How can I tell if a battery is REAL or not?

[The Hustleman]

The story: I bought a battery on ebay for 14.97 and it says "Near Field Communication" on the back, they sold it as an OEM battery from Samsung, so I'm trying to find out if it really is OEM.

I'm thinking it isn't, so I contacted samsung support with no luck, I have a strong feeling the guy doesn't even speak English natively (which is irritating).

I asked if there was a way to submit a serial number and find out but they simply said "sir each and every battery has a different serial number on it"

and I'm thinking "duh" but I didn't follow up.


I noticed the print is slightly larger than the OEM battery but it's very well made.

Any way I can tell? Let me know if a pic would help.

 

[The Hustleman]

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[Speed12]

I think it's OEM

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[Speed12]

I purchased one from amazon and looks fine and holding juice very well Also why would all people should know English? Start from yourself how many languages you speaking and you will find answers very quickly. Every 15th American know second language not great but could understand and every second person from Asia, Europe or almost any other country know English.
Don't be upset but bothering me when we don't have any respect for the people who speak different languages and know English as well at least something but one American don't know any expect English. Be patient and you will understand everything.

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[The Hustleman]

I think it's OEM

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Why is that?


Look at the original in the phone, notice how there's a space between NFC and the rest of the writings, but there's no gap on the battery in question?

That's what I'm wondering.



Also, no offense was intended as what I meant by that comment was it's VERY FRUSTRATING to get on customer service lines or tech support and you tell the person exactly what the problem is, then they lead you through steps that you ALREADY TOLD THEM YOU'VE ALREADY DONE!

A native English speaker wouldn't do that, they would answer the question.

 

[The Hustleman]

ok, it's fake.

Looked at some feedback - a GREAT fake, but a fake nonetheless...

 

[jonathanm1978]

You should be able to see the rectangular shaped nfc chip just slightly if you look at it the right way, shouldn't you? I believe it's just barely visible, but it is visible I think.

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[andie93]

If I scan the data matrix code on my real battery, the battery's model number appears at the end of the encoded data. (I'm not sure what the first part of the data is.) On a fake, it looks like it's just random characters and no model number.

Yours looks like a fake one I got from eBay. On mine, there are a couple things that just look wrong... Both instances of the letter S in the Samsung logo are tilted slightly. If you look on the opposite side, the word "manual" on the first line has the vertical bar character instead of a lowercase L.

I knew full well it was going to be a fake, but for $2 I figured I'd see what happened for a couple reasons. As long it held a charge, at least I'd have a spare battery. The seller mine came from had several listings for "genuine" batteries with NFC that were $29. I found one listing where they somehow made a typo I guess, and it was BIN for $2. It does hold a charge, but there is no NFC chip on it. I peeled back the sticker to check. Like I said, it does at least hold a charge and seems to last as long as my real battery. But I feel bad for the suckers who think they're going to get a real one with NFC just because the seller's other listings say "genuine" and the price is in line with what you'd expect to pay.

 

[The Hustleman]

If I scan the data matrix code on my real battery, the battery's model number appears at the end of the encoded data. (I'm not sure what the first part of the data is.) On a fake, it looks like it's just random characters and no model number.

Yours looks like a fake one I got from eBay. On mine, there are a couple things that just look wrong... Both instances of the letter S in the Samsung logo are tilted slightly. If you look on the opposite side, the word "manual" on the first line has the vertical bar character instead of a lowercase L.

I knew full well it was going to be a fake, but for $2 I figured I'd see what happened for a couple reasons. As long it held a charge, at least I'd have a spare battery. The seller mine came from had several listings for "genuine" batteries with NFC that were $29. I found one listing where they somehow made a typo I guess, and it was BIN for $2. It does hold a charge, but there is no NFC chip on it. I peeled back the sticker to check. Like I said, it does at least hold a charge and seems to last as long as my real battery. But I feel bad for the suckers who think they're going to get a real one with NFC just because the seller's other listings say "genuine" and the price is in line with what you'd expect to pay.

THANK YOU for proving my theory, this battery definitely is fake.

Thank you so much!

I'm gonna file for a refund now!

 

[xKrNMBoYx]

Always look for negative reviews on eBay sellers. Especially batteries. Majority come from China. While I have no problems with them, 70% of the things I buy from a seller in China, or Chinese seller with USA based stores they tend to break easily.

I have not bought any batteries for the S3 as 90% of the battery sellers have many negative feedback for selling fake items.

Get you're refund, and hopefully you have not leaved him a positive feedback yet.

 

[The Hustleman]

Always look for negative reviews on eBay sellers. Especially batteries. Majority come from China. While I have no problems with them, 70% of the things I buy from a seller in China, or Chinese seller with USA based stores they tend to break easily.

I have not bought any batteries for the S3 as 90% of the battery sellers have many negative feedback for selling fake items.

Get you're refund, and hopefully you have not leaved him a positive feedback yet.

they said they're refunding me the money but still claiming it's real.

I saw feedback, the majority of it was positive but I didn't look at the negative until after, plus I figured it would be a fake considering it was only 14.97

 

[Dave_k605]

If the battery performs as well as oem, who cares if it's a fake, esp when you are saving 30+ bucks or whatever the savings are.

 

[The Hustleman]

If the battery performs as well as oem, who cares if it's a fake, esp when you are saving 30+ bucks or whatever the savings are.

True, but I get the battery for FREE if it's a fake advertised as OEM.

 

[andie93]

they said they're refunding me the money but still claiming it's real.

I saw feedback, the majority of it was positive but I didn't look at the negative until after, plus I figured it would be a fake considering it was only 14.97

Just like the person I got my $2 ones from! LOL

Does NFC actually work with yours?

My seller offered the refund (although they haven't gotten around to actually doing it yet) and keeps telling me that they have had only good feedback regarding their batteries so far. They do have mostly positive feedback overall, but their listings are private so you can't see what the actual item is that's getting the good feedback. Plus I'm inclined to think that most people probably aren't utilizing NFC anyway so they wouldn't notice if it wasn't working.

 

[robertopod1968]

I purchased one from amazon and looks fine and holding juice very well Also why would all people should know English? Start from yourself how many languages you speaking and you will find answers very quickly. Every 15th American know second language not great but could understand and every second person from Asia, Europe or almost any other country know English.
Don't be upset but bothering me when we don't have any respect for the people who speak different languages and know English as well at least something but one American don't know any expect English. Be patient and you will understand everything.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

If I'm calling from an English speaking nation and I speak English I expect to have a CUSTOMER service representative that speaks English. I am the CUSTOMER. I shouldn't have to learn Arabic to get service.

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[Ceetar]

Just like the person I got my $2 ones from! LOL

Does NFC actually work with yours?

My seller offered the refund (although they haven't gotten around to actually doing it yet) and keeps telling me that they have had only good feedback regarding their batteries so far. They do have mostly positive feedback overall, but their listings are private so you can't see what the actual item is that's getting the good feedback. Plus I'm inclined to think that most people probably aren't utilizing NFC anyway so they wouldn't notice if it wasn't working.

bought a spare battery myself before I even had the phone to compare. it doesn't hold a charge quite as well (seems to instantly jump down to 90%..) but it works just fine as a backup.

but NFC doesn't seem to work. Granted, i never use it, but I happened to have that battery in when I first tested it. i switched back to the regular battery and it worked fine (my wife also has an S3).

Just scanned the barcode thingy on the spare. got '12345678'. whatever ;-)

 

[The Hustleman]

If I'm calling from an English speaking nation and I speak English I expect to have a CUSTOMER service representative that speaks English. I am the CUSTOMER. I shouldn't have to learn Arabic to get service.

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I'm glad you understand my point.

I hate when I call and I hear this very heavy accent and he says "hi my name is Peter Smith" I'm thinking ain't no way your name is really Peter Smith!

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[roachman55]

If the battery performs as well as oem, who cares if it's a fake, esp when you are saving 30+ bucks or whatever the savings are.

You got that right Dave if it works and lasts for a good time it's worth the savings. I am on a fixed income and cant even afford to drive a car to work now in the oil fields so I look for savings like this one..View attachment 35254

 

[Roboticz]

If you got the battery for less than $15... it's hard to believe it's OEM.

But that doesn't mean it won't work.

My friend bought a cheap battery for his phone for a couple bucks from one of these chinese websites and it works fine.

 

[MattSchollz]

I got 3 batteries and the charger for $12 bucks on eBay, obviously fake, but they're treating me well so far. I keep one in my wallet, one in the car etc. Its only been a few weeks but they seem to hold the charge good enough. In actual usage they maybe drain a tiny bit faster than the stock battery, but not enough to really be an issue. I recommend the cheap ebay batteries