Did I buy a fake Xiaomi Power Bank?

EDC Gear for Flashlight Carriers
1

I bought this from an Aliexpress vendor. Afterwards I begin to see all the references to dangerous fakes. Mine arrived today and it doesn’t match the ‘real’ and ‘fake’ pictures I see online when I compare.

Here is mine:

Here is a pic from someone posting fake vs real photos. Mine doesn’t look like either other than the silver battery color. But my batteries do not have LG letters as suggested by some websites. I am wondering if either mine is an updated real one, or an updated fake one? I’m hesitant to using it after what I read online.

2

Lots of reviews saying they also recieved fakes, not genuine LG or Samsung cells inside.

3

I do not know what to think. The finish and tolerances were superb on mine. I’m having a hard time believing it is fake and can’t seem to find any specific aspect that is common on the other fakes. I’ve seen those other websites with their pictures and none of them confirm or prove mine is fake (or real for that matter).

4

So I’m pretty convinced mine is fake. I will report to Aliexpress but don’t expect them to do anything.

I would be Ok with it if it works close to a real one but am just worried about it.

5

I would sent Xiaomi an email with picture of the insides. They will hopefully be able to tell you for sure.
http://www.mi.com/en/contact

6

The circuit board on the genuine one should be easy to identify from that linked page, I think? where they identify the chips you should see and explain how they work and what they should handle.

7

I bought 2 “XiaoMi” 10400mAh powerbank from Aliexpress 2mths ago. They turned out to be fakes and I had open a dispute for it since seller claimed that they were genuine in the first place. I got full refund without reshipping it back. Do not let those counterfeit sellers get away.

XiaoMi online store is now opened for my country. Doubt I will be getting from anywhere else from now.

8

I emailed Xiaomi support. They said they can’t tell from pictures and the item must be inspected by an engineer at a support location.

9

That sux… My PCB is different from these photos too. Mine comes with blue 18650.

10

of course, it’s very difficult to forward the picture to one of those engineers… why don’t they just say “we don’t care about your problems”?

11

I don’t blame them. They probably source components from different suppliers and there can be variability in parts used in the ‘real thing.’ It seems reasonable to want to inspect goods in person.

My challenge now is deciding what to do with the device. It may very well work adequately. I believe the concern is that people complain of a risk of explosion during charging of a hi-drain device like an iPad. Right now I am charging my iPad with it and will do this numerous times to see if anything happens. I’ll keep the iPad and Xiaomi Power Supply in a steel cabinet during my tests :open_mouth:

Any other advice?

12

freeme - seller responded and offered: “hi,i give you 10usd,ok?”

I responded again asserting they were fake and said Aliexpress policy was to give a refund for counterfeit goods. What did you say to your seller to get a full refund?

13

> they probably source components from different suppliers and
> there can be variability in parts used in the ‘real thing.’

It’s not the same thing if it’s built using different parts they can’t even recognize.

No test or recommendation stands if they aren’t consistently building a product.

Selling pretty-looking shells holding whatever was available stuffed inside is not honest business practice.

14

I opened a dispute directly and presented the proofs that i have gathered from the net. I demanded for fully refunds without shipping back. I will lost money if I ship out from my own pocket. Mostly likely seller will recycle the goods to the next victim.

Seller was furious but he accepted my demand. I did not give any feedback for this transaction though(seller has my contacts). Dispute was not escalated to Aliexpress. No payment is required for last credit card bill.

15

Can someone explain the Aliexpress dispute process in my case? There online info is confusing.

  • I opened my dispute May. 07 2014 and attached an image of the no-name batteries inside
  • Next day seller offered to give me $10. Same day I responded and said I want a full refund since it was fake goods
  • Since then no more response

At this point (after 3 days) does the dispute automatically go to Aliexpress to decide? Their info said they would require the seller to prove it was real. Will Aliexpress seriously challenge the seller for authenticity or will they accept most anything the seller produces (like a fake bill of sale or something)

Or do I need to do anything else? Item clearly fake and not working anywhere to specs.

16

I think once the dispute rolls over it automatically processes the refund to whatever terms you set.

I’m dealing w/ the same issue.

17

Too funny. The seller offered me $10 again to settle the dispute. This time he said “hi,i give you 10usd,ok?but give me five star,ok?”

18

Aliexpress said they are refunding my money! I guess I am surprised it worked out in my favor. Of course will need the refund to actually happen, but I suspect it will

19

That’s great!

Some clear pics of a real XiaoMi charger PCB would be helpful to know what TI chips they use. I quite like the look of this power bank.

20

I’ve stumbled upon this Xiaomi power bank here.

They claim it’s the real deal with Samsung batteries. Could someone confirm that by the pics?