Counterfeit BL-5J batteries, how to recognize them.
 

I ordered 2 "original Nokia" BL-5J batteries from an Amazon.de seller last week and found out that they are counterfeit. I will send them back and the seller promised to reimburse me. I don't accuse the seller, the copy is so good that he may have been fooled himself. That particular seller and transaction are not the object of this thread.

The object of this thread is that there are very good imitations of BL-5J around. At first sight, they are not to be told apart from originals. So I uploaded a review and pictures on Amazon so that buyers know what to look for.

This is a front view of the batteries side-by-side. "Fälschung" is the counterfeit battery. As you will notice, the counterfeit looks incredibly similar, down to the hologram. The fake hologram is actually almost identical to the original. On the picture, they look different because they are not lit from the same angle.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51ac2pu1sOL.jpg

This is a view from the contact side. Here the difference is obvious, but the picture is magnified. You would need very good eyes to see so much detail. The most obvious difference is the absence of holes (Löcher). Another difference which you will notice is the notch in the middle. In Nokia batteries, this notch is not symmetrical, in the imitation it is. In the N900, this notch mates with a corresponding protrusion near the contacts. The counterfeit battery is difficult to insert, because the notch does not mate properly.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51CJX9w3twL.jpg

I have no problem with 3rd-party batteries, but I have a problem with them masquerading the originals. So would have the law, by the way. Besides the quality of the imitation is poor: they do not work properly in the N900. Mine lasted about half as long, and the charging logic went crazy (reported that the battery was empty and then totally full within 5-10 minutes).


The pictures are mine. I explicitly put them in the public domain for you to copy and inform others as you see fit. In this thread, they come directly from Amazon.de (maemo.org does not host images). Should the link be broken (Amazon might not like direct links), here are the original pages:

Just the pictures
The complete product part

Of course, everything is in German, since this is Amazon Germany.

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

Thanks for the photos, for more info this has been discussed at

http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php...ighlight=bl-5j
http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php...ighlight=bl-5j

always good to see photos though....

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

Thanks for the cited threads. I did not notice them. They do not explicitly discuss counterfeit batteries, however. As I said, a third party battery is not a problem, if it is sold as such. A battery bearing a trademark which is proven to be counterfeit is not the same thing.

In the mean time, I have searched and found that this is not small matter. In Germany, see § 263 StGB, § 14 und §15 MarkenG, up to 5 years prison for the seller, damages to owner of the trademark and destruction of the offending goods. I am fairly certain that your local legislation has the equivalent provisions.

I have contacted Amazon.de and am waiting for an answer before I send the batteries back.

Interested people fluent in German may also read:
http://www.linksandlaw.de/urteil125-waren-haftung.htm
http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/19/19608/1.html

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

if it turns out that these batteries are sold from other amazon-websites as well, people shouldnt hesitate and post these pictures on the respective amazon-websites!
and of course to all other websites that sell these copies as originals.

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

What's so bad about counterfeit batteries? I bought two of them for a total of $10 (compared to $50 for ONE real battery) and they last several hours. Great for backups if I can't charge my phone.

If they're charging $50 for counterfeit batteries then I can see a problem but when they're $5 you know what you're buying.

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

There's no problem with cheap batteries, or batteries claiming to be "BL-5J compatible". It's fraudulent to sell them as "Genuine Nokia BL-5J batteries" though. Yes, from the price you'd expect them to be fake, but plenty of others wouldn't.

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

What part of the sentence "I have no problem with 3rd-party batteries, but I have a problem with them masquerading the originals." didn't you understand? What part of the word "illegal" don't you understand?

Amazon sells the original battery for €21, compared to €11 for a seller who pretends to sell original batteries, but in bulk. I don't think that it is obvious from the price alone that the battery is fake.

I agree that Nokia's price (€45) is outrageous. This is why we have third party batteries, brandless.

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

safe design plus safe circuits are outrageous too... especially with li ion
http://www.mynetcity.com/blog/wp-ima..._explosion.jpg

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

that is error in manufacturing. doesn't compare to the fact that those cheapos don't have any safety installed at the first place....

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

Li-ion is indeed dangerous, but I do not think that third-party batteries are built without the necessary safety circuits.

This is actually the most important problem with counterfeit batteries. Third-party ones bear a brand name, just not the one from Nokia. Even if the manufacturer is in China, they do not really want to be associated with customers going in flames.

Counterfeit goods are illegal, and bear no name (or rather a false name). If they fail, and they do, the manufacturer is nowhere to be found. Besides, for this counterfeit battery, the manufacturer invested great expense to have a counterfeit hologram made and a label quite similar to the original printed. Yet, it costs about the same as a third-party. On what do you think they have saved?

I should say that I have a relatively good experience with third party batteries, and not only for Nokia. You take your luck, some fail (one 1 in 4 or 5 in my limited experience), but mostly they are similar to the original models. When they cost a third of the price or less, I am willing to take the risk. They can even cost a bit more if they are sold under an European brand (which means I have a usable warranty and they will get into real trouble if the battery goes in flames).

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

Besides: it says here that there had been 83 complaints in two years in the US about exploding cell phone batteries. How many cell phones are there in the US?

I think I have more chances to be hit by lightning or a meteorite.


(Actually: not quite, I know.)

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

I've seen some batteries on Amazon that say they're OEM for around 25-27 us dollars, however I saw this recently and gave it a thought, has anyone had experience with Lenmar and if so how was it?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Lenmar+-...=1218106627185

The only thing that worries me about ordering this is that in the product description is says 1320mah but if you look at the pic it only says 1000mah...interesting...

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

"On average, 90 people are killed every year in the U.S. by lightning. [NOAA Technical Memorandum NWS SR-193]"

Quite so.

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

That would worry me as well. This is the reason why I did not buy third party batteries (that and the original appeared to be only marginally more expensive): they only appear to be 1000 mAh and not 1300 or so.

Edit:
It seems that the 1000 mAh batteries are Li-Ion and the 1300 Li-polymer. The second technology is more efficient. Probably, this is also the reason why the counterfeit batteries do not work properly, depending on the exact technology, the voltages can be a tiny bit different for Li-Ion and Li-polymer.

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

I had the same issue, purchased a BL-5J from a local phone store for £6.00. Thought i had grabbed a bargain until i realised that the battery dies after half hour and the battery life is unstable.

Its best to stay away from imitation...if you really need a new battery buy an official N900 battery from Nokia :)

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

I just bought a genuine battery off ebay for £6.49. I have bought batteries for my 6600 and n80 from the same seller in the past and although the batteries are genuine they tend to be from returned faulty phones rather than brand new. I have found this to be a cost effective way of buying genuine nokia batteries and have reccomended it to friends too. On occassions where batteries have had an issue (ie not holding charge) the seller has given a prompt replacement or refund and the second battery has had no issue. So, you don't have to pay a vast sum to ensure a genuine battery, just be careful who you buy from!

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

I had the same issue with a battery at ebay for 10€ .It also only had 980 mAh instead of 1290 mAh. Sent it back immediately. So if you are from Germany, dont buy from top-shop-muenchen !
Then I found another shop that sells original batteries for 14€.

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

There is no way to be certain if the battery you buy from eBay really is from a returned, faulty phone. Does better English skills, a more personal writing style, a 99.3 instead of 98.3 rating guarantee that it's not a counterfeit battery? Or a higher price than the obvious fakes? Not at all.

Personally I prefer to buy products with a 3rd party brand rather than buying brand products suspiciously cheap. If they have a brand, some sort of brand pride exists on some level.

Also, importing fakes is illegal.

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

In the UK posting any fake/counterfit item is illegal.

I gave up using ebay for 'bargins' a while back. There are too many fake items around when looking for phone bits, clothes, and general electronics (e.g. headphones.)

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

i recieved my nokia BL-5J battery from amazon today:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Original-Nok...8238684&sr=8-3

the hologram appears similar to the fake in the picture, but all other details are faithful to the original.

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

On the other hand, you can have a lot of lovely no-brand headphones on eBay. They pretty much all seem to be made in the Sony factories, but no pretence and you get surprisingly much for less than what you'd pay for the counterfeits. They'll be better and cheaper than the cheapest Creative branded headphones any day.

Headphones is one of the things I like to import via eBay. I just don't have any illusion it'll be as high build or sound quality as genuine Sennheisers. But I find it to be as good sound quality as Behringer.

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

I probably mentioned this several times here already, but I cannot emphasize enough just how important it is to make sure you're getting the real deal when it comes to power stuff. That includes batteries and AC adapters. While I put in the latter because it has to do with high voltage (anything above 32 V), the lithium-ion chemistry is quite tempermental.

If you search YouTube for videos of lithium-ion batteries exploding, you'll see what I mean. To keep that from happening, batteries need some form of protection, which I bet is the first thing the counterfeiters are going to shed either out of ignorance or cost.

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

No, but past dealings with the same supplier, their reliability and honesty over a number of transactions plus the quality of the batteries make me fairly certain... lol

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

The fake hologram is actually almost identical to the original. On the picture, they look different because they are not lit from the same angle.

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

You failed to mention that the photo is of an original dell battery, not a fake one.

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

Came across 2 fake BL-5J batteries

http://www.bonussale.com/images/bl-5j_fake.jpg

The easiest way to check a battery is by looking at the hologram. The Nokia logo within the hologram should look like a long tube with dots on the left, right, top and bottom.

The following link from Nokia Europe has a video of how the hologram should work.

http://europe.nokia.com/support/prod...k-your-battery

If you do buy a fake battery from Amazon or eBay, please leave negative feedback, they can't leave you negative feedback any more.

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

No, you should complain directly to Amazon or eBay, since this is fraud. Maybe unintentional fraud (the imitations are good enough so that I can believe some sellers have been fooled), but fraud nevertheless.

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

What do you guys think of dealextremes genuine?
Some report they are fake some say real.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.32444

I will probably buy one but for the N95 (BL-5F) and i'll report back if i do.
I've bought fakes before (with the seller mentioning it was genuine) so i know a bit about fakes and genuines.

Eikido

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

End of the story: I finally got a no-name battery. That one is good. Subjectively, I would say that it lasts at least as long as the original, maybe even a bit more... It doesn't fit quite as well as the original, but it works nevertheless.
It says "lithium polymer" on the casing. Apparently, this is the secret codeword...

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

Have ordered some batteries from china for a couple of bucks that said were genuine. when charging one didnt charge at all and the other one dropped in the n900 from 40% to 0% in 1 minute every charge. both have the exact same holographical stickers on them as the genuine one. So these stickers wont say anything about the genuine of a battery. The codes on a BL5J cant be checked on the nokia website. when entering them it says that you need a 20 digit number. Wich the BL5J obviously does not have!

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

fake batterys with low quality............

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

thoughts on this please, hologram looks fine to me but the rest is jut a bit different, the color of the body is darker the plastic mould looks a bit diferent etc.

I think the right hand might be fake, The left is the origional.

I'm not 100% tbh thoughts please :mad: dont wanna do feedback till i know if i need to send this back

[Origional] | [FAKE?]
http://twitpic.com/show/thumb/35al66.jpg
Full Size

http://twitpic.com/show/thumb/35al0f.jpg
Full Size

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

sent an email to brandprotection[at]nokia[dot]com to try to get a speedy answer on this, might be worth a shot for anyone else with concearns

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

I've got four BL-5Js purchased at different times at different locations. Two of them are "Made in China" the other two "Cell made in Korea Further processed in China". All of them look like the battery on your pic's right, i.e. have the "ear flaps" on the top near the connector, so I'd think if the actual capacity is the same as the one on the left then it's probably original.

Three of my batteries came with the original Nokia handsets (5800XMs & N900), one I bought separately. I swap them quite often among each other so I know all of them have about the same "life" in them, i.e. about two days in my N900 when I use it intermittently.

Re: Counterfeit BL-5J batteries
 

thanks man, it sounds from what you say like its genuine, just a slightly older one, ill have to test the capacity.

tbh i think what i have here is a used one, cos these are signs of wear and tear and the back label is a bit torn, gunna try it out and see how it goes.

Edit: two days! wow thats impressive