Generic Replacement Battery for M18xR2

As Dell no longer sells genuine batteries, I just bought a generic replacement battery for my M18xR2. I rang Dell Tech Support first to check that the battery i intended buying was suitable and they confirmed it was.
My problem is the battery life. When new my original battery would last at least 4.5 hours on iGPU. This generic one barely lasts 2.5 hours on iGPU.
Is this normal or do I have a faulty one?

 

The OEM battery was a whopping 12 cell, very few generic batteries will actually give you a 12 cell battery. More likely you got a 6 cell

 

Did you buy the battery from a seller listed in China? If so, you will get a low quality battery. Not much you can do other than look for someone in some other region (not China) that is selling a used or OEM battery.


-imest

 

I got quite a few OEM batteries. Not sure how long it will last. But i'm happy to sell you one or a couple. lol

 

No the seller was in Australia (where I am). The battery is a 12 cell. I have batteryinfoview running it says Manufacturer is SIMPLO, Full Charged Capacity 97,650mWh. My tech mate took a look at it yesterday and he said the specs seem identical to the original (however I guess it wouldn't be hard to make fake labels and stick them on a battery) but the stats from batteryviewinfo suggest it is the same as the original.
Maybe I just got a faulty one.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/96Wh-BTYAV...912494&hash=item1a6e3eb1ce:g:WbYAAOSw~7JcfWpC

 

That's the same as the one I bought, same part number but if you read the fine print at the bottom of description it says :
Country of Manufacture: China
Brand: For Dell Battery
Compatible Product Line: For Dell Alienware M18x R1 R2
Compatible Brand: For Dell
Compatible Model: Alienware M18x,Alienware M18x R1,Alienware M18x

I got a reply from the seller when I complained about the poor battery life

Hi sorry to hear that ,

most of our battery max are about 2-3 Hours.
only the one with come from the laptop itself is 3-5 hours

That speaks for itself. Cheap crap

 

Weird, the one I got lasts fine. I get 3 1/2 hours with my usage. Old battery was around 3 hours. New battery is 5% wear, old one was like 15% wear. I mainly got it to hot swap and have 2x battery life.

 

Maybe you got a good battery. Sounds like I picked a bad one. Time will tell I suppose as I rarely run my laptop on battery except during power outages. I have a choice to make, send it back for a refund and buy from a different vendor or keep it and grin and bear it. 2 weeks to make up my mind.

 

I got another battery today from a different retailer. Identical to the previous one with same battery life

 

Here is where I stand on laptops due to my experience with battery life: My battery died and would not hold a charge anymore. I bought a replacement battery for my 18 and it is at about 13% wear (when I got it). It's not the same up time but pretty close. Here is the issue I am having, I would like my laptop to be dependable for at least another 3 years but the battery only lasts about 2 years... Dell stopped making the battery, so this just puts me off to buying a gaming laptop in the future. Portability is nice but this experience has been a headache.

/rant


-imest