Extended battery, worth it?

[mrk2010]

Too bad about the false advertising.

But I guess for someone like me who has a carrying case, I guess it's not the end of the world if the back cover won't fit in there. I'm just concerned that w/o the cover, that little extra room between not having the cover and the back of the case might be enough to jar the battery out just enough if the phone is bumped so that it loses contact w/ the contact sensors.

Kind of primitive, but perhaps you could use scotch or masking tape to hold the battery in place.

 

[HDKorp]

Sickkkkk...might consider buying one for when I'm traveling...where did you buy this from?

Directly from Gorilla Gadgets site for $23.99. Shipping is a little slow (7-10 days). Not sure if it's GG delaying shipping or the snail mail itself.

 

[doogald]

I have the Gorilla Gadgets 4500mah extended battery and...LOVE IT! Using CleanROM 5.x, I am getting an average of 15 hours with heavy use.

The lowest (9 hours with extremely heavy use)

The highest (31 hours with average use)

Sickkkkk...might consider buying one for when I'm traveling...where did you buy this from?

Based on the Clean ROM comment and the 4500 mAh battery, I suspect that HDKorp has a Samsung Galaxy SIII, not a Droid 3. The Gorilla Gadgets web site's D3 battery looks to be a 3000 mAh battery.

But I guess for someone like me who has a carrying case, I guess it's not the end of the world if the back cover won't fit in there. I'm just concerned that w/o the cover, that little extra room between not having the cover and the back of the case might be enough to jar the battery out just enough if the phone is bumped so that it loses contact w/ the contact sensors.

Kind of primitive, but perhaps you could use scotch or masking tape to hold the battery in place.

When I did this, I was using an Otterbox Commuter case. The case itself was tight enough to hold the extended battery in - it never slipped. That Anker battery is actually tighter than the stock extended battery - I used to need some sort of pry tool to remove the battery.

I stopped using the case because I found it difficult to type on the top rows (the numbers) on the hardware keyboard, and when I removed it I found that the casing (not the back case, but the front bezel, etc.) was scratched from sand that had found its way between the case and the phone. I may end up going back to the case, because I liked having the ports and the headphone jack covered when it was in my pocket...

 

[mrk2010]

Also found this sick deal which includes two aftermarket BF6X replacements and a wall charger, all under $10: 2X BF6X Battery Dock Charger for Motorola Droid 3 XT862 | eBay

I might spring for the second deal since I will likely upgrade to a new phone later this year, so it doesn't matter if they only last for a few months. I already have the same charger so I'll probably re-sell it.

So I ended up ordering the two BF6X replacements + wall charger from eBay (see my earlier post quoted above). I got them in the mail today. They are the same thickness as the extended OEM BF6X. The stock battery cover fits, although it is a little loose (but in my experience with the OEM BF6X, the cover has always stayed on).

I also ended up buying the extended OEM battery cover as well (it was around $10). I think the reason why my OEM BF6X degraded so quickly is because the stock battery door may have caused it to overheat.

I will update you guys on the performance of the BF6X replacements with the extended OEM battery cover after I use them for a few days.

 

[HDKorp]

Based on the Clean ROM comment and the 4500 mAh battery, I suspect that HDKorp has a Samsung Galaxy SIII, not a Droid 3.

DOH! That is correct. I didn't even notice that. I am a dumas!

That being said, if my experience with Gorilla Gadgets battery is a gauge, results should be much improved over the OEM.

 

[doogald]

DOH! That is correct. I didn't even notice that. I am a dumas!

No, no, no. I just wanted to make sure that all D3 owners understood that there was no 4500 maH battery available for the D3.

 

[HDKorp]

No, no, no. I just wanted to make sure that all D3 owners understood that there was no 4500 maH battery available for the D3.

I'm not saying you said anything wrong. I'm saying I am a dumas for not fully reading BEFORE replying.

 

[mrk2010]

So I ended up ordering the two BF6X replacements + wall charger from eBay (see my earlier post quoted above). I got them in the mail today. They are the same thickness as the extended OEM BF6X. The stock battery cover fits, although it is a little loose (but in my experience with the OEM BF6X, the cover has always stayed on).

I also ended up buying the extended OEM battery cover as well (it was around $10). I think the reason why my OEM BF6X degraded so quickly is because the stock battery door may have caused it to overheat.

I will update you guys on the performance of the BF6X replacements with the extended OEM battery cover after I use them for a few days.

So far the battery I bought from eBay is working well. I'm able to get about 15-18 hours of moderate usage (battery is around 10-20% at the end of the day). By moderate usage I mean:
-web browsing (20 mins, give or take 5 mins)
-bluetooth tethering to my Nexus 7 tablet using OpenGarden (~20-30 minutes)
-listening to music via bluetooth (~2 hours)
-one or two phone calls over bluetooth (~10-20 minutes)
-occasionally checking email through Gmail app
-occasionally checking weather through BeWeather app

I should also mention that I'm rooted and using MiniMoto 1.66 ROM.

I'd post a pic of the battery usage screen but I haven't been able to find a good (and free) screenshot app that works for the Droid 3. If anyone here knows of one, feel free to PM me.

 

[beowulf7]

I wound up replacing my stock BF5X with

this BF6X that has the same form factor. I got it yesterday (about 2-3 weeks earlier than expected!) and am recharging my phone right now. It was about $20 and it also came with a micro USB-USB cable. I guess one can never have enough of those. I'll report back after a few recharges on how the new battery goes. I know my old battery would go from 100% to 80% in about 35 min. by just surfing the Web and texting. I'm expecting a full hour before it drops 20%.

 

[beowulf7]

^ Quick follow-up. Whereas from a full charge, my old battery (stock BF5X) lasted me 35 min. before it dropped to 80%, this morning, my new battery (Ebay BF6X) lasted me 48 min. It's better, but not as good as I was hoping for. Perhaps a few more discharges and recharges will increase the battery. I recall that happening w/ my stock battery when I first got it in Summer 2011, but not completely sure.

 

[beowulf7]

The extended battery I bought (as mentioned in post #59) in combination with rooting my phone and installing Minimoto 1.7 on it has definitely increased the battery life of my phone. I'd day my battery life has increased by at least 50%. Before, with normal usage, my phone's battery would get wiped before the end of the day. I started doing partial recharges (typically via USB on my work laptop) so it'd last me the whole day. Now, with similar usage, I haven't had to recharge my phone midday and I have about 25-30% left before I go to bed. But, when it gets below 15% and turns red, the battery life is very unpredictable, it sometimes decrements by another 10% and then shuts off. (Minimoto ROM decrements battery life by 1% as opposed to stock ROM's 10%.)