After Market or OEM Battery?

Cadbob · Oct 2, 2016

I apologize if this has been asked or explained before, but couldn't find answer in search. How can you tell if an EBay or any seller is selling Original OEM? Is there a way to tell visually between Knock Off and Real?

Alex Baxter · Oct 2, 2016

I'd always query anything substantially cheaper, also some of the knock-offs have a slightly different LED configuration, at least for the P3. I've bought from eBay and been lucky, look at the reviews for the seller. I don't think you'll ever get much more than 10% off retail.

Cadbob · Oct 2, 2016

I do know if the price is to good to be true well it is.

My thoughts are I know DJI does not have a Battery Factory and they Sub out that part, so whom ever is making them most likely has a side deal. I'm seeing the price of P4 Battery's all over the map from 99.00 to 169.00 ea. Strange!!!

rockydog · Oct 2, 2016

Just make sure that the seller states that it's a genuine DJI battery.

msinger · Oct 2, 2016

There are two versions of the P4 battery. The older version usually sells for around $100 (like here on Amazon). The new version is closer to $169. The only notable difference is that the newer version was redesigned to prevent the top from cracking (see below). Both versions of the battery are the same performance-wise.

Jim G · Oct 2, 2016

For the few dollars saved.....I would stick with OEM. Much greater cost if there is a failure with 3rd party.

Fritz Harrold · Oct 2, 2016

What ever the price of the battery for the Phantom 4 it is substantially more than the full retail price of extra batteries for the Mavin ($89.95 with equal or a longer flying time). Another check in the plus column of the Mavic.
Not trying to hijack the thread here.

raynist · Oct 2, 2016

Fritz Harrold said:
Not trying to hijack the thread here.

The fact that you have to state it is not a hijack proves this is 100% a hijack.

Your post has nothing of value to his question. Go find a P4 vs Mavik thread to post in.

Erised · Oct 2, 2016

Jim G said:
For the few dollars saved.....I would stick with OEM. Much greater cost if there is a failure with 3rd party.

Same here, I won't take the chance that my AC falls out of the sky to save a few bucks. If you do crash good luck with dji for warranty, your log files know which battery it's using.

alokbhargava · Oct 2, 2016

Fritz Harrold said:
What ever the price of the battery for the Phantom 4 it is substantially more than the full retail price of extra batteries for the Mavic (with equal or a longer flying time). Another check in the plus column of the Mavic.
Not trying to hijack the thread here.

You can't just compare the P4and Mavic batteries. They have totally different watt hr capacities. Flying times of two different models doesn't decide the price of the battery.

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Cadbob · Oct 2, 2016

Fritz Harrold said:
What ever the price of the battery for the Phantom 4 it is substantially more than the full retail price of extra batteries for the Mavin ($89.95 with equal or a longer flying time). Another check in the plus column of the Mavic.
Not trying to hijack the thread here.

If I was buying based on Battery and a Selfie Drone I would most likely get the GoPro Karma. But DJI and GoPro will be in competition for awhile with the foldable's

Fritz Harrold · Oct 2, 2016

raynist said:
The fact that you have to state it is not a hijack proves this is 100% a hijack.

Your post has nothing of value to his question. Go find a P4 vs Mavik thread to post in.

Thank you. I guess this isn't a "like"?

camilleface · Oct 2, 2016

msinger said:
There are two versions of the P4 battery. The older version usually sells for around $100 (like here on Amazon). The new version is closer to $169. The only notable difference is that the newer version was redesigned to prevent the top from cracking (see below). Both versions of the battery are the same performance-wise.

View attachment 66240

Can you tell the difference between the two, like part number or model number?

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msinger · Oct 2, 2016

Yes, they have different model numbers. DJI CP.PT.000342 is the old version.

Greendragon · Oct 2, 2016

Battery part number CP.PT.000399 is the newer version.

ifsteve · Oct 2, 2016

msinger said:
Yes, they have different model numbers. DJI CP.PT.000342 is the old version.

Ok so I just looked at my three batteries and I can't see any part number like this one or the new number. So what am I missing or is there another way to tell. I have only had my P4 for a month and sure hope I got the right batteries.

Jussaguy · Oct 3, 2016

Alex Baxter said:
I'd always query anything substantially cheaper, also some of the knock-offs have a slightly different LED configuration, at least for the P3. I've bought from eBay and been lucky, look at the reviews for the seller. I don't think you'll ever get much more than 10% off retail.

That's not true. I sold 276 batteries at an average of $125 and had not one return and they were all DJI OEM. I am not an authorized dealer and don't have to adhere to DJI's "MAP" (minimum authorized price) which is $169 for P4 bats. If you are an authorized seller and get caught selling for less, you can lose your status. Read about what just happened with Elon Musk and Tesla just recently.

Even on Amazon (FBA) there is a company with about a 18-20% DOA on their bats which seems weird but since I have a pretty good random sample with my perfect record 276 bats, I smell something weird with his percentage. He's selling them at about $108.

I had one issue with all 276 and that's that one was actually a Part 7 bar and the guy wanted a 54 as advertised so I took it back, kept it for me and sent him a 54 keeping my 100%.

Right now I'm siting on a 54 but the box is labeled 7. It's brand new and is definitely a 54 but I don't want to sell it for less than $125.

Cadbob · Oct 3, 2016

So,I'm lost now,is there no way to visually check version of battery, being 342 or 399. What is a 54 and a 7?

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msinger · Oct 3, 2016

Cadbob said:
is there no way to visually check version of battery, being 342 or 399

The labeling on the outside of both batteries is the same. If you have one of each, you'll notice the newer batteries have much brighter LEDs. Also, I found (on my batteries) the serial number stickers are rotated by 180 degrees.

I don't know if the sticker position is consistent across all batteries, so the brightest of the LEDs is probably the best indicator.

Greendragon · Oct 3, 2016

I read on somewhere (either here or another Phantom 4 forum) that the older batteries have more of an even "glow" around the power indicators and the newer batteries you can see more of the individual LED's in the indicators as they are brighter. Also, I have noticed that the older batteries have a red warning triangle on the warning side - you can't miss it as it's the only red thing printed on the battery. The new batteries do not have this red triangle warning. Both of my 399 batteries are this way and do not have the red warning triangle. The sticker position on my batteries is the same as the pic above (in post 19).