Keepin' it real fake, part CIX: C-002 HiPhone ups the ante

All you other iPhone knockoff manufacturers out there better take note: the C-002 HiPhone isn't messing around. Not only is this phone built to mimic the iPhone hardware, but the interface is one of the most faithful reproductions we've seen, and even the unboxing experience has been made to scream Apple. In fact, some of the largest differences between this phone and its inspiration are improvements: a removable battery, dual SIM cards and a microSD slot. There's a video after the break -- it's just like falling in love all over again.

[Via Engadget Spanish]

[John @ Feb 6th 2008 11:06AM]

holy shit.

[BrianB @ Feb 6th 2008 1:32PM]

What's so holy about a semi-responsive touch screen, eh?

[Dax @ Feb 6th 2008 1:47PM]

THis phone is PERFECT for windows fanboys. Pure classsssss.

[Zeus.:God @ Feb 6th 2008 4:16PM]

Dax, I don't see where Windows "fanboys" come into the equation with this iPhone knockoff, but I can now clearly see where the Apple variety play in.

[thomas @ Feb 7th 2008 10:18AM]

this phone is not on the market yet... it will be available after chinese new year... the actual name of the phone has not been decided yet, hiphone sounds pretty corny though... chinagrabber will have this phone for sale in several weeks here; http://www.chinagrabber.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=174

[thomas @ Feb 7th 2008 11:27AM]

update: we just checked with the manufacturer's and this is the HiPhone D800i iPhone Clone by Digitalrise... full specs and pictures here: http://www.chinagrabber.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1531 also, it is only $219.99 shipped at chinagrabber

[Lisa Smalls @ Feb 23rd 2008 10:21AM]

ya, i did some research and the C-002 is not 99%.... only the d800i comes close... check out the icons for example... the icons from the other chinese sites are all generic icons whereas the d800i's closely resemble the iPhone's... also the non-D800i are all only Dual-band -even though the say tri-band and even quad-band... there is simply no quadband hiphone out now and those who say there is are lying - meaning they will not work in the USA and will only work in Europe, UK. In short, the D800i is the closest clone yet and is the only phone that will work in the USA.

[looseinthedeuce @ Feb 6th 2008 11:08AM]

Is there any chance I can afford THIS version of the iPhone?

[Jeff @ Feb 6th 2008 11:16AM]

IIRC, the price is something like $239. And I got the impression from another site that it's 3G, although that was only an inference, so take it with a grain of salt.

[Flashpoint @ Feb 6th 2008 11:08AM]

The Chinese manufacturers are blatantly ripping off whatever the dominant seller is - I was in a Canal Street store the other day and was shocked to see MP3 players in the exact dimensions of the Apple iPod touch.

This copy right here is an unapologetically bad ripoff but, considering how poor At&t is as a network, if this thing offered high speed internet and cost less than $300 I'd probably buy one.

[Craig @ Feb 6th 2008 7:51PM]

if it has copy and paste, then i'll trade in my iPhone for one.

[imacmatt09 @ Feb 6th 2008 11:08AM]

Haha! Gotta love the "SIM" icon.

[ReggieXuk @ Feb 6th 2008 11:09AM]

nice!

[carl @ Feb 6th 2008 11:13AM]

Awesome!
I'm impressed especially when he flipped the iclone.

[Ghinn @ Feb 6th 2008 11:15AM]

At the website referenced in the video, this phone is selling for $239, and comes with a bunch of stuff: 2 batteries, Charger, USB Cable, Earphone, 512M T-Flash Card, User Manual, Phone Cover.

Love the apple on the splash screen, very classy.

[Reid @ Feb 6th 2008 11:17AM]

That is really, really impressive. I didn't expect the UI to work as well as it did, then I figured it must not do auto-rotate, but it does. Even multi-touch! The response is markedly slower on the iPhone, but this could be due to cheaper hardware (to keep costs down) or just lack of refinement in the programming -- after all, they only had, what, 7-8 months to rip it off. Also I doubt the lists scroll in the same way, and this one probably doesn't have a proximity sensor to disable the screen when talking.

I wonder if this was in any way an inside job. I know the Chinese are great at making clones, but this must have been a serious effort in such a short timeframe.

Creative way of opening the phone up, Apple could learn from that :)

[Reid @ Feb 6th 2008 11:18AM]

er, markedly slower *than* on the iPhone (look at where he zooms on photos). Still, downright amazing.

[Raiden @ Feb 6th 2008 5:56PM]

what you see is reverse engineering taken to the last step... Iphone was great for it's "new" fresh looks and interface as an innovation... but once people have access to it, they can always rip it open and look for cost cutting ways to reproduce a clone... *enters the Vii

[Jacob Butler @ Feb 6th 2008 11:22AM]

I'm not convinced it's a real HiPhone. The interface and everything is from the iPhone. It even has the multi-touch screen & the apple logo as U turn it on.

At the end when he opens the back there is a cut in the editing, it could be a real iPhone up til that point and then a different phone when he takes the back off.

If it's real then it is the best copy ever, who would be able to tell the difference once it's in the case.

[Ian @ Feb 6th 2008 11:37AM]

Trust me, it's not a real iPhone... as someone who finally decided to pick one up (mainly for email/web on the go and the unlimited data, as my other phone was costing me way too much) I can tell you that whilst close it lacks the fluidity of the authentic model, particularly in the media playback. Not bad work on a knockoff overall though.

[DonatoM3 @ Feb 6th 2008 11:40AM]

It did have the exact same back on it before that cut you're talking about. For all you know all they did was rip the iPhone OS completely. Just customize it to work with their hardware.

[raulr @ Feb 6th 2008 11:57AM]

There's a lot of extra space above the button on the front. Much more than the real iPhone. Otherwise, an excellent copy.

[fanman @ Feb 9th 2008 8:26AM]

Ian, does this thing have coverflow?

Heaven forbid, if the software is just a rip, it should sync with iTunes? o_0

[Drew @ Feb 6th 2008 11:23AM]

Better spent the extra $91 and get the T32 upgraded clone that runs Windows Mobile 6, then you make your own star trek phone UI.

[Drew @ Feb 6th 2008 11:29AM]

Cost price is $159EA for 50 units
Cost price of the Windows mobile version is $250EA 50 units

[Mehul @ Feb 6th 2008 11:34AM]

How does the browser work? Does it even have one?

[DrXym @ Feb 6th 2008 11:34AM]

A bit of a blatant ripoff but it does demonstrate to Apple apologists that it is quite possible to produce a device with a replaceable battery.

[Primoz @ Feb 6th 2008 12:13PM]

Sure but once you you drop it phone gets into several peaces... and when you drop it several times those peaces does not fit together anymore, that's something that's good with iPods and iPhone.... they're rock solid and not like Nokia phones which tend to brake apart at any time!

[SteveMB @ Feb 6th 2008 12:41PM]

And which Nokia phones are you talking about? The $10 ones? The N95 could kick the iPhone's ass any day of the week.

[Leoedin @ Feb 6th 2008 1:41PM]

My Nokia 6630 has been dropped and broken apart literally hundreds of times, and always fits back together. The very act of splitting a phone into two parts absorbs considerable energy when dropped - saving the actual electronics from damage.

[holycow @ Feb 6th 2008 11:35AM]

- Still no video recording ?
- Could've chosen a better going video...
*putting the battery back* - "SHUT UP BI*CH"

[holycow @ Feb 6th 2008 11:35AM]

better song*

[Pentium @ Feb 6th 2008 11:44AM]

the ugliest iPhone ever until now!

[Pentium @ Feb 6th 2008 11:44AM]

opps! I mean iPhone clone.

[superhappyfamily @ Feb 6th 2008 11:58AM]

so for about $150 more i can get a real iphone.... why would i want one that needs two batteries and is really slow and lame? anybody that thinks that this thing comes close to an actual iphone does not have an iphone. it looks nice, but it ain't no iphone... closer than other fakes, but still not close at all to the real deal...

[randompass @ Feb 6th 2008 1:25PM]

It comes with two batteries, not needs two batteries

[tony @ Feb 6th 2008 5:55PM]

You're saying you could buy an iPhone instead, but you also say that people who like it must not have an iPhone? You don't have an iPhone!

[mattclarkie @ Feb 6th 2008 12:02PM]

I would never buy an iPhone, largely because I hate Apple. But that thing I would buy. That was a fantastic copy of the iPhone, I was thinking they wont do multi-touch, or rotate, but they did. It shows that Apple's main selling points multi-touch isn't that much of a biggie as a Chinese knock-off can do it. Apple led people to believe that it was amazingly complex and expensive.

[Reid @ Feb 6th 2008 12:42PM]

That seems pointless.

If you'd never buy an iPhone because you hate Apple, then half the people you run into would think it's a real iPhone anyway, so it would be no different from having the real thing -- except you'd have a copy with limited functionality.

The other half of the people you run into would think you're a poseur.

If you don't like Apple, but one of the many other smartphones on the market, not one that makes you look like an idiot who got conned.

[mattclarkie @ Feb 6th 2008 1:38PM]

This way I am sticking it to the man...I would make sure everyone knew it was a fake, probably by wearing a T-Shirt.

[Gene C @ Feb 7th 2008 12:23PM]

Apple never led anyone else to believe anything... just you. They sold a phone with a UI everybody wanted, never telling anyone how complex it was. Much like the early Macs ripping a hole in the PC world, it's a case of sour grapes.

[andrea @ Feb 6th 2008 4:24PM]

I don't really like Apple. I mean, I like it, but I can't like it for professional reasons :)
however, I live the iPod (any) and that didn't stop me getting one. Probably, if would had a better response, I could be interested to the clone, but so far I'm stick to my original one.

[raulr @ Feb 6th 2008 12:02PM]

$239, but if you go out and buy an 8GB micoSDHC (if this thing even supports the HC variant), you're almost back to the price of a real iPhone.

[SteveMB @ Feb 6th 2008 12:44PM]

http://cgi.ebay.com/microSD-Mobile-Memory-Kit-8-GB-miniSD-8GB-SD-by-SanDisk_W0QQitemZ290202761250QQihZ019QQcategoryZ18871QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

And that's a lot faster than internal memory.

[crow610 @ Feb 6th 2008 1:04PM]

Exactly!
And that's how they make the price soooo attractive compared to the iPhone!

btw...Meizu must be crying now.

[SteveMB @ Feb 6th 2008 1:47PM]

No, the Meizu will come with 16GB of memory for $400.

[raulr @ Feb 6th 2008 1:51PM]

@ StevieMB, it's come down quite a bit I see.

Still $80 with shipping added to the $239 for the phone plus some shipping I'm sure, would put it at $319 plus shipping. And all that is if this phone even supports SDHC. That's a lot of cash to risk on some no name manufacturer for something that would be similar to the original that's only $80 more and you can trust to have some sort of quality control on their flagship product.

[SteveMB @ Feb 6th 2008 3:31PM]

Hmm, I'm not sure which one I would prefer, the knockoff or the iPhone. The iPhone isn't unlocked, doesn't have a removable battery, and doesn't have dual SIM, but that is a tough choice. That microSD card isn't SDHC.

[raulr @ Feb 6th 2008 4:09PM]

Actually, the 8gb card is SDHC. Look at the photo. There no standard microSD cards produced at that capacity, hence, the HC. Unlock not a big issue to work around except for phones with the most current bootloader, and I'm sure that will be figured out soon enough. Features are continually being added, and 3rd party apps are a big plus. I doubt that'll be the case for the hiphone.

[Sandy @ Feb 6th 2008 12:03PM]

Has someone just used MS paint to put the white square on the button?....