Vertu Constellation Knockoff Review

In “Fight Club”, one of the cult movies of the 20th century, Edward Norton’s character says that “Everything is a copy of a copy of a copy”. Now, 9 years later this seems to be more true than ever.

When you can’t come up with an idea for a new product, copy or just steal somebody else’s. Two months ago, we introduced you to the invasion of the fakes, mainly made in China. The article generated great interest, so we continued the in-depth exploration of the clone phones. It came out that not only manufacturers like Nokia, Sony Ericsson or the cult iPhone are targeted by the counterfeiters. Vertu, the favorite brand of all gazzillionares, is also cloned and very successfully at that.

There is something else interesting that can be noticed here – the fake phones have luxurious and standard versions, just like the real ones do. The former are high-priced and usually with good manufacturing quality.

That’s precisely the case with the Vertu Constellation Knockoff (a.k.a. V9), which we got our hands on. It is a product of Juning Systems Corp., which is a company, specializing mainly in the production of high-quality "replicas" of the Vertu brand and the high-end Nokia models.

You can easily order a phone that suits you and even have the option to add a camera if there isn’t one installed already. Unlike some others, the manufacturer of our unit here is not even using modified names, such as Veptu or NOKUA, and is selling the units under the genuine names. It is true that such companies admit they are manufacturing copies, but that is punishable by law. Apparently, that’s why in order to avoid customs problems when importing such goods, there are stickers with hieroglyphs, covering the genuine brand names. Once those are taken off, each phone can be easily offered as a real Vertu.

The company claims that the devices are produced in Nokia’s Hong-Kong factories and instead of diamonds they are using Swarovski crystals. In addition, its production also employs the use of real gold and silver coatings, genuine leather, titanium, and stainless steel.

Actually, if you are not familiar with the original, the sample we have, can easily trick you into thinking that it is the real deal, since it is a high-quality copy. That’s why we compared them and let you play your favorite “Find the 15 differences” with the difficulty level set at maximum.

We also want to emphasize that from here on, the review applies only to the evaluation unit we have. This is due to the fact that these devices are not a product of a large company with the goods manufacturer having a constant value and is possible that the various units are different. Also, we can’t expect copies of other counterfeiters to be precisely the same or to even be close to this one.

The package includes:

• Vertu V9 Replica
• Texture pouch
• Cleaning cloth
• Handsfree
• Spare battery
• Charger
• USB cable
• User manual

You get a few more accessories than the genuine one, such as second battery and a headset.

Straight out of the box, the V9 comes covered with stickers with Chinese letters. They are all over the phone (back side, under the battery, inside of the battery cover), on both of its batteries and on the box. Once you remove them, you will notice an exact copy of the Vertu label.



Overall, the replica is a bit bigger (112 x 45 x 16 mm versus 109 x 44 x 15.7 mm), lighter and with larger display. According to the manufacturer, it supports 262k colors, but the picture is not impressive and is hard to use in broad daylight. Here, the main difference with the genuine phone is in the protective screen, which is made out of plastic instead of sapphire.



Above it is positioned the ear-piece with the exact copy of the Vertu logo. The tiny pins all over the body of the phone are also a precise duplicate of the original and create the impression that the phone has been handcrafted even though they are more of a decoration. The whole front part of the device is lovely and is made of a nicely polished metal.

The buttons are entirely made of plastic which feels nice on touch. An optional variant of the genuine Constellation comes with ceramic ones, but our version is also using plastic, with similar quality. Our only remark on the knockoff is that the backlit is stronger in the central part.

There are some differences in the side buttons as well. On the left, the “cheap Vertu" has a volume rocker. It has sharp edges and they can even cause pain when pressed, but the button is extremely easy to find by touch. In the $4300 version, the shortcut menu key is located here.

On the right, V9 has a small “thorny” button, which activates the sound recorder. As a result of a bug in the software, when you turn on the phone without a SIM card in place, it will be camera dedicated, even if the device is not equipped with one. The genuine model has the volume control on this side.

Another thing is that the phone is powered on by pressing the “end” button and it doesn’t have a dedicated power button like most Nokias and respectively, the devices of the Vertu brand (owned by the Finnish giant). The charger/data connector and the 2.5 mm jack are located on the bottom. The Chinese manufacturer offers its own charger instead of the standard Nokia one, including an adaptor.



The UK made devices have a special hardware key, which unlocks the back lid. Although the keyhole and the two speakers are a precise copy, a key is nowhere to be found in the Asian clones box, but it is not needed either. The battery lid can be opened by simply sliding it down, and the keyhole is just a decoration. Accompanied by the brand logo and the “unique” identification code, they are located on a metal plate. The rest of the back is covered with leather and our amateur in this field hands and noses couldn’t spot the difference with the “luxury leather from northern Europe”.

Once you remove the 1050 mAh Li-Ion battery, hidden under the lid, you will see the microSD slot, which lacks in the original. It is right next to the SIM card holder. It is not the best possible solution, but considering that if it were externally placed it would have ruined the authentic look, we find it acceptable.

Overall, the design is a good copy of the original. To prove that, we’ll admit that we got confused a few times while taking pictures of the phones. In other words, the phone is an eye catcher and only if you are familiar with the Vertu brand you will be able to spot the knockoff.

Juning Systems Corp. has managed to copy the design very successfully. However, it seems that the software gurus of the company haven’t had enough time to play with a genuine Vertu. They have tried to design software similar to the original but not successfully at all. The background of the homescreen looks similar to the one of the themes in the genuine version. The big analog clock seen on the screen can also lure you into believing that it’s an authentic device. However, the luxury Vertu has 13 unique themes, inspired by few of the World’s capitals and cultural landmarks.

The main menu will also try to keep the truth hidden. The icons are similar to the original and are animated. Some of them are extremely illogical – for example, the Extras have the icon of an alarm clock.


Once you open a sub-menu though, all illusions about the origin of the phone disappear and the truth becomes obvious. The phone uses the interface we’ve seen in Latte Boom and almost all Chinese phones. It is characterized by small eye irritating font, accompanied by ugly icons. On top of that, the some functions are as irrational as the options visualizations in the main menu.  Many things require illogical operations, which make the usage pretty inconvinient.

However, the phone offers all functions necessary for the average Joe. The advantages that the Vertu interface offers are mainly specific for the brand solutions, which are of no interest to the mass consumer.

For example, the phonebook in V9 has space for 300, and not 1000 contacts. To every one, you can add up to four numbers, an e-mail, company, birthday, picture, ringtone, and even video. Then, they can be organized in groups with a separate ringtone, picture, and video. The interface here is very inconvenient to use.



The organizer lets you save events in the calendar, there is a to do list and you can set up to five alarms. Aside from these standard functions, the genuine devices have a special Travel menu, which includes a World clock, weather information, Departing flights, a map and a currency converter. With all these available, the owner of the expensive phone can check all the information needed for an upcoming trip in just a few clicks.

Messaging is limited to SMS, MMS, and Broadcast Massage. Apparently,the manufacturers have decided their customers will not need to usee-mail and that is one of the obligatory functions for Vertu.

All that hints that the manufacturer has decided that the future owners of its product will not need “complicated” business functions such as e-mail, flight information etc. Naturally, they will not be able to take advantage of the Vertu Concierge service and find the best hotel in Hong Kong or the best restaurant in.

Overall, the software is far from good. It is sad that such a well-looking phone has such an annoying interface with lag when opening menus and irrational and ugly icons we already mentioned.

Connectivity:

It looks like currently, the invasion of the knockoff Vertu phones is targeting only Europe and Asia. That’s why they are only tri-band (900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz). V9 uses GPRS to connect to the Internet and even if you are not trying to open complicated pages (they don’t open at all), the slow speed and the lack of viewing options (landscape/zoom/panning) will make you avoid using this function.

The good news is that the phone supports stereo Bluetooth. In the box, there’s also a cable for PC connection with the options to use the clone as a mass storage device, COM-Port (needed to sync your contacts with Outlook, but since there isn’t any software included in the set, it is useless) and WebCam. That’s an interesting option, since our unit is not equipped with a camera.

Multimedia:

According to the specifications provided by the manufacturer, V9 has 128MB of built-in memory and 32MB RAM. The bitter truth is that it only has 760KB of free memory. At least there is a microSD slot, supporting cards up to 1GB, where you can store your music and later play it, that’s if it is in mp3 format of course…


In any case, that’s what you’ll think at first. The audio player reveals yet another software imperfection. It can only find files stored in the folder My Music. It offers options as repeat, shuffle, background play, and equalizer. You can also play a tune via the file manager, but that will limit you to only being able to control the sound volume.

The same goes for the image viewer and the video player. Only MP4 and 3gp formats are supported with inability for reproducing high bitrate and resolution videos. However, there is a landscape mode.

There’s also a sound recorder. It works just fine and has a convenient shortcut. Bravo!

We were very skeptical about the performance tests. For our surprise, the Vertu clone did quite well in most of them. The music sound is loud and clear with a light metal echo. However, the headset is low quality and we do not recommend using it if you don’t want to impair your hearing.

During a call, the sound in the receiver is loud, but the voices are sharp and unreal even illegible at times. It is the same story at the other end of the line and sometimes a light background noise is heard.

Ah, we almost forgot. The phone is equipped with a loudspeaker. It is completely useless.

The clone has a battery to be proud of. It lasted a bit over 4 hours of talks during our tests, and there is a spare one too.

However, the reception is what lowers its rating drastically and brings our otherwise good opinion to ruin. The unit we use has huge problems with keeping the signal. It comes and goes not only underground, but even in placeswhere any other phone has no trouble at all. According to themanufacturer, genuine Nokia receivers are used for the production ofthe clones, but we don't think it is so. Even though it was tested in Europe, with both 900 and 1900 MHz coverage, the Constellation Knockoff was unusable most of the time..

Here is a short mathematical equation.

Genuine phone:
Impressive design + entry level phone functions + Nokia S40 interface = $4300

Knockoff:
Impressively copied design + entry level phone functions + annoying interface and no reception = $500

If the reception was not that horrible, the phone would be the real deal for those who care about the appearance and want to be a big shot, but don't want to spend four grand on a genuine Vertu. However, as the phone function is not usable, we would not recommend it even to our worst enemy.

According to the replica-manufacturer, phones with reception issues will be replaced under warranty.