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Sony vtc fake vs authentic comparison.

Rommel

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Fakes on the left, authentic on the right.

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Rommel

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On the last pic authentic is on the left. Note how the QR-code is the same on fakes and different on authentics. Also the wrapper is a different green.
 
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Lighty269

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Too many shops out there right now in my area that say they have real Sony VTC4. I am not going to spend $15 a piece for a battery that will drop once production kicks in. That is if they are really going to be making them again. So much controversy out there right now.
 

Rommel

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Yeah, im lucky to be in posession of 12 authentic VTC4s and a couple of those badass 26650 Sonys that are supposed to be 50 amp continuos.
 

Robert B

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I bought these http://www.ebay.com/itm/271759307763?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&var=570589469776&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

im charging up up all the way right now in my smaug 150. They were both charged to 3.8 when they arrived. You think theses are good?
I could be wrong, but I don't think any vtc5 being sold on ebay right now are authentic unless sony has started producing them again. You'd think we would have heard about it if they had. It seems an entire industry is cropping up in china producing cheap 50 cent 18650's, printing them, wrapping them, and selling them for 4 or 5 bucks wholesale.

The people accusing others of selling fakes, are usually selling fakes themselves. The guy on that ebay auction seems full of shit to me. wtf is he talking about, authorized OEM seller of authorized OEM manufactured batteries that aren't being made anymore.? Then he gives the analogy of pharmacy selling generics. What he is double speaking about is, he is not selling authentic Sony batteries, rather generics. Which are cheap chinese knock-offs being printed and wrapped to look like Sony vtc-5's
 
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battery bro

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I have to agree with Robert. To OP - why do you think you can tell the difference? I think without performance tests to back up your claim this is 100% meaningless.
 

Rommel

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I have to agree with Robert. To OP - why do you think you can tell the difference? I think without performance tests to back up your claim this is 100% meaningless.
Haha, yeah. I have tested my Sonys by accidentaly hard shorting one, abused them with 0.06 ohm loads and checked their capacity in my charger that is able to do so. They are the real deal.

My test with those fakes included ~2hrs of vaping at 60w in the Sigelei, and at 50% load they stopped working. I popped those out and placed them in the charger, first batt was at 3.41 and the second one indicated 3.22 volts. That screams fake. Also the capacity wasnt even near 2600mAh, more like ~2000mAh.

No one has to trust me on this, i just trust myself. And i trust the vendor i bought the authentics from, big company that has been around for over a decade. They have been getting small batches of batts from Sony.
 

18650battery

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Haha, yeah. I have tested my Sonys by accidentaly hard shorting one, abused them with 0.06 ohm loads and checked their capacity in my charger that is able to do so. They are the real deal.

My test with those fakes included ~2hrs of vaping at 60w in the Sigelei, and at 50% load they stopped working. I popped those out and placed them in the charger, first batt was at 3.41 and the second one indicated 3.22 volts. That screams fake. Also the capacity wasnt even near 2600mAh, more like ~2000mAh.

No one has to trust me on this, i just trust myself. And i trust the vendor i bought the authentics from, big company that has been around for over a decade. They have been getting small batches of batts from Sony.
i trust you
 

Jon@LiionWholesale

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I could be wrong, but I don't think any vtc5 being sold on ebay right now are authentic unless sony has started producing them again. You'd think we would have heard about it if they had. It seems an entire industry is cropping up in china producing cheap 50 cent 18650's, printing them, wrapping them, and selling them for 4 or 5 bucks wholesale.

The people accusing others of selling fakes, are usually selling fakes themselves. The guy on that ebay auction seems full of shit to me. wtf is he talking about, authorized OEM seller of authorized OEM manufactured batteries that aren't being made anymore.? Then he gives the analogy of pharmacy selling generics. What he is double speaking about is, he is not selling authentic Sony batteries, rather generics. Which are cheap chinese knock-offs being printed and wrapped to look like Sony vtc-5's

Agreed. Our company has bought VTC5's from probably 25 different sellers in China seeing if anyone somehow actually had the VTC5. All ended up being fake based on our testing. Some were rather convincing though. You absolutely can't tell by cosmetics anymore - some of the companies have gotten really good at matching every cosmetic detail. We got one battery that we were very hopeful about because it looked perfect, even under the wrapper. Turns out when we tested it it was definitely not.

Reading his auction closely and reading one of the answers to the questions at the bottom where he compares to generic drugs, it's clear what he's doing, although he's presenting it in a very misleading way. He's selling copies. He's saying that he's having a battery OEM in china make copies based on the specification of VTC5's, and he's an authorized dealer of that copy-selling-OEM. If anyone says they're not genuine Sony he can just be like "I didn't say they were". That's why he uses so many words in such a confusing way, to misdirect.

It is a bit interesting because if they were really able to meet the specification like he says they were then they might be a good battery. But I'd be very surprised if that's the case...there's a reason the VTC5 hasn't been matched by any other companies yet. And this dude being misleading doesn't make me feel like they are on the up and up.
 

Robert B

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Some of these chinese companies are starting to fake the Samsung and LG batteries too. If they can make a dollar or two on each battery they fake, they will continue to do so.
 

battery bro

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It is a bit interesting because if they were really able to meet the specification like he says they were then they might be a good battery. But I'd be very surprised if that's the case...there's a reason the VTC5 hasn't been matched by any other companies yet. And this dude being misleading doesn't make me feel like they are on the up and up.

What do you find so compelling about the VTC5? I just wrote a blog post on alternatives to the VTC5 and am wondering if you think I missed something important?
 

Jon@LiionWholesale

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What do you find so compelling about the VTC5? I just wrote a blog post on alternatives to the VTC5 and am wondering if you think I missed something important?

I agree it's only a little bit better than the Samsung 25R, and I almost mentioned that in my post. I'd have to look back at my test results but I'm pretty sure at 30A the VTC5 is superior in observed mAh and voltage sag. Once you're down at reasonable currents like 20A or so it and the Samsung are very close, and that's 99% of use cases here. But that's really the only one that comes close, and Samsung puts tons of money into their R&D. If Samsung is the only company that can come close, some random battery company in China is going to have trouble.

Nice blog by the way, some interesting stuff there.
 

battery bro

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Thanks bro. Yeah you might be right on that one. I know the VTC5 was only rated at 20A however so for 30A best to go with the VTC4 or a newer cell (data from best 18650 battery). Yeah a random Chinese company has 0 chance of doing anything but re-wrapping. However there are a few big li-ion factories here that are not affiliated to the big brands, I live pretty close to one actually.
 

4biddenArtist

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well ive been vaping on those 18650's that I bought from that site and they preform just fine in parallel and recharge in my smaug 150 using usb just fine. I guess since this is my first removable battery mod I cannot compare to anything but I simply recharge it overnight and it lasts all day. It stops charging at 4.23 V and I dont let it get below 3.23 before I start recharging it. Is there a depletion limit I should pay attention to?
 

Rommel

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I use the real Sonys i got left in my low low builds, and above 0.2 i use 25Rs. Just easier. And im pretty much grown over builds below 0.15 ohms anyways, just too hot and stupid.
 

nightshard

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The fact that a VTC looks less fake on the outside, doesn't necessarily mean that it is less fake on the inside.
 

Browncoat

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At this point, isn't it almost certain to say that any Sony VTC5 on the market today has about a 99% chance to be fake?

I don't know why this keeps getting beat to death when Sony issued a statement over a year ago that they quit making them. That means any stock had over a year to deplete, if there was ever any stock to begin with, given their high demand.
 

battery bro

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Rather have an authentic 20A then a most likely fake 30A
Faking battery wraps is so easy, you just need the print the right markings on it, hell you can even buy battery wraps at fasttech.
Here's an example of some "authentic" Samsung ICR18650-22P
https://www.fasttech.com/products/1/10012801/2155701-18650-battery-sleeve-pvc-heat-shrinkable-tube

Holy crap! haha, that must be illegal. o_O Actively promoting Samsung counterfeits. Another reason to always test your cells, thanks for the link.
 

James

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hummmm I am going to wrap my battery's with these and go to a Cloud Comp. and have some fun .
 

5150sick

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Hi guys! Noob here. This is so helpful. But the question I have now is, what 18650 should I be using?

Any of the big 3 sony, lg, or samsung as long as they are high drain with a 20amp continuous rating and above.

A lot of people like the 2500mAh samsung 25r's
 
Any of the big 3 sony, lg, or samsung as long as they are high drain with a 20amp continuous rating and above.

A lot of people like the 2500mAh samsung 25r's


Thanks 5150sick! :D
Are there fake 2500mAh samsung 25r's also?
I'm looking for some brands or 18650's that doesn't have clones/fakes. :D
Just to be sure that I won't be buying fakes/clones. :D
 

5150sick

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I have never heard of them being faked but that doesn't mean that it will not happen.

As long as you buy from a reputable seller you should be fine.

Where do you plan on buying from a local shop or online?
 
I have never heard of them being faked but that doesn't mean that it will not happen.

As long as you buy from a reputable seller you should be fine.

Where do you plan on buying from a local shop or online?


Planning to buy it from our local shop.
Bought my VTC4 at the local shop near our place, and when I read this post I started checking my VTC4.
And I was able to find out that it is indeed authentic. But since I now know that there are fake VTC4s.. :D I'm planning to buy other 18650 brands :D
I'm looking at the LG HG2 currently. What can you say about this batt??
 

5150sick

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5150sick

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Those are the same batteries i use in my RX200's.
They will be perfect for the 2/3
 
Those are the same batteries i use in my RX200's.
They will be perfect for the 2/3

It's decided then. I'm going to get the LG HG2. :D Thank you so much for helping me. :D Next would be the atomizer. :D
I'm using Vapebreed 22mm right now. I'm planning to get a tank so that I don't have to keep on dripping. Right now I'm planning to buy the Avocado 24mm. Any RDTA's you think would be better?
 

5150sick

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It's decided then. I'm going to get the LG HG2. :D Thank you so much for helping me. :D Next would be the atomizer. :D
I'm using Vapebreed 22mm right now. I'm planning to get a tank so that I don't have to keep on dripping. Right now I'm planning to buy the Avocado 24mm. Any RDTA's you think would be better?

I have no experience with that RTA but I haven't heard anything bad about it.

I use the Augvape Boreas RTA (I have four in use and a 5th still in the box) and I like the velocity style deck and the fact that it comes with two decks.
I have four extra decks already built and wicked for if i'm in a rush and I don't have time to recoil and/or rewick the one that's in there.

I have also heard great things about the Aromamizer Supreme (most people say it is a Boreas that is built better) but every time I went to buy one I was able to get two Boreas RTAs for the same price as only one Aromamizer Supreme so I just got two of the Boreas RTAs instead.

I would suggest you watch youtube reviews and make sure that you are OK with the wicking method of whichever you buy because you don't want to get something with an almost impossible learning curve when it comes to wicking.
 

5150sick

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But you definitely need a 24mm or 25mm RTA for that device.

The flavor is better than a 22mm and it's way easier to wick & coil than a 22mm.
 
I have no experience with that RTA but I haven't heard anything bad about it.

I use the Augvape Boreas RTA (I have four in use and a 5th still in the box) and I like the velocity style deck and the fact that it comes with two decks.
I have four extra decks already built and wicked for if i'm in a rush and I don't have time to recoil and/or rewick the one that's in there.

I have also heard great things about the Aromamizer Supreme (most people say it is a Boreas that is built better) but every time I went to buy one I was able to get two Boreas RTAs for the same price as only one Aromamizer Supreme so I just got two of the Boreas RTAs instead.

I would suggest you watch youtube reviews and make sure that you are OK with the wicking method of whichever you buy because you don't want to get something with an almost impossible learning curve when it comes to wicking.


Noted! :D
Thanks for the info.. I also looked at the RTA's that you have then called the local shop we have here in the Philippines but it is not available. :(
 

5150sick

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If you can get the Avocado 24mm locally then you might as well go for it.
Geek Vape puts out good stuff usually.
 

5150sick

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Come back and let me know how it goes once you get it and wick it up.

If it were me I'd watch a YouTube video on proper wicking of that particular RTA to give me some pointers on how to go about getlting it wicked the best way possible.
 

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