Nitecore UMS4 Battery Charger

Tl;dr:

1. New version of nitecore UMS4 has an insignificant problem, energy saving mode won't activated. The screen won't go dim after 3minutes as stated in the manual. 
2. The negative pole (silver plate) different design is intended, only the older version has the "double tip points" design at the silver plate (negative pole).

The day I received my order, Nitecore charger UMS4 from a seller in shopee.my, my experience with the purchase was like taking a rollercoaster.

Reasons:
- the product received is not look the same as advertised in the official Nitecore website.
- the well-known electrical device reviewer has the UMS4 technical review published earlier, the author has attachment of the UMS4 model which clearly showing the silver negative pole has different design.

I was freaked out as I have confirmed with the dealer to ensure the genuineness of the product.

4 flat design negative pole

Nitecore is a very popular brand for many kind of battery recharging product, Nitecore also aware of counterfeiting issues they are facing so far. They did a good job here where every product sold has a unique validation code at the box. The code is hidden under the scratch-off masking, so only you can access to the code. Once you have the validation code, go to their Nitecore validation webpage to finish up the validation. Each unique validation code can only be activated once.

Validation Code

Ok, let's get back to my "seemingly fake product" issue. I went directly to the dealer, also contacted both info@nitecore.com and service@nitecore.com to verify my concerns about:

1. Different silver plate (negative pole) design than what's advertised in their official website
2. After 3mins of idle, the screen never go dim.

Model: UMS40045000 

It take a little bit of patient to wait for their response...

Their responses are as below:

from info@nitecore.com

from nitecore.cn (service@nitecore.com)

As info@nitecore.com claimed, as long as you manage to validate with your validation code you get from the the box, it's 99.99% genuine. I wasn't satisfy with the missing 0.001% as the scratch-off sticker looks like something I can get somewhere else and stick it on a box.

That's when I moved on sending second email to service@nitecore.com, and they confirmed my enquiries with:

筒友您好，很抱歉产品出现故障给您造成不便，
(We're sorry about the inconveniences caused by the faulty product)
对于您提出的两个问题：
(replies for each of your questions)

1.新版本的负极片统一都设计成这样的。
(All the new model has the negative pole plate design in such.)
2.新版本确实是存在您提出的问题，不过是不影响功能使用的，如确实对您的使用体验带来困扰建议您寄回我司后续进行保修处理。
(All the new model does has such problem that you've raised, but it doesn't affect normal functionalities of the device, if the problem causing trouble to your experiences, we recommend that you send it back to us for warranty processing.)
希望能帮到您，感谢您对奈特科尔的支持！
(Hope it helps, thank you for supporting Nitecore)

All in all, so Nitecore "now" awares of the problem with their UMS4 product, and now my concerns about getting a fake product has been answered. What's left now is my decision about whether should I send it back for warranty processing.

So, now I know I don't get to enjoy the energy saving mode while it doesn't hurt much having the screen on in full brightness all the time (though it hurts to think about the brightness actually consume more electricity power.). However, I'm still considering whether should I send it back for warranty processing.

My model's version code: UMS40045000

Maybe escaping the version code above could help you avoid the same fate like mine. You can find the version code printed at the yellow sticker sticked right behind at the bottom of your UMS4 charger.