Reputable BL-5C battery brands?

I know who the ‘safe’ vendors are for 18650 cells, but what about BL-5C cells? Which brands can be trusted and which ones are to be avoided?

Thanks!

Aftermarket cellphone?
Good luck with that. The ‘originals’ IF you CAN get them are usually expensive.
The cheap replacements are generally not so good to lousy. I’ve tried lots for various phones and cameras. I set up a pretty good holder to test them fairly accurately and reliably. Often the battery I’m hoping to replace is better than the ‘new’ ones.

The anecdotal reviews are generally worthless. They have no hard data to support their statements.

In a local store I got one for my father for 15€, 6 month warranty, but it was an original from Nokia. Not sure what other reliable brands are out there… :zipper_mouth_face:

Yeah, the OEM Nokia ones are $20 a pop. Wondering if Nokia still makes them or if it’s some old stock.

Can’te be sure about that, didn’t look for any information in it :zipper_mouth_face: I may check when I go home again, but …not sure when it will happen :zipper_mouth_face:

See if you can source one from Empire. Otherwise see if there’s is a Batteries Plus near you

Why would you think a Batteries + would have a superior, or at least decent replacement? Not criticizing, I’m wondering and on the same kind of quest.
The only experience I’ve had with them is one visit, looked at their store stock, and questioned the clerk a bit. He didn’t know much. Stock could have been from anywhere. Clerk had no idea if or how it might be vetted.

I can’t say the source of their batteries (these days, Duracell branding - other vendors are clearly marked like Empire). But they’re overall pretty good as long as the store is following corporate policy as far as how old their shelf stock batteries are.

The Columbus, Ohio area batteries plus franchise is one of the best in the country, so there is often knowledgeable staff available.

Their bulbs used to be excellent but they’ve been losing quality over several years to compete on price.

Their 18650s are still garbage though.

Thanks.

Not seeing anything on Empire’s website.

On Batteries Plus website, the only thing they’re showing is the Nokia one for a measly $40. If I paid that much, I would be doubling the value of the portable radio that this battery is intended for. :slight_smile:

Thinking I might not keep that radio because I am not a fan of having to deal with yet another battery type. For $30 more, I can get a nicer radio that uses 18650 cell - much more to my liking as I already have plenty of those.

Thanks all.

April 23 2019 I bought a cell-phone battery from Subtel GmbH (D) to replace a Nokia BP-5M.
Barely 21 months old now, and it already starts bulging. BEWARE

Clues written on it are:

model CS-NK5M,
(make?) SLX-Longer,
(trade?) Cameron Sino.