What to Do With Copy Phone?

[jbswagger]

Hi

I purchased a phone for £40 form Aliexpress. It turns out the phones is a copy and has a dodgy Play store and can't download genuine apps like WhatsApp. Lesson learned and what to do now with copy phones.. Is it possible to download genuine and android and then sell the phone. Or should I bin it



.

[Jamescrs]

Have you complained to Ali Express? I did the same once with a watch through their online chat and they refunded me and told me to keep it

[the-norseman]

Dodgy copy of what phone? if its Android based then you probably can install play services and play store etc.

[jbswagger]

the-norseman said:

Dodgy copy of what phone? if its Android based then you probably can install play services and play store etc.

It a dodgy copy of android phone I was wondering if it was possible possible to to download a fresh copy of android as the play store already a dodgy one

[the-norseman]

What phone is it supposed to be? and what phone is it actually. Best bet would be to see if there are Android images for it on XDA Forums.

[Aunty Pasty]

I would just dump the phone. Chances are the hardware is under-specced and there is probably malware or spyware in the firmware.

Edited by Aunty Pasty on Sunday 1st September 11:03

[hungry_hog]

Wipe the phone and bin it

What next - a Ferrari F40 LM for 10k?

[Mr-B]

Do a jerryrigeverything style video about it.

[AlexC1981]

I'm curious. Can you link to the ad on aliexpress and tell us exactly what you bought?

I haven't looked into Chinese phones for years now, but I recall you could often choose to buy it with either the Chinese or "Global" market versions of Android which have different apps and app store. The Chinese version is usually cheaper.

It sounds like your phone has come with the Chinese version. You may be able to install the Global version (this may be complicated), or it may be possible and easier to "side-load" the Google Play store and Google Play Services onto the Chinese version. Once you have the Google Play store, you can download the normal apps from there.

[Steve_H80]

If you can't get a refund you could try and root it.
I bought a cheap tablet a while back that kept coming up with Chinese adverts (kinda stupid because I can't read Chinese). I installed some root software and suddenly could see a few apps that had previously been invisible, I deleted these and no more adds.
But it was still a cheap tablet, with sod all memory and a rubbish screen.

[jbswagger]

Steve_H80 said:

If you can't get a refund you could try and root it.
I bought a cheap tablet a while back that kept coming up with Chinese adverts (kinda stupid because I can't read Chinese). I installed some root software and suddenly could see a few apps that had previously been invisible, I deleted these and no more adds.
But it was still a cheap tablet, with sod all memory and a rubbish screen.

Hi Steve

I've another cloned phone and was wondering about what software you used to get back

I'm being made redundant tomorrow and was wondering if I could get offer this service.

Thanks

Edited by jbswagger on Wednesday 18th December 16:12

Edited by jbswagger on Wednesday 18th December 16:15

[x5tuu]

XDA developers used to be a pretty good source of information and links for this kind of thing - not sure if that’s still the case!

[jbswagger]

x5tuu said:

XDA developers used to be a pretty good source of information and links for this kind of thing - not sure if that’s still the case!

Thanks will take a look

[jbswagger]

x5tuu said:

XDA developers used to be a pretty good source of information and links for this kind of thing - not sure if that’s still the case!

Thanks will take a look

[Mr-B]

Talking of dodgy Chinese tech saw this today https://www.aol.co.uk/money/chinese-wi-fi-tech-use... personally I wouldn't touch anything like this nowadays, learned my lesson with Oneplus in the early days (covert data harvesting).

[jbswagger]

Have purchased a Global version of a phone from Alibaba following advice in this thread and it doesn't come with a genuine WhatsApp and won't let me download a banking app that I thought I would be after getting a global version of the phone.

Have contacted the suppler and if no joy will root.

[drdino]

Stop buying cheap tat from those stores if you are interested about banking apps etc. Return for a refund and get a used phone from a proper manufacturer. What's your budget?

[jbswagger]

Is it possible to return to Alibaba as they are a B2B

[AlexC1981]

Most phones don't come with Whatsapp, it's not a Google/Android owned product. You should be able to download it and the banking app from the Google Play store.

Do you have the proper Google Play Store on the phone? The icon is a multicoloured triangle pointing to the right.

I would be wary of rooting it if you want to use banking apps as they often will not run on rooted devices for security reasons.

[Jamescrs]

jbswagger said:

Is it possible to return to Alibaba as they are a B2B

The OP ordered from Ali Express not AliBaba, Ali Express is business to consumer transactions and they do offer a money back guarantee, that being said trying to claim is a very different prospect.