$200 Chinese iPhone-knockoff ships worldwide
updated 06:05 pm EST, Fri December 7, 2007
Chinese iPhone knockoff
A new Chinese iPhone knock-off is being sold on the internet, billed as "High quality copy UNLOCKED IPHONE AV-P688 SIMILAR STYPLE IPOD GSM CELL PHONE WITH MP3 MP4 FUNCTION”. iTech News Net reports that performing a Google search for the device yields several results for sites that are selling the imitation iPhone. While the iPhone features simplistic finger-driven touch functionality, the doppelganger uses four physically movable buttons surrounding the home button to navigate around the device, and reportedly requires a stylus for the screen. The CECT P168 sells for $200.
While the P168 is merely imitation of the iPhone, some of the features are still impressive. The device features a seven hour talk time with 340 hours standby, and has a built-in two megapixel camera, although some reports say the camera is in actuality 1.3 megapixel. The AV-P688 only comes with 1MB worth of built-in memory, but supports flash cards for storage purposes. The device is also unlocked, so it is not bound to any particular carrier.
The biggest downside about the CECT P168 is that the screen features a screen resolution of 176 x 220 pixels – much lower than the iPhones 320 x 480 160ppi display.
Wow...
12/07, 06:47pm reply
1MB of built-in memory? That sucks!
unity@mac.com
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Joined: Sep 2005
Perfect imitation
12/07, 07:05pm reply
Will it try to lock me out if I don't use their preferred carrier too?
dagamer34
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Joined: Apr 2007
Cheap Chinese Knockoff
12/07, 11:05pm reply
Perhaps this is the zune phone we've heard of?
Monde
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Joined: Jan 2004
re:wow
12/08, 12:16am reply
1MB is awesome! You can put like 4 48kbps mono MP3s on that bad boy, and maybe even save a picture of your buddy pucking for their myspace page!!
But yeah... 1MB!? What happened?
FastAMX79
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Joined: Sep 2000
still impressed?
12/08, 02:23am reply
Never believe in battery life reported for this kind of products. I suggest you to cut the talk time and standby time in half.
ViktorCode
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Joined: Jan 2006
Don't Buy it
12/08, 09:45am reply
I have one. The only thing that makes it comparable to the iphone is the form factor. Be prepared to go through "millions" of menus to find ish. mobile browsing? Joke. Yes y ou can use a microSD card but that memory is not used by the browser. Try going to a 'real" website and see what happens.
Mail client = IMAP command error.
Stand by time? About a day and a half. This from a light phone user.
Camera: Depends on what your photographing but the pictures are not all that great.
Movies: itty bitty QIF movies....
It's a nice phone if your current phone has no camera or any goodies at all, but as a ipHone competitor: No. It will make you appreciate what Apple has done.
Sondjata
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Joined: Oct 2000
Garbage!
12/08, 11:26am reply
Garbage! Look closely and you will see that even the speakers are not truly where they belong, same with the microphone. There is no touch interface just stupid buttons around the center button at the bottom of the so-called phone. It's $200 worth of GARBAGE! Locked or unlocked it's true worth is what most carriers would give away free for a 2 year contract. Anyone buying this c*** thinking it is the same as a real iPhone seriously doesn't have a clue about the iPhone.
horvatic
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Joined: Apr 2002
POS..
12/08, 12:11pm reply
Actually they are frequently availble for $150 or less (I think $120 or $100). Still a waste of money at any price, as there are many reports of these knocksoffs not funciton properly.
dliup
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Joined: Jan 2006
Touch interface
12/08, 12:56pm reply
Horvatic has it wrong. You can in fact use the touch screen to do everything on the phone. However, the stylus and buttons are there for convenience and you WILL use them.
Sondjata
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Oct 2000
re: garbage
12/08, 05:34pm reply
Well, no s*** einstein. No one thinks this is the iPhone (or no one once they start using it). But that's not the point. The point is to have a product that LOOKS like an iPhone, so people who see you think you have one.
They sell these for the same reasons people buy fake rolexes, knock-off fashions, and Hyundai's that kind of look like a BMW.
testudo
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Joined: Aug 2001