s5 Battery situation in 2019 (ANKER no longer available!)

[TRS-80]

So, I am still rocking the s5. Not only that, but everyone in the household is, due to my recommendation, which was/is in turn due to the replaceable battery, good LineageOS support, accessories (OtterBox cases, etc.) available, etc...

So, I went looking for another battery recently, only to discover that the market has changed a lot since the last time I bought an ANKER battery (maybe a year or so ago). So now it seems that my go-to battery the last couple years (ANKER) are no longer available(!).

Factory batteries I don't think have been made for some time. ANKER made pretty good aftermarket ones, but seem to have gotten out of that business (probably because the s5 is no longer a "mainstream" phone?).

So we are back to random lying people on eBay and even Amazon. You cannot even get a legitimate OEM battery on Amazon for Chrissakes, the sellers are just straight up lying and clearly neither Amazon nor eBay give a single good G.D.

So what to do? Just take a flyer on any of the random no-name s5 batteries?

I actually saw an "s5 OEM" battery on AliExpress for $10 and thought I'd give it a try. I mean, it can't be worse that any of the (likely garbage) available on eBay or Amazon, so I might as well save myself some money, amirite?

 

[Fox Mulder]

Most likely that "OEM" battery is fake. If it's real, it's been sitting around for years in a discharged state so it's probably NG. Either way best to avoid unless you don't mind potentially wasting $10. Although the third-party batteries are a crapshoot you may still be better off with those as they are more likely to at least be newer stock.
I had my S5 for several years (still do, but it's now "decommissioned"). I also was a fan of the Anker battery and I had one in the S5 for quite some time. To its credit it did not swell like the several OEM's I had. Toward the end of the S5's active service I wanted to replace the battery and came across the same situation as you did, and I ended up purchasing an "Ombar" brand battery. I can't really provide a full review of it as I took the phone out of service not long afterward.

 

[TRS-80]

Well, these batteries are pretty cheap, so I decided just to dive in. You know, for science, etc...

The AliExpress batteries are $11-12 for "OEM" with aftermarket being ~$6-8. I actually found some batteries cheaper on eBay!

I don't have any affiliation to any of these links (and hope they are OK to post) but honestly if you do a search for s5 battery* on eBay these will be right near the top:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Original-OEM-Samsung-2800mAh-Genuine-Battery-For-Galaxy-S5-EB-BG900BBU-BBZ/264440688426

^ This one is $9.99 with a "5 year warranty" and 175 sold. If you buy 2 they are 8.99 ea, if you buy 4 they are 7.99 ea (IIRC). I have serious doubts as to the warranty, but I ordered two of them anyway.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-OEM-Samsung-EB-BG900BBU-EB-BG900BBZ-EB-BG900BBE-900BBC-Galaxy-S5-NFC-Battery/262168991757

^ This one was a little further down the list, $6.95 with 8,061 sold and the ad states explicitly no warranty, IIRC. I ordered one of them.

Both of the eBay batteries are free shipping.

* I don't think I actually searched for "s5 battery" but rather the part number which is EB-BG900BBU (according to the battery that is currently in my s5 SM-G900T1).

Now, all I need to remember to do is come report back here in a few months to a year. XD Someone maybe poke me if I forget.

 

[TRS-80]

Most likely that "OEM" battery is fake.

I have no doubt that all of these "OEM" batteries are fake.

But who knows, sometimes the Chinese make pretty good knock offs. Some times the supplier factories still keep making them. Who knows. Without being involved in the battery industry and becoming intimately familiar with the supply chain, there is no way for us to know. I think it's basically a crap shoot. Which is why I bought (3) batteries when I only need 1 or maybe 2 right now.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯