As of now, it looks like Vernee has blatantly lied about the camera in Vernee Mix 2. According to their marketing, the sensor is IMX258, but according to apps which detect camera driver and according to data pulled through root, the camera sensor is not IMX258, but AR1335 by ON Semiconductors.

My first thought was that perhaps ON AR1335 was the module, but indeed AR1335 is a sensor. And, Sony IMX258 vs AR1335 technical specs are different as well so this is not a case of a rebranded sensor.

Chinese brand phones have come light years since GizBeat first started, but one thing that hasn’t changed is Chinese brand tendency to fake specs. They aren’t all guilty of this, but many of them are, and as the competition heats up, it’s only getting worse.

Initially, back in the day, it was with SoC and RAM, eg. faking MT6572 as MT6592 and 512MB RAM as 1GB or 2GB. Admittedly this was generally only with the clones, but some of the main brands got in on it too.

Nowadays, it’s camera and battery specs that are often smudged or outright lied about. Thankfully, with batteries, an inexpensive meter makes it easy for us to tell whether they’re trying to pull a fast one, but with the camera sensor, it can occasionally be a bit more difficult.

ON Semi AR1335 Specs Sony IMX258 tech specs

Still, with a bit of perseverance, we can sometimes get to the bottom of things with the camera sensor as well. With the Vernee Mix 2, it was very obvious and not much perseverance was required.

The first clue which tells is the app “Device Info HW”, which gives us very detailed info regarding the camera. This is not all we go by though, according to information pulled through root access, the data presented by Device Info HW has been confirmed — Sony IMX258 in Vernee Mix 2 is a complete fabrication and outright lie from Vernee.

Additionally, Vernee marketing touts Optical Image Stabilization (OIS). And with the sub-heading “Telephone lenses”, whatever that means Vernee.

Unfortunately, many 10’s of thousands will be duped long before the truth becomes generally known, and still many users who don’t frequent forums dedicated to Chinese phones will continue to flock to purchase due to their very clever viral marketing.

Actually, if the price is right, we may still recommend the Vernee Mix 2, but users need to go in with their eyes open; that’s what we’re trying to accomplish.

Much respect to our readers. Share this post wherever you think it may be appreciated, and comment below on your opinion of Vernee.