Most likely, you have more than once come across headphones that are outwardly indistinguishable from Apple AirPods, but on the box there is a tempting inscription like Abble AirPods or even copyright infringement – the name of the real brand. Manufacturers of such counterfeits often resort to deception, trying to make the buyer believe that the product is genuine.
Recently, a study was conducted on real and fake AirPods using computed tomography (CT) scans performed by by Lumafieldto find out how they differ from the inside.
Real AirPods:
Fake:
Apart from the terrible sound, what are the disadvantages of fakes? The scans revealed that the fake AirPods are missing many of the internal components that the original ones have.
The AirPod Pro is a miniaturization marvel. Everything is housed in a curved design for maximum efficiency, using flexible printed circuit boards (PCB).
— John Bruner of Lumafield
The fakes look completely different on the inside.
There is less of everything in fakes. The components are connected by wires rather than flexible PCBs. You will not find such wires in any modern Apple product.
Counterfeits use wires instead of printed circuit boards, and even the soldering of the wires is done extremely poorly. Bruner also highlights the fake headphones’ “lack of magnets, inferior plastics and smaller batteries” and notes their significantly lighter weight.
To compensate for the difference, additional weights are installed in their cases.
Official case
Official case
Fake
Fake
For some, sound quality isn’t as important as looking like the real Apple AirPods. Their goal is to show others that they use Apple products. The same logic applies when someone knowingly buys counterfeit bags or sneakers. This is precisely the category of consumers that manufacturers of counterfeit products love so much.
While all of this data can help distinguish real AirPods from fake ones, too much of a discount is another telltale sign of a fake and will usually always give away the fake. Original Apple AirPods will never cost $19, even during the Cyber Monday sale.
2023-11-10 11:00:00
#scan #reveals #fake #Apple #AirPods #sound #terrible
