Cherry Mobile Batteries: The difference between original and fake

Yesterday we showed you how Cherry Mobile phone chargers are made, now we’re going to show you the quality of their batteries compared to fake ones sold in the streets and some malls.

Most smartphones in the market have removable batteries. The purpose is to make it easier for the user to purchase a replacement and install it themselves. The right thing to do is buy an original battery, however, people sometimes tend to settle with “Class A” immitation or fakes because they are more affordable. This is where problems arise.

Fake batteries don’t give you the same capacity

If you have used a fake battery on your smartphone, you will notice that they don’t last long in terms of battery life. That is because they don’t carry the same capacity as the original.

As an example, the folks at Cherry Mobile brought with them a few samples of fake batteries being sold in Quiapo. On the outside it looks legit, has the same size as the original battery, and comes in a nice packaging, but when you unwrap the battery itself, that’s where you’ll see how you are cheated.

If you look at the photo above, this is what a fake or imitation battery looks like. That silver part in the middle is the battery itself which provides power to your device. What about the black part surrounding it? That’s just a plastic frame allowing it to fit in your smartphone’s battery compartment.

So what’s the difference between the original Cherry Mobile battery and the fake one? Take a look at the photo above of the fake battery (Left) and the original Cherry Mobile battery (Right).

As you can see, Cherry Mobile’s battery doesn’t use a frame. Just a piece of hard plastic at the top to house the terminals and ICs and a thin piece at the bottom. The rest are all battery. Compared side by side, you will see why fake batteries offer less battery life as they actually carry a smaller battery.

Fake batteries skimp on quality and safety features

The photo below is an IC installed on Cherry Mobile batteries. These tiny chips are there to ensure that your batteries are functioning properly and just one of the safety features applied to ensure that their batteries don’t explode or heat up and catch fire.

Fake batteries, on the other hand, don’t have all the necessary features or none at all. The photo below shows the difference between a fake one (blue IC) and Cherry Mobile’s (black IC).

Another safety feature that fake batteries don’t have is proper insulation of the metal contacts where electricity travels from the battery. While original batteries like Cherry Mobile’s use hard plastic, fake ones just use a little foam or sometimes no insulation at all. The result can be dangerous for the user as seen in the video below.

One more safety feature the Cherry Mobile uses in their batteries is placed inside the battery itself – a special film (white) that separates the postive and negative internals of the battery to prevent it from catching fire in case it gets damaged. See image below.

Fake batteries don’t have this. To further demonstrate, we had a fully-charged fake Cherry Mobile battery undergo an extrusion test where it will be impaled and see how it will react. See video below.

We also did the same test to an original fully-charged Cherry Mobile battery. Watch what happens below.

As you can see, the original battery didn’t burst into flames which is another reason why safety features shouldn’t be excluded in important smartphones parts like the battery.

Here’s what they look like after the test. Original on the left, fake on the right.

Fake batteries don’t undergo quality testing

Manufacturers of fake batteries know for themselves that they have skimped on safety features so why bother quality testing? This fact alone, aside from not installing safety features, is the reason why they can sell their batteries at a very low price.

Cherry Mobile’s partner factory in Shenzhen, CKY (Chuan Ke Yuan) Electronics Technology Co. Ltd., tests the batteries for quality and durability as you have seen above.

Aside from the extrusion, they also test for drops, short circuit, gravity impact, thermal shock, salt spray, vibration, temperature and humidity, push and pull, bonding strength, and capacity. All of these to ensure that their batteries are safe to use.

Again, the lesson is simple – don’t buy fake batteries for the sake of saving money. If you need a new battery for your Cherry Mobile device, it’s highly suggested that you purchase it in their official stores and kiosks.