Help for contents and box of "new" S4 Black Edition i9505. Is it new or refurbished?
Hi,
I've just bought online in UK a brand new Samsung S4 Black Edition i9505.
However in the box S/M/L sizes eargels are missing (but earbuds are ok and sealed) and the UK charger is a ETA0U70XBE with only 1A output instead of 2A and it's missing its film wrapping. I also noticed that the small seal was not well applied outside the box so it's not clear if the box was sealed or unsealed. I've also found finger prints on the front sticker/screen protector (but not on the screen) and on the camera lens. The metal-plastic terminal of the usb cable is also a little dirty (but comes with plastic wrapping).
OS installed is already 5.0.1 but I thought that S4 comes with 4.4 preinstalled. Or maybe it is due it was assembled recently? Battery was also completely empty.
And I also found this sticker that seal the outside of the box with strange letters: A, B ,C (see attachment). What do they mean?
I would like to know if someone else has similar experience or maybe they sent me a refurbished/open box?
It probably is a refurbished or returned phone.
The box should contain the phone, the USB charger and USB cable (black), in-ear headphones with replacement buds, a manual and I think that's it.
If the box has been tampered with, then I would worry more about the phone itself than the contents.
I also have a black edition (or so it says on the box).
Mine's got a leather-like back cover and the whole phone is pure dark black. The original model had a brighter black tone and it was spotted.
Hi,
thanks for the answer. The only thing missing are the replacement buds but also rest is suspicious as written above.
The charger for example had no plastic wrapping but most of all it's only a 1 amp model. How many amps has your charger? Which model? An EU model (long and slim) or a UK model (bulkier and short)? See attachments. Mine is a UK model but looks like an S3 charger which is slightly different from S4 charger and has only 1 amp output. Does anyone else got a 1 amp charger with its S4???
Mine's a 2.0 Amp EU model, black. It also had wrapping around it.
Did you get any warranty with the phone?
GDReaper said:
Mine's a 2.0 Amp EU model, black. It also had wrapping around it.
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While mine is a S3/S4-Mini charger at 1.0 Amp with no wrapping...
Did you get any warranty with the phone?
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The seller said it has 2 year UK/European warranty but it had to say this because he's selling them as new. Of course I had the invoice but it's just a piece of paper printed from internet.
I found a new strange thing: as you can see in the first picture there is a EAN code on the sticker. I searched that code on Google and the result was: Samsung S2 (TWO!).
Does the EAN on your box match with Samsung S4 on Google?
I can't check because my box was sealed on 3 sides, and one of those seals had the number on it and it is now torn apart.
But I don't have any reason to believe it would correspond to anything other than an S4.
The phone was bought from one of the biggest electronics store in my country.
GDReaper said:
I can't check because my box was sealed on 3 sides, and one of those seals had the number on it and it is now torn apart.
But I don't have any reason to believe it would correspond to anything other than an S4.
The phone was bought from one of the biggest electronics store in my country.
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I checked some pictures of S4 boxes that I found on Youtube, reviews, Google and all the EAN on them match the ones of a S4! So probably the second seal (the one in the attachment of my first message) is a FAKE seal!!!
I found another strange thing: the protective plastic on the front of the S4 was the colored one of S4 white and black mist (see attachment). But on unboxing video on Youtube the Black Edition always have a transparent one!
Which one did you find?
I think that A,B,C has some mean to it.
A- IMEI remains on the box
B- Seller(Vender) keeps it with them so that non can complain whether or not it was steal product,in short security reason
C- Buyer get it stocked on warranty card/ Billl to claim for warranty.
Now that phone is old, it usually stays as was. Nothing to worry about as long as device is fully functional.
dr.patron99 said:
I think that A,B,C has some mean to it.
A- IMEI remains on the box
B- Seller(Vender) keeps it with them so that non can complain whether or not it was steal product,in short security reason
C- Buyer get it stocked on warranty card/ Billl to claim for warranty.
Now that phone is old, it usually stays as was. Nothing to worry about as long as device is fully functional.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the answer. But another problem with the seal was that there was printed a EAN of a Samsung S2 (TWO!) instead of one of a S4. So it was clearly a fake seal. And I've never saw in any unboxing photo or video a seal like that for Samsung S4. I also contacted Samsung UK which confirmed me that the phone was not in proper condition. They also checked the serial number of the device and told me that it was invalid! So it was a refurbished unit.
However I sent the phone back to the seller and received a full refund. Last week I bought a new S4 Black Mist from another seller and this one is perfect. New, sealed (seal with a S4 EAN on it) and with all accessories and plastic wrappings. The OS installed is still Android 4 as expected and not already 5. And a 2A charger. It works very well. :good:
How much did you pay? If it was a good price then ignore the fact it's not new. My S4 was second hand, and I specifically chose it for that reason.
skezza said:
How much did you pay? If it was a good price then ignore the fact it's not new. My S4 was second hand, and I specifically chose it for that reason.
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I paid it 267 euro with shipping. Too much for a used one with missing parts and the wrong charger (only 1A instead of 2A). So I sent it back to the seller.
For the one I bought last week I paid 275 euro with shipping but it's new and sealed (with all accessories and a 2A charger which 2 times faster than a 1A one).
Alfhw said:
I paid it 267 euro with shipping. Too much for a used one with missing parts and the wrong charger (only 1A instead of 2A). So I sent it back to the seller.
For the one I bought last week I paid 275 euro with shipping but it's new and sealed (with all accessories and a 2A charger which 2 times faster than a 1A one).
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Oh wow, yes that is a lot for a used one. I paid £120 for mine last February. It's in pretty good condition (only a few marks on the silver bezel, no scratches on the screen) but it came only with a single generic charger, and a crappy USB cable. No headset or anything, but I wasn't overly bothered because the phone itself is where the money goes and £120 for an S4 is a bargain, even today. 267 Euro's is over £205, which is absolutely top money, even for a brand new model, so to be told it was used, I would be sending it back tbh.
skezza said:
Oh wow, yes that is a lot for a used one. I paid £120 for mine last February. It's in pretty good condition (only a few marks on the silver bezel, no scratches on the screen) but it came only with a single generic charger, and a crappy USB cable. No headset or anything, but I wasn't overly bothered because the phone itself is where the money goes and £120 for an S4 is a bargain, even today. 267 Euro's is over £205, which is absolutely top money, even for a brand new model, so to be told it was used, I would be sending it back tbh.
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And most of all the seller was selling it as "new". I even emailed him before buying to be sure and he answered it was new and sealed... And the one he sent me had missing parts and a S3 charger (with only 1A output)!
Anyway 275 euro for the one I bought last week from a different seller is a good price for a really new and sealed S4. It is still a very good mid-range device. I was also considering a Samsung A3-310-2016 which came out in January this year for 240 euro with shipping but the S4 has still better specs and a huge XDA and custom rom support!
Alfhw said:
And most of all the seller was selling it as "new". I even emailed him before buying to be sure and he answered it was new and sealed... And the one he sent me had missing parts and a S3 charger (with only 1A output)!
Anyway 275 euro for the one I bought last week from a different seller is a good price for a really new and sealed S4. It is still a very good mid-range device. I was also considering a Samsung A3-310-2016 which came out in January this year for 240 euro with shipping but the S4 has still better specs and a huge XDA and custom rom support!
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It's an extremely good mid-range device. The way I like to look at it, is like this:
You can see from my phone history (in my signature), that I go from an i9000 to an LG N4 to a Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G, which is quite a deviation. The i9000 was a premium device at the time and it felt like one. The N4 was a premium device and it really really felt like one (and still does to this day). The Xiaomi was a great phone, but you could tell it was manufactured for the Indian market. It wasn't that it was cheaply made. I actually think Xiaomi are quite nicely made, it was the fact there was never any commitment to updates. Getting Lollipop was a bit like playing a game of roulette. Are they going to get it? Who knows? Kind of thing..... eventually some devs ported it, but rather than the 100's that work on Samsung and the Nexus devices, there were a few kids in their bedrooms doing it. I simply didn't have time to get stuck into any ROM development at that point in time either. The Xiaomi was let down by the lack of devs, the poor camera and the general unreliability of updates and software fixes etc.
So here's the point I'm making. You can own a brand new Xiaomi, which for the money seems decent and performs okay and stuff and yeah, they're decent enough phones, if you're going for a new model....
OR, you can get yourself a second hand S4, which will blow away the majority of Xiaomi phones because here's the thing. It's not just about specs on paper. The camera destroys the Xiaomi camera's, the screen destroys the majority of Xiaomi screens and the fact there are 100's of devs knocking out great ROM's means this phone will last a lot longer than the Xiaomi ones ever will.
My modus operandi has now changed. I will never buy a new device again. Every 2 years, I will buy a last gen Samsung (or other brand) device when they become cheap and enjoy all the benefits of XDA devs and what not
skezza said:
It's an extremely good mid-range device. The way I like to look at it, is like this:
You can see from my phone history (in my signature), that I go from an i9000 to an LG N4 to a Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G, which is quite a deviation. The i9000 was a premium device at the time and it felt like one. The N4 was a premium device and it really really felt like one (and still does to this day). The Xiaomi was a great phone, but you could tell it was manufactured for the Indian market. It wasn't that it was cheaply made. I actually think Xiaomi are quite nicely made, it was the fact there was never any commitment to updates. Getting Lollipop was a bit like playing a game of roulette. Are they going to get it? Who knows? Kind of thing..... eventually some devs ported it, but rather than the 100's that work on Samsung and the Nexus devices, there were a few kids in their bedrooms doing it. I simply didn't have time to get stuck into any ROM development at that point in time either. The Xiaomi was let down by the lack of devs, the poor camera and the general unreliability of updates and software fixes etc.
So here's the point I'm making. You can own a brand new Xiaomi, which for the money seems decent and performs okay and stuff and yeah, they're decent enough phones, if you're going for a new model....
OR, you can get yourself a second hand S4, which will blow away the majority of Xiaomi phones because here's the thing. It's not just about specs on paper. The camera destroys the Xiaomi camera's, the screen destroys the majority of Xiaomi screens and the fact there are 100's of devs knocking out great ROM's means this phone will last a lot longer than the Xiaomi ones ever will.
My modus operandi has now changed. I will never buy a new device again. Every 2 years, I will buy a last gen Samsung (or other brand) device when they become cheap and enjoy all the benefits of XDA devs and what not
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Click to collapse
Agree! :good:
Related
Genuine replacement battery (all be it a little used) and a spare back for me to paint and customise to my liking all for £8.50. Am I a happy bunny? you betcha
cgi.ebay.co.uk/Genuine-G7-Battery-And-Back-Cover-Samsung-Galaxy-S-/170534311432?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3
that back cover looks nothing like mine
Mine has google logo on the middle and Samsung where that one has I9000 with a red logo.
Report if the battery is Genuine when it arrives please and i might order one for my self!
Yeah when I was doing the backplate hunt, I stumbled across that listing. The seller confirmed that it is genuine but it looks nothing like the Vibrant or SGS. That said, there are some odd SGS backplates out there as this one chap had an android in place of the google thing.
Orange UK always have to be different and own brand all their handsets. Doesn't matter as I am going to chrome it anyway.
it's a FAKE battery, the Genuine ones have a different markings specially where it says G7
i'm using those FAKE batteries, although they might be very good replicas of the old G7 batteries, they are not real
but performance wise, they work just as good as the OEM (originals) from Samsung
you will be better off buying this instead
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=733705
same price for 2 + way more stuff
At least this guy is honest, and say clearly NOT REAL
Tehpriest said:
Genuine replacement battery (all be it a little used) and a spare back for me to paint and customise to my liking all for £8.50. Am I a happy bunny? you betcha
cgi.ebay.co.uk/Genuine-G7-Battery-And-Back-Cover-Samsung-Galaxy-S-/170534311432?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3
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here you can compare
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=771679
I have just received an email from Mobilefun telling me I will not be getting the car mount I pre-ordered as it is now discontinued. I am not sure whether we should be worried or not that the official Samsung official mount for our few month old phones is now not going to be available. I have never seen a product discontinued before it was even sold.
Most peculiar. I've been checking around here too, no accessory to be found. Really need a car mount.
WTF!?!?!? That is kind of scary. I havent even had the chance to think about getting the "official" accessories as of yet and to hear something like this now???
Perhaps someone can confirm with Samsung and find out what the deal is on this?
I had the same with the carmount available on meritline... weird eh!
I've ordered the exact same of eBay though... kinda weird!
I won't argue with the mods but surely this is a news story not just an accessories one?
This is the one I ordered. Where on eBay did you find one?
http://mobile.engadget.com/2010/08/...ine-of-galaxy-s-accessories-uses-fascinate-t/
got this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...BqcxH64%3D&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK:MEWNX:IT
t1mman said:
got this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...BqcxH64%3D&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK:MEWNX:IT
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I've got the brodit: http://www.mountonus.com/Samsung-Ga...t-With-Tilt-Swivel-Function-512167-26030.aspx
It's a real nice car kit.
The Brodit ones not bad but neither of them really appeals to me. I wanted one I could just clip the SGS into and it would be screen mounted and powered. No messing with wires or anything. I have tried to email Samsung about it but I am not holding onto any hope of a reply.
I bought one of the spider foot screen mount and it came with a car charger, leather pouch and a laynard. I was that impressed with it that I bought a second for my friend!
this is the one i have
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220669758413&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT
althought, i have a herbet richter tower back part so all i needed was the bit that actually holds the phone, and it s a perfect fit.
sean2476 said:
I bought one of the spider foot screen mount and it came with a car charger, leather pouch and a laynard. I was that impressed with it that I bought a second for my friend!
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I got the same one, do you ever have trouble getting the phone out of the holder? My clip seems to be very stubborn and always catches on the backplate of the phone, just wondering if you had the same problem
Thought I would share with you what the higher ups in Samsung have to say about this.
My (continuing) Question
To: Executive Office
Subject: Re: Car dock
- Hide quoted text -
Thank you again for your reply.
I think you are misunderstanding and that we are not making progress so I will try to explain again. Last year Samsung announced the Car and Media dock for the Samsung Galaxy S. Retailers began to advertise them for sale and to order them from yourselves. Two months later the retailers were told by Samsung that they were discontinued. This was before ANY had been delivered to the retailers and as I have said only two months after they had been announced. The retailers then contacted their customers, myself amongst them, and informed us of this. I have been trying ever since to get an answer from yourselves as to why this line had been discontinued in all countries apart from the USA market just two months after they were announced and before any had been sold except those sold in the USA. A greater part of the 10 million+ Galaxy S phones sold were not sold to the USA market yet that market is the only one that has these promised accessories available. If you cannot provide an answer would you now raise this enquiry to the next tier please.
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The answer
Good afternoon Mr Pitman
The reason why the unit won’t be available in any of the Samsung subsidiaries is due to sales and marketing reasons. As a manufacture of many products, sometimes a product that is closed to being released can be stopped due to the market for that product changing and to this reason the product can become discontinued.
Unfortunately we are unable to provide you any other information regarding this product as we only handle the aftercare service of a product that has been fully released, nor can we advise who the best contact for your query is.
I can advise you to write a letter to the following address: Samsung Mobile, Samsung House, 1000 Hillswood Drive, Chertsey, Surrey KT16 0PS, I cannot guarantee that they will response quickly but you query will be looked into be that team.
Regards
Mark Gooden
Senior Customer Advisor
Executive Office
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Well, thats a gilbert answer... Gadgetization is androids weakest spot. And what gadgets and bling there is, well its fairly low quality.
This is iPhone's main advantage. One design and a forest of 3rd party manufacturers that have grown out of their garages and become professional suppliers.
There would be a huge upside for Samsung/HTC/Sony to mimic this by setting up their own production lines to mimic that market. I guess the problem is no one in house is willing to risk their neck and the people that sit on the money don't understand this part of the iPhone world.
I don't want to use both hands while attaching the device to a car mount - so 3rd party accessories are no-go.
I ordered an original T959 Vibrant car mount for my international i9000: http://www.daydeal.com/product.php?productid=48828&cat=5138
They ship nearly worldwide. It's 10 days ago and I am still waiting for its arrival.
You guys should do the DIY one from this thread, I did it and it is amazing, it looks so good, and holds the phone really nice.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=837841&page=2
Dirt cheap too, for a custom mount the whole thing cost me maybe 10 bucks at the most, including the epoxy.
stepsch said:
I don't want to use both hands while attaching the device to a car mount - so 3rd party accessories are no-go.
I ordered an original T959 Vibrant car mount for my international i9000: http://www.daydeal.com/product.php?productid=48828&cat=5138
They ship nearly worldwide. It's 10 days ago and I am still waiting for its arrival.
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So did you get your mount yet? Does the Vibrant mount work (properly) with the i9000?
Hi,
the first order was lost, so they sent another one, which arrived in 5 days or something like that.
Yes, it works as designed.
Snap it in, push the USB to the phone (the small box at one end of the mount) with one finger, that's it.
The phone detects immediately that it is a car mount and if you have installed the car app it starts also without delay.
stepsch said:
Hi,
the first order was lost, so they sent another one, which arrived in 5 days or something like that.
Yes, it works as designed.
Snap it in, push the USB to the phone (the small box at one end of the mount) with one finger, that's it.
The phone detects immediately that it is a car mount and if you have installed the car app it starts also without delay.
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Click to collapse
Same thing here with desk dock (original as far as I can say) bought in Poland on Ebay-ish website. Samsung's app downloaded from xda (it's here around somewhere) jumps in the moment I connect the phone. Have problems with line-out though, but I'm on custom ROM so maybe that's the problem.
Nevertheless it really looks like S is making monkeys out of us.
Nirvana388 said:
You guys should do the DIY one from this thread, I did it and it is amazing, it looks so good, and holds the phone really nice.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=837841&page=2
Dirt cheap too, for a custom mount the whole thing cost me maybe 10 bucks at the most, including the epoxy.
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Very nice car kit indeed.
Looking for a car kit too....
sorry if this has been posted already. Ive always had an extra battery to with me with each of my past phones (og EVO, Epic Touch, Galaxy S3) my EVO lte was an obvious exception. I just hate being tethered to a charger, well I searched and found a nice Samsung charger and extra 2600mah battery system on Amazon, never had a problem with Amazon ever. I order the charger, receive it the next day, when I checked it (my wife had opened it and charged the battery for me by the time I got home from work so I didnt bother looking at the packaging) I get to checking it out and it just kinda felt cheaply made, I shrugged it off. fast forward to the next day, the time comes that I need the extra battery, I pop it in and boot the phone up..........it shows only 94% and it drained pretty quickly (this kinda went with what I initially thought) I then said "eh prolly because its a new battery) next day same thing, I start researching and find info on fake Samsung batteries, the battery had no sign of the moisture indicator was the first clue, second was it said "made in China, assembled in Corea" went home and inspected the packaging, no signs of the hologram Samsung logo anywhere looked at the charger a bit more, while its a great knock off, it just feels cheap and well fake, had it not been for the battery not taking a full charge, I would have thought nothing of it, of course Im sure NFC would not have worked either, but I rarely ever use it. I went ahead and orderd a real charging system from Samsung and sadly it didnt cost much more than the knock off
scott_0 said:
sorry if this has been posted already. Ive always had an extra battery to with me with each of my past phones (og EVO, Epic Touch, Galaxy S3) my EVO lte was an obvious exception. I just hate being tethered to a charger, well I searched and found a nice Samsung charger and extra 2600mah battery system on Amazon, never had a problem with Amazon ever. I order the charger, receive it the next day, when I checked it (my wife had opened it and charged the battery for me by the time I got home from work so I didnt bother looking at the packaging) I get to checking it out and it just kinda felt cheaply made, I shrugged it off. fast forward to the next day, the time comes that I need the extra battery, I pop it in and boot the phone up..........it shows only 94% and it drained pretty quickly (this kinda went with what I initially thought) I then said "eh prolly because its a new battery) next day same thing, I start researching and find info on fake Samsung batteries, the battery had no sign of the moisture indicator was the first clue, second was it said "made in China, assembled in Corea" went home and inspected the packaging, no signs of the hologram Samsung logo anywhere looked at the charger a bit more, while its a great knock off, it just feels cheap and well fake, had it not been for the battery not taking a full charge, I would have thought nothing of it, of course Im sure NFC would not have worked either, but I rarely ever use it. I went ahead and orderd a real charging system from Samsung and sadly it didnt cost much more than the knock off
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I bought the same thing from Amazon.
The OEM battery from Samsung is indeed the b600bu.
Comparing the original VZW one with the VZW tag on it. I don't see much of a difference but the moisture indicator as you said doesn't have the red x's as on the VZW but there is a sticker on there and not sure what happens to this sticker if it gets wet.
I haven't noticed a problem with the battery life personally on the OEM + battery charger one.
Mine OEM replacement only says made in Korea, nothing about china.
The Original VZW says Manufactured by Yongbo, cell from japan, manufactured in china.
I don't remember looking for the hologram sticker when I opened the package. Guess I should have checked. LOL.
The battery charging system is white with grey lettering.
Being that I have the 7500 lemon, 2 of these 2600 mah, and one 5200, I get good use out of the charger and swap out whenever and however I tend to need things.
I bet this wasn't sold and shipped by Amazon.
that would be the first thing I look at. I know there many counterfeits from china.
I would not trust buying any battery no matter how cheap (unless I was expecting a fake) not sold and shipped by amazon or Samsung.
just too many fakes out there.
the charging system is super cheap with the coupon for registering your s4 anyhow, I would not get it anywhere else.
galaxy808 said:
I bet this wasn't sold and shipped by Amazon.
that would be the first thing I look at. I know there many counterfeits from china.
I would not trust buying any battery no matter how cheap (unless I was expecting a fake) not sold and shipped by amazon or Samsung.
just too many fakes out there.
the charging system is super cheap with the coupon for registering your s4 anyhow, I would not get it anywhere else.
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Mine was from Amazon LLC. It's partially why I didn't bother looking for holograms when I opened it.
scott_0 said:
sorry if this has been posted already. Ive always had an extra battery to with me with each of my past phones (og EVO, Epic Touch, Galaxy S3) my EVO lte was an obvious exception. I just hate being tethered to a charger, well I searched and found a nice Samsung charger and extra 2600mah battery system on Amazon, never had a problem with Amazon ever. I order the charger, receive it the next day, when I checked it (my wife had opened it and charged the battery for me by the time I got home from work so I didnt bother looking at the packaging) I get to checking it out and it just kinda felt cheaply made, I shrugged it off. fast forward to the next day, the time comes that I need the extra battery, I pop it in and boot the phone up..........it shows only 94% and it drained pretty quickly (this kinda went with what I initially thought) I then said "eh prolly because its a new battery) next day same thing, I start researching and find info on fake Samsung batteries, the battery had no sign of the moisture indicator was the first clue, second was it said "made in China, assembled in Corea" went home and inspected the packaging, no signs of the hologram Samsung logo anywhere looked at the charger a bit more, while its a great knock off, it just feels cheap and well fake, had it not been for the battery not taking a full charge, I would have thought nothing of it, of course Im sure NFC would not have worked either, but I rarely ever use it. I went ahead and orderd a real charging system from Samsung and sadly it didnt cost much more than the knock off
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Click to collapse
was the item bought direct from amazon or the amazon market where people can list their items.
from you description, it's still hard to confirm it's fake.
many samsung batteries are shipped without the moisture indicator sticker and hologram, and their batteries are now made in many countries and assembled in many countries, which includes china.
try going through a few more charges and see what happens, or just return it for a refund.
FYI, I bought a genuine Samsung 2600mah battery from Phones4U (£25 - free with a coupon I had).
Whenever I charge this or the battery that came with my phone using an external Anker battery charger (Previously bought for 1600mah/1900mah S2 batteries) it will only charge it to 94%.
It's probably a problem with the external charger and not the battery?
nah guys almost 100% certain its a fake, the battery that was included only charges to 94% and discharges fast, the oem battery that came with my phone charged to 100% twice in the questionable charger. This was an item sold by one seller and fulfilled by Amazon (what ever this means) the seller I bought it from (yes I know I should have checked feedback before buying it but when I saw fulfilled by Amazon, I let my guard down) had several complaints of the same thing thing Im most offended by is the fact that it cost $40, I could have just ordered this from Samsung for $50 (which I ended up doing Sunday btw)
You rally have to be careful with those Corean devices. The Corean people just don't have the same work ethic and quality control standards as the Koreans who build the actual Samsung products.
Hahahah!
That's the great thing about Chinese knockoffs. They always get one little detail wrong like that to make it obvious its a fake. Like the fake iPhone will have the apple logo with the bite out of the wrong side. Or the HTC knockoff will have HTC's logo spelled with capital letters instead of lower case. But getting Korea wrong....I mean its like walking distance from China. How do you screw that up?
Anyway Amazon will refund you since it was fulfilled by Amazon. They won't even give you a hard time about it.
Sent from your phone. You should be careful where you leave that thing.
Skipjacks said:
You rally have to be careful with those Corean devices. The Corean people just don't have the same work ethic and quality control standards as the Koreans who build the actual Samsung products.
Hahahah!
That's the great thing about Chinese knockoffs. They always get one little detail wrong like that to make it obvious its a fake. Like the fake iPhone will have the apple logo with the bite out of the wrong side. Or the HTC knockoff will have HTC's logo spelled with capital letters instead of lower case. But getting Korea wrong....I mean its like walking distance from China. How do you screw that up?
Anyway Amazon will refund you since it was fulfilled by Amazon. They won't even give you a hard time about it.
Sent from your phone. You should be careful where you leave that thing.
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LOL got a good laugh out of your post :good: my father in law ordered it for me because he has a prime membership, he said Amazon is going to refund the money
Ok, just received the charger and battery I ordered direct from Samsung (cost $10 more than the fake one) and let me tell you, big difference in the weight of the charger itself, the battery is also a bit heavier, the LED doesnt constantly stay lit (the fake chargers LED stayed lit with battery in it or not, the Samsung part does not) and the packaging is all together different, and the Samsung one included a wall plug in micro usb cord :good:
scott_0 said:
Ok, just received the charger and battery I ordered direct from Samsung (cost $10 more than the fake one) and let me tell you, big difference in the weight of the charger itself, the battery is also a bit heavier, the LED doesnt constantly stay lit (the fake chargers LED stayed lit with battery in it or not, the Samsung part does not) and the packaging is all together different, and the Samsung one included a wall plug in micro usb cord :good:
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Okay good, mine came with that cord also so I must have a samsung original and mine isn't lit unless there's a battery in it as well.
Thanks for that input.
Phatdawg said:
Okay good, mine came with that cord also so I must have a samsung original and mine isn't lit unless there's a battery in it as well.
Thanks for that input.
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did yours also come with the little plastic battery storage container? nice touch by Samsung
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app
scott_0 said:
did yours also come with the little plastic battery storage container? nice touch by Samsung
Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app
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Yes it did. You definitely got gimped on the first one from the amazon seller.
Amazon LLC is the only way to go it seems.
scott_0 said:
Ok, just received the charger and battery I ordered direct from Samsung (cost $10 more than the fake one) and let me tell you, big difference in the weight of the charger itself, the battery is also a bit heavier, the LED doesnt constantly stay lit (the fake chargers LED stayed lit with battery in it or not, the Samsung part does not) and the packaging is all together different, and the Samsung one included a wall plug in micro usb cord :good:
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Hey buddy.. Would you mind taking a pic of the original package and its contents?
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 4
mundixx said:
Hey buddy.. Would you mind taking a pic of the original package and its contents?
Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk 4
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sure will, I'm at work right now so it won't be until tonight or tomorrow
sent from my Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk 2
Wow i had ordered one, but after reading about so many fakes i canceled mines right before they shipped it. Going to try zerolemon or anker.
So i used a 50% code from here
http://m.retailmenot.com/showcoupon/4772794/
And got the battery charging kit with xtra battery for like $30 from the samsung website.
Sent from Flip's Galaxy S4
wow great price! wish I had this when I ordered mine. I'm gonna pass this code onto my father in law so he can order himself one.
sent from my Galaxy S4 using Tapatalk 2
just avoid knockoff's chargers in general. If I can, I will always use the s4 charger. I could always use a 2A car charger too.
gheezydroid said:
just avoid knockoff's chargers in general. If I can, I will always use the s4 charger. I could always use a 2A car charger too.
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well yeah, its not as if I sought a fake charger lol, and the idea, atleast for me is to avoid being tethered to a charge cord, so the extra battery works out great!
Hello fellow Nexus 4 users.
http://imgur.com/a/mDmv2
I replaced my N4 screen after an unfortunate drop with a replacement assembly available on eBay for approx £35 including frame, digitizer and LCD.
The colours of the screen were appalling. See images in the link. There are counterfeit screens circulating.
May our N4s live on forever more!
cookiem0nster said:
Hello fellow Nexus 4 users.
http://imgur.com/a/mDmv2
I replaced my N4 screen after an unfortunate drop with a replacement assembly available on eBay for approx £35 including frame, digitizer and LCD.
The colours of the screen were appalling. See images in the link. There are counterfeit screens circulating.
May our N4s live on forever more!
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Click to collapse
Sorry to hear that. Today you can get anything fake from ebay.
Though, it wouldn't be bad if you put link to that buyer or item
The seller has dealt with the issue well so far, I'm not sure they knew they were selling a fake screen. I will post further details if I am not compensated/refunded.
Are you certain it's a counterfeit and not a re-sold piece that had actually failed QA/QC?
I don't think it's possible for an authentic screen to be of such poor quality. You could be right - I dont know much about LCD manufacture
Wondering if it is even worth replacing these parts on a phone that's over 2 years old. Not sure about pricing in UK but here in the US you can pick up a mint or refurbished one for close to the price you paid. If I busted my N4 I think I would prob have to move on and get a newer phone although I would miss perhaps the most perfect phone ever made.
I'm actually debating what to do with a N5 I have with a cracked screen sell it as is or try and find a replacement. The problem I'm Runing into is finding a stock LCD that is not cracked and makes sense price wise. If only I had a screen seperator the stupid glass can be had for $5.
kgiri247 said:
Wondering if it is even worth replacing these parts on a phone that's over 2 years old. Not sure about pricing in UK but here in the US you can pick up a mint or refurbished one for close to the price you paid. If I busted my N4 I think I would prob have to move on and get a newer phone although I would miss perhaps the most perfect phone ever made.
I'm actually debating what to do with a N5 I have with a cracked screen sell it as is or try and find a replacement. The problem I'm Runing into is finding a stock LCD that is not cracked and makes sense price wise. If only I had a screen seperator the stupid glass can be had for $5.
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This is the sad truth I've just discovered. I dropped my phone a few months back and now have an unresponsive stripe across my screen...I went looking for a screen replacement to find out I'd only save about $30 as opposed to buying a used mint condition N4. It's not worth the aggravation of doing all that work just to save a couple bucks, IMHO.
Yes I agree. I'm now debating getting a LCD separation machine and try to salvage the digitizer and LCD. Anyone ever attempt such a job?
kgiri247 I know this isn't the place to talk about selling phones but if you do want to sell it I'll more than happily take it off your hands, inbox me if you want to talk numbers! What I do know about separating the LCD and Digitizer is that it's very risky, they're two very delicate pieces of hardware and any mistakes could lead to having an expensive paperweight until you could find a replacement screen for it!
Yeah, it's getting to be a tough decision for a home who has something go wrong on these. I love this phone though as well as the development community for it. I might keep this phone just because the development community is excellent.
However if I had to get a new phone, I saw Amazon is selling the Kindle Fire phone unlocked for $199
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Free mobile app
as far i can see on your images, your screen is original and coming from LG, how many months do you have it? do you have any other synthom than yellowish colours??
Have you double a check for how many fingers you can press? The N4 is 10 right, but some of the really cheap screens only support 5. You'll know very quickly whether it's fake or not.
bought a replacement screen for the n4 and the screen is horrible. has 2 dead pixels and the viewing angles are the worst ive ever seen on a cellphone.
gaboempyrean said:
bought a replacement screen for the n4 and the screen is horrible. has 2 dead pixels and the viewing angles are the worst ive ever seen on a cellphone.
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If it's too good to be true, it usually is I'm afraid. The most expensive parts of a mobile phone are usually the screen and the battery, seeing as both are advanced pieces of technology. Processors, RAM, motherboards etc are cheap in reality, that's why you can buy a pretty powerful Android TV stick for cheap. No battery, no screen.
Nexus 4's are cheap nowadays, smash a screen, it probably isn't worth buying another screen unless you can be guaranteed of OEM'ness. It isn't all that hard to replace a digitizer though, so if your LCD panel is good, it might be worth giving it a try.
Where would you be able to buy a genuine part then?
Is this something you should bite the bullet and send to LG for repair to atleast be guaranteed a genuine part?
Edit
Sorry for bumping an old thread.
I just had mine replaced by LG for a defective ribbon cable which left the touch screen complete unresponsive. I went this route due to all the complaints about bad screens. $160 later, my N4 looks and works great! Pretty expensive though.
I had ordered a replacement from a seller within the US on eBay. I can't seem to find the sale anymore, but it was the real deal.
I had purchased a Nexus 4 and it came with a crappy replacement display, so I ordered a new one and did the swap myself.
It looks like a whole new phone.
Thanks for the info guys!
I'm from the UK like op and I was considering getting the replacement screen myself from ebay but I don't know if the seller replaced the part he gave to op and if it was genuine because they do have some good fakes on ebay.
I might just bite the bullet and do it myself I don't know the price for repair here Reeves360 but I'm sure it'll be similar to what you paid.
These phone manufacturers still charging extortionate prices on a nearly 3 year old phone.
I've long wondered about the legitimacy of the replacement screen I got off eBay. I bought from a seller that had sold a ton of them and had excellent feedback. But the screen always seemed like it was dim (had to crank it all the way up to be as bright as my other devices at 2/3-3/4 max brightness, plus the color is very cool/bluish. But it was always responsive and never had any ghost touches.
However, a couple days ago, it has started to freak out. Occasionally, after touching it, the bottom half or so flashes black. Somtimes it's one flash, sometimes it's a few flashes. It still responds perfectly while doing this, but it's obviously not normal. I disassembled it, gave the connectors a whack of Deoxit and ProGold, and reassembled it, but the glitching still remains, so it's not the connector. I need to try flashing something different (or maybe just dirty flashing LS again) to see if it's ROM or kernel related. I made some changes to Hellscore settings and I finally figured out why my battery life was so atrocious the last few months (it somehow got set minimum 2 cores online), so it's possible I screwed something else up.
If the problem is that it's a fake screen, I doubt the seller was aware.
It was the kernel (settings). Not sure what caused it, but I reflashed the kernel, reinstalled HK manager, and the screen hasn't glitched out since.
I just purchased a battery on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NT2X4XG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It arrived today and I was a little surprised by the "Retail Packaging." Not sure what I was expecting, but seeing other Samsung product packaging, something similar.
Pulled the battery from my phone to check for difference, and everything looks exactly the same except for the serial portion. The text is a bit different than my original battery, with fatter letters. The QR code also looks different. Everything else looks exactly the same...
Anyone have any idea? Would hate to think I ponied up $25 to Amazon for a bootleg.
sodomanaz said:
I just purchased a battery on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NT2X4XG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
It arrived today and I was a little surprised by the "Retail Packaging." Not sure what I was expecting, but seeing other Samsung product packaging, something similar.
Pulled the battery from my phone to check for difference, and everything looks exactly the same except for the serial portion. The text is a bit different than my original battery, with fatter letters. The QR code also looks different. Everything else looks exactly the same...
Anyone have any idea? Would hate to think I ponied up $25 to Amazon for a bootleg.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's hard to tell to be honest... Due to the fact that you can just put a sticker on any battery that has a similar color, shape, and texture. You can compare the markers marks, serial numbers, and other text but not all Samsung batteries are made or sold from one factory. I've bought some from Amazon myself (3 in fact) and haven't ever had a problem. Heck, samsung doesn't even offer new ones anymore on their website. I just mark mine with a sharpy for their age etc. and use a battery only charger connected to a fast charger and am very happy with my set up. It seems that SOME of the batteries are refurbs but they are generally sold as such. Higher price and good reviews help as well. I would just go by performance since there is nothing else you can do since our devices are older at this point. Sorry I couldn't help with more...
Oh here's the link to my latest one that works fine for me. In fact... I think yours is from the same place. I'm pretty damn sure it's genuine.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OQLMJR6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
And here's the link to my battery only charger (again this is connected to a QC 2.0 charger for best results!)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UFCRO0W/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Thanks for the response. Ya, i get it's older now, and bootlegs are all over the place. It's just a pain in the ass not to get ripped off nowadays buying phone accessories. On the plus side I guess we have options!
Only way is to buy directly from Samsung or buy a non-OEM battery that's likely not going to be copied such as from Anker
beezar said:
Only way is to buy directly from Samsung or buy a non-OEM battery that's likely not going to be copied such as from Anker
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Click to collapse
In general, this.
If you can't buy directly from the manufacturer anymore, buy a trusted third party battery. No one is going to bother faking a third party battery.
However, in my experience, any item sold and shipped directly by Amazon is trustworthy. The link you provided says it's shipped from and sold by Amazon.com, so you should be safe.
Just compared two original Samsung batteries for the S5, one that came with an SM-G900F (international S5), and one that comes with the S5's spare battery charging system (sold at Best Buy in the US). There were plenty of small differences in the battery labeling.
Why bother with Samsung official crap batteries? My note 4 original battery lasted 3 months from brand new to dead. I purchased a new Anker from Amazon and its over 8 months without issue and still holds an incredible charge. 20$ beats Samsung official any day in my book, I bought myself two just to have one handy but I have yet to date needed it.
GROOVYJOSHCLARK said:
Why bother with Samsung official crap batteries? My note 4 original battery lasted 3 months from brand new to dead. I purchased a new Anker from Amazon and its over 8 months without issue and still holds an incredible charge. 20$ beats Samsung official any day in my book, I bought myself two just to have one handy but I have yet to date needed it.
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Anker has NFC and FastCharge?
DeeXii said:
Anker has NFC and FastCharge?
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Click to collapse
Yes and yes.
NFC is done through the the stock cover and fast charging is done through the charger with the operating system. I only use anker now and both fast charging with NFC most definitely works.
I am running AOSP as well so it even works through AOSP.
sent from my droid
I've just bought a "genuine Samsung Extra Battery Kit" and was told that all their stock is genuine. It's really the external charging cradle/coffin that I'm after as opposed to the battery (I always buy Anker as replacements) and I found you can't buy them from Sammy in the UK anymore so I've had to go trawling the net. Does anyone have any pointers as how I can check?
Once the battery is charged I'll check that the NFC and fast charging work, but I've no idea about the cradle and how to check....
woldranger said:
I've just bought a "genuine Samsung Extra Battery Kit" and was told that all their stock is genuine. It's really the external charging cradle/coffin that I'm after as opposed to the battery (I always buy Anker as replacements) and I found you can't buy them from Sammy in the UK anymore so I've had to go trawling the net. Does anyone have any pointers as how I can check?
Once the battery is charged I'll check that the NFC and fast charging work, but I've no idea about the cradle and how to check....
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Click to collapse
Looking at my external charging cradle/coffin, I would say that the printing on the sticky label would not be so sharp on a cheap fake.
StevePritchard said:
Looking at my external charging cradle/coffin, I would say that the printing on the sticky label would not be so sharp on a cheap fake.
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Which sticky label are we talking here? Looking at the cradle I can't see anything that's stuck on - or is it the labelling on the base that'll currently be covered by the charging battery? Roughly how long does it take to charge your battery using the standard Sammy 2A charger?
woldranger said:
Which sticky label are we talking here? Looking at the cradle I can't see anything that's stuck on - or is it the labelling on the base that'll currently be covered by the charging battery? Roughly how long does it take to charge your battery using the standard Sammy 2A charger?
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Yes, the label is under the battery. Not sure about the time to charge, I must admit I've never timed it - I just put it in, and leave it.
StevePritchard said:
Yes, the label is under the battery. Not sure about the time to charge, I must admit I've never timed it - I just put it in, and leave it.
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Guess I'll have to wait till it's charged and then have a look. And, just to check, is yours the genuine version?
woldranger said:
Guess I'll have to wait till it's charged and then have a look. And, just to check, is yours the genuine version?
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Click to collapse
Yes - mine is genuine. Sourced from EE in the UK.
Just bought a replacement battery direct from the Samsung UK site - £25 but worth it for the peace of mind, and knowledge that it's definitely genuine. Free delivery.
EDIT: Ordered at 5:00pm, it's now the next morning and my battery has arrived - great speed for free delivery! (Now, if only Samsung could get their firmware updates out as fast!)
EDIT: Genuine Samsung packaging (with the window on the front of the box, and a plastic container for the battery) and manufacture date of last month, so fresh off the assembly line
Kinsman-UK said:
Just bought a replacement battery direct from the Samsung UK site - £25 but worth it for the peace of mind, and knowledge that it's definitely genuine. Free delivery.
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I'm telling you guys, go with anker, they are far more reliable and cheaper. They outlast Samsung garbage batteries but to each his or her own.
And baffled why there is so much worry over original OEM batteries. Samsung batteries are totally junk.
sent from my droid
GROOVYJOSHCLARK said:
I'm telling you guys, go with anker, they are far more reliable and cheaper. They outlast Samsung garbage batteries but to each his or her own.
And baffled why there is so much worry over original OEM batteries. Samsung batteries are totally junk.
sent from my droid
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Personally, I'm trying to work out if the unit I bought is likely to be a fake. Yes, you've already voiced your opinion on this topic, hence why I'm confused as to why you need to give the same again? You don't rate Samsung batteries based on your personal experiences. That's fair enough. But you've already rubbished them and said that you use Anker ones and I'm sure that's been duely noted by all of us reading this. But posting the same thing again in response to a conversation between two people who've already purchased Samsung units doesn't really help anyone, in this context.
From my experience, I had both Samsung and Anker batteries fail on me when I was travelling round India. The Sammy one's included the old battery that was on it's last legs and a cheapie (that was included in an order for other S3 stuff from ebay) but I had 2 out of 4 Anker ones die on me - all bought at the same time and all newer than the genuine Samsung one. Anker eventually, after a lot of emailing, gave me a refund for the faulty units. I then bought some more for the Note 3 that replaced the S3, and so far, one Anker for my new Note 4. So I'm not anti Anker - I really like their products (I've a great little bluetooth speaker from them). This is just for a bit of balance.
I also received external Anker chargers that were REALLY low quality junk for the S3 and then the Note 3. They came with 2 batteries direct from Anker on Amazon.com (the UK site didn't have any when I needed them).
---------- Post added at 06:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:07 PM ----------
I've charged the new battery and tried using NFC and it works fine - have they started making copies that use NFC (that used to be the way to spot a fake with the S3) or does that mean that I've got a genuine one?
Member conduct.
THREAD CLEANED!!!
I really think some of you guys here need to have a goood look at the rules again.
Specifically the ones listed below after all the nonsense I had to remove from this thread.
2.3 Flaming / Lack of respect: XDA is about sharing and this does not involve virtual yelling (flaming) or rudeness. Flaming or posting with a lack of respect is unacceptable. Treat new members in the manner in which you would like to have been treated when you were a new member. When dealing with any member, provide them with guidance, advice and instructions when you can, showing them respect and courtesy. Never post in a demanding, argumentative, disrespectful or self-righteous manner.
2.4 Personal attacks, racial, political and / or religious discussions: XDA is a discussion forum about certain mobile phones. Mobile phones are not racial, political, religious or personally offensive and therefore, none of these types of discussions are permitted on XDA.
2.5 All members are expected to read and adhere to the XDA rules.
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Here's my opinion on this battery talk thread.
I have bought plenty of batteries from amazon for my devices. Some Oem and some not, and I haven't had one problem from none of my aftermarket ones either. Probably because I know how to charge/discharge a new battery. Any type of (new) battery will take a few days to calibrate for whatever device you use.
My motto buy it, test it out (myself) and see if it lives up to your standards. If its faulty for any reason, then return it for a replacement.
I'll end it with this statement, I have't had to return any of the batteries I ordered. And this goes back to my S2 up to my Note 4.
If your a true battery hog like myself then invest in a extended battery and call it a day.
Regards,
Bajanman
FYI There is still one way to get a genuine Samsung battery (NFC) still.
Samsung Extra Battery Kit & Charger from BestBuy.com
Bajanman said:
THREAD CLEANED!!!
I really think some of you guys here need to have a goood look at the rules again.
Specifically the ones listed below after all the nonsense I had to remove from this thread.
Here's my opinion on this battery talk thread.
I have bought plenty of batteries from amazon for my devices. Some Oem and some not, and I haven't had one problem from none of my aftermarket ones either. Probably because I know how to charge/discharge a new battery. Any type of (new) battery will take a few days to calibrate for whatever device you use.
My motto buy it, test it out (myself) and see if it lives up to your standards. If its faulty for any reason, then return it for a replacement.
I'll end it with this statement, I have't had to return any of the batteries I ordered. And this goes back to my S2 up to my Note 4.
If your a true battery hog like myself then invest in a extended battery and call it a day.
Regards,
Bajanman
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Click to collapse
Nice work, thank you!
sent from my droid