-Z

[@EzwanRohman]

"Yes , I would love to use a P-COC phone for the next 2 years" says no one

[@whothefoxcares]

Hugh, did you buy a box of 16TB usb thumb drives @ $5/ea (ally x press ;=) to backup your videos?

[@computersales]

Imagine if they put the same amount of effort into making real devices. Like do they really make that much more scamming?

[@FerintoshFarmsPhotography]

So keep my old LG G6, gotcha.

[@GH3PC]

4:43 Nah that’s a battery from a ripoff PS3 controller 😂😂😂

[@serv3534]

1:43 unable to unhear that welcome jingle in my head after knowing what the jingle sounds like in a mrwhosetheboss video

[@senatorgaming3312]

not a particularly necessary feature but you could include a play integrity verdict generator on the app along with jailbreak/root detection thats already in it

[@Yxalitis]

I'm still waiting for the ad to finish. Kidding, love your work.

[@Matt-bp5vy]

Out of curiosity. Are there any phones worth buying on aliexpress? I did buy some earbuds, cheap smartwatches over there (usually they're for 60£ on amazon and 35£) over there and I was very happy. I never spent more than 40£ though

[@GobbiExists]

The thing is the Pova 5 Pro is a real phone with worse specs than what this phone reports to us 💀 I’m pretty sure it’s sold by Tecno, a phone company active in African markets lol

[@koushuu]

Hugh Jeffreys and SMOOREZ collabing is the last thing I'd expect

[@rockyjs42]

Another funny famous word for these knock-off phones is " So you can snatch red packet faster" and then you find out that it mostly uses the legendary MT6580 chip 😅😅

[@Aderalls]

Making a version of iTest for older android versions (4-6) might not be a bad idea if you buy bootlegs again in the future

[@Matthew-tr6zw]

Unsurprising that I’d get Aliexpress as one of the sponsored ads I got shown while watching this.

[@TheUltimateRecycler]

Haha, thanks Hugh, that was hilarious and concerning at the same time!

[@CynicalSandwichParty]

Don't need the app, but will support ya, Hugh.

[@MOSTERRTF]

Rubik's cube technology got me 💀

[@Kujoh-YuRi]

4:38 real ones are actually from Techno and models are Techno Pova 5 and Techno Pova 5 Pro. Pro has rgb in the back but ofcc the one you bought is e waste 😂😂

[@S2R0N2D1]

the easiest way to know if the specs are genuine, especially the storage, is to format the cellphone when the appearance of the file manager, storage info, system, OS, etc has changed, meaning the cellphone is not genuine or original and the second easy way is to call the specific number of IMEI authentication, if the IMEI number appears the cellphone is genuine or original but if it doesn't appear or something wrong with IMEI the cellphone is fake.

[@MrDeveron28]

Loving the unlocking method with your tongue hugh 🤪 Be careful that Samsung or apple dont steal your idea & try to patent it for themselves 😉