US Customs brag about seizing fake AirPods that are actually OnePlus Buds
by Georgi ZarkovIt didn’t take long after Apple released its now-iconic AirPods before counterfeits started flooding the market. We even got a pair to see how good these fakes AirPods are. But apart from the many clones that are trying to trick people into thinking they’re buying Apple’s wireless earbuds are many legitimate products from other companies that just look very similar.
Well, it looks like OnePlus might have gone a step too far, as a big shipment of its OnePlus Buds was seized by the US Customs and Border Protection agency. The reason? CBP agents thought they’re stopping fake AirPods from entering the country from Hong Kong. Happy with the good work, the agency bragged on its Twitter account with a photo of the contraband, clearly showing the OnePlus Buds packaging:
The agency is right about one thing, though, that's definitely not an Apple.
The shipment included 2,000 pairs of OnePlus Buds, which the agency says would have been worth $398,000 on the market if they were genuine. And by genuine they mean if they were sold as Apple AirPods, which was clearly not what was going to happen. You can buy the OnePlus Buds from the company’s official website for $79, so it seems OnePlus has changed the design enough to avoid patent infringement issues and, of course, has passed FCC approval.
Understandably, the CBP took some flack on Twitter for not being able to recognize a genuine product from a counterfeit and even the official OnePlus USA account responded to the post:
On one hand, it’s embarrassing for OnePlus that its earbuds were mistaken for fake AirPods, but on the other hand, hey, it’s free marketing! Plus, they’re a really good pair of wireless earbuds that are very affordable. You can learn more about them from our OnePlus Buds review.
Hopefully, after this mess up, the CBP will do a quick Google search before bragging about its latest achievement.
