Extended Battery Packs for Smartphones

[Chuck]

Anyone have one of these? I purchased one for my Samsung Galaxy III as I was getting 8 hours of text/talk time and just a little of social media and email, but as soon as I did any kind of streaming, plus the above mentioned, I would probably get about 4-5 tops. 

 

So I purchased a 4500 mAh extended battery and two days ago got it in the mail. It already had a 50% charge when I plugged it in and so I decided to drain it all the way down to 0 as suggested. Well, I put in the battery around 4 in the afternoon and taxed the battery doing facebook uploads, instagram, twiter, streamed music from pandora, browsed this forum on it and it finally pooped out at 6:00 am in the morning. Crazy. 

 

So I charged it back to 100% and at 8:30 am unplugged it. The battery lasted that whole day and half of the day yesterday. About a good 36 hours. 

 

Anyhow, I recommend if anyone has an Android smartphone picking one of these up. They're only 25 bucks on Amazon or eBay and it comes with a custom back case so that the larger battery will fit. I got the white since that's the color of my phone. One of the things that I didn't like about the S 3 was that it was too thin, almost credit card thin. After installing the extended battery the phone now fits perfectly in my hand too. Win/Win! 

[gotbeer]

I had a friend that would go through two of those in a day.  That's how much he used his smartphone for work.  But yeah, if you are a heavy duty user, it's a good thing.  he would rotate between the two, so he'd always have a battery available.

[Chuck]

I can't imagine going through two of these in one day. Maybe he had an older one? Less mAh?

 

The other good thing about having this is you still have the original battery too and if you need to switch it, it's so thin you can keep it in your wallet. But I doubt I'll even need to carry that with me. 

[stevestevens]

So if you get one of these can you not use a protective case on your phone?

[gotbeer]

This was about 5 years ago.  Think it might have been the Evo when it first came out.  But he was constantly on it, either email, or conference call, or voicemail.  

[gotbeer]

So if you get one of these can you not use a protective case on your phone?

 

 

Do you mean like a carrying case?  Or a screen thing?  They make carrying cases specifically with the extended battery in mind.  Just have to search around for it.

[Chuck]

So if you get one of these can you not use a protective case on your phone?

 

No, that's the downside. 

 

It's too thick and won't fit. Though I think I'm going to look around for an extended battery pack case. They gotta have them. I paid 40 bucks for mine and can't use it now unless I go back to the old battery. 

[mancini79]

I've had VERY bad experiences purchasing extended batteries. I've had them overheat my phone and noticed they lose charge rather quickly. Bottom line, they suck plus they are too large. I've had my S2 for quite some time now and the best bet is to buy extra SAMSUNG batteries. I have 6 extra batteries and 2 wall chargers (they can also be charged by USB). Get them off ebay for cheap but make sure you are buying the gray samsung ones and not the generic labels. I keep a wall charger in my house and one in my computer bag for travel.  

 

Chuck, here is an example of what you should buy:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BUY-USA-2X-BATTERY-CHARGER-FOR-AT-T-SAMSUNG-GALAXY-S3-III-SGH-I747-/281075277519?pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item4171645ecf

[Lou]

I have several. Always keep one in my car, one in my office and one on my person. I just go to the Apple store, write down the product # I want and shop for it online. Definitely research it, especially the reviews, before purchasing.

[Chuck]

I've had VERY bad experiences purchasing extended batteries. I've had them overheat my phone and noticed they lose charge rather quickly. Bottom line, they suck plus they are too large. I've had my S2 for quite some time now and the best bet is to buy extra SAMSUNG batteries. I have 6 extra batteries and 2 wall chargers (they can also be charged by USB). Get them off ebay for cheap but make sure you are buying the gray samsung ones and not the generic labels. I keep a wall charger in my house and one in my computer bag for travel.  

 

Chuck, here is an example of what you should buy:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BUY-USA-2X-BATTERY-CHARGER-FOR-AT-T-SAMSUNG-GALAXY-S3-III-SGH-I747-/281075277519?pt=PDA_Accessories&hash=item4171645ecf

 

Nick, I'll find the link later of the one I bought but the reviews on it were great.. Some 4-5 months down the road who had good reviews. I did some research before picking out the one I got, so hopefully I don't experience the same problems you have. So far so good with this one. If I run into problems down the road I'll just get a couple more Samsung Galaxy III batteries like you did. 

[ELEVEN]

I need one of those extra capacity batteries with a back cover for my 4G Samsung Sidekick. What exactly would I ask for in the search description?

[RallyMo]

Chuck, check out Juice Defender.

[Section517]

Chuck, check out Juice Defender.

 

There's no need for Juice Defender with Jellybean OS.  Even if you're running the stock ROM simply press and hold the main button and clear the most recent apps used.  

[Section517]

Chuck, I wish I saw this thread earlier.  When I had my EVO 4G LTE, I picked up a cheap battery pack on eBay.  The specs said it had a 2200mah capacity, and for $5 it was worth the gamble. I placed the order and two weeks later it came in from Hong Kong.  I've dealt enough times with the eBay sellers from Hong Kong.....always check the reviews.  Anyone over 99% satisfaction I will at least entertain giving them my business.  For the most part, these sellers overstate their specs.  The battery pack I bought may hold up to a 1500mah capacity which is good enough to top off my phone for the rest of the day.  I have only had to use it a handful of times whenever I went to the Rose Bowl for a UCLA home game.  Otherwise, the S III coupled with Android Jellybean OS are a good pair for battery efficiency.  I've had this phone for six months (which is the longest I have had any phone, if that's a testament to its greatness).  It's been rooted since Day 1, and currently running Chad's ROM 4.2.1 with his Anthrax kernel.  The phone sleeps so well when not in use, it's practically in a coma.  I lose maybe 2% of my battery charge when I put the phone down for the night.  

 

I'm curious.  Have you tried GSam Battery Monitor?  Maybe you need to adjust some of your settings or you have an app with a lot of wakelocks not allowing your phone to sleep.

 

My android days began with the HTC Hero followed by HTC EVO 4G, EVO 3D, Samsung Epic 4G Touch, EVO 4G LTE, and now the Samsung Galaxy S III.

 

The S III is what the EVO 4G was two years ago.  It's a flat out BEAST.  

[mrwicked]

the evo was definitely great for the 2 hours you could actually use it.

[Thomas]

I rocked this bad boy this weekend. 10k mAh. It could keep my phone going for two straight days of constant usage. I have a Droid Razr which is the epitome of poor battery performance.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005NGKR54/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Chuck]

I charged my battery over night and not once did I have to charge it throughout the day during our fanfest weekend. I was at around 55-65% late at night before going to bed after heavy usage throughout the day. This battery I got ROCKS! 

[ScottT]

I thought about getting one before the weekend, but I don't think I'm gonna needed it.  Only ran out on the drive home, and I didn't care. 

[RePLAY]

the evo was definitely great for the 2 hours you could actually use it.

 

i bet the Galaxy Nexus will give the Evo a run for its money in the worst battery department.

[mrwicked]

you guys need to fund this product.

a phone case with a built in hand-crank.

 

http://www.crowdsupply.com/gridcase/reactor-for-iphone-5

 

[deepdrive]

Nick, I'll find the link later of the one I bought but the reviews on it were great.. Some 4-5 months down the road who had good reviews. I did some research before picking out the one I got, so hopefully I don't experience the same problems you have. So far so good with this one. If I run into problems down the road I'll just get a couple more Samsung Galaxy III batteries like you did. 

 

Umm... I know it's only been 9 months, but still waiting on that link. Also, if it's not too much trouble, how about a review update. Oh, and if anybody has a recommendation on one of these, feel free to chime in. Thanks.

[mp170.6]

Got two of these, very happy with them.  Rosewill is the generic brand sold by Newegg.com and is very high quality.  This one is 13000 mAh and uses Samsung cells.  I believe tablets these days are about 7000 mAh so if you fully charge both, it will roughly triple the battery life before recharging.  For a smart phone, it has enough juice to recharge several times. 

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16875949124

[deepdrive]

Thanks mp170.6.

Picked up a Lepow 6000 off Amazon for only $30 (great reviews?). I might get the newegg one too for the notepad.

I was wondering about the ones that attach to the back of the phone.

 

Oh, Newegg has this at about $45. Says that's a sale price. Is that a real sale or an on going price they call their sale price?

[mp170.6]

Thanks mp170.6.

Picked up a Lepow 6000 off Amazon for only $30 (great reviews?). I might get the newegg one too for the notepad.

I was wondering about the ones that attach to the back of the phone.

 

Oh, Newegg has this at about $45. Says that's a sale price. Is that a real sale or an on going price they call their sale price?

 

I got mine for $25 each on Black Friday with mail in rebates and coupon code.  You might check back and look for a coupon code posted on that website link in the next few days.  A week or two ago, there was a $10 off coupon.