Man gets his hands on two illegal North Korean smartphones to put them through tests

This YouTuber got his hands on two illegal North Korean smartphones, which had been smuggled out of the country, and he wanted to run some tests with them.

The phones in question? A Haeyang 701 and a Samtaesong 8.

What Mrwhosetheboss noticed from the get-go was that the phones reflected the closed-off society from which they came.

But what else would he discover about these rarely seen phones, and what would they reveal about tech in the secretive state?

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What did this YouTuber discover with these illegal North Korean smartphones?

North Korea has been a topic of fascination for years.

As the country is closed off to the rest of the world, thanks to the edicts of its leader, a lot about life there remains a mystery to the rest of us.

Glimpses of North Korean everyday life – like this fake Mercedes, the Pyongyang 4.10 – have only exacerbated the curiosity.

Case in point – these illegal North Korean smartphones that one YouTuber got his hands on.

Now, smartphones are constantly being talked about, whether it’s Android updates or iOS features that make Google Pixel users jealous.

But things are different with North Korean smartphones.

These smartphones were intended for internal use in North Korea and not to be used outside of the country’s borders.

At first glance, these may look like standard phones that would be used throughout the world.

But upon closer inspection, they reveal the extent of government oversight in their creation.

For example, Mrwhosetheboss attempted to type ‘South Korea’ (Namhan) into the keyboards of both phones, but it would autocorrect to ‘Puppet State’.

Even terms like ‘Joseon’ – meaning Korea – are politicized, as North Korea gets the distinction of being called ‘Joseon’, whilst South Korea is autocorrected to ‘South Joseon’.

Slang isn’t safe either – a term like ‘Oppa’, which is used to mean ‘boyfriend,’ was changed into ‘Comrade’.

Taking a closer look at these phones

The phones themselves are of a lesser quality, which isn’t too surprising in a market where there’s not much competition.

The Samtaesong 8, for example. bears a lot of resemblance to a mid-range Huawei phone, but it was described as having weak cameras and outdated software.

“Everything about using both of these phones feels so dated,” he concluded.

It’s not possible to access the internet on these phones; only a controlled network called ‘Mirae’, which requires a government ID to access.

Even then, all a user of this phone would be able to access would be state TV, news, propaganda, and apps.

As if all of that wasn’t off-putting enough, the app runs at speeds of between 2Mbps and 33Mbps.

By way of comparison, that’s less than a fourteenth of what South Korean citizens can access on public Wi-Fi networks.

Practically every layer of these phones is infiltrated with a clear message – North Korea is superior, South Korea is inferior, foreign influence is dangerous, and citizens are subject to monitoring.

Perhaps most alarming of all is the fact that the phones will take frequent screenshots that the users themselves cannot delete or even view.

This is likely for purposes of inspection by the authorities, as activities like sharing foreign films and TV shows carry severe consequences, BBC News reported.