Some e-commerce sites offer major brand microSD cards at very attractive prices. Be very careful. The vast majority of these memory cards are counterfeit. Not only do they not offer the storage capacities mentioned on the site, but the transfer speeds are very disappointing. So that the good deal does not turn into a nightmare here are some techniques to detect fake microSD cards..
Beware of overly attractive prices
At present, the memory card represents the most economical and easiest storage solution to increase the memory of a smartphone. The latest high-end Android phones have a system to transform an SD card into internal memory.
It is therefore relatively simple to increase the free space on your phone. But you still have to know how to choose your microSD card. Between standards (SD, SDHC, SDXC), classes (U1, U3, C10 etc.) it is easy to get lost..
Added to all of this is a new problem, counterfeit memory cards. It has been several months since some unscrupulous dealers have been flooding the market with counterfeits. Problems, finding a fake microSD card is not always easy.
The crooks take special care in the packaging of their products. The visuals repeat line by line the color codes and fonts of the products of the major brands. Impossible to know if it is a real or a fake card. They also take care to modify the controller of the card in order to falsify the volume of the card..
Third-party sellers use major e-commerce platforms to sell their counterfeit microSD cards
We find on certain sites located on the street almost perfect copies of microSD brand cards like Samsung, Sandisk or Verbatim. These products are not sold directly by e-commerce companies but by third-party sellers.
They take advantage of the notoriety of these large e-commerce groups to sell copies of known products. Be particularly vigilant in the face of overly attractive offers. Do not trust blindly the visuals presenting the product. These generally come from the manufacturer's site.
The first reflex is therefore to ensure that the memory card is sold by the online merchant and not by a third-party seller. This information is generally available on the descriptive sheet of the article.
How do I know if my microSD card is not a counterfeit?
Have you just bought an SD card at an unbeatable price and you have doubts about its authenticity? The SD Insight utility will help you know if it is an original microSD card and not a copy.
This application will provide you with a whole set of technical information on your memory medium including its real manufacturer. You will find for example its date of manufacture, its serial number as well as its storage capacity.
- Download and install SD Insight from the Google Play Store
- Obviously, you must first take care to place the memory card in the microSD slot provided for this purpose.
- Launch the application
- Accept the terms of use
- Wait a few seconds for the utility to analyze your microSD card
- By clicking on the SD Card tab at the top of the window, you can also display the technical information of the internal storage module of your smartphone.
The SD Insight application will determine the true capacity of the memory card, its serial number and its date of verification. It is then up to you to check whether the data on the packaging matches that given by the utility. If they don't match, chances are you're dealing with a counterfeit card.
Regarding the name of the manufacturer, be aware that some brands have their memory chips manufactured by other manufacturers. This is particularly the case for the Kingston company. Do not worry too much if the name of the manufacturer of the card does not match that on the box.
If after having analyzed your card with the SD insight application, you realize that it does not correspond to the model ordered, do not hesitate to contact the dealer. It will then be necessary to return the product to him in order to proceed with his reimbursement.
Remember that buying a microSD card should not be done lightly. You may lose all the data stored on it. Worse, it sometimes happens that some too fragile cards break and get stuck in the smartphone slot. So the next time you see an offer too good to be true, beware.
