Well fuck, I didn't thought about that. I bought three of this drives because I have an older version of the 4GB with a normal Alcor Chipset.
But I sent them back and I got a refund because I reported them as fakes. They even had a different circuit board than on the pictures and the original from 2013.......
Anyway, do you know some brands which use non-fake chipsets?
The issue is not about brands, it is about suppliers AND sources.
There are basically three kinds of "legit" firms:
1) Those like Sandisk (and I believe ONLY Sandisk) that develop their own controller AND board
2) Those like (say) PNY or Kingston that use controllers on the market but develop their own boards
3) All the others that take controllers AND boards existing on the market and just re-brand them.
All three of them are good BUT all three of them are subject to having their products replicated with either inferior specs (like "fake" capacity) or inferior components (like defective controllers re-branded).
Bulk or no-name ones can be *anything*.
I once got a bulk lot (I seem to remember 200) no-name 4 Gb sticks as a "gift" (I bought some services and in the price were included some "promotional" items, like pens or keyrings or USB sticks), they were d@mn slow (a few I tested) but anyway I analyzed them, found the "right" MP Tool and managed to make a few with a dual LUN (first LUN CD-like) for a small project I was putting together (they were used as media for a house made router so they were connected and "on" 24/7, so obviously they had a limited lifespan).
After the first few were burned out, I went to make a few more and found out how the one(s) I had in my hands had a different controller.
This same thing has been reported in the past about sticks bought in large stores (like Walmart or similar), you know those offers three sticks for 9.99 or similar, in a large basket near the cash counter, out of the three two had one controller and the third a different one.
So anyone in China/Shenzhen can buy for a few pennies each a number of sticks then EITHER:
1) Make his/her own brand, and sell them for what they are (el-cheapo no names)
2) Make an enclosure and packaging similar to that of a known brand and sell them as such
So, when you buy a stick you never know if what you are getting is:
1) original
2) containing this or that chipset
unless you buy the sticks directly form the manufacturer website (usually at a much higher than "street price") when this is possible or you procure them from a reliable shop (that will accept returned items).
These shops are often innocent themselves, in the sense that they think they are buying from a reliable wholesaler which instead supplies fakes, and possibly even the wholesaler is tricked into this.
Wonko