How do you spot unofficial memory cards and avoid the models that'll likely be of lesser quality? We find out
Bootleggers have been around for a very long time and have plied their trade in many different markets. One of the most common places to find counterfeit products has always been media, with bootleg copies of movies, music and even video games. Often these products are very easy to spot, with obvious differences or notable style changes from the official product. However, some bootleggers are far better at duplicating the real McCoy than others and there have been many cases where a fake product has been all but impossible to identify in without some serious investigation.
These kind of fakes are easy to fall for, and millions of people do, happily buying these unofficial and illegal copies without knowing that what they're getting is usually an inferior product - until they get home and find out the ugly truth. By this time, the seller is probably gone, never to return. Even if they're still present, they'll rarely, if ever, provide refunds and as you've willingly purchased a pirate or bootleg item, you've rarely got a legal leg to stand on. Well, this is the worry bootleggers and sellers bank on. In truth, you can always seek help, but that's not primarily what we're here for. We're here to look at a common problem facing PC and technology owners, and that's fake memory cards.
SD, XD, ODD
It's all too common for fake copies of official merchandise to be inferior to the real thing, be it a poor-quality movie or audio disc, nasty-smelling perfume or badly made clothing. The same applies to a commonly counterfeited product: the humble memory card. Used in so many of today's devices and gadgets, memory cards are indispensable for many users, especially photographers, who are arguably the primary users of the storage medium. They are, however, used in other heavily used devices, such as mobile phones, tablets and PCs/laptops, many of which come with built-in readers.
There have been many different formats of memory card over the years, which have reduced in physical size and grown in storage space as time and technology have allowed. The most popular of these is undoubtedly SD, which comes in various forms - primarily micro-SD, but there are some devices that use XD, although these are far less common.
Micro-SD is the most common form factor of cards these days, and this has its own subsets, including micro-SD, micro-SDHC and micro-SDXC. There are also additional forms of these, indicated by a I or II. This denotes Ultra High Speed Phase I (UHS-I)and Phase II (UHS-II) bus designs. Such cards have increased performance.
These all use the same physical card form (or use an adapter), but they're not the same in terms of compatibility and are not backwards compatible either. Indeed, the technical side of things is something you really need to understand when you're buying memory cards, because knowing this can greatly help you avoid falling foul of fakes. Let's have a look at some of the basics and get you armed with some useful information and tips to avoid the fakers.
Classes
We should first identify the basic specifications all cards have and should clearly have on their packaging, beginning with the most important: capacity.
All memory cards will clearly indicate the actual storage space of the card on both the packaging and the card itself. Storage space varies depending on cost, but most cards these days will be 16GB and above. In fact, even cheap cards sold as post offices and the like will likely be 32 or 64GB at least.
The size of a card is important to note for more than just how much data you can store on it, though.
It can also be key to spotting fakes, because there are rules here that cloners don't always adhere to. Each format we've mentioned here can only handle so much storage. SD can hold 128MB to 2GB, SDHC can handle 4-32GB, and SDXC can deal with 64GB to 2TB.
Most fakes you'll find in the wild will be in the larger volumes, because this is where the most money is, and it's not uncommon for some dodgy cards so be sold as micro-SD cards that hold 64GB of data, for example. Since SD can only handle up to 2GB, there's your easy warning sign that something may be wrong. Likewise, it can also work the other way. If you see a SDXC card with only 32GB of space, you should steer clear.
We should also repeat the target of larger devices for fakes. Always be more on guard when buying large capacity cards, because there are far less smaller-capacity fakes. Both do exist, of course, but the more expensive cards are usually the target, and this is when you should always double-check what you're buying. It's a very important tip.
And, as we've also already stated, never forget that SD cards are not backwards compatible. An SDXC card will not work in a device that can only support standard SD, even though the card itself may physically fit.
Finally, in terms of space, it's not uncommon for fake cards to report a certain storage size but actually possess less physical space. This means you could buy what appears to be a 64GB card but end up with one that only holds 32GB or even less.
Next, we have the speed rating. This is the class of the card that denotes the overall data transfer speed of the card - more specifically the minimum write speed possible for the class, and it's another area where you can often trip up a possible fake.
Class Minimum Speed
2 2MB/S
4 4MB/S
6 6MB/S
8 8MB/S
10 10MB/S
As you can see, it's fairly simple stuff, with the class basically corresponding to the minimum speed. There are also a couple of extra classes. These are UHS classes for the ultra high speed variants.
These include class 1, which has a minimum speed of ЮМВ/s, and class 3, which has a minimum of 30МВ/s. There are two more speed ratings, but they're not always used. This depends on the manufacturer so won't apply to all models. The first of these is the maximum speed which, unsurprisingly, specifies the fastest speed a card can reach.
Another measurement than can be used is relative speed, which you may remember from CD writing when drives were tagged with X2, X10, X20 and so on. Some cards may have similar ratings, such as X100. This equals 1500KB/S, which is around 15MB/S.
These speed measurements are important to know, because a lot of fakes simply get these wrong, and it can highlight an unofficial product with ease. If you find a card by a company that doesn't ever use the maximum speed rating on its cards, you've probably found a fake.
It's very important to consider the quality of a card too. You can't really see this just by looking at the card, because it only really comes into play when in use. Many fake cards are simply of very poor quality and don't perform anywhere near as well as the real thing. Fake cards can be slow, have less space than advertised and are often prone to errors and corruption. They're made on the cheap with inferior materials, sometimes in sweatshops, which adds a whole extra layer of nastiness to proceedings, and they're generally just not reliable.
The Eyes Have It
As good as counterfeit cards can be, most fail a side-by-side visual test, and this can be the easiest way for anyone to tell the real thing from the fake, even if you know nothing about the technical specs and just need a card to slot into your digital camera.
One of the best ways to use this weakness in copies is to always have on hand a real card or at least a picture of one. Either take a card you already have with you when out and about or use your phone to visit the official manufacturer website and find a decent image of the card in question.
Often, copies will have subtle differences, such as different colours or slightly different fonts, and some won't have the usual arrangement of icons and specifications listed on them. Some fakes even vary in physical size.
Keep your eyes open for the tips we've covered already too, such as the contrasting specifications and formats. These are part of the visual identification, and it all helps to ensure you're buying a genuine card.
Price Is Right?
A major giveaway that can help you spot fakes is the price. It may be a cliche, but if something looks too good to be true, it probably isn't true. Memory cards, although no longer all that expensive at lower sizes, do cost a certain amount of money to manufacture, and pricing them too low means very little profit or even a loss for the producer. While you may see some that are lower, the current average price we found for a 64GB micro-SD XC I card would be around £30-50 give or take. If you find a similar card for a fraction of the price, beware. Companies and outlets can only shave so much off a product before it starts to become a loss, so there's a limit of how low a product can go for (outside of fire sales, end-of-line bargains and the like). Obviously, seeing a 512GB memory card for £50 when they still cost hundreds is something that's clearly not above board and should be avoided.
With memory cards, though, fakers don't always ply their trade by undercutting the official products and instead simply want to make money by fooling you into buying a fake, so the aforementioned tips are all valid, regardless of price.
That said, we're not saying all bargains of this type are dubious. Far from it. There are some fantastic offers where people are selling cards for a superb price, but there are also a lot of frauds, and you just need to be careful and take steps to protect yourself.
Online Awareness
Although small shops and flea markets are still a big source of fake goods, these days, a lot of people buy memory cards online. Due to the nature of online sales, lacking the same overheads the high street has, you can find much cheaper offers. Since you don't actually see the product before it lands on your doorstep, it makes it much easier for fakes to be sold, and there's always an element of risk unless you're shopping at a site you totally trust.
Be aware, however, that even sites like Amazon are not immune to this. Amazon has many sellers that simply sell through it but are not actually part of Amazon itself. There's more support here than most sites, however, thanks to Amazon's policies concerning third-party sellers, but there's still the chance you could be fooled. Sites like eBay are notorious for fake goods, such is the nature of the world's largest online auction site. Likewise, other auctions sites and overseas import sites are also a cause for concern.
There's no way to really guarantee the item you're getting online is the real thing, but there are some tricks you can employ, with the first being to pay attention to what others have to say.
Although customer feedback isn't always to be taken as gospel (all it takes is one disgruntled buyer to sour an otherwise perfectly fine offer), it's still an essential tool. Always look at the feedback for memory cards (and any other product, for that matter), and see if people have had problems with quality, performance or failures. Some may even let others know that a product is a fake. One such post can be taken with a pinch of salt, but many similar posts should ring those alarms.
You should also try contacting the seller to ask for any proof of authenticity. This can be hard to do, and many sellers won't oblige, even reputable ones, but if you're worried, you're within your rights as a customer to ask. If you do ask and are sent an image, or you're looking at an image in the actual offer on the site, beware of low-quality, artefact-ridden shots. These are often simply grabbed from any source and can be a sign of trouble. They can also simply signify someone who took little care to advertise their perfectly genuine stock, but most will take decent photos, since it's in their best interests.
When buying a card online, it's always a good idea to research any returns policy ahead of time and get something in writing you can refer to if need be. This is easy with sites like Amazon, because you'll always have an email paper trail, and Amazon has a good return policy already. The site will even get involved in third-party disputes. Not all sites do this, though, so always cover your back.
Taking A Risk
If you've decided to take the plunge anyway, regardless of the risk, and you've ended up with what you think may be a fake, what do you do? Aside from returning it, if you can, you can chalk it up as a learning experience, or you can actually use the card anyway.
This may sound like a silly thing to do, but even fake cards can be useful for some things, as long as they're reliable enough. Moving around data and taking the odd photo should be fine; just be aware of what you're storing. We'd certainly advise you never to use such cards for sensitive or essential data. Don't put that all-important work presentation on one, for example; you're just asking for trouble. Use them for non-essential, light tasks and they may be fine.
If you're not sure if your card is a fake and would like some closure, you could try the program H2testw (bit.ly/1I4FIuJ). This is a really useful tool that can detect fake memory cards and flash drives, and it's been proven to work countless times. It's a very useful app and one that'll ensure you know the real source of your memory card.
Once it scans a volume, it'll let you know with various results that indicate a fake, often telling you that the media is defective, along with various test results for the scans it runs. It's available in German and English.
Stay Alert
As always with this kind of subject, tips and tricks only go so far, and your own vigilance and common sense will prevail over any potential rip-off. Use these tips and always make sure you buy from trusted sources, and you'll be fine. If you need to shop somewhere you haven't, use other people's feedback to your advantage and never jump in blind.