Fake / Counterfeit Battery?

[Jim Roof]

Yes... but do we know if the one in the picture is the same as the one he received?

In the seller's defense, who in their right mind sells 883 batteries and takes the time to photograph EACH ONE and make separate eBay listings for each and every one?

I BOUGHT one of this seller's batteries. It is cheaper because it is NOT the high capacity battery that you pay 50% more for in order to get 10% more flight time.

The battery I bought has been flawless. It has the misspelled words and the missing orange warning triangle, all of the things that the skeptics here point to as evidence that these are fake batteries that will not work.

Mine has been through 4-5 charge cycles and TWO firmware updates. It has been perfect.

 

[jwmcgrath]

In the seller's defense, who in their right mind sells 883 batteries and takes the time to photograph EACH ONE and make separate eBay listings for each and every one?

I BOUGHT one of this seller's batteries. It is cheaper because it is NOT the high capacity battery that you pay 50% more for in order to get 10% more flight time.

The battery I bought has been flawless. It has the misspelled words and the missing orange warning triangle, all of the things that the skeptics here point to as evidence that these are fake batteries that will not work.

Mine has been through 4-5 charge cycles and TWO firmware updates. It has been perfect.

Don't misunderstand... No one is saying the batteries aren't good, and in fact I said earlier that I wasn't trying to take anything away from the seller since I noticed that he has 99%+ positive reviews on 200K transactions.

And no, of course no one is going to take individual pictures of each item.

The OP wanted to know if the battery was fake/counterfeit. I'm simply tying to help him answer his question as asked. I'm not judging the battery.

 

[With The Birds]

Yes... but do we know if the one in the picture is the same as the one he received?

We know it isn't, check the OP's first post for images of what he received and compare.

 

[With The Birds]

In the seller's defense, who in their right mind sells 883 batteries and takes the time to photograph EACH ONE and make separate eBay listings for each and every one?

I BOUGHT one of this seller's batteries. It is cheaper because it is NOT the high capacity battery that you pay 50% more for in order to get 10% more flight time.

The battery I bought has been flawless. It has the misspelled words and the missing orange warning triangle, all of the things that the skeptics here point to as evidence that these are fake batteries that will not work.

Mine has been through 4-5 charge cycles and TWO firmware updates. It has been perfect.

We aren't (at least I'm not) suggesting the battery is fake- the suggestion is it is unlikely to be from the same source as DJI's contracted supplier. What you have may be better than OEM (miss-spelling and absence of red triangle suggest it isn't from DJI). 5 Charge cycles is unlikely to be sufficient to demonstrate it is up to (or might exceed) the performance of genuine article.

 

[Daskid]

The devil is the the details and you may have paraphrased for brevity, and I understand that, but I'm curious... how EXACTLY did they phrase the reply?

Sure, they're authentic "drone" batteries... but authentic DJI?!

I have attached the seller's response.

I just got out from work. Will test performance shortly. Thanks to everyone who chimed in so far.

 

[Jim Roof]

I have attached the seller's response.

Given that English is not going to be the seller's native tongue... it looks like he is telling you it is a genuine DJI battery.

Why not Google 'counterfeit DJI Phatnom 4 battery' and see if this is really a problem? If it is counterfeit you will not be the first.

 

[Daskid]

Given that English is not going to be the seller's native tongue... it looks like he is telling you it is a genuine DJI battery.

Why not Google 'counterfeit DJI Phatnom 4 battery' and see if this is really a problem? If it is counterfeit you will not be the first.

I did Google that last night before I started this thread. All I saw was other people posting in the DJI forums asking if their's is fake/counterfeit or not. I have yet to see a post where it's confirming that they indeed get a fake battery. Do you have a link to such post or article?

Thanks.

 

[Jim Roof]

I did Google that last night before I started this thread. All I saw was other people posting in the DJI forums asking if their's is fake/counterfeit or not. I have yet to see a post where it's confirming that they indeed get a fake battery. Do you have a link to such post or article?

Thanks.

No link to anything to support there are fake batteries. Many links to people who think that it is unusual for a Chinese company to use Chinese lettering on their products...

One guy did a whole YouTube battery in which he PROVES that he bought a fake battery because it has Chinese lettering and the LED's were not as bright. That person obviously has very little experience in the real world where items ARE made for distribution in different parts of the world and where components (LED's) are purchased from the lowest bidder and non-critical specs (like indicator lamp brightness) are allowed a very wide tolerance range. The guy went off half-cocked against whoever sold him his battery based upon nonsense and leveled accusations based upon nothing bus suspicion. Nowhere did he say the battery exhibited any performance issues.

So...

If the serial is recognized by DJI and the firmware will update, and the ONLY differences are COSMETIC (lettering and LED brightness) then I would not question the item at all.

Here is one more thing to consider...

My Phantom 4 battery that I bought on eBay weights 458 grams. The high capacity battery weights 462 grams. What are the chances that a counterfeit battery would essentially weight the same? That 4 grams is probably the 10% difference in flight time expressed in the weight of the extra LiPo. I bet a fake Rolex weighs less than half of the real thing.

 

[jwmcgrath]

I have attached the seller's response.

I just got out from work. Will test performance shortly. Thanks to everyone who chimed in so far.

Interesting... with his reputation and reviews, he may very well be offering genuine DJI batteries. You don't get ratings like that by lying.

There are telltale signs that they MAY not be, but that might just be a language thing.

Hopefully you have no issues and this is all for not. Never hurts to ask.

 

[FlashBuddy]

OMG I jumped out of my chair, ran down to the basement and checked all my batteries! Didn't you?

 

[driehl]

I have one battery the same as pictured.. no issues..

 

[Daskid]

Battery A started at 97% and lasted for 16 mins and 35 seconds down to 30%. Did not have to update firmware.

Battery B started at 98% and lasted for 16 mins and 20 seconds down to 30% Had to update the firmware.

I flew in random directions about 2 to 10 feet off the ground in my backyard. It was windy. Locked to 15 satellites. Used GPS, sport, and attitude modes. Did not record any video or took any pictures. Moved the gimbal every now and then. OA are enabled in all the settings. Temperature is about 72 degrees.

Is this a typical flight time for P4 batteries? I believe I'm getting around 23 mins on the P4P high capacity battery.

 

[With The Birds]

Upload your flights to airdata and have a look at the battery stats. While your at it look at what serial number is displayed, I have seen aftermarket batteries report N/A. The estimated flight time/battery will be a better indicator than your test flights. From what is known it is likely your eBay purchase is not from DJI, does not mean it's no good. It does mean if you want an assurance of authenticity you need to pay a premium and buy from an authorised DJI retailer (and pay a premium). There is no free lunch.

 

[Jim Roof]

Upload your flights to airdata and have a look at the battery stats. While your at it look at what serial number is displayed, I have seen aftermarket batteries report N/A. The estimated flight time/battery will be a better indicator than your test flights. From what is known it is likely your eBay purchase is not from DJI, does not mean it's no good. It does mean if you want an assurance of authenticity you need to pay a premium and buy from an authorised DJI retailer (and pay a premium). There is no free lunch.

The premium you pay is for an extra 3 minutes of flight time. People are apparently failing to remember that the battery 'in question' is a STANDARD P4 battery that was replaced when the P4P came out. Your suggestion that he buy one of these older P4 batteries from an 'authorized' dealer is advice that he likely cannot follow. They are old stock. That is why they are so much cheaper.

So, IMHO, you could have paid 105.00 and gotten a battery that has about 90% of the capacity of the 169.00 battery. They are both DJI batteries. Nobody has offered ANY evidence, other than conjecture based upon fear of the Chinese language and LED's that glow too bright or not bright enough, that the guy selling the 105.00 batteries on eBay was selling anything OTHER than official DJI gear.

I am not saying this just because I bought one and it has worked flawlessly. I am saying it because it is MORALLY WRONG to accuse someone of dishonesty when there is no evidence to really back it up. That is why I keep chiming in.

They guy got his hands on a pile of old stock P4 batteries. He sold them for a good price. Nobody has yet to show that the battery is not genuine or that one has caused problems. Nobody has yet to bring up a single issue relating to performance. All of the suspicions are focused on a misspelled word (mine has that too) and LED's that are not exactly like the ones on another unit.

If you buy an Intel Processor that is made in the USA and the documentation is full of things like "Intel are make chips with hands of hawk swiftness" then you got a problem. Someone for whom we KNOW English is a second language, at best, misspells one word? I say they probably did a hell of a lot better than a U.S. Company would do with a set of Chinese instructions.

 

[With The Birds]

The premium you pay is for an extra 3 minutes of flight time. People are apparently failing to remember that the battery 'in question' is a STANDARD P4 battery that was replaced when the P4P came out. Your suggestion that he buy one of these older P4 batteries from an 'authorized' dealer is advice that he likely cannot follow. They are old stock. That is why they are so much cheaper.

So, IMHO, you could have paid 105.00 and gotten a battery that has about 90% of the capacity of the 169.00 battery. They are both DJI batteries. Nobody has offered ANY evidence, other than conjecture based upon fear of the Chinese language and LED's that glow too bright or not bright enough, that the guy selling the 105.00 batteries on eBay was selling anything OTHER than official DJI gear.

I am not saying this just because I bought one and it has worked flawlessly. I am saying it because it is MORALLY WRONG to accuse someone of dishonesty when there is no evidence to really back it up. That is why I keep chiming in.

They guy got his hands on a pile of old stock P4 batteries. He sold them for a good price. Nobody has yet to show that the battery is not genuine or that one has caused problems. Nobody has yet to bring up a single issue relating to performance. All of the suspicions are focused on a misspelled word (mine has that too) and LED's that are not exactly like the ones on another unit.

If you buy an Intel Processor that is made in the USA and the documentation is full of things like "Intel are make chips with hands of hawk swiftness" then you got a problem. Someone for whom we KNOW English is a second language, at best, misspells one word? I say they probably did a hell of a lot better than a U.S. Company would do with a set of Chinese instructions.

I never suggested the OP buy a genuine standard capacity battery. As to conjecture you seemingly have a big edge on other posters here. I would be interested to learn on what basis you might so confidently assert that the seller got his hands on a pile of old stock batteries. I have not made any accusations of dishonesty either, in fact the seller isn't saying this is a genuine OEM pack, only that it is suitable for the P4, which seemingly it is, Given the price and description I see no issues. What I can see is that the printing on the battery is significantly different to an OEM standard capacity item. Misspellings are very common in aftermarket accessories.

As far as 4g weight difference accounting for 10% usable capacity (from your earlier post) this is unlikley. A high performance Lipo is just under 200 wh/kg so the 4g equates to less than 1wh. It might be that your pack is considerably heavier than a genuine standard capacity pack.

In any case regardless of authenticity what you have may well perform as well as or better than genuine DJI. I have seen the non genuine purported DJI standard capacity packs for as little as $50 with $18 postage, the price cant be complained about.

 

[Daskid]

Upload your flights to airdata and have a look at the battery stats. While your at it look at what serial number is displayed, I have seen aftermarket batteries report N/A. The estimated flight time/battery will be a better indicator than your test flights. From what is known it is likely your eBay purchase is not from DJI, does not mean it's no good. It does mean if you want an assurance of authenticity you need to pay a premium and buy from an authorised DJI retailer (and pay a premium). There is no free lunch.

I have uploaded my flight data to airdata and the serial numbers on the batteries appeared and are accurate. However, when I uploaded the flight data using the P4P high capacity battery, it did not register and stated "Not available". Both P4 batteries have a rating of about 23 mins per battery, as which my high capacity battery has a 28-minute rating.

I did consider purchasing the high capacity batteries, but for a 2-minute difference, I can't justify spending ~65 USD extra.

@Jim Roof , are you getting 23 minutes per battery on the P4 batteries?

 

[With The Birds]

I have uploaded my flight data to airdata and the serial numbers on the batteries appeared and are accurate. However, when I uploaded the flight data using the P4P high capacity battery, it did not register and stated "Not available". Both P4 batteries have a rating of about 23 mins per battery, as which my high capacity battery has a 28-minute rating.

I did consider purchasing the high capacity batteries, but for a 2-minute difference, I can't justify spending ~65 USD extra.

@Jim Roof , are you getting 23 minutes per battery on the P4 batteries?

All seems good then. Apply the usual usage and storage considerations and keep an eye on the performance over time and enjoy.

 

[Jim Roof]

Misspellings are very common in aftermarket accessories.

You state that you are making no claims of dishonesty on the part of the seller, who states that the battery IS a DJI OEM part, but then offer scant evidence while still insinuating that this is a third party aftermarket battery.

I am saying that alternate languages on parts that are sold ALL OVER THE WORLD is nothing to be concerned about. A misspelled ENGLISH word WOULD concern me if the item were supposed to have been made in America. But a misspelled word on a Chinese product is absolutely par for the course.

Over and over you insinuate that the eBay seller is selling something OTHER than a genuine DJI product.

Without proof of that claim, you are doing nothing short of bringing a false accusation. Go ahead, dig your heels in on this. I am just siding with fairness and have my heels dug in on that.

 

[With The Birds]

You state that you are making no claims of dishonesty on the part of the seller, who states that the battery IS a DJI OEM part, but then offer scant evidence while still insinuating that this is a third party aftermarket battery.

I am saying that alternate languages on parts that are sold ALL OVER THE WORLD is nothing to be concerned about. A misspelled ENGLISH word WOULD concern me if the item were supposed to have been made in America. But a misspelled word on a Chinese product is absolutely par for the course.

Over and over you insinuate that the eBay seller is selling something OTHER than a genuine DJI product.

Without proof of that claim, you are doing nothing short of bringing a false accusation. Go ahead, dig your heels in on this. I am just siding with fairness and have my heels dug in on that.

I don't know how else to say it- I haven't said the seller was dishonest. On request the purported response to the OP was that it is a genuine drone battery (I haven't seen it claimed as genuine DJI OEM anywhere). Do you have the standard capacity pack shipped with your P4? Do us all a favour and have a look at the spelling. I'm curious. What I have been saying is that IF the battery is aftermarket and performs well for the price it was likely a good buy.

 

[jwmcgrath]

Jim,

The OP asked for opinions on whether the battery was genuine or not. The moment the question was asked, there was bound to be opposing answers... if you don't believe that there will never be 100% consensus on ANYTHING, feel free to read ANY other post on this or any forum about ANY topic.

I too can't repeat enough that the seller has an excellent rating. All I'm trying to do is help someone that is asking for help to identify some telltale signs that indicate how to identify authenticity. After that, anyone is free to use my opinion to draw any conclusion they want.