You can trust Nitecore to deliver a safe, fast, and efficient charge to all your rechargeable batteries, but for Vapers, Nitecore is definitely the right choice. ( not to mention their new battery!) Flipping over to the topside of the board, we are presented with more differences. Every single component is different. Even though the capacitors on the board on the non-genuine charger have Nitecore wraps on them and are the same (purportedly, basing this on the wrap only) rating/values, they're not the same components underneath which leads me to think that the counterfeiting goes down to component level too. The first thing that caught my eye was the low voltage input power side of the board. The genuine charger uses a single 1500uF capacity next to the transformer. The non-genuine one uses two 470uF ones instead. The transformer itself is different too. While the fake one doesn't have the previously seen "NITECOKE" wrap, it's marking is on the wrong side and its notably smaller. I've not stripped it further as there's no real need.

Im not going to cover the plug in this. The plug was quite obviously not fit for purpose. It was a non EU standard, un-fused and totally ridiculous plug so we'll leave it at that.What i wanted to cover, are the differences in external and internal quality. I'm not going to go too far into things at board component level because i simply don't have the time, but i will cover what's needed. Expanded compatibility to support 3.7V and 4.35V batteries allows you to charge a host of batteries with a single charger. Compatible with 1.2V, 3.7V, 4.2V and 4.35V. By simple operation with the V button it is easy to set charging voltage in each slot independently. The NEW i4 can intelligently select the most appropriate charging current based on automatic battery capacity detection. IMR battery restoration will restore 0V depleted cells by pressing and holding both the C and V buttons simultaneously. The Nitecore i4 is a 4-cell charger, but that is the least of it. There are many battery chargers on the market, and they all charge various battery types. The thing with Nitecore chargers is that Nitecore knows, they understand, that there is the right way to recharge a battery, and a “bad” way to recharge a battery, and while I still trust my older Nitecore i4, this new one blows the doors off it. And, how many Chargers do you know of that carry a full 12-month warranty?

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The problem is that most battery chargers won’t alert the user to the improper insertion. The Nitecore i4 does, and it does so immediately. All the LED lights above the battery slot light up and blink when the battery was inserted upside down. This won’t prevent every incident, sometimes people are in such a hurry the battery will go in the wrong way and the user walks away without even looking. But, at least now if the user hangs around for even a second, the chances of noticing the blinking lights are greater. Lisa loves this feature by the way, and has caught herself 4 times since she began using her i4. The New i4 can charge up to 1.5A in one slot, making the maximum output 1500mA, double the output of the old i4 at 750mA. Compatible with 1.2V, 3.7V, 4.2V and 4.35V batteries, the Nitecore charger can be set using the 'V' button to select the desired voltage in each bay. With the yellow and blue light, it will show the status of your battery if it is full or currently in charging stage. To ensure your safety and maintain the battery’s life and durability, we recommend you follow these rules: Overall, the Nitecore Intellicharger i4 is a must-have for all your rechargeable batteries. It is simple to use and charge.

Notice anything? I immediately spotted a few things in customer photos posted on social media before i even had one to play with. The positive posts on the charger are too far sunk into the casing and don't sit flush with it either. There are gaps all around them, the genuine ones are a tight fit. On arrival, it's more pronounced than i thought. They're also very uneven wobbly. We'll see why later... But there are certainly better dedicated NiMH chargers out there. And the Li-ion charger market has expanded a lot in recent years too. There are now more sophisticated chargers that cost more but offer significant additional features (e.g., the option to set the max charge current, or read out battery voltage during charging). If you need a dedicated Li-ion-only charger, you may want to consider investing a bit more for an expanded feature set. But if you want combined Li-ion/NiMH support (and at a reasonable price), the i4 and i2 seem to continue to fit the bill. Shortly after installing the Nitecore i4 chargers in our charging stations I was told of an upcoming 18650 cell by Nitecore, a 3100mAh, 35A, 3.7V cell that would be ideal for all the dual, triple, and quadruple box mods in play at Spinfuel VAPE HQ.The Nitecore i4 also has a timeout feature that will allow a battery to charge for up to 20 hours. Once that 20 hours expires the charger stops charging that slot, and displays a full charge status. Without it, those of us that leave our batteries in our chargers could experience a possible explosion, especially if the battery we’re charging is of low quality, like the tens of thousands of counterfeit batteries. Being in the vape industry myself, as someone that is exposed to at least a hundred new mods each year, I can’t but wonder how many box mods the average vaping enthusiast owns, and how often the enthusiasts upgrade or replace their mods. I’m told the average number is 3 mods per Vaper, and in 2017 at least half of them will own a dual 18650 box mod, while larger and larger numbers of Vapers will own mods that require three and four 18650 cells. Any way you slice it, that’s a lot of batteries to care for, and keep charged.