There have been some very good fake 25R’s popping up lately. Thanks to some fantastic members of this community who sent their fakes to me for testing I have some idea of what’s going on.
Most of the fakes are identical in appearance and performance to the 10A 2050mAh Samsung 22P battery. This battery is a terrible performer compared to the 25R. One fake was much worse than all the others. It might have been a lower grade 22P or damaged during use before I received it.
But I have one fake that is different from the others. It has the metal can code for, I believe, a Samsung 29E. But the top contact structure seems wrong for the 29E. I don’t know for sure what this fake actually is. It’s performance is lousy compared to the 25R though.
One HUGE problem with these fake 25R’s is that the top insulating rings are free-floating and not self-adhesive and glued down to the battery! This is the first time I have ever seen this. We can no longer say that a battery with a free-floating ring is genuine.
But here’s how to spot these fake 25R’s:
– If there are any lines radiating out from the center of the venting disk under the top contact then the battery cannot be a 25R. There are four of these lines in the fakes, spaced at 90° intervals. If you see even one though, as they are hard to spot, the battery cannot be a 25R.
– You can see the venting disk without unwrapping the battery but you’ll need a bright light source and a magnifier is very helpful.
– If you do not see any of these radial lines in the venting disk that does NOT mean that the battery is a genuine 25R. Other fakes might not have the lines.
– If there is anything other than a “5” as the second character in the uppermost four character code on the metal can, near the top, then the battery CANNOT be a genuine 25R. If it is a “2” then it’s most likely a rewrapped Samsung 22P. You can see this code through the wrap.
– If there are no codes on the metal can then it’s a fake 25R. It might still be a Samsung but someone has washed off the codes.
– The batch codes on the wrap CANNOT be used alone to detect these fakes as they might be genuine batch codes. The codes for the fakes I have are 2G22 and 2F34, located at the end of the second line of printing on the wrap.
– I want to say this again…these batch codes might be genuine and cannot be used as the only method to check for authenticity.
– There might be other batch codes being used for these fakes. Do not assume that having a batch code other than 2G22 and 2F34 means you have a genuine 25R. Check the venting disk for radial lines.
That’s all I have for now.
If you do have any fakes I recommend not using them at all. Contact the vendor you purchased them from to see what can be done.
Please do not send me pictures of your 25R’s to authenticate them. I am unable to do so via photographs.
Hoping your 25R’s are genuine!
Detecting the fakes: https://imgur.com/a/F2SzC
Discharge graphs: https://imgur.com/a/xnihF
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