Cheap phone batteries - are they genuine?

Hungerdunger

I need a new battery for my Motorola Maxx V6. The Motorola online shop will sell me one for £21.49 (incl. P&P). On ebay I can get one for £4.00.

The picture looks like the real thing; the text says:

THESE ARE 100% BRAND NEW AND GENUINE MOTOROLA BATTERIES

and the business and stock is in the UK.

What's the catch?

nomoneytoday

They may well be 100% genuine and a seller has a sale on. Or they may be fakes with nice stickers... who knows?

I bought a similar battery on ebay - it turned out to be a fake and lasts 1 day instead of 4 or 5.

However as was only £4 odd I kept it as a spare as when the main battery goes flat it will last until I get to a charger

Marty999

I got a cheap unbranded battery for my phone off eBay and it was useless. Then I got a genuine LG battery and it works properly. I would suggest sticking with branded batteries.

Hungerdunger

Marty999 wrote: »

I got a cheap unbranded battery for my phone off eBay and it was useless.

But that was the whole point of my post - the batteries ARE branded ones - the photograph looks identical to my original one - and the vendor claims they are genuine. I suppose my query is whether it is likely to be a cheap but authentic-looking copy. And if it is, wouldn't the vendor have a lot of negative feedback?

superjaggybunnet

I reckon you get what you poay for but even if it only has half the life it only cost a quarter of the price so that has to be good value. Why not get two and keep the second one on a charger when it is not being used. You have still saved a few quid!

FreheitOverture

Is the photo of the actual product or a stock photo? If he is selling a lot of them then it is more likely that they are not very good or not actually new and are on their last legs after coming out of broken phones

JoeA81

I bought a "Brand New Genuine" nokia battery off ebay a month ago. It definately wasnt new, and all scratched up. It had a genuine looking nokia holgram on it, but it lasted less then a day after its first charge. It only cost £6 but I would say save your money and buy something decent that will actually work properly.

I think this is an example of you get what you pay for!

mustrum_ridcully

If it's too good to be true then it probably is.

If the ebay shop was selling the battery for £15, then it's more likely that it is genuine, if the price is £5 it's more likely that it's fake.

Have a look on amazon, see what prices they (i.e. amazon not one of their partner retailers) charge - that'll give you a good idea of the safe minimum price - heck and you might even get a bargain from them.

benjus

You could also consider trying an unbranded battery from a reputable source, like 7dayshop (e.g. http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=777_3&products_id=100928). Personally I think that's more likely to work well than a cheap "branded" battery from an unknown source.

I don't have experience of their mobile phone batteries but I have used unbranded digital camera batteries from 7dayshop and found them at least as good as the branded ones.

buglawton

I have had batteries for Tomtom and a Panasonic camera from online sources at a fraction of manufacturer's rice and luckily they seem as good as the proper branded ones.

I have used this helpful co http://www.smallbattery.company.org.uk/ in the past, they've been going a long time so I doubt they would sell duff quality batteries.

painted_lady

My dads cheap phone battery only lasted a day, the nokia one lasted a week.