What is wrong with S4?

Alancillhill · 15-01-2014 12:16am #1

Hi there, general newbie question.
Bought a S4 from ebay, pretty much new. Something is a miss, it says its up to date 4.22 etc however as I am going through menus, there are entries missing, it is missing entries all over the place, example - when long click to go to the task manager, there are no buttons at the bottom to kill all.
Phone seems unlocked, there doesn't seem to be any samsung apps on it.
I looked up online how to do the 3 button method to do a factory reset - will not work with my phone - so something is a miss. Otherwise phone is functioning as it should. Basically how do I get it back to square one with the samsung most uptodate stuff? thanks a mil. A

wandererz · 15-01-2014 12:39am

Firstly, have you done a reset from the Settings menu?
Secondly:
Has it been rooted?
Does it allow you to install the SuperSU app from the Play Store?

horgan_p · 15-01-2014 12:39am

Alancillhill wrote: »

Hi there, general newbie question.
Bought a S4 from ebay, pretty much new. Something is a miss, it says its up to date 4.22 etc however as I am going through menus, there are entries missing, it is missing entries all over the place, example - when long click to go to the task manager, there are no buttons at the bottom to kill all.
Phone seems unlocked, there doesn't seem to be any samsung apps on it.
I looked up online how to do the 3 button method to do a factory reset - will not work with my phone - so something is a miss. Otherwise phone is functioning as it should. Basically how do I get it back to square one with the samsung most uptodate stuff? thanks a mil. A

Horrible thing to say , but I've seen similar with a work colleague. First tip off was a misspelling on the back of the box. It was a fake. Bloody good one too, he'd been to a couple of phone shops who swore blind there was no issue with the phone. Like you he bought off eBay as well. He only asked me to look at it cause he wanted "the kit kat" on it and it wouldn't update.

D_BEAR · 15-01-2014 12:43am

Could be a fake S4 there almost identical.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fTHk4CNjtc

Alancillhill · 15-01-2014 12:44am

I went through a video online today to check it being a fake... doubt it, everything seems to point to it being legit. I will try the app test tomorrow. new to android so not familiar with rooting, roms etc. I might just drop it in somewhere.... tks.

wandererz · 15-01-2014 12:53am

Settings -> More-> About Device

What does the contents of the above screen say?

dylanobyrne1 · 15-01-2014 1:05am

Get CPU-Z it will show all of your diagnostics on your phone, if they seem to be the same as the S4 you could try a benchmarking tool, this tool basically measures how much FPS you get in a graphic intense game such as Dead Ahead.

Hope this helps

wandererz · 15-01-2014 1:14am

dylanobyrne1 wrote: »

Get CPU-Z it will show all of your diagnostics on your phone, if they seem to be the same as the S4 you could try a benchmarking tool, this tool basically measures how much FPS you get in a graphic intense game such as Dead Ahead.

Hope this helps

What he said above.
That sorts things out sharpish.

corsav6 · 15-01-2014 1:23am

wandererz wrote: »

Settings -> More-> About Device

What does the contents of the above screen say?

As above, it may be running a custom rom which would explain the missing Samsung apps.I don't have an s4 so not sure what the stock firmware should say in "About Device" but a quick Google search should help, or maybe someone here could post a screenshot to compare.

gbob · 15-01-2014 1:33am

corsav6 wrote: »

As above, it may be running a custom rom which would explain the missing Samsung apps.I don't have an s4 so not sure what the stock firmware should say in "About Device" but a quick Google search should help, or maybe someone here could post a screenshot to compare.

This is my s4 on 4.4...
https://www.dropbox.com/s/9olbmwg7winxtv8/Screenshot_2014-01-15-00-30-37.png

SteelyDanJalapeno · 15-01-2014 9:49am

Sounds like a fake

Professey Chin · 15-01-2014 9:50am

Gotta agree with the others. Sounds like a fake to me aswell

Alancillhill · 15-01-2014 10:22am

Hi there, see image attached... Did CPU-Z and grabbed from the device info page... thanks for any help...

Alancillhill · 15-01-2014 10:24am

The Antutu benchmark app was on the phone, I just read that on some of the chinese versions- they install a custom version to give great readings. So I think a real Galaxy S4 would give a reading of about 25000 as opposed to double.

Professey Chin · 15-01-2014 10:26am

Fake. Screen resolution is far too low for the s4

Jarren · 15-01-2014 10:35am

This is fake S4, start paypal dispute pronto.

MarkR · 15-01-2014 10:37am

Coming up as GT-I9500, and not the GT-I9505? Quad core rather than octo core. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_S4#Quad-core_variant

Michael D Not Higgins · 15-01-2014 10:39am

Professey Chin wrote: »

Fake. Screen resolution is far too low for the s4

Same with RAM, internal memory, the fact that the manufacturer is listed as GT-I9500 and you can see the pixels in the photos.

kieran. · 15-01-2014 10:52am

This is definitely a fake, the top of the screen is different from the realS4 also there is is slight differences in the internal rear housing.[/FONT
Start a SNAD with paypal

Vinz Mesrine · 15-01-2014 10:56am

100% a fake, how much did you pay just out of interest?

MarkR · 15-01-2014 11:23am

Ouch. I just ran that software and can see the differences. Looks like OP has a Fake phone.

Alancillhill · 15-01-2014 11:29am

Hi there,
Thanks so much guys, guessed it from the readings -
Oh the power of the web to be able to solve issues like this quickly.
Really appreciate your time.
300GBP ish, The seller has agreed to repay and I will send it back to him.
Don't think he was aware of it.

Fiddlesticks, bit afraid to buy another online now.

Jarren · 15-01-2014 11:36am

Alancillhill wrote: »

Hi there,
Thanks so much guys, guessed it from the readings -
Oh the power of the web to be able to solve issues like this quickly.
Really appreciate your time.
300GBP ish, The seller has agreed to repay and I will send it back to him.
Don't think he was aware of it.

Fiddlesticks, bit afraid to buy another online now.

Send it back via registered post only , they usually register the weight of the package too
(Just in case if he claims that only box was received)

I will still start paypal dispute and forward the relevant correspondence to them, this is the safest way to ensure that you actually get your money back.

Alancillhill · 15-01-2014 11:38am

Thanks - he has already refunded but it takes 5 days to process for some reason...

madfcuker · 15-01-2014 11:43am

Alancillhill wrote: »

Thanks - he has already refunded but it takes 5 days to process for some reason...

I would still open a PayPal dispute to ensure you get your money back. As you send phone back he gets it and keeps your money too

Jarren · 15-01-2014 11:45am

Alancillhill wrote: »

Thanks - he has already refunded but it takes 5 days to process for some reason...

No, it doesn't take 5 days to process the paypal refund.

Start paypal dispute asap, me thinks that he is playing you to be honest.

Takes 1/2 secs to receive paypal payment, not 5 days.

Alancillhill · 15-01-2014 11:49am

Payment received, under paypal review.

Jarren · 15-01-2014 12:00pm

Alancillhill wrote: »

Payment received, under paypal review.

In this case the refund will come straight from his bank account which may take a good few days

Let us know when you get it.

Alancillhill · 15-01-2014 12:07pm

Sure, will do and thanks again for taking the time to look at the pics etc.

Kenno90 · 15-01-2014 12:11pm

You are lucky mate, congrats.

and fair play to boardies for noticing.

advertsfox · 15-01-2014 2:01pm

Professey Chin wrote: »

Fake. Screen resolution is far too low for the s4

Not to mention internal storage and RAM (2GB internal and 1350MB RAM). For comparison, an actual S4 in CPU-Z.

Wrong image link, can't find my good one now...

And yours again:

Michael D Not Higgins · 15-01-2014 2:40pm

advertsfox wrote: »

Not to mention internal storage and RAM (2GB internal and 1350MB RAM). For comparison, an actual S4 in CPU-Z.

From your picture, that appears to be a Chinese TCL.

mondeo · 15-01-2014 2:43pm

Who manufacturers these fakes anyways? I know their usually made in China but how can a company there sell their product with another companies name on it? Are they even legally produced in China or in some no mans factory in the back arse of Bejing somwhere pumping them out?

Glad op got a refund!

TheMilkyPirate · 15-01-2014 2:46pm

mondeo wrote: »

Who manufacturers these fakes anyways? I know their usually made in China but how can a company there sell their product with another companies name on it? Are they even legally produced in China or in some no mans factory in the back arse of Bejing somwhere pumping them out?

Glad op got a refund!

I bought a fake Note 2 off aliexpress last year, Impossible to tell the difference from the outside or the screen or performance. The only way you'd know was because the s pen features didn't work. Cracking phone though.

Michael D Not Higgins · 15-01-2014 2:50pm

mondeo wrote: »

Who manufacturers these fakes anyways? I know their usually made in China but how can a company there sell their product with another companies name on it? Are they even legally produced in China or in some no mans factory in the back arse of Bejing somwhere pumping them out?

Glad op got a refund!

There's little in the way of IP protection laws in China. I come across it in my job where manufacturers of machines are paranoid about their design drawings and specifications because of Chinese knock-offs.

mondeo · 15-01-2014 2:51pm

TheMilkyPirate wrote: »

I bought a fake Note 2 off aliexpress last year, Impossible to tell the difference from the outside or the screen or performance. The only way you'd know was because the s pen features didn't work. Cracking phone though.

I did consider buying a cheap Chinese phone before but not a fake just a legit chinese android with beefy specs. But then the moto g caught my eye so that was the end of that.

What worries me about fakes and general Chinese legit phones is updates...

Alancillhill · 15-01-2014 4:27pm

Guys - this page helped me a lot.
http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/1hn0tb/

And on that page a link to a chinese fake :

http://www.fastcardtech.com/HDC-Galaxy-S4-I9500

Venom · 15-01-2014 7:36pm

That's some top notch fake tho.

The fake brick and mortar apple stores that even the employee's thought were real still hold the number one spot tho

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14503724

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/pda/2011/jul/21/fake-apple-store

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/21/us-china-apple-fake-idUSTRE76K1SU20110721

YefimS · 16-01-2014 4:32pm

Goods are fake? Mostly if product is well-known brand and seller doesn't have authorized permission from the well-known company.
I bought Samsung 64GB microSD card from DHgate.com
Later I figured out that card is fake. Instead of 64GB only 3.7GB is good volume of memory. I created blog to explain an evidence of the fake Samsung card.
http://fake-electronics.blogspot.com/2013/12/fake-samsung-64gb-microsd-card.html

You can see the same fake microSD card on Ebay.com, Amazon.com, DHgate.com, Aliexpress.com.
Beware and don't buy any electronic items from DHgate.com and Aliexpress.com if the name of the items are well-know brand and reseller doesn't have authorized permission.

Alancillhill · 26-01-2014 12:37pm

Hi All,
In terms of resolution, the seller agreed to refund fully (Once I had done the PP dispute.) I had bought of someone with good feedback rating, so he may not have known, and if he did, then the protection of the feedback rating was key as well as me returning the device. So money returned and item sent back. Bought another S4 - off a major phone seller on Ebay 20000+ transactions, needless to say, it's perfect.

Thanks
Alan.

mondeo · 26-01-2014 4:33pm

Good to hear;-)...

Alancillhill wrote: »

Hi All,
In terms of resolution, the seller agreed to refund fully (Once I had done the PP dispute.) I had bought of someone with good feedback rating, so he may not have known, and if he did, then the protection of the feedback rating was key as well as me returning the device. So money returned and item sent back. Bought another S4 - off a major phone seller on Ebay 20000+ transactions, needless to say, it's perfect.

Thanks
Alan.

What is wrong with S4?

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