Hi, I'm picking up my new Phantom 4 tomorrow  and I was wandering if anyone has tried non branded smart batteries. They supposedly come from the same supplier but for half the price of dji batteries, anyone tried them, are they worth a punt or could they cause damage to my quad?

Hello jprocter, it is not recommended to use any 3rd-party batteries.

It will become useless when DJI update the phantom 4 and battery firmware to stop third party battery.

Why would you buy a drone that's expensive and then risk a 3rd party battery does not make sense

DJI would not warranty your drone if you had any issues in the field, and to be honest why should they

Where in the uk are you ?

I made this mistake with a phantom advanced....I got the bird for 700.00 and got 2 aftermarket batteries for free from a friend...... They worked great, they seemed  better then the stock P3 batteries in relation to flight time. So I bought 2 more.

After the latest Update they were were recognized as non Dji by the firmware and became worthless...  With a phantom 4 I would never have risked it.  But an older discounted P3 ....  I would have preferred it ...(if DJI would have left the batteries alone.) in the USA  we actually have laws against that kind of thing to protect us from greedy manufacturers. Apperantly those  don't apply to Dji?

Summed up.... Don't buy aftermarket until your bird is discontinued and no longer updated by DJI ..... Or if you do then don't ever update.

Message received and understood got 2 spare DJI batteries.

Just curious:

Does that sound like a monopoly?  

No?

How would you feel if you buy a Toyota and they say you have to buy their $400 battery to maintain the warranty,
instead of being able to go to Sears and buy a great D.H. which may give you 40% more power, for $140?

Open source tends to win; just ask google.

MD_Icarus Posted at 2016-6-24 17:11
Just curious:

Does that sound like a monopoly?  

Possibly, ask Windows. Open source doesn't usually mean quality though.

jprocter Posted at 2016-6-25 10:03
Possibly, ask Windows. Open source doesn't usually mean quality though.

That would only apply if we could *only* install Windows on our computers. Open source very often does mean quality - hence most of the internet is ran on linux servers.

Definitely a shame they stopped people using 3rd party batteries on the P3, especially if they worked better. I'd understand DJI not abiding by warranty, but to stop them altogether?

Makes you wonder just how much they cost to manufacturer when apple and others were giving them away free or for half price. Personally I think the DJI batteries are hugely marked up.

gasram Posted at 2016-6-25 20:58
Makes you wonder just how much they cost to manufacturer when apple and others were giving them away ...

The fact that Apple gave it away didn't say much about the cost of the battery.  It could be that the price of the drone itself has been marked up a lot(which is  true) so it makes sense to Apple to give away an $100 battery.

To know the real cost of battery isn't difficult, just check high-quality after-market batteries of Phantom 3, and you'll get the picture.

To the OP, the Phantom 4 doesn't allow 3rd party batteries, nor should you use it to save the $20.

jprocter Posted at 2016-6-24 11:43
Message received and understood got 2 spare DJI batteries.

Good move. There is a reason that the others are half the price. I don't use third party anything.

calls4u2 Posted at 2016-6-25 20:30
That would only apply if we could *only* install Windows on our computers. Open source very often  ...

Most Linux systems running websites are backed by a manufacturer such as Red Hat that I wouldn't call open source.  Generic Linux and most open source can't touch a manufacturer IMHO.  Cleanflight is a great example.  It is an industry leader in open source but can't touch the likes of DJI, Yuneec and Parrot.  I love cleanflight but limit it to quad racers and proximity flight - I wouldn't dare put a $500 camera under it.  

The Roach Posted at 2016-9-3 20:36
Most Linux systems running websites are backed by a manufacturer such as Red Hat that I wouldn't c ...

I rarely come across Redhat these days. I find that Debian seems to be the flavor of choice the past few years. Yeah there are some large companies still using Redhat based systems, but they're mostly the ones that started up in the 'old' days and did it because Redhat offered commercial support, the same reason many still use Cisco gear (our of date and often insecure) instead of solid up to date open source solutions. These servers and their admins just find it too much of a chore to update everything to run on something like Debian. I'd definitely say most websites are running open source and tweaking it to their requirements.

I'd have moved completely away from Windows by now, but Windows 10 as held me here. That said, all of our servers and some of our workstations are enjoying Debian and have done for years.

calls4u2 Posted at 2016-9-5 21:14
I rarely come across Redhat these days. I find that Debian seems to be the flavor of choice the pa ...

Cool - you sound like a fellow IT guy?  We also have some Linux systems but mostly dedicated to a specific system, such as our phone system and some networking hardware.

Don't use 3rd party batteries! I had a friend who used one and it blew up and caused major damage in property.

The Roach Posted at 2016-9-6 16:26
Cool - you sound like a fellow IT guy?  We also have some Linux systems but mostly dedicated to a  ...

Ah... Phone systems - Check my youtube for some stuff from one of mine ;)

Yeah, you got me all worked out, been doing IT for around 35 years now, run my own business and most of it revolves around repairing Windows systems or Macs, once in the past year have I been asked to 'repair' a broken linux box. The rest of my time is spent developing (and messing) in Linux - Sometimes I take time to fly my drone too :p

Probably find most of your network hardware runs Linux under the hood, heck, doesn't everything!

Wpgubaru Posted at 2016-9-6 23:23
Don't use 3rd party batteries! I had a friend who used one and it blew up and caused major damage in ...

I'm looking at a cheap phone battery on my desk right now - I think it'll be spending the night elsewhere though - Rather swollen and looks dangerous!

Sad thing is that someone somewhere IS making better batteries than the ones supplied with equipment, but finding those ones among all the Chinese cheapo ones is too daunting.

Couldn't possibly have more problems with third party batteries than I've had with the real batteries lol  2 out of 3 don't work in less than a year.