Arduino Uno and Arduino Clone Comparison

I purchased a clone Arduino Uno recently to test and compared it with genuine Arduino Uno. This clone is made in China. Take note that the Arduino Chinese Clone is not plug and play. You need to access your window device manager from your Control Panel and install the device driver for CH40 and CH41. You can search google to download the CH40 driver for Arduino Chinese Clone in order to use it.

Unlike Genuine Arduino Uno, it's plug and play using Arduino IDE (You might need to set the PORT manually). For Arduino Clone it's quite tricky.. lol.. It took a couple of hours searching for the working driver and clear instruction on how to make it work with Windows 10.

In your device manager you may need to enable View Hidden Devices to see the Ports Used by CH40 and CH41 USB. Once you see the device CH40 you need to install the driver which you downloaded from Chinese site.



Here is the comparison of the two Arduino:

 

Image 1. Front View Comparison

 

Image 2. Back View Comparison 

Close up view of the Arduino Uno and Arduino Clone

Genuine Arduino Uno

 

Arduino Clone (Chinese Clone CH40)

Overall here's the score.
Both hardware can function and run the same codes. Overall both device can run same codes, shield and modules just like the genuine arduino. 

Here's the difference:
1. The PCB board used is very distinctive. The Genuine Arduino is using quality PCB board and circuitry.
2. The pin and slots of the genuine Arduino is strong and good quality.
3. The USB input of the Clone is quite troublesome since you can hardly find the USB adapter like this this time. There's no USB adapter included when I purchase this thing, however I have secured and used my old USB adapter from my old external drive. I hope they will upgrade with Micro USB adapter instead.
4. The device driver of Chinese Clone Arduino is tricky and require a little patience in order to make it recognizable by your your system.


Right now I am using the clone as test bed before deploying the system and code to my genuine Arduino. I advice you guys to prefer the genuine Arduino UNO since it very robust and good quality. However for beginners out there you may use the Clone as test bed before moving your Arduino hobby to the next level using the Genuine Arduino.

Happy coding geeks!