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Apple's recommended retail price for the successful Airpods Pro is 279 euros.

With trustworthy dealers, offers of around 200 euros are realistic.

Anything below or significantly below should be treated with caution, reports the “c't” specialist magazine (issue 4/21).

Noticeable are currently offers on online marketplaces where Airpods Pro are offered as B-goods or as good as new dispatch returns for around 170 euros.

Here the experts ordered on a test basis.

The first impression: high quality packaging.

And even when unpacking, the headphones felt high quality and original.

But the inconsistencies started with the commissioning - from the wrong pairing routine to the periodic, brief freezing of the iPhone.

Counterfeit Airpods Pro sound bad

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A query from Apple revealed a valid Airpods serial number, albeit with an expired warranty.

But the first time they tap Play, it was clear to the testers: "The Airpods Pro sound so incredibly bad that you can hardly believe it."

After that, it was pretty certain that it must be a fake.

The attempt to update the firmware brought final certainty.

Because Apple never published the installed version (0B896).

The conclusion of the experts: It is frightening how much work fraudsters put into the production of the counterfeit headphones.

Due to the ultimately high quality of the fakes, there is a risk that many buyers who are not exactly technology enthusiasts may not even notice the fraud.

If, on the other hand, you notice something, fake dealers should report to Apple via a dedicated page.

Evidence of counterfeit Airpods

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Since fakes with different characteristics are in circulation, some material deviations are only noticeable in direct comparison with an original and the counterfeiters basically learn and make changes, there can be no general tips.

However, the testers have summarized their observations, which suggest a fake:

- There are spelling mistakes on the packaging à la "Dseigned By Apple"

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- The writing on the charging case and the headphones themselves is difficult to read

- On the case lid, the battery capacity is different from exactly 519 mAh

- the active noise cancellation of the headphones does not work

- different weight: fake case weighed 43.3 grams (original case: 45.8 grams) and the fake headphones 7.5 grams (original headphones: 10.9 grams)