How to Know If a Memory Card is Original or Fake Before Buying
Considering the storage capacity of most mobile phones, the only option available is to buy a secondary storage device – a memory card. But how will you know if a memory card is original or fake before you buy?
Well, that is a very good question to ask and if you have that question in your mind then this article is aimed at helping you find answers to that. This article is going to show you how to know if a memory card is original or fake before buying.
It’s weird right, buying a new memory card with the last money you have on you only to find out later that it fake. If you have already fallen victim to that I’m really sorry for that and if you’ve not experienced it before then you are safe now.
Many top countries have devoted their time to manufacture good and genuine memory card to the market for users. But as the saying goes, “…there’s no light without darkness…,” there are also some companies who produce fake products and put on the market for users.
Most of them come from China and other Asian countries as well as a few of them coming from Europe and the Americas.
How to Know If a Memory Card is Original or Fake Before Buying
The methods of detecting whether a memory card is original or fake before buying are numerous, but this article is going to focus on four (4) of the most effective methods. These are:
- Inspect the packaging
- Inspect the memory card
- Test the memory card on your device
- Test the memory card on your device
- Try third-party apps like SD Insight
The above are broad branches and I am going to break each category down for you to understand very well and know what to do in each category.
How to Know If a Memory Card is Original or Fake Before Buying by Inspecting the Packaging
The packaging of a memory card basically means how the memory card is presented in a package. Is the memory card enclosed in a package? Is it just sitting in a container full of other memory cards?
This is what you consider when you’re checking the packaging of a memory card. The chances of a memory card properly packaged being fake are quite low when compared to unpackaged and poorly packaged memory cards.
A memory card that is in a container full of other memory cards is a clear sign of buying a potentially fake memory card.
How to Know If a Memory Card is Original or Fake Before Buying by Inspecting the Memory Card
After checking packaging and you’re not convinced enough, you can try this method. This method is the most thorough method as it needs very critical observation and analysis of the memory card.
Begin with the front label of the memory card and check to see whether it is positioned evenly or has been tilted or something is off. Check whether the label on the memory card is peeling off or not. A memory card with the label peeling off, highly qualifies to be fake.
Check the brand name on the memory card. It is easier to look at the brand name of the memory card and buy it though it might be fake.
Therefore you need to research whether the brand name manufactures memory cards in the first place and if yes, proceed to check whether they manufacture memory cards with that specific storage size inscribed on it.
Don’t be fooled by the price of the memory card as we all like relatively cheaper items. As a result, we end up exchanging price for fake products.
If possible consider asking around to know the average price of the memory card and anyone who sells way below that could be selling you a fake product.
How to Know If a Memory Card is Original or Fake Before Buying by Testing the Memory Card on Your Device
This method is very important and you can choose to skip the other methods and focus on this method only. The reason is that this method is very quick to tell you whether the memory card is fake or original.
To test the memory card, insert it into your device and fill it with almost half of the storage capacity, and then try to retrieve the data you transferred in the later part. In most cases, if the memory card is fake, all the data that you transferred in the latter part will not be accessible.
Testing the memory card also reveals whether the memory card can hold data of the size that was printed on it. For example, 16GB could be written on a memory card but the actual size could be around 8GB.
Therefore putting files that is more than half the intended storage space could do the trick and expose the veracity of the memory card.
How to Know If a Memory Card is Original or Fake Before Buying by Trying Third-Party apps like SD Insight
After trying all the manual methods, the final step is to try third-party applications. The most popular among them is SD Insight which is available for free on the Google Play Store.
SD Insight will display the name of the manufacturer, the manufacture date, and the storage capacity of the memory card.
So, all you need to do is to check whether it corresponds with the data on the memory card and its package.
Conclusion
Detecting a fake memory card is very tricky and sometimes difficult but this article has tackled all the ways you can check the authenticity of a memory card before buying.
Also, you need to take note of the fact that, buying from trusted sellers is one of the best ways to prevent buying a fake memory card because you can always return it if it’s fake.
Also if you are buying online, buy from online shops and shops that allow the return of fake and damaged products.
Hope this article was helpful? Feel free and drop your comments and suggestions below.
