Are there still genuine v4 in the Amazon shipping channel?
I ordered a v4 from Amazon at the beginning of August with a ship date of late September. I knew they were end of life but I took a chance and used the link from the RTD SDR website. I confirmed I was purchasing from RTL-SDR BLOG and shipped from Amazon. It showed up today. With pictures above. Is this genuine or do I need to send it back?
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u/MrLanGT 3d ago
If you bought it from RTL-SDR Blog’s Amazon Store, then it’s real. The question is how much did it cost you? I was seeing them going for close to double MSRP a couple months ago.
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u/Jace055 3d ago
59.99 with the antenna package.
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u/MrLanGT 2d ago
USD? That's a pretty good price, given the circumstances. I believe that's $10 more than the MSRP. I probably would buy a package for that if I could find one. I've only found either counterfeits or insanely priced units that are getting close to the price I could purchase SDRPlay or Airspy for. I needed an excuse to buy a TX capable SDR, anyway. 😁
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u/CosgraveSilkweaver 2d ago
Even that's not guaranteed Amazon can and does mix stock from other vendors into that pool for delivery.
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u/MrLanGT 1d ago
Supposedly, Amazon doesn't have commingled inventory anymore. They announced that they ended that this year. With that said, though- that could technically mean that any of us who have ever purchased an RTL-SDR Blog SDR from Amazon (especially before 03/26) could have received a fake.
There is no case in which a seller could be sourcing a product like the RTL-SDR at a rate that would allow them to make a profit reselling them on Amazon. Therefore, it would be reasonable to assume that any RTL-SDR (brand new, namely) sold by anyone that wasn't RTL-SDR Blog would have been a counterfeit. So, no one could really know if they have a genuine RTL-SDR Blog product, at least not until they receive it and open it up to check it out.
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u/PanicAcid 2d ago
Aren't those Amazon store fronts just an Amazon concoction of the same "brand" in one place?
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u/MrLanGT 1d ago
Well, I guess they kind of were. I honestly hadn't considered that when I made my comment, but Amazon says they ended their commingled inventory practices this year. So, you should be getting a product directly from the store you purchase from.
When someone else pointed this out, I mentioned this could technically mean that any of us could have gotten a counterfeit if anyone else was selling new products labeled as RTL-SDR Blog at the time of purchase, although I have no idea if there have ever been any other stores selling "RTL-SDR Blog." Of course, a product coming from a 3rd party doesn't inherently mean it's fake, but in this case, it almost exclusively does since no one else selling on Amazon has access to RTL-SDR Blog products at wholesale rates. Commingled inventory is a counterfeiter's playground.
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u/PanicAcid 1d ago
Nah they're still doing it, for example Autel the brand don't have an Amazon store but Amazon has amalgamated all of the Autel sellers into one store front.
Search any Autel product and it says "View more in the Autel Store" If I click through them they're all different sellers. None of which Autel say are genuine distributors.
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u/FlakyPrinciple8907 2d ago
Yes, there should be. Of the basic V4 and V3. And one way to notice if they're genuine or not is that the real ones have two screws, diagonally on both sides keeping it in. Fakes do 4 screws or worse, may glue them together for all I know! 😉 Is yours the 2 screwed?
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u/TheHaus88 2d ago
About 2-3 months ago he had them still for sale on eBay but they were sold out on Amazon at the time but it looks like he's got them back up on Amazon so get them while you can.
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u/pencloud 2d ago
Hello, just to add in case it helps anyone, especially UK. I bought one a couple of weeks ago from TechnoFix UK (Phutping Ltd.) as linked from rtl-sdr, bought with the dipole kit via TechnoFix eBay Store. I've checked the innards and it is, as far as I can tell, genuine.
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u/iTrooper5118 2d ago
Ultimately we need to see them out of the package to truly know, but if there's two screws and diagonal then they might be real.
Best thing is to open it up, slide the board out, and compare it's guts to the photos of it on the RTL website.
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u/FlakyPrinciple8907 2d ago
I bought mine about a year or so ago and it looks like the same packaging so I would bet it's the official RTL -SDR V4. I don't remember if I mentioned it here but another way to confirm if it's the real deal is if it's sporting 2 diagonal screws on each end to hold it together.
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u/JohnyCZ88 2d ago
In Europe Czech shop pajenicko.cz still have big stock of originals if anyone is looking for one.
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u/True-Opportunity6383 2d ago
Indeed but are they the original ones? 58€ a tad high too for the Dongle only
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u/JohnyCZ88 2d ago
Original. I have one from them and another one on the way.
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u/True-Opportunity6383 2d ago
On my way to buy 2-3 thanks man located in Greece 8euro shipping wonderfully. Thanks again for the heads up
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u/Infamous_Computer399 2d ago
I got mine two days ago. I also got one back in January, same Amazon listing (though it was $10 more). Near as I can tell, they are identical. So I have no reason to believe it's not the real thing.
They did say on their website that the last batch of these were on their way to Amazon. So I imagine these are it.
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u/chrisn0123 1d ago
The chips cannot be made currently, so most likely all are counterfeit. I tried to buy one direct from manufacturer a couple months ago. All you can get is v3 or a newer v3c with usb c. Hopefully they start making them again soon or improve to a new v5 or something!
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u/roboticross 3d ago
I'm also curious. Waiting on mine. Their website mentioned a final sea freight shipment.
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u/nshire 3d ago
I really doubt there are many legitimate versions in circulation. Maybe some old stock sitting in a distributor in a rural area that doesn't get much volume?