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I purchased an XGody Mate 20, advertised as Android 9.0.

Indeed, if you switch it on Settings -> About Phone reports Android 9.0:

Android 9.0

However, when I plug the device in, Android Studio reports it to be Android 6.0:

Android 6.0

Also the DevCheck Android App also reports the device to be Android 6.0.

Is there any way to find out which is it really? I bought this under the understanding it was an Android 9.0 device.

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  • 24
    I’m not an expert but the about phone screen screams Android 6.0. I imagine DevCheck and Android studio are correct. The phone itself sounds like a cheap Chinese ripoff and seems fishy. With my personal opinion, I would avoid using at all costs.
    – DrZoo
    Commented Jul 16, 2019 at 20:41
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    they have just changed a 6 with a 9. kernel is still old version and security patch level is 2017. besides this you can check from adb shell permissions of /system. android 9 should have system-as-root
    – alecxs
    Commented Jul 16, 2019 at 21:53
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    Id like to note that it says build is test-keys. Any reputable stock ROM I've seen uses release-keys. This is obviously an illegitimate ROM and should not be trusted
    – unixandria
    Commented Jul 17, 2019 at 4:02
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    it's just a flag you can change
    – alecxs
    Commented Jul 17, 2019 at 10:51
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    @grawity no official keys from OEM, used for dm-verity and such
    – unixandria
    Commented Jul 17, 2019 at 13:01

3 Answers 3

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I wanted to turn some of the comments into an answer that can be used for additional verification in case someone else runs into a similar issue where the vendor also reskinned the notifications window.

Android 9.0 was released in March 2018. The Security patch level is May 2017. This doesn't make sense at all. Would you trust it if the vaccination card for a 15 month old toddler says the most recent vaccinations were given 10 months before he was born? Not to mention that I'd really recommend against using a phone which is over 2 years out of date on security patches.

The Kernel Version also doesn't match: Android 9.0 has one of 3 kernel version: 4.4, 4.9 or 4.14. The stated version, 3.18.19, matches that of Android 6.0.

The Build Number also is cause for concern. MRA58K is related to the Android 6.0 ROM, and vendors are not supposed to use test keys for released products.

Overall, these are all causes for concern. This device has been tampered with (either rooted and the build.prop edited, or a full ROM edit), and poorly at that, since if they were competent, chances are they'd have edited the above values as well to be less suspicious. There is no way to know what other changes they made. At best they're trying to mislead you. At worst they're spying on your and stealing your money.

I urge you to get a refund. If that's not possible, I recommend you install a clean version of Android so you have less reason to worry about malicious intrusions. However, that might not be enough, because there might be intrusions in the device, either hardware or software, that can interfere with anything you do with the device. I agree with the others though that it's a security risk to use the device as-is.

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    it is a low budged phone there is no reason to assume they have done anything bad with it. they just changed the version number and this is probably done by the manufacturer itself. it is a common practice in china. he can use it as a normal android 6 don't be scared about a simple changed text
    – alecxs
    Commented Jul 17, 2019 at 10:58
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    @alecxs even if it's just a stock Android 6 with no other modifications other than s/6.0/9.0/, 1) it was marketed as an Android 9 phone and sold on the understanding that it was an Android 9 phone and 2) The security patch version date (which already is something which is known to be faked on low cost brands) is over 2 years ago, which is an eternity when it comes to security patches. I personally wouldn't be comfortable with using a phone which hasn't had security updates since 2017 as a daily driver.
    – Nzall
    Commented Jul 17, 2019 at 11:33
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    Thanks. It's a cheap device, £50 (about $70). I write game apps, and needed to test our apps on android 9.0 devices. It'll only get used to profile/debug our games, not for day to day use. And yeah, the time zone was set to Hong Kong when I bought it. The CPU is fine, but the RAM is so slow it hampers everything.
    – Steven Haggerty
    Commented Jul 17, 2019 at 12:14
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    @StevenHaggerty If you're going to test your games on Android 9.0, it's better to get a more representative phone that is more commonly used by Android gamers. I don't know your user numbers, but I doubt Android gamers will commonly have 50 quid budget brand phones. I think the really popular Android gamer devices are generally around the 3-400 USD pricetag.
    – Nzall
    Commented Jul 17, 2019 at 13:57
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    @Steven Haggerty since your phone runs Android 6, it is completely useless for testing with Android 9
    – plocks
    Commented Jul 18, 2019 at 4:36
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Pull down the notification shade. If it looks like this: Android 6.0

It is android 6.0

If it looks like this:

Android 9.0

It is android 9.0

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    Thanks, looks like it's android 6.0 then. I guess the only thing that would give this kind of result is a tampered with version of android, made to show these results in About Phone?
    – Steven Haggerty
    Commented Jul 16, 2019 at 20:38
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    @StevenHaggerty Certainly possible and likely not very difficult. If you plan to continue to use this phone I would install a clean version of the OS on the device as you can't know what other changes have been made. Or try to get a refund.
    – Qwertie
    Commented Jul 17, 2019 at 7:27
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    @StevenHaggerty Note that android 9 was released in August 6, 2018, and your screenshots show that your phone has the security patches from May, 2017, another sign that there was some tampering
    – Ferrybig
    Commented Jul 17, 2019 at 8:51
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    @StevenHaggerty with root and build.prop, it's possible for anyone to fake the Android version (ref: MIUI forum)
    – Andrew T. ♦
    Commented Jul 17, 2019 at 9:10
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    Android 6 Marshmallow is not, in fact, still supported. Its last security update was released in August 2018.
    – emmalyx
    Commented Jul 17, 2019 at 11:34
0

this is not android pie

you can tell this because the little circle at the bottom looks like O and not ◉

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    just wondering, how is this unhelpful?
    – lunardog15
    Commented Jul 18, 2019 at 20:59
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    I didn't down-vote, but my Samsung phone (running Android Pie / 9) has a somewhat square unfilled outline like the first O. This is not at all representative of the Android version, since most manufacturers customise it.
    – Toothbrush
    Commented Jul 18, 2019 at 21:27
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    @toothbrush most non Samsung phones don't have nearly the same amount of customisation but thanks for reminding me about that
    – lunardog15
    Commented Jul 19, 2019 at 14:08

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