Knock-off Galaxy S8 phone found in China and it looks as funky as you might expect

Knockoff phones are nothing new. It's a well-known practice — a model becomes big and desirable, but is too expensive; no-name manufacturers make phones that look just like said models and sell them for far less. Some don't try to scam the buyer, while others go to great lengths to imitate the logo and presentation of the target product, attempting to attract the more gullible customers.

So, the Galaxy S8 is already a highly-anticipated product, with its futuristic look, promising hardware, and Sammy's non-stop reiteration of how much work it put into making the device solid and secure. Should we really be surprised to see a knockoff device already in the making?

Well, we kind of are. It took major phone manufacturers years to get to the thin bezels that the LG G6 has and that the Galaxy S8 will apparently sport. Yet a very obvious fake S8 device has popped up in a few pictures and a video, and it has a very similar, extremely impressive screen-to-body ratio.

Now, the device in question is not exactly pretty to look at — with the alignment of its front sensors and selfie camera looking a tad off, its main camera module looking comically big, and symmetry pretty much being a foreign concept to whoever built this. The shadows that can be seen underneath the front glass panel make us believe that it's extremely thick. In case you are thinking this might still be a genuine Galaxy S8 — notice that there is a button missing (the rumored Bixby button) on its left side and that the fingerprint scanner is on the opposite side of the camera, when compared to absolutely every other leak we've gotten thus far.

In all honesty, we'd love to get our hands on such a knockoff and see how it holds up in terms of performance or camera. But we generally advise against spending money on such mystery devices, unless you are an extremely adventurous tech fan.