Is this HTC Desire S legit?

waterprism · Feb 12, 2012

Hi,

New to HTC and Android, but just wanted to get your opinion on something.

I got an unlocked HTC Desire S from a Chinese (Hong Kong) supplier via a local middleman. It had all kinds of Chinese bloatware on it, and so I decided to flash a new rom. When I went into About phone > Phone identity to write everything down before flashing, I noticed it has a strange 'Device serial number' of 123456789012. That looks kind of strange. On the box sticker and on the sticker in the battery compartment of the phone, what I see is "S/N: SH1CATJxxxxx". Is there anything fishy going on there?

The default Android 2.3.3 OS seems all right. It has what looks like a default HTC startup splash screen (though I don't know if that makes a difference). I did notice that there wasn't a Power settings entry in settings to change fastboot. I had to pull out the battery to get to the boot screen. Don't know if that's a big deal either. I also noticed it was S-Off to begin with when I installed root.

Does this all seem strange, legit, clone-ish? Are there even Desire S clones/knock-offs/gray models/and the like out there? I don't think so... but still, that is a strange device serial number in the phone software, and even the printed serial numbers on the box and battery compartment seem strange, starting with SH instead of HT.

Would appreciate your thoughts. Thanks.

enigmaamit · Feb 12, 2012

waterprism said:
Hi,

New to HTC and Android, but just wanted to get your opinion on something.

I got an unlocked HTC Desire S from a Chinese (Hong Kong) supplier via a local middleman. It had all kinds of Chinese bloatware on it, and so I decided to flash a new rom. When I went into About phone > Phone identity to write everything down before flashing, I noticed it has a strange 'Device serial number' of 123456789012. That looks kind of strange. On the box sticker and on the sticker in the battery compartment of the phone, what I see is "S/N: SH1CATJxxxxx". Is there anything fishy going on there?

The default Android 2.3.3 OS seems all right. It has what looks like a default HTC startup splash screen (though I don't know if that makes a difference). I did notice that there wasn't a Power settings entry in settings to change fastboot. I had to pull out the battery to get to the boot screen. Don't know if that's a big deal either. I also noticed it was S-Off to begin with when I installed root.

Does this all seem strange, legit, clone-ish? Are there even Desire S clones/knock-offs/gray models/and the like out there? I don't think so... but still, that is a strange device serial number in the phone software, and even the printed serial numbers on the box and battery compartment seem strange, starting with SH instead of HT.

Would appreciate your thoughts. Thanks.

Set up adb and type

adb devices

That'll give you your actual device number. No confusion then...

BTW even my device serial number starts with SH... that's not an indicator of a fake device. Check tour device serial number via adb and if it matches the one on the box... I guess you're good to go.

Beamed from the Dark Side using xda premium.

waterprism · Feb 12, 2012

Through adb, it shows that same 123456789012 number.

shrome99 · Feb 12, 2012

so, it's probably just dumb luck that the no. is so

Nothing to worry about.

enigmaamit · Feb 12, 2012

shrome99 said:
so, it's probably just dumb luck that the no. is so Nothing to worry about.

Yup. Guess you're just plain lucky!! But then the box belongs to some other phone.how about some pics or screenshots??

Beamed from the Dark Side using xda premium.

amidabuddha · Feb 12, 2012

waterprism said:
...starting with SH instead of HT...

There are different serials for different regions/brands. SH is ok, it is the same for North Africa

I am not aware of a method to change the serial number (never needed such) but I am sure that there is. So if your system is android and your device is solid and nice then this should be a Desire S

waterprism · Feb 12, 2012

Hi. Thanks, everyone.

@enigmaamit, I've posted a few pics and a screenshot. Not sure what kind of screenshot you need. Let me know if you need anything else. Thanks. Also not sure if these pics mean much if funny stuff is going on somewhere. The serial on the box clearly doesn't match the screenshot. And that seal was broken when I opened the package.

@amidabuddha, okay, thanks. But like I said above, and enigma said, the S/N on the box is one thing, the S/N the phone is printing out in the 'Phone identity' screen is totally different.

Appreciate your help.

sukrit7 · Feb 12, 2012

That 'seal' doesn't look very authentic. There are grammatical mistakes too. And(I just noticed) it says 'SEALED PACKGE' instead of package so there's definitely something wrong.
I hope the phone is genuine.

shrome99 · Feb 12, 2012

The device is probably legit, just slightly used by someone else before. I think it's second hand, and the box belongs to another device.

enigmaamit · Feb 12, 2012

waterprism said:
Hi. Thanks, everyone.

@enigmaamit, I've posted a few pics and a screenshot. Not sure what kind of screenshot you need. Let me know if you need anything else. Thanks. Also not sure if these pics mean much if funny stuff is going on somewhere. The serial on the box clearly doesn't match the screenshot. And that seal was broken when I opened the package.

@amidabuddha, okay, thanks. But like I said above, and enigma said, the S/N on the box is one thing, the S/N the phone is printing out in the 'Phone identity' screen is totally different.

Appreciate your help.

Looks legit to me. I wouldn't worry if it was my device.

Lol.... why don't you fool around and use the bar code scanner to scan the bar codes on the box and see where that leads you to!!

I'm starting to enjoy this Scotland yard stuff!!

Beamed from the Dark Side using xda premium.

waterprism · Feb 12, 2012

Thanks, everyone. Guess I'll have to decide on my next step.

I'll do that, enigma. You mean with just a normal downloaded QR code app?

shrome99 · Feb 12, 2012

Use this - https://market.android.com/details?...mNvbS5nb29nbGUuenhpbmcuY2xpZW50LmFuZHJvaWQiXQ..

mouzzza · Feb 12, 2012

My device was made in Taiwan, not in China as yours!

shrome99 · Feb 12, 2012

Well, HTC is based Taiwan, but sometimes companies manufacture stuff in other countries too. It may also be that the packing is fake, which seems most likely at this time.

Also, since it's S-OFF, you should try some custom ROMs, Sense 3.5 is nice. Try Endymion or Virtuous Affinity. If they work, then it should prove that the device is legit. A knock off can't flash a ROM made for this, it's impossible.

Also, in hboot mode, select recovery and tell us what you see. If it's CWM or 4EXT, then it'll prove it's second hand. If you see stock HTC recovery, (red triangle with !) forget your worries

Montague Fortiscue · Feb 12, 2012

My box looks the same, the only difference is the seal

Sent from my HTC Desire S using xda premium

waterprism · Feb 12, 2012

shrome99 said:
Well, HTC is based Taiwan, but sometimes companies manufacture stuff in other countries too. It may also be that the packing is fake, which seems most likely at this time.

Also, since it's S-OFF, you should try some custom ROMs, Sense 3.5 is nice. Try Endymion or Virtuous Affinity. If they work, then it should prove that the device is legit. A knock off can't flash a ROM made for this, it's impossible.

Also, in hboot mode, select recovery and tell us what you see. If it's CWM or 4EXT, then it'll prove it's second hand. If you see stock HTC recovery, (red triangle with !) forget your worries

Hi. Unfortunately, I've already flashed a new rom and so I can't remember what the original recovery was like... I flashed it up to 2.3.5 and Sense 3.0. I'm still new to Androids and didn't really have any misgivings about the phone at that time. It was during the whole process of flashing it, seeing that it was already S-Off, seeing that the serial number was sketchy, etc., that I began to wonder. By the time I was pretty sure something was wrong, I'd already flashed to official 2.3.5 to get rid of the Chinese stuff that I mentioned in my OP.

So, what this tells us is that the phone isn't a knock-off I guess. But I'm pretty sure it's a refurb/second-hand phone (refurb and second-hand are pretty much mutually inclusive here, so bottom line, it's a refurbished second-hand phone).

If not that, it's maybe some kind of development set or something. I came across some Chinese threads out there that have the serial number 0123456789012 mentioned in them. When I did a Google Translate on them, I kind of gleaned that that number can indicate a development or engineering set (or something like that). So it could mean it was used in development and now they're selling them off. Either way, not a new phone.

But the plot thickens when I actually came across a post here at xda that mentions that you can actually change the serial number like this --

Code:

fastboot oem writeserialno HT95XXXXXXXX

Which means these guys could have taken any phone and just wiped the serial number for this serial number.

shrome99 · Feb 12, 2012

yup, that seems to be it. It's a second hand phone, and the seller, in order to protect his identity, changed the serial no. The culprit is your supplier or middleman.

CASE CLOSED

One more thing - do you see any sort of hardware issues, that may be caused due to aggressive usage? Like big scratches on the screen or the unibody? If not, then you're just lucky to have gotten an S-OFF device.

waterprism · Feb 12, 2012

shrome99 said:
One more thing - do you see any sort of hardware issues, that may be caused due to aggressive usage? Like big scratches on the screen or the unibody? If not, then you're just lucky to have gotten an S-OFF device.

No, not really. Phone works pretty well. Nothing glaring that I can notice, especially now after flashing to a slightly newer version of Android and Sense than the release shipped with. Also, obviously getting rid of that Chinese bloatware helped it a bit. There's a teeny-tiny scratch on the mesh speaker at the top that gets my goat right by the goddamn horns, I have to admit. I also just realized right this second that there's a protector screen on it! I just took it off. I doubt brand new Desire S's ever shipped with a screen protector already attached, if someone could just confirm.

But yeah, I've got it and it's S-Off. As I type that though, I'm pretty sure I'll be taking this further.

djisgod · Feb 12, 2012

i doubt its fake ,i more expect that its a stolen phone with a changes serial number.

ammenRA · Feb 12, 2012

you can also check the warranty seal on top of a tiny screw right above the battery compartment.

Is this HTC Desire S legit?

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