Apple Watch knockoffs beat the real thing to market
Apple Watch doesn't go on preorder for a month. And it won't ship for another two weeks after that. But you could snag a passable lookalike on the streets of China today -- or order one online.
As the South China Morning Post reports, Shenzhen, China's commercial hotbed of high-tech counterfeits, is already teeming with smartwatches designed to look a whole lot like Apple's new wearable.
Take, for example, the Zeaplus Watch G2. It has a square face with rounded corners (like Apple Watch), a touchscreen with customizable full color display (like Apple Watch), activity tracking (like Apple Watch). It's also Bluetooth compatible with iPhone and will give you call and message notifications. But unlike Apple Watch, it's available online now, and for the low, low price of just $69, versus Apple's $349 to $17,000 range.
According to the company website, the next Zeaplus Watch, coming soon, boasts a SIM card slot so you can actually make and receive calls from the watch -- another advantage over the Apple Watch, which needs an iPhone to function.
Alibaba.com is rife with other cheap options, many of which, like Zeaplus Watch, work with both iOS and Android. A few pull off a pretty decent facsimile of the Apple Watch design, if you squint a little.
Wholesalers in China appear to be at the ready, so keep an eye out for knockoffs in a Chinatown near you.