My review of the ZeroLemon LG G4 8500mAh Extended Battery - G4 Accessories

I have the ZeroLemon 8500mAh Extended Battery for the LG G4, courtesy of ZeroLemon (thanks guys).
Now I've done the (text) review on Amazon and YouTube but you know I like to do a bit of a rewrite for here. In short, this is a case and very extended battery where the case also acts as the back cover. The extension of the battery is basically a rectangular cube stuck on the back of the stock battery. Sounds simple, and it works great.
As you know, my tests for these are basically torture tests. I'm sure some of you who strive for minimal power usage could get over a week of life. However, I prefer to turn off any power saving, throw on WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS etc, use Google Maps on full brightness while I'm driving etc. I have not changed my habits in any way for this test.
For some of the screenshots, I've used Better Battery Stats and Ampere
The initial charge (straight out of box) was reported as 66% and gave about 19hr 30min worth of battery life... straight out of the box without connecting it to a charger.
Test two was to fully recharge (on a QC3 charger) and then discharge: 26hr 17min battery life with 6hr 52min screen on from the last screenshot I took before it powered off, so the actual values will be higher. Again, some high power draw uses, I'm NOT going for maximum possible battery life here.
Test 3 was roughly the same, although somehow Better Battery Stats didn't record screen on time and I've only just realized: 32hr 24min battery life from the last screenshot I took before it powered off, so the actual value will be higher.
One final test I wanted to mention, I recharged the battery in about 2hrs with the phone off. When it was on and I was using it, it took around 4hrs. Very manageable times.
The video version of this review has more details (boy taking all those screenshots took a long time):
Overall, I like it. It makes your phone 18mm thick and weigh 279.9g. I'm just fine with that for the capacity it gives. Remember, those things are preferences, not measures of quality.
The attached pictures are of the battery and case, and then the last screenshots before the phone died on one of the discharge tests.
[I received a sample for an honest review]

Dude omg i waited for someone to write up a review for this battery! Man check out My Thread for my results. Now i have a battery that has 300mah less then yours. Question: are you using a battery charger? (Without the standard charger/cable) and are you charging the phone overnight and does it discharge faster then normal?

Seven hours of sot does not seem like double the standard battery.

larsdennert said:
Seven hours of sot does not seem like double the standard battery.
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He may have to charge it like 5 Times to get it's max capacity like I did

Related

Mugen Power 1800mAh

With new roms and gps placing demands on battery life, I opted to look for an alternative. Performance hacks can only work so much before your battery dies out when you have an 1100 or 1500Mah battery. I found this battery on ebay from a store and decided to go for it and here's my findings so far....
The model number I'm testing is HLI-P6800SL and will cost you USD48.55
Here's the link in case you wanna check it out:http://www.mugenpowerbatterijen.nl/
Ebay:http://search.ebay.ca/search/search...=m37&satitle=mugen+power+batteries&category0=
*FIRST IMPRESSIONS*
1) Battery is exactly same size as the OEM, had no problems with fitting. Initially thought its increased capacity it would be make it a tighter fit, wasn't the case, PERFECT FIT!!!
2) Turned on my PPC without any hitches or glitches
3) Free shipping, makes this even sweeter...
4) Juicing it up, will fill you in with a much more detailed comparative analysis, my girlfriend is a true test of battery power
5) After some extended use, battery is still cool, haven't experienced any over-heating some users claim
*PRELIMINARY RESULTS*
Having spent a full 36 hrs with the battery...the results are encouraging to say the least. Do keep in mind that for Li-on cells to be fully functional, they need to go thru at least 3-5 full discharge-charge cycles and this is only the 1st cycle.
I followed the manufacturer's specifications about the initial 12 hour charge, also take into consideration that this test was conditioned, i.e. I dished out extra punishment, GPS ON for every trip, BT headset on for every call, backlight at 40% (which is pretty bright) and send/receive set at 5 minute intervals.
I consider myself a heavy-user during the day (less at night) with usage being split data and voice even. I receive approximately 40-60 emails a day (some with large attachments) and make out just about as many phone calls. So without much ado, here are my results...
Testing started 09:30 when I initially placed the battery 100% and ended 02:49 when it finally discharged 0% = 17hr 19m window. So in order to rate correctly and/or approximately I took the calculation values (credit hofo_mofo) of my 1500mah battery
Talk time (4.5 hr)
Current = Rating / Time
Current = 1500 mAh / 4.5 hr
Current = 333 mA
Standby (230hr)
Current = Rating / Time
Current = 1500 mAh / 230 hr
Current = 6.5mA
Run time based on my daily usage 09:30/100% -22:23/ 0% = 13hr 13min window
VERSUS 1800Mah
Talk Time = Rating / Current
Time = 1800 mAh / 333 mA
Time = 5.4hrs
Standby = Rating / Current
Time = 1800mAh / 6.5mA
Time = 277hrs
Theoretical 5.4 - 4.5/ 4.5 = 26% more power
vs.
Actual 17.19 - 13.13/ 13.13 = 31% increased capacity
I will be back to update my findings after 5 charge cycles and will note any increased or decreased performance, but for now very promising. If you use an 1100mah or any other type of battery, do the math and the numbers will pretty much tell you if it's a worthy purchase or not. I am not in any way recommending you purchase this battery, just sharing my findings. So until then....
Disclaimer this is by NO means a scientific test and results may not be typical
How about a URL and a price?
Interested in your results...
Cruisind00d said:
Interested in your results...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
co-signing thisssssss.....................
Also very interested... My Mogul came with a 1500 battery so the 1650 is a waste of time... but 1800 may be worth it.
I have the seidio 3200mAh battery
Have had it for about a month now. The thing really does perform. I use my phone all day long and rarely go below 70% it's great.
Now, if only Seidio would make the rubberized case for the extended battery things would be better.
were do u get the 3200mah battery n how much did it set u back
Seidio. I mentioned the NAME of the battery as in the name of the company. They MAKE the battery and sell it.
http://www.mugenpowerbatterijen.nl/pda_htc.html
3600
at the bottom.
Very nice review of this battery. Most of the time people just say, "it lasted a day and a half instead of half a day," as if that is any real indication of how the battery performed. You were very specific on how you use your phone and gave an analysis of your results.
They may not be entirely accurate ( due to the every day changes in your usage between the 1800 battery and original batt. ), but I still want to give you props for a decent review.
Suggestion:
Test the 1800 vs Orig using a stopwatch program and gsplayer like here:
http://www.aximsite.com/boards/vbar...gen-extended-battery-for-the-ipaq-2200-series
That way you will get a more precise comparison.
But again, good review of the battery, you were above par on that one .
sanjsrik said:
Have had it for about a month now. The thing really does perform. I use my phone all day long and rarely go below 70% it's great.
Now, if only Seidio would make the rubberized case for the extended battery things would be better.
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Click to collapse
how much depth/thickness does that battery add? will it still fit in the stock leather holster?
It added a lot of thickness to the phone exact number I'd check the Seidio site, and no, it won't fit the stock case any more
i bought a mugen extended (fat) battery for the htc tytn ii a few weeks ago and it's performance is a bit strange. while it does add plenty of power to the device, battery drains at normal rate until 14%. then it stays at 14% for a long time before it starts to go down.
so while the battery is useful, the device won't accurately display the remaining battery life. is this the case with this 1800mah mogul bat?
myenhdl said:
i bought a mugen extended (fat) battery for the htc tytn ii a few weeks ago and it's performance is a bit strange. while it does add plenty of power to the device, battery drains at normal rate until 14%. then it stays at 14% for a long time before it starts to go down.
so while the battery is useful, the device won't accurately display the remaining battery life. is this the case with this 1800mah mogul bat?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its actually quite accurate, it doesn't hang like my oem battery. I thought it was somewhat the same after the first time when it hung around 10% for more than an hour or so, then it dropped to 5%. I think when the power is that low, it drops in multiples of 5... just a thought.
Will confirm/disprove when my battery is low, come to think of it I've never seen my original battery at 8% either
origins81 said:
*PRELIMINARY RESULTS*
Having spent a full 36 hrs with the battery...the results are encouraging to say the least. Do keep in mind that for Li-on cells to be fully functional, they need to go thru at least 3-5 full discharge-charge cycles and this is only the 1st cycle.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's not Li-Ion that's for the old Nickel_MH or cadium batteries
you should never completely discharge Li-ion battery as that will damage them a bit. In fact there's people arguing you should keep your Li-ion battery as high a charge as often as possible.
Defective battery? Mogul LED blinking Red with Mugen 1800mAh
I ordered the Mugen HLI-6800SL 1800mAh standard-sized battery from www.lionbattery.com last week and got it this past Saturday. I put it in my Mogul and proceeded to charge it as per the directions (i.e. in the phone, not on a cradle, with the OEM AC adaptor). After 12 hours, I tried powering up the phone but nothing happens. Furthermore, once I tried plugging in the AC adapter into the Mogul with the battery installed, I get a blinking red LED light.
I emailed lionbattery.com about a replacement. Is this anything I can fix?
Thanks!
symptoms of a discharged battery or a battery about to discharge (end of life cycle). Best action plan at this point is to return it, here's hoping you kept the original receipt, keep me posted how it goes...
So far haven't had any problems, still outperforming my original battery. Will be back to finish my review of the battery in the next 2-3 days
What I'd like to know is who makes hard cases for these? I have a mogul and no one makes a hard case for the sliding keyboard to be functional as well. What i mean is for an extended battery for the mogul and a hard case like the seidio one (thanks seidio for dropping the ball completely on this one).
I bought that 1800MaH battery today. Also bought this: http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Black-Alumi...15036QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262
I had a case like that for my Axim, it was awesome. I really dont care that you cant use the touchscreen or keyboard without opening it, I need something rugged and with a high enough ridge buttons dont get pressed. Poor phone rides around in the center console of a Jeep all day long.
I'll post pictures and a little review once I get the items. I also have a good 2400 Mah battery and door I recently got, if anyone wants it I'll ship it in the US for $20. It's 4mm too thick, comes with back door.
Still impressed? The battery is currently out of stock at LionBattery.com

3500 extended battery decline in performance

I purchased the 3500 extended battery about 4 months ago. It was a great battery. It lasted me all day & then some off a single charge. Now it's not lasting as long as it used to. I'm having to charge in the middle of the day now. I put my original OEM battery in, & I'm getting better performance from it than with the 3500 battery now.
Anyone else experiencing less than stellar performance from the 3500 battery after having it for 4 months or longer?
cdf3 said:
I purchased the 3500 extended battery about 4 months ago. It was a great battery. It lasted me all day & then some off a single charge. Now it's not lasting as long as it used to. I'm having to charge in the middle of the day now. I put my original OEM battery in, & I'm getting better performance from it than with the 3500 battery now.
Anyone else experiencing less than stellar performance from the 3500 battery after having it for 4 months or longer?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the 2150 OEM, I can only suspect some reasons why
1) Cheap battery that does not hold charges well
2) You are draining the battery down to 0% a lot, killing the ability for it to keep a charge
3) Your phone is not calibrated properly so it shows it is charged to 100% but in fact it may have only charged it much lower
POQbum said:
I have the 2150 OEM, I can only suspect some reasons why
1) Cheap battery that does not hold charges well
2) You are draining the battery down to 0% a lot, killing the ability for it to keep a charge
3) Your phone is not calibrated properly so it shows it is charged to 100% but in fact it may have only charged it much lower
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) It's a Seidio brand, not some knock off, so it should be of good quality. It's been working fine up until the past month or so. I've had it for over 4 months now.
2) I've never drained the battery down to 0%. Contacted Seidio and they suggested that I let it drain to 0% for the next 4 to 5 charges, along with charging it an additional 2-3 hours after a complete charge. I'll see if that helps.
3) I've always had to bump charge it. It helps in making it last longer.
I don't think bump charging is helping the longevity of your battery. Not saying it doesn't last longer on a charge, but that it isn't good for the battery's overall lifespan.
cdf3 said:
3) I've always had to bump charge it. It helps in making it last longer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Draining all the way down and overcharging it are the biggest ways to kill it off. The Seideo and most other batteries I think have a fail-safe for draining it all the way down, cutting it off early before it actually does.
This article is pretty helpful about your battery, if you haven't had the chance to read it, it may benefit you:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=871051
Bump charging did it.....
Where's ma rosie at?
I have been using the 3500 for about the same length of time you have been. I haven't really noticed a drop off in performance. Maybe a very slight drop off.. not much though. Still could get 2-3 days use on one charge if I wanted to.
I have the same issue with my 3500. I will try to re-calibrate it.
4 months seems to be pretty quick for a decline in performance like that. I would press Seideo to replace it.
You can try resetting the cells to how they were when it was brand new. All you have to do is completely deplete the battery of all charge (so it wont even turn on) then short it out with 3x the voltage (a 9v battery should work, make sure to keep the polarity the same) and fully charge it again, then it will be like new!
My dad (who is an electrician) found a guide for this on ebay and bought it just for the hell of it to see if it worked. We tried it on a battery I had for an LG VX8300 I had at the time and it worked beautifully, I've been doing it ever since!
I have no idea how this works, all I know is that it just does.
cdf3 said:
1) It's a Seidio brand, not some knock off, so it should be of good quality. It's been working fine up until the past month or so. I've had it for over 4 months now.
2) I've never drained the battery down to 0%. Contacted Seidio and they suggested that I let it drain to 0% for the next 4 to 5 charges, along with charging it an additional 2-3 hours after a complete charge. I'll see if that helps.
3) I've always had to bump charge it. It helps in making it last longer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When ever you get a new battery you must condition it, exactly as sedio said full charge it, then drain fully 5 times. It makes the battery last much longer
Sources: I built one for my robotics team
Sent from my ADR6300 using XDA App
I got some 3,500mAh cheapies off ebay about 6 months ago and they are holding up just fine. I always run mine down to about 5% then fully charge. I bump charge them about once a month.
Well of course... After I'm pimping how great these batteries are, one quit working! My phone would just shut off with a light tap against something so I pulled the black sticker off of the battery, pulled it all apart, found the loose connection, bent the tab to make better contact, and put it all back together. All is good again.
I recently purchased this same battery read tons of good reviews not sure how i feel about the bump charging after reading the article that was within this thread but all in all it is a giant leap beyond the stock battery now if i could just find a case that would fit around it
To the OP. If youre running a kernel with SBC (Superior battery charging [trickle charging] w/e you wanna call it) they're known to reduce your battery life. also you may wanna charge the battery to 100% then wipe the battery stats on your phone.
I have the same battery and I've found that the phone has trouble reporting the percentage correctly. It tends to make jumps of about 5-10% instead of a steady decline. I switched to the original battery and it did not have this problem. I've also noticed that clearing battery stats several times helps (most of the time). As far as bump charging goes, it's perfectly fine to bump charge these batteries. The worst thing you can do to them is discharge them all the way.
Clearing the stats and cycling the battery through the phone a few times should fix that. It does that (big percentage jumps) when it's poorly calibrated.
POQbum said:
Clearing the stats and cycling the battery through the phone a few times should fix that. It does that (big percentage jumps) when it's poorly calibrated.
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Click to collapse
I second this. I have the same battery and its been off a few times. Battery stats get weird sometimes. It's certainly a better battery than the cheap Chinese batteries HTC uses.

Extensive Review - Mugen HD2 Extended Battery 2,600mAh

Disclaimer: I know there is already another thread on Mugen HD2 Extended Battery 2,600mAh, but I would like to state that this is an official review since Mugen has provided me with a review unit to debunk the many bad comments given concerning their battery quality. This you can read from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1294124.
[BACKGROUND]
I have contacted www.mugen-power-batteries.com directly after hearing many comments concerning their false claims. I was surprised that they actually responded by providing me a review unit of the 2,600mAh. It is now on the way.
My review unit will be coming in about 2 weeks time. I will try to conduct an extensive review to determine the actual worth of the battery and whether they work as advertised. I will be conducting a few tests specifically on the battery, as objectively as possible. This would cover video playing, 3G usage, full valuation of the battery charge (using battery widget pro) to name a few.
If you would like a particular test to be conducted on the battery, please state and give a few ideas below. I will be comparing them against the original 1,230mAh from HTC.
I think as faithful users of our HTC HD2, I would really want to get the best extended battery. If this provides even 90% of the advertised capacity, it is already worth the money. Anything less would be pointless.
Thank you.
Larger cell will indeed be good but 2600mAh will be higher than reality as Mugen have admitted this already in a round about way on responses to another testers results.
A new standard HTC cell & new standard size 1500mAh Mugen is the test that needs to be done.
Any chance of a sample 1500mAh review unit ?
Mister B said:
Larger cell will indeed be good but 2600mAh will be higher than reality as Mugen have admitted this already in a round about way on responses to another testers results.
A new standard HTC cell & new standard size 1500mAh Mugen is the test that needs to be done.
Any chance of a sample 1500mAh review unit ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will try to get a 1,500mAh review unit after this one is done Oh, have Mugen admitted to that? Would be good if you can provide me with the link. Thanks!
Cant Wait for the review
Im Planning on getting one myself a 2,600mAh
BOOKMARKED
erlern said:
I will try to get a 1,500mAh review unit after this one is done Oh, have Mugen admitted to that? Would be good if you can provide me with the link. Thanks!
Click to expand...
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This was response to Dougs battery testing.
Not in any way slating Mugen but the mAh ratings marked on their cells are higher than what would be achieved in any lab test.
1500mah is the one I would love to see tested side by side with genuine cell in device & technician mAh testing.
Mugen cells are ok quality but for the asking price we need total transparency on actual cell capacity ...
I have no idea how good that battery is, but I bought this one about 6 months ago and it's working very well, doesn't gain much heat and it doesn't discharge itself much. Average battery consumption in standby is 6mA. All I can do is recommend you guys this one. And cover is really strong. And it's "bit" cheaper than Mugens
[email protected]/MB434B/review_MB434B.html
looking forward to seeing your test results...i just got me a 2400mAh battery and it lasts me about 15hours under heavy use...
Hi guys,
Sorry for the silence... I just received the battery today! Give me some time to get it charged and conditioned for testing
Let me know what else you would like me to test it with.
Display use is interesting for me, such like browsing etc.
Open a browser with some ads or something and look how long the Battery live..
My Galaxy SII gets there 4,5h.
Start the Match
Idc really care about that battery. I know its fake, but is there any real battery that's better then the original stock? 1400, 1450, 1500?? Not the fat ones with the kickstand
Just an update, I am still conditioning the battery. The first charge/recharge was really pathetic, at 12 hours before it was flat (moderate-heavy use). The second charge/recharge is much improved, I am on 25 hours on (moderate use) with 25% left (taking pictures, listening to music, games, surfing, etc.). I will begin formal testing after 4 full runs to find the optimum condition.
One things I have to say is that the ROM does play a high factor. I was on Dorimanx 3.0 and somehow the governors for oc/uc is not working properly as I kept getting some high drainage. Once I reverted to 2.9, the drainage was gone and it seems to sip battery at a much, much lower rate.
So many factors!!!!
By the way, I really like the battery cover. It is not cheap like the other China made products (unlabelled). I have already 4 different covers, and while I would prefer a metal back cover, this is the 2nd best
Can You please also start the heavy display usage test?
And put some pics please
Greetings
erlern said:
Just an update, I am still conditioning the battery. The first charge/recharge was really pathetic, at 12 hours before it was flat (moderate-heavy use). The second charge/recharge is much improved, I am on 25 hours on (moderate use) with 25% left (taking pictures, listening to music, games, surfing, etc.). I will begin formal testing after 4 full runs to find the optimum condition.
One things I have to say is that the ROM does play a high factor. I was on Dorimanx 3.0 and somehow the governors for oc/uc is not working properly as I kept getting some high drainage. Once I reverted to 2.9, the drainage was gone and it seems to sip battery at a much, much lower rate.
So many factors!!!!
By the way, I really like the battery cover. It is not cheap like the other China made products (unlabelled). I have already 4 different covers, and while I would prefer a metal back cover, this is the 2nd best
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a few questions which i hope you dont mind answering:-
1. How did you recondition the battery?
2. Does your kernel recognise the battery's full capacity or do you do a battery pull then it jumps back up significantly? Im facing this problem at the moment...
thank you in advance!
how long will the battery last for heavy use like playing 3d games?this is important as i use my phone for gaming most
damnshah said:
I have a few questions which i hope you dont mind answering:-
1. How did you recondition the battery?
2. Does your kernel recognise the battery's full capacity or do you do a battery pull then it jumps back up significantly? Im facing this problem at the moment...
thank you in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) I conditioning it by charging it overnight for 6-8 hours and then depleting it until it powers off (Actually, this is based on the instructions they gave in the parcel). I need to do it 5 times. Once done, I will be able to charge and stop charging when the indicator hits 100%. I basically use Battery Widget Pro (they have a feature called 'calibration'). Apparently, the battery itself states that it is 2,300mAh, but I think this is not accurate (hence the testing). You will know that the battery is fully charge when the indicator goes down to 0 (zero) mA (shows that the battery is not receiving any more charge).
2) Most cheap batteries have wrong indicators (e.g. temperature detection is not working, no indication of battery capacity). And yes, they suffer the need to 'pull the battery out first' before an additional amount is given. I bought one a while back, apparently one that has 3,000mAh. My observation is that the indicators are really gone. In fact, it will slowly go down to 50%, after which if you pull, it will give you 70%, once it goes down to 15%, it will last for a long while (30 minutes of browsing over 3G) before going down to 14%. Using that battery, I have been able to last 31 hours of moderate use (1 hour of music, 1 hour of gaming - not 3D, a few hours of browsing and a lot of photo taking). It costs only USD12 (thereabouts), which to me is the best deal yet. Down side of that battery is the very poor back battery cover. Using Battery Widget Pro (you have to charge fully and discharge until it shuts down and charge up again continuously), I got an estimated charge capacity of 1900mAh. Not bad don't you think?
The Mugen 2,600mAh easily matches my fake 3,000mAh one. The question is by how much. Sorry for the delay but my HD2 is my daily phone. So, I cant conduct full test like Engadget and other websites. But I'll do my best
relldroid said:
Idc really care about that battery. I know its fake, but is there any real battery that's better then the original stock? 1400, 1450, 1500?? Not the fat ones with the kickstand
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try Andida batteries. I had the 1600mAh one and it was slightly better than the original (giving me about 1300mAh). I had that a while back.
After much charging and recharging, I can confirm that the battery has about 2,200+mAh. See the attached images to see the estimated calculation using Battery Widget Pro.
Charging takes about 2 hours plus using the wall charger. The last 2% takes the longest.
As per request I ran 2 emulation apps (sorry, no 3d games), fpse & n64oid. The former ran Strider 2 while the latter ran Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Do note that I have overclocked my phone to 1.6ghz. All in all, it ran for 4.5 hours with 15% battery left. I'm pretty sure it could have clocked 5hours easily. I think that it is a good performance for 2.2kmAh battery don't you think? See the images below for a read of what other apps I was running. I managed to deplete the whole charge after nearly 10 hours of extremely heavy usage!
What do you guys think? Okay?
Sent from my HD2 using xda premium
[Not the Mugen 2,600mAh Battery]
As an aside, I took and strip out the cheap battery which I bought for USD10, which claimed a 3000mAh, which only was about 2000mAh (+/- 200mAh) and took some photos of it. I can understand these extended batteries better. I am not an electronics person, but this would explain why it takes a restart to 'recognise' the 'remaining' battery on our devices.
Notice that they are basically two lower capacity batteries which are slapped together with the thin connectors and wrapped together with scotch tape.
I am not sure whether Mugen's the same, since it does not suffer from the 'restart-phone-to-get-additional-battery-reflected' scenario. However, I wonder whether there are any manufacturers who would just manufacture a genuine 2000mAh without merely slapping two products together (like in this picture). In light of this, it is much better to carry an external battery charger (anything more than 6,000mAh around!).
Anyone with electronic expertise want to comment on the pictures, please do.
Opps, forgot to add the photos of the battery and the battery cover which I mentioned. I find that after the first fall (yes, I tend to have accidents with my HD2 ... ) there is a slight creeking sound with the battery cover (nothing is chipped though). It is a rubberised battery cover, unlike the original metal cover. Still, the feel of the cover is great to the touch.
I am no longer using this device, but my dad is! It still works and have survived loads of damage... mostly dropping the device with the battery cover!

Battery mods have terrible battery life?

I've been using both the incipio offgrid, and tumi powerpack battery mods (both are wireless charging variants) and have noticed just awful battery life. from 100% it charges my phone up maybe 15-20 percent, and thats with the screen off, just streaming music. If I'm using the phone (just surfing the web or instagram) the battery dies in around 30-45 minutes, is this normal? I expected alot more out of these. I can just stare at the notification bar and watch as the battery drops, my software is up to date, and I was just wondering if this is normal? Is everyone else getting this awful performance? I expected way more for like 70-80 bucks each...
Sky's Divide said:
I've been using both the incipio offgrid, and tumi powerpack battery mods (both are wireless charging variants) and have noticed just awful battery life. from 100% it charges my phone up maybe 15-20 percent, and thats with the screen off, just streaming music. If I'm using the phone (just surfing the web or instagram) the battery dies in around 30-45 minutes, is this normal? I expected alot more out of these. I can just stare at the notification bar and watch as the battery drops, my software is up to date, and I was just wondering if this is normal? Is everyone else getting this awful performance? I expected way more for like 70-80 bucks each...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not normal. While I don't have either of these, based on the reading I've done and reports I've seen from people who do, the Incipio off grid should be able to charge your phone up 50-75% when attached. Not sure if you have some crazy wakelock that's keeping your CPU maxed out all the time or what, but dying in 30-40 minutes makes no sense.
xxBrun0xx said:
This is not normal. While I don't have either of these, based on the reading I've done and reports I've seen from people who do, the Incipio off grid should be able to charge your phone up 50-75% when attached. Not sure if you have some crazy wakelock that's keeping your CPU maxed out all the time or what, but dying in 30-40 minutes makes no sense.
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Click to collapse
When I got it to die In 30-40 min I was on a phone call and surfing instagram. Took the tumi out yesterday with 80% battery in it and had my phones screen off streaming music over Bluetooth. The phone charged up about 25% before the battery pack died. Any ideas on how I could improve the battery life? My moto mods manager is up to date and I don't get any prompts to update anything whenever I snap on the mods
I was surprised when I found this post, so I checked how many percent of battery do I get with a my incipio battery mod. I plugged the mod, my phone's battery was at 15% and the battery mod was at 100%.
Now the Incipio battery mod is empty and my phone's battery is at 50%. So it charged my phone by 35%.
Pretty disappointing for a 2220 mAh battery that costs almost 100€ ...
To me the best use of the mod is to snap it on when the Moto Z Play is fully charged and to chose the option to keep the phone battery at 80%. With normal use, i've seen the mod keep the phone at 80% for up to a day. To me the mod is not meant to charge the phone but more to keep it from discharging.
To me the idea of the battery mod makes no sense.
There is an Aukey 16000 mAh power pack with QuickCharge 3.0 available which boosts the battery in nearly no time. I paid less than 20 Euro.
Who needs such a battery mod with a Moto Z Play which lasts all day under heavy usage?
Who needs such a battery mod when power packs are big, cheap and fast?
Who even needs the power pack if you have a wall outlet with a QuickCharge 3.0 charger boosting the battery percentage in no time? I needed that power pack when the previous phone (Moto X Play) had some hardware defect making it lose power.
Edit: These questions are meant honestly. Are you living in the desert for several days and can't afford to carry a bag?
tag68 said:
To me the idea of the battery mod makes no sense.
There is an Aukey 16000 mAh power pack with QuickCharge 3.0 available which boosts the battery in nearly no time. I paid less than 20 Euro.
Who needs such a battery mod with a Moto Z Play which lasts all day under heavy usage?
Who needs such a battery mod when power packs are big, cheap and fast?
Who even needs the power pack if you have a wall outlet with a QuickCharge 3.0 charger boosting the battery percentage in no time? I needed that power pack when the previous phone (Moto X Play) had some hardware defect making it lose power.
Edit: These questions are meant honestly. Are you living in the desert for several days and can't afford to carry a bag?
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Click to collapse
The battery mods are not particularly useful for the Z Play because if you charge every night, you have basically unlimited battery life. Battery packs are extremely useful for the regular Z, though, which has extremely poor battery life on its own. They're basically mandatory for the Z.
I'm shocked that battery mods can only charge your internal battery and can't be used directly (discharging the mod battery instead of the internal battery), the same way Thinkpads that have more than one battery can do. That makes the $80 (vs maybe $10 for a 2000 mah ravpower) cost all the more eyebrow-raising.
I'd love to use them as a way of preserving the sealed in internal battery's longevity, making the internal battery the backup battery and wearing out the easily replaceable, easily swappable mods instead.
fortunz said:
I'd love to use them as a way of preserving the sealed in internal battery's longevity,
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What do you think how a battery should be treated to prolong its lifetime?
This is a serious question. I'm not sure if charging cycles do matter these days. The point which makes batteries getting weak is the age. An additional battery will not help reduce the age.
Of course you should be careful not to be in extreme cold or heat. If the battery is below 30 percent, you should consider to charge it. You should not charge it again if it's over 80 percent. But trying not to use it seems not to really be helpful for the battery to have a longer life, although battery lifetime usually is given in battery cycles. At least this is my experience. If it does not get hot when used or charged, all batteries nowadays start getting weaker a bit after about 2 years, it gets really recognizable after 4 years, and when they are 6-8 years old, they get so low that they may not fulfill there purpose anymore. Cycles? Never recognized any influence for the lifetime. But one hot day with a usage above average where the battery gets hot may really cause a recognizable decrease in capacity.
If you have some source comparing battery lifetime for different use cases (storage, low usage, middle usage, frequent usage, under different conditions of temperature, fast charge and slow charge) I'd be really interested.
tag68 said:
What do you think how a battery should be treated to prolong its lifetime?
This is a serious question. I'm not sure if charging cycles do matter these days. The point which makes batteries getting weak is the age. An additional battery will not help reduce the age.
Of course you should be careful not to be in extreme cold or heat. If the battery is below 30 percent, you should consider to charge it. You should not charge it again if it's over 80 percent. But trying not to use it seems not to really be helpful for the battery to have a longer life, although battery lifetime usually is given in battery cycles. At least this is my experience. If it does not get hot when used or charged, all batteries nowadays start getting weaker a bit after about 2 years, it gets really recognizable after 4 years, and when they are 6-8 years old, they get so low that they may not fulfill there purpose anymore. Cycles? Never recognized any influence for the lifetime. But one hot day with a usage above average where the battery gets hot may really cause a recognizable decrease in capacity.
If you have some source comparing battery lifetime for different use cases (storage, low usage, middle usage, frequent usage, under different conditions of temperature, fast charge and slow charge) I'd be really interested.
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Click to collapse
Same sources as you, personal experience and basic knowledge (battery life being measured in cycles). I'm not even completely worried about average aging, but out of a batch of millions of batteries, plenty will start to experience rapid discharge early, even without abnormal heat, not to the point of being completely dead, but certainly no longer tolerable. Today's phone batteries might actually tolerate heat better than in the past, having been built for quick charging, which is the hottest a sd625 seems to get.
I've read manuals and battery university and a few tech blog articles all of which have differing advice, just like you and me, but I have yet to find a source I find credible (based on diverse large scale testing not limited anecdotal evidence or in the case of manuals, insanely outdated nicad-era stuff). And, sincerely no offense intended, I'm unlikely to decide cycles don't matter and weight your anecdotal evidence over mine anymore than you'd weight mine over yours. But if you ever find a good source with those comparisons, I'd be pleased to check it out too.
tag68 said:
Who needs such a battery mod with a Moto Z Play which lasts all day under heavy usage?
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Click to collapse
Because I'm a very heavy user of my phone and don't want to worry about power even if I can't get to a outlet during the day.
Who needs such a battery mod when power packs are big, cheap and fast?
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Click to collapse
Because the bat mod is easy to slap on and keep on all the time (when I'm not using a different mod). Then I never have to worry about taking the pack with me or not or carrying the extra cable with me or not.
Who even needs the power pack if you have a wall outlet with a QuickCharge 3.0 charger boosting the battery percentage in no time?
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Click to collapse
Because I don't want to have to worry about having the charger with me or finding a spot to charge.
I fully admit that I tend to be more paranoid about running out of power than I need to be, but I like to be secure knowing that I should have more than enough battery life, even if I can't charge overnight. I like to know that I can grab my phone at any point of the day and walk out the door with it without having to worry about taking a charger with me.
RedRamage said:
I fully admit that I tend to be more paranoid about running out of power than I need to be, but I like to be secure knowing that I should have more than enough battery life, even if I can't charge overnight. I like to know that I can grab my phone at any point of the day and walk out the door with it without having to worry about taking a charger with me.
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Click to collapse
I quite like just not having to charge for three days. I have the battery mod which I use on the efficiency mode, and I got over a full day out of it. At the end of day three I had nearly 30% battery left. Probably enough for most of one more day.
The other thing for me is using wireless charging. I like just slapping my phone on a stand overnight when I do charge it. It charges slowly, yes, but it doesn't matter if I am charging overnight. I still have access to the quick charger if I need to get a full battery quick!
I use mine on my motorcycle where I'm riding for 10 hours a day. I'm at about 50% in 4 hours and dead by 7 or 8, so I'm hoping with the additional battery MOD that I can get at least 12 hours charge. I'm really bad about remembering to plug my phone in when I stop for a break!
@tag68 : dude I think you totally missed to read what @fortunz was saying, he was only pointing that he would like the Mods to be used as a primary source battery instead of being a "ultra-portable power bank".
Given that there is also a fraction of the power being lost in the form of heat, during charge/transfer, it is even more silly from Motorola not to have the battery used directly. I can say by the 25-35% charge from the Mods estimated from other users, that the efficiency is somewhere around 50%, HORRIBLE to say the least.
And yeah I was reading through both of your posts and good information was provided, although unnecessary friction used (not naming anyone).
I actually have kind of the same idea from @fortunz to prolong the battery life of my Z-play even with the mod just being a power bank.
Saying that the mods (~2220mah) charge your phone anywhere between 25-35%, I can actually take the top 25-35% out of my internal battery use and move it to the Mod.
So I can charge my phone up to 70% before going to bed, and then when my phone reaches 30% during the use next day, I'll just slap the mod.
I can allow myself a lot of variation to this, I will not be religious about it, the topic is to avoid hitting 100% charge, and instead, moving the wear of that 30% usage to the Mod.
According, to many articles, citing just one below, considering the depth of discharges and voltage levels, you guys might do the equation if you like, but according to the charts and theory:
charging my phone twice a day trying not to exceed 70%, will give me WAY more longevity run than charging up to 100% every day.
First charge will be from around 15% which is my normal deadline to around 70% with a wall charger, before going to bed.
Second charge will be from the mod from around 30% to around 60% (hopefully), which will give me portability while charging.
Total screen on time during the day, should be around 10% less, but well worth and I can definitely take the hit if getting more battery longevity as a trade.
Source:
http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries
Huh, it even makes sense when explaining to other people...
In re: friction, I took no offense from the exchange. Hopefully I didn't cause any either.
Good luck with your efforts. I have considered using this app to to stop charging early: https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/apps-games/root-battery-charge-limit-t3557002 Haven't started using it yet.
fortunz said:
In re: friction, I took no offense from the exchange. Hopefully I didn't cause any either.
Good luck with your efforts. I have considered using this app to to stop charging early: https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/apps-games/root-battery-charge-limit-t3557002 Haven't started using it yet.
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Click to collapse
Sadly that application requires root... and I don't want to unlock the bootloader and then having to worry about SafetyNet...
For me SafetyNet is green using Magisk 12.0 as root solution, but that may change of course. But it would help for the battery.
Short rant about this topic: It is strange that the owner of a device can be forbidden to restrict the charging. You bought it, you should be able to do these things with it. Introducing SafetyNet is a bad idea by Google. Security should be made by algorithms, not by hardware. Using public key anyone may modify anything, and you can still assure the content to be trustworthy. There no need to prove the Android not to be modified, it is just a bad idea, unnecessary restricting the user. Owner.
tag68 said:
For me SafetyNet is green using Magisk 12.0 as root solution, but that may change of course. But it would help for the battery.
Short rant about this topic: It is strange that the owner of a device can be forbidden to restrict the charging. You bought it, you should be able to do these things with it. Introducing SafetyNet is a bad idea by Google. Security should be made by algorithms, not by hardware. Using public key anyone may modify anything, and you can still assure the content to be trustworthy. There no need to prove the Android not to be modified, it is just a bad idea, unnecessary restricting the user. Owner.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well said
Thanks for the tip! I'll have it mind!
At the moment I don't feel like unlocking the bootloader because I'm planning to use the moto Mods and these can't be used with custom ROMs yet, and I have no use for root other than changing the work mode on Greenify but it already works well enough in No-Root mode, so for me there is no true benefit.
A good resource for lithium batteries are rc helicopter forums. Helis use speed controllers of many tens of amps, drain the batteries in minutes versus days to low levels and charge them at high speed. What reduces their life is heat, overcharging the voltage or over discharging the voltage. They do not age if left in a partial charge. You can let them sit for years unused and they will lose very little capacity. If you only run them at 70%cycle, they last about 3000 cycles.
Well, that was weird.
Phone at 9%, mophie mod at 100%. Put it on, barely used the phone (even took a nap). About an hour later, the mophie mod is at 50%, but the phone actually went down to 8%. Took off the mod and the phone went immediately to 4%. Ouch.
Mod normally works fine. It'll keep the phone at 80% for most of the day just fine. Not sure what was going on.

Note 5 Battery capacity left test ( mAh ) and hours of SOT

I found myself seeking threads in these forums about different ROM's and SOT obtained. The results were way different between different users, some claim to get 2.5h SOT some 5h SOT under normal circumstances.
Under normal circumstances I never get more than 3h and I suspected that my worn battery (598 charge cycles according to "Charge Cycle Battery Stats" app) was far from the original 3000mAh.(Thats a manufacturer stat obtained in perfect conditions, real world must be around 2800mAh)
I needed to measure the capacity left in mAh,so I bought a USB ammeter power meter (Keweisi white digits, but you don't need it, I'll explain later).
Using the Power meter, to measure properly you need to avoid thermal loss and power loss when charging:
- Note 5 completely discharged at 1 or 2% battery left.
- Disconnect the Fast charge option in Android.
- From start to finish keep the note 5 Switched off.
- Use an USB low power charger, mine was charging at 0.8A
Results: 1800mah that's far from the 2800mAh(3000mAh) when new.
(Same test I'm getting 2200mAh out of the original 2800mAh on my old Galasy S5 Neo.)
You don't need USB ammeter, Android has a builtin ammeter calculator(estimation).
Today I depleted the battery (2% left) of my note 5 again (Rom based on Android 7.0) and under battery usage I added all the "Computed Power Usage" in mAh giving the next results:
mAh
557 Cell standby (I worked underground today)
333 Screen 2h53m (30% brightness and auto brightness on)
271 Device Idle
221 chrome
203 Android OS
43 Google Play Serv.
39 Androyd System
27 Youtube
20 Yahoo Mail
20 Wi fi
17 com.android.systemui
Total: 1751mAh
This result shows that the phone itself makes a good estimation of mAh juice available in you battery.
As an anecdote I run the same test that Jerryrigeverything in YT with his Note 5(6 month of use): Playing a 2k video in 100% brightness( auto brightness off) with sound and in Flight Mode(not even wifi). He gets 6h20m, I surprisingly get 6h. But those test are only worth to compare Note 5's
Conclusions(my own and humble): Surprising degradation of my battery, specially compared with the results obtained in my S5 Neo. According to "battery university" (a good scientific source of information about Lithium-Ion) I might have shorten the life of my battery abusing of the fast charge mode.
monkeyisland3G said:
I found myself seeking threads in these forums about different ROM's and SOT obtained. The results were way different between different users, some claim to get 2.5h SOT some 5h SOT under normal circumstances.
Under normal circumstances I never get more than 3h and I suspected that my worn battery (598 charge cycles according to "Charge Cycle Battery Stats" app) was far from the original 3000mAh.(Thats a manufacturer stat obtained in perfect conditions, real world must be around 2800mAh)
I needed to measure the capacity left in mAh,so I bought a USB ammeter power meter (Keweisi white digits, but you don't need it, I'll explain later).
Using the Power meter, to measure properly you need to avoid thermal loss and power loss when charging:
- Note 5 completely discharged at 1 or 2% battery left.
- Disconnect the Fast charge option in Android.
- From start to finish keep the note 5 Switched off.
- Use an USB low power charger, mine was charging at 0.8A
Results: 1800mah that's far from the 2800mAh(3000mAh) when new.
(Same test I'm getting 2200mAh out of the original 2800mAh on my old Galasy S5 Neo.)
You don't need USB ammeter, Android has a builtin ammeter calculator(estimation).
Today I depleted the battery (2% left) of my note 5 again (Rom based on Android 7.0) and under battery usage I added all the "Computed Power Usage" in mAh giving the next results:
mAh
557Cell standby(I worked underground today)
333Screen 2h53m (30% brightness and auto brightness on)
271Device Idle
221chrome
203Android OS
43Google Play Serv.
39Androyd System
27Youtube
20Yahoo Mail
20Wi fi
17com.android.systemui
Total: 1751mAh
This result shows that the phone itself makes a good estimation of mAh juice available in you battery.
As an anecdote I run the same test that Jerryrigeverything in YT with his Note 5(6 month of use): Playing a 2k video in 100% brightness( auto brightness off) with sound and in Flight Mode(not even wifi). He gets 6h20m, I surprisingly get 6h. But those test are only worth to compare Note 5's
Conclusions(my own and humble): Surprising degradation of my battery, specially compared with the results obtained in my S5 Neo. According to "battery university" (a good scientific source of information about Lithium-Ion) I might have shorten the life of my battery abusing of the fast charge mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here, the problem is that is quiet impossible to find a genuine battery for replacement. All those on amazon and ebay are crap.
memeliv said:
Same here, the problem is that is quiet impossible to find a genuine battery for replacement. All those on amazon and ebay are crap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the next step, find a good provider and compare capacities.
What I know so far is that there's 2 different battery models:
EB-BN920ABE The most common, but most reviews complain about being 4 or 5 mm shorter, ...less volume less capacity.
EB-BN920ABA Difficult to find, It seems the original replacement according to this picture:
https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/UTB8YQ_yanzIXKJkSafVq6yWgXXa0.jpg The original is the right side one.
I found a Canadian provider who seems serious (free of fantasy marketing) who also ships worldwide, it looks like the original, (or a extremely good copy) I'm going to take the risk and try it:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OEM-EB-BN920ABA-3000mAh-Replacement-Battery-for-Samsung-Galaxy-Note-5-N920-N920A/401346669803?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649
I'll post results in about 6 weeks....
monkeyisland3G said:
That's the next step, find a good provider and compare capacities.
What I know so far is that there's 2 different battery models:
EB-BN920ABE The most common, but most reviews complain about being 4 or 5 mm shorter, ...less volume less capacity.
EB-BN920ABA Difficult to find, It seems the original replacement according to this picture:
https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/UTB8YQ_yanzIXKJkSafVq6yWgXXa0.jpg The original is the right side one.
I found a Canadian provider who seems serious (free of fantasy marketing) who also ships worldwide, it looks like the original, (or a extremely good copy) I'm going to take the risk and try it:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OEM-EB-BN920ABA-3000mAh-Replacement-Battery-for-Samsung-Galaxy-Note-5-N920-N920A/401346669803?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649
I'll post results in about 6 weeks....
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Click to collapse
How did it go? Those eBay batteries tend to be pretty bad in my experience.
Finally someone else is concerned about note 5 battery capacity, i replaced mine with an original one in feb 2018 from a nearby samsung service center for $40, i used Accubattery app to measure and compare the battery capacity of the old vs the new battery.
After two years of usage and fast charging enabled in all of charge sessions, the old battery was giving me 76% (2291 mAh) of the original capacity, while the new one is giving me 89% (2675 mAh) right now, the weird thing is that it was giving me 90% right when i purchased it, i dont know if this is normal or not.
As for SOT, the old battery was giving me 2.5 hours on average, with an average of 17 hours of total usage, the new one gives me 3.5 to 4 hours with an average of 20 hours of total usage (disconnect at 100% from charger and drained to 1% or 2%)
Hope you find this post helpful
monkeyisland3G said:
That's the next step, find a good provider and compare capacities.
What I know so far is that there's 2 different battery models:
EB-BN920ABE The most common, but most reviews complain about being 4 or 5 mm shorter, ...less volume less capacity.
EB-BN920ABA Difficult to find, It seems the original replacement according to this picture:
https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/UTB8YQ_yanzIXKJkSafVq6yWgXXa0.jpg The original is the right side one.
I found a Canadian provider who seems serious (free of fantasy marketing) who also ships worldwide, it looks like the original, (or a extremely good copy) I'm going to take the risk and try it:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/OEM-EB-B...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649
I'll post results in about 6 weeks....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm in the same boat as you. My battery life blows and I am looking for a decent replacement so I don't have to buy a new phone. How did that one work out for you?

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