The popular Temu app is home to all kinds of Apple knock-offs. We ordered dupes of the MagSafe Charging Case, AirPods, the Apple Watch Series 8 and Apple Watch Ultra to see how they compare to the real thing — and it was a hot mess.
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TechTranscript
00:00 Honestly, there was a part of me that thought I was never gonna get this.
00:03 I don't know, can I see what's inside?
00:07 Like not really.
00:09 So a couple of weeks ago I finally decided to check out Teemu Temo.
00:13 I've seen it pronounced both ways, but it's basically this online shopping platform on
00:17 web and mobile.
00:18 Teemu has everything from clothing and beauty products to houseware and fitness gear, but
00:24 I paid particular close attention to the consumer tech category.
00:28 And I was pretty surprised to see quite a few products that looked heavily, heavily
00:33 inspired by the products from a well-known fruit-based tech company.
00:38 So I went on a little shopping spree and ordered a couple of items that, for the sake of this
00:43 video, I'm just gonna call fake apple products.
00:46 And while I do know what I ordered, I have no way of knowing whether it's all in here,
00:50 what it looks like, or if it's even in one piece.
00:53 So let's open it up and see how Teemu dupes compared to the real thing.
00:56 There we go.
00:59 Okay.
01:00 Oh my god.
01:03 AirPods.
01:04 This is called the Watch 8.
01:10 That looks like an Apple Watch Ultra though.
01:12 And this is a watch that looks like an Apple Watch, but isn't.
01:17 Okay, let's get this out of here.
01:20 Okay, so I have four products in front of me.
01:22 First we have a MagSafe clear case.
01:26 Then we have a pair of wireless earbuds.
01:29 Then we have a smartwatch.
01:32 And finally we have a rugged smartwatch.
01:36 Let's start with the phone case.
01:38 This is the fashion case for mobile cover products.
01:42 This packaging definitely is not premium.
01:45 There's this little plastic covering.
01:49 There we go.
01:50 I actually have an iPhone 14 with the Apple MagSafe clear case on it.
01:56 Let me take it off and look at the two side by side.
02:05 At a first glance, they do look pretty similar, but upon further inspection, you can see on
02:10 the bottom, the Apple case has a full cutout, whereas the Teemu case has specific cutouts
02:15 for the charging port and the speakers.
02:18 The side button and volume button placements look the same.
02:21 And the camera bump looks very similar.
02:23 I will say Apple's is a bit smoother.
02:25 But I'm looking at it now, and probably the biggest difference is that the MagSafe icon
02:30 is actually printed onto this case, and it even has these little line designs.
02:35 The Apple one is not printed.
02:37 The piece that's actually protecting the MagSafe technology is this white color that you see
02:43 here.
02:44 You can't actually see the magnets in this case.
02:47 You can see where they would be, but they're covered by Apple branding.
02:50 You got some nice language there.
02:51 Overall, it looks really nice.
02:53 Here you actually can see that it's been printed over.
02:56 And I don't know if you can tell in the light here, but you can actually see the individual
03:00 magnets printed through when you hold it up in the light.
03:04 But we have to see how it looks on my iPhone.
03:08 I don't know.
03:09 I think this works.
03:10 I mean, now that I've noticed the print difference, I don't really like it here.
03:14 But the real test is whether the MagSafe actually works.
03:18 So I have my iPhone here.
03:20 It is super, super dead.
03:21 You can see it has the charging icon, but I'm going to put on this MagSafe charger,
03:27 and you can see there, it's charging.
03:29 It wants to turn my phone back on.
03:31 This is just a third-party portable MagSafe charger, and it seems like it is charging
03:36 my phone, if that's the concern if you're going to buy something like this from Timu.
03:41 As much as this pains me to say, because Apple's cases tend to be a bit overpriced in my opinion,
03:46 this definitely is the better case.
03:48 This looks just very cheap to me.
03:50 The printed-on MagSafe look, I don't get it.
03:53 I feel like it's going to get scratched up really easily or just look dirty.
03:57 It does work, sure, but if I want to get a case that I know is going to last me a long
04:02 time, this has been tried and true for me, so that's what I would probably stick with.
04:07 Now, fake AirPods have been a thing for a long time.
04:10 I see them being sold out on the streets.
04:12 I've seen them on Amazon.
04:14 I've seen them everywhere, but I have to say, these look very convincing, although they're
04:19 called the Pro 4.
04:22 Pro for what?
04:23 I don't know.
04:24 They don't look like AirPods Pro, I can tell you that.
04:27 These definitely are not packaged like a $130 pair of wireless earbuds.
04:33 Look at that bending in the paper.
04:35 It looks like it's peeling off in some parts.
04:38 I guess we're not judging books.
04:39 No, I can judge a book by its cover.
04:41 I mean, we're talking about products that you're purchasing.
04:43 Dear buyer, if you find any quality problems, please contact the customer service center.
04:49 We have a lightning port.
04:52 We do.
04:53 Connected to a very short USB-A port, so you do get a charger.
04:58 And here are the AirPods.
05:02 That sounds like when I go to the chiropractor.
05:05 Here I have the Apple AirPods 2nd Gen, and here I have the Timu Pro 4 wireless earbuds.
05:11 I have to say, when I was shopping online, I thought the resemblance was going to be
05:15 a lot closer, but the Timu earbuds look like I took the regular Apple AirPods and sat on
05:22 them.
05:23 They look squished, condensed.
05:24 That said, the design language is pretty similar.
05:27 You still get the same front on the top of the hinge.
05:30 On the back, you have the metallic details around the hinge.
05:33 Some buttons, which I can only assume will be used for Bluetooth pairing.
05:37 Lightning port on the bottom, and you even have the iconic little status light.
05:43 This feels like it's going to snap off.
05:45 So I'm convinced that this would fall off the second that these took a hard fall on
05:50 the ground.
05:51 But let's take a closer look at the earbuds.
05:54 So here we have the classic AirPods look, the long stem, rounded earbud.
05:59 Now this has the earbud, but it has a shorter stem and touchpad.
06:02 It almost looks like a hybrid of the AirPods Gen 3 and AirPods Pro.
06:07 Honestly, I think if anyone had this in their ear, they would think it is a normal AirPod,
06:13 right?
06:14 I'm going to give these a very quick audio test.
06:18 Let's start with these.
06:19 It says connected.
06:20 Connected to what?
06:25 They come up in my phone as Pro.
06:27 Okay, it says, "Cannot verify AirPods.
06:31 These headphones could not be verified as Apple AirPods.
06:35 Would you like to proceed?"
06:36 That's kind of scary.
06:38 These are horrible.
06:43 These are really bad.
06:44 I'm listening to Billie Eilish, "Happier Than Ever."
06:46 And you know, the beginning of this song has that old radio echoey feel to it, but this
06:52 just does not sound right.
06:54 I don't see why you would go spend 10 bucks on a knockoff pair for that audio quality
07:00 when there are plenty of other budget wireless earbuds, especially ones under $50, that sound
07:06 better than this.
07:07 This sounds like it really is just all about the style.
07:10 It wants you to have the look of having AirPods, which we get it.
07:14 Apple products look cool.
07:16 You see them everywhere.
07:17 But if you're expecting to get Apple quality sound, this ain't it.
07:22 I thought we were off to a good start, but these just did not do it for me.
07:27 I hate these.
07:30 Okay, but for real, do you have a trash bin I can throw these in?
07:36 So I'm hoping we can get some redemption for those AirPods with a device called the eWatch?
07:42 iWatch?
07:43 eWatch?
07:44 Apple Watch?
07:45 I don't know, but this is the box it comes in.
07:47 For reference, this is the normal Apple Watch box.
07:52 Big difference, as you can tell.
07:54 Similar to the AirPods, the case looks like it's been through some things.
08:02 Okay, we have some words of advice for before you use the watch, and that is smartwatch,
08:11 please charge before use.
08:14 It's a sticker!
08:17 There's a sticker on the front that says, "Please + Charge Before Use."
08:22 Here I have the Apple Watch Series 8, and here we have the eWatch.
08:26 I don't know, is there a different name for it here?
08:30 There's like 10 different names on this watch, but anyway, obviously it's kind of supposed
08:35 to be like the Apple Watch.
08:37 There's even something on the back printed that says Series 8, similarly to how the Apple
08:42 Watch Series 8 actually says Series 8 there.
08:46 45mm case like this, encoder, heart rate wearable, waterproof, sport device, smartwatch Series
08:53 8.
08:54 Yeah, it's definitely not the same, but honestly it's not all that different either.
09:01 And while I'm looking at the rest of the design, we have the digital crown, we have side buttons,
09:06 there's even a speaker grill in the same place.
09:09 The biggest visual difference is definitely the lack of watch band release straps.
09:17 There's these two parts on the Apple Watch that release the magnets that hold your watch
09:22 straps in place.
09:24 This one does not have that, but we do have some watch straps here, so let's see what
09:28 we're working with.
09:30 They're kind enough to include two pairs of straps, which is something you don't get with
09:34 an Apple Watch, so they don't want to fit very nicely.
09:38 They're not magnetically held in there, but this is more of a traditional watch strap.
09:46 I got it on.
09:47 I'm going to power it on.
09:50 Nice haptic and interesting.
09:53 Okay, so here I'm looking at the smartwatch from Timu that looks quite like an Apple Watch.
10:01 This watch face does not stay on, but it does look like the Wayfinder face for the Apple
10:07 Watch Ultra, except now when I swipe through, I get some fitness metrics.
10:11 It says I didn't do any steps, which I have been walking around a little bit, so that's
10:14 just not true.
10:15 I like this little heart rate animation.
10:18 Let's see if it actually picks up my heart rate.
10:20 Blood pressure?
10:21 Is this measuring my blood pressure right now?
10:23 Wouldn't trust that though, because you just can't measure your blood pressure like that
10:26 and it needs to be calibrated.
10:28 It's actually, I mean, close enough, right?
10:31 Oh, look at that.
10:33 It's like a little grid.
10:34 There you go.
10:35 You got the app grid, you got the app grid.
10:37 Honestly, I'm kind of surprised by this.
10:39 It's not the ultra smooth Apple Watch experience that I'm used to.
10:44 I like this face right here.
10:45 It reminds me of one I would use on the Apple Watch.
10:48 The responsiveness can be a little frustrating if you're coming from an Apple Watch experience,
10:54 I'll say that.
10:55 I actually think it does more than I was expecting.
10:58 I would need to pair it to my phone and use the app to get all the functionality.
11:03 I personally do not feel comfortable doing that, nor would I probably recommend it.
11:08 But if you need to see the time, if you want some mirrored notifications, if you want to
11:14 see your heart rate, things like that, you're not going to get the most accurate or full
11:18 featured smartwatch experience.
11:20 I don't love it, but I also don't hate it.
11:23 I also feel like the material isn't as cheap feeling as I would expect.
11:29 I mentioned already I'm a fan of the band.
11:32 I would say this is the best dupe that we've seen so far.
11:35 So this was the Timu product I was most excited to test.
11:38 Here it says it's called the Watch 8, but over here it says Ultra, which is peculiar
11:44 because I wear the Apple Watch Ultra and the image looks pretty similar.
11:51 Let's open it up.
11:52 This is nothing like the Apple Watch Ultra box, by the way.
11:55 The Ultra box was different than a regular Apple Watch box.
11:59 Okay.
12:04 This can't be real.
12:06 Look at that.
12:09 Does it dupe?
12:10 Oh my God.
12:13 I keep the orange silicone straps.
12:15 I can't.
12:16 I'll start with the charging cord.
12:17 It does look very similar to Apple's Apple Watch charging cord.
12:21 It's a bit thicker.
12:23 And if you have the Apple Watch Ultra, you might know it comes with a braided cord, which
12:27 is really nice.
12:29 USB-A, not surprised.
12:31 I see a trend there.
12:33 Before I'm even turning this on, I'm actually just laughing.
12:36 This is the back of the Apple Watch Ultra.
12:38 Here's the back of the Watch 8.
12:40 The Apple Watch Ultra has a lot of premium materials on the back.
12:43 It has these visible titanium screws.
12:47 Around it you have the common printing that tells you what the watch is, the key specs
12:51 on it, GPS, LTE, water resistance, sapphire crystal.
12:56 On the back of this, not only are the screws printed on, the words around the sensors say
13:05 "Same, healthy, fashion, campaign."
13:10 I think that probably is supposed to say "campaign."
13:14 SmartWatch Ultra, 49 millimeter, different vision.
13:18 Even the little, oh my goodness, even the little buttons that you use to release the
13:23 straps, printed.
13:26 They're literally printed on.
13:28 This is false advertising.
13:30 On the box, it shows this watch coming with a band that looks very similar to the Ocean
13:35 Loop.
13:36 Also, when you look on the back, you see it with two different band options.
13:39 One is that Ocean Loop.
13:42 All you get here are these flimsy silicone straps that definitely don't feel very ultra.
13:49 Oh my God.
13:51 Oh my goodness.
13:53 These straps suck.
13:55 I have the Watch 8 Ultra, whatever you want to call it now, on my wrist.
14:01 I do think if I was just walking by someone or someone saw what I was wearing, they would
14:06 think this is the Apple Watch Ultra.
14:07 It has the flat display.
14:10 It has a touch screen that looks like it's been touched by a lot more fingerprints than
14:15 just mine.
14:16 It has the speaker grill.
14:18 It has the action button, but the action button, instead of being this matched orange titanium,
14:24 it's a different material.
14:26 Do we think this is going to turn on is the real question?
14:29 Oh, hello.
14:31 Hello.
14:32 It looks heavily inspired by the Wayfinder Apple Watch Ultra face.
14:38 I don't know the name of that face off the top of my head, but I've seen it before.
14:42 But where's it getting this data from?
14:45 So I did just go for a little walk around the office.
14:47 It recorded that I basically haven't moved, so fitness tracking is a fail.
14:53 Let's see what else this watch can do.
14:55 Okay, so I just tried to, there's a phone call function, and I did just try to dial
14:59 the number of my producer here, but it doesn't work.
15:04 So there is an app that I can download for this watch on my phone.
15:08 There's a QR code here, and it should unlock some further functionality.
15:12 I think you can pair apps like Facebook and Twitter to get notifications.
15:17 Maybe that's how you set up calling.
15:19 However, I am not going to do that, and I would not recommend anyone else do that.
15:24 I don't feel comfortable with that recommendation.
15:28 There's no way of knowing what kind of software is on this app.
15:31 In fact, I kind of just don't even love having this paired to my phone in general.
15:35 Okay, so it's one of those things where, again, if you really want to have the look of an
15:40 Apple Watch Ultra and you care about flashing it around, I don't know your prerogative.
15:46 Sure, but there are good smartwatches that you can buy that, again, are under $100, even
15:52 under $50.
15:54 At first, don't make you feel like you're going to download some suspicious apps on
15:57 your phone, but also don't try to be something it's not.
16:01 You know, I just can't get past this app, these features, how the display is hardly
16:07 functional.
16:09 I don't know.
16:10 Why would someone buy this?
16:13 No.
16:14 So is it really worth getting the dupes or should you just shell out for the quality?
16:18 I think you know my take.
16:20 Again, the real shame is that there are good affordable alternatives to these products.
16:24 They just don't have the Apple look.
16:26 Let me know if you'd still try these knockoffs in the comments and you can see more of what
16:29 we're up to on social, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok @tomsguide.
16:34 And as always, I'm @katekocic.
16:35 Thanks for watching.
16:36 I'll catch you next time.