Before I even placed the order, I was already prepared to receive fake AirPods. But I placed it anyway. I really am fascinated by Huaqiangbei knockoffs.
At 8:48 p.m. on October 5, 2026, I ordered a pair of “personal, idle” AirPods 4 ANC on Xianyu. The seller claimed to have the purchase receipt and said the warranty ran until June 2027. Anyone who spends time in second-hand marketplaces has probably already guessed from the title that it was fake. I guessed it was probably fake too, and only ordered because I was confident I could get my money back. Right after I paid, the seller said they’d ship it the next day.
At 11:30 the next morning, the seller marked it as shipped on the platform. Looked normal. Then it stopped looking normal. By noon on the third day it was still “awaiting pickup,” so I asked the seller, who said they’d check. Then they ignored me until 5 p.m. So I filed for a refund, citing abnormal logistics. That got the seller’s attention. A little while later, the package was quietly picked up.
On the morning of October 9, I picked up the package. From the outside, the box looked fine (did it?). I opened it, took out the AirPods 4 and flipped the lid — and it made a sound exactly like a bicycle bell. I completely lost it. What genuine AirPods sound like that? This was 101.0000% fake. But it actually paired with an iPhone. The software features were mostly there, down to the pop-up. I have to hand it to Huaqiangbei’s current counterfeit skills.
Software-wise, the imitation was surprisingly convincing. Of course, ANC and the like were basically useless — on and off made no difference — and the overall experience was terrible. It disconnected constantly. It was almost unusable. I was genuinely afraid that wearing this thing might one day make it explode in my ear.
As for the very convincing version number, you can expose it by checking Apple’s official site. The AirPods 4 version number is not 5E135 at all. Working backward, it’s probably a 2023 version. Look up the latest version on Apple’s site and you’ll see: this thing couldn’t be more fake.
Also, the AirPods 4 has an H2 chip. Genuine ones show an equalizer on iOS 27. This knockoff doesn’t.
To put it bluntly, these Huaqiangbei earbuds exist to look cool and to make a pop-up appear on your phone. Most of the functions are crippled and it simply cannot be used normally. Do not buy this thing just to “have something to listen with.” It isn’t worth it. It can’t even manage that.
I’d had my fun and satisfied my curiosity, so now it was time to return it. I filed a second return request, this time for counterfeit goods. The seller rejected it, as expected. So I filed again and asked customer service to step in. While I was at it, let me show you how bad the forgery was: the seller solemnly provided a purchase receipt, which was of course also fake. See the photo.
I spotted three problems the moment I opened the image:
- The store simply does not exist: “Nanjing Apple Store retail store Pukou Jinxiang City Apple Authorized Store, No. 6 Jiangshan Road.” There is no such thing.
Store names like that immediately look wrong. And you can check Apple Stores on the official website — Nanjing has no such store, and it isn’t on any map.
- The part number ends in the China-model suffix.
That made me check the box. Wait a minute — why does your box show a U.S.-model part number? Busted.
- Typos.
Look closely at the “issuer” line. Good grief, Taauer? Isn’t that supposed to be “Issuer”? I seriously doubt these people ever went to school. How do you get that wrong? And the URL at the bottom of the receipt is even funnier: http:/www.apple.com. My God, a single slash after http. They even misspelled “detail” and “html” — it should be detail.html, but they wrote ret ail.htal. I couldn’t stop laughing.
Also, some basic common sense: the first six digits of a bank card number are the BIN and aren’t especially sensitive. Normally a masked card number looks like 626799xxxx8821, not 626799**6XXXXX16**8821. How do these people lack even the most basic life knowledge? Their forgery skills are worrying.
And most importantly: checking the serial number is useless now. Scammers copy the serial number from a genuine unit. Of course it checks out — it is the genuine serial number. A serial number check does not prove the product is real. And please don’t blindly buy from Huaqiangbei. Apple has no obligation to issue you an authenticity report, so you won’t get anything in writing.
After I handed all this forged evidence to Xianyu customer service, the seller agreed to the return within minutes. But then something very strange and very funny happened:
So what if it can be looked up? Does a serial number prove that this is the original owner of that serial number? In any case, the seller covers the return shipping in this situation. As consumers, when we buy counterfeit goods we should defend our rights. Never compromise with sellers like this. That evening I dropped the package off at my local pickup station. I had to pay the shipping upfront; after the item is returned, the platform will ask the seller to reimburse me, and if the seller refuses, the platform will cover it.
