1. What is the Difference between Original Arduino boards and Counterfeit or clone Arduino boards?

In case your board does indeed look exactly like the Arduino, here are the visual inspections you can do to determine if the product is genuine or compatible with Arduino.

Original Arduino’s have their PCB’s teal in color while counterfeit Arduinos are usually deep blue (or any colour for that matter).

The fonts on an original board will be much more cleaner while compatible boards tend to use different and more rigid fonts

There should be a clear map of Italy behind the board, indicating that the board is indeed made in Italy, compatible with Arduino boards tend to either completely lack this or have an incorrect map of Italy

All PCB tracks are intricately woven into the board itself and do not look exposed like most fake boards tend to look like.

Finally, the 501K component next to the voltage regulator is generally green on fake boards. The green one is similar to the original gold-black component found in the original Arduino, but the specific color is custom-made for original Arduinos

2. What should I buy? Original Arduino or compatible boards?

For hobby projects or prototyping, you may want to purchase compatible boards as effectively as they are as efficient as the original Arduino boards. They are compatible with the Arduino IDE.

However, for industrial applications, it is recommended to opt for Original boards for maximum reliability and accuracy.

3. Is there a difference in capability or features between the Original Arduino and compatible boards?

Since Arduino officially releases its hardware design files under a Creative Commons License, most of the compatible boards are of equal cadre. 

In fact, boards compatible with Arduino can sometimes have additional features as compared to the original Arduino. For example, Express if ESP which is an Arduino IDE compatible board comes with WiFi and in-built Bluetooth

4. Where can I buy compatible Arduino boards in India, online?

Robocraze checks all of their products for quality and provides technical support after your sales. You can buy a variety of Arduino-compatible boards from online stores like Robocraze.