Extended Battery Charger Case Review

[twospirits]

Okay Fellow members, Enthusiasts, and those that have to have every single accessory under the sun, here is my review of the Leather Flip Cover Extended Battery Charger Case that I recently bought on ebay.

While the Galaxy Note 2 has a very impressive battery life (some have said getting over a days worth of power), there may be times that one needs extra battery power. For those that do, there are quite a few options...

1. Have a charger handy (and a wall plug nearby)
2. Obtain extra batteries and carry those around when you know you'll run of of power.
3. Obtain an extended battery

With these options, each one has pros and cons. For example

• With # 1,
  • Pro: No extra money needed to buy an accessory.
  • Con: you are at the mercy of being close to a wall plug and also have to carry around the charger which isn't very small or comfortable/portable to carry around.
• With # 2,
  • Pro: Slim, portable
  • Con: Having to shutdown the phone to switch batteries, which depending on the situation (like a recording) may not be ideal. also constant inserting and extracting the battery may loosen the top part of the connectors. (This has happen with my previous Anker batteries).
• With # 3,
  • Pro: having the extra juice/power to continue using the phone.
  • Con: Depending on the accessory, could be bulky and or heavy, might hinder the use of the S-Pen.

Having done both # 1 and # 2 previously with other devices, I figure I'll try # 3 this time around.

With Extended batteries, you have basically two types...

• Those that replace the current battery with a bulkier battery as well as a new back cover, and
• Those that supplement the existing battery by adding an external battery within a cover.

I decided to go with type B.

So my search began, and as usual all roads lead to ebay. Within ebay, I encountered an extended battery cover that is also a flip cover, can be used without switching batteries and has a kickstand. Introducing the...

Leather Flip Cover extended battery Charger Case for the Samsung Galaxy Note 2
In white and in black.

Images from sellers website since they would just basically duplicate what I would have done.. (click on the thumbnail for larger views)

The seller is located in NY and was quite pleasant to deal with. I had a few questions and he answered them immediately. I ordered two. One in white and one in black. I ordered on Thursday evening and I got them today Monday. And although I know it's in the same city, I was surprised I received it so soon. Upon opening the package, I was impressed with the design and feel. It was surprisingly light in weight, yet felt sturdy enough to handle abuse.

The Front Flip Cover
The front flip cover is much like your standard OEM flip cover. The ebay description states leather, but I could not determine if it was, the box doesn't state that it is, so I am assuming it isn't leather. The inner part of the flip cover is much like the standard OEM one with felt lining, only difference is that it is attached to the back part much better. I do not see it breaking off after constant use.

The Back Cover
The back cover is where the battery resides. This part is quite thin, especially considering that it has a kickstand and the usb connectors. The inner part of the back part is also felt lined. The outer back texture is nicely designed that it resists fingerprints due to the textured pattern it has. Both the white and black versions are similar. The accessory has 4 corner holders which snap the Note into place and once attached does make the Galaxy Note 2 a bit more bulkier. Then again, any snap on cover would too. There is an on/off button and a 4 led lights that indicate the level of charge you have. Each led indicates 25% charge.
The accessory does not come with any cables, chargers. There is no need to, since the internal usb port can use any regular usb charging cable (like the OEM one) and that port recharges the battery cover. Then there is a clever usb connector that is hidden but extracts to connect to the Note 2 when its time to provide power to it.

Although the 4 corner holders hold the Note 2 securely, they do not obstruct or cover the important parts of the Note 2. Such as the S-Pen. It can still be taken out with ease. The speaker is not covered as well as the rear camera and flash.

Depth, Bulk, Weight
Attaching the accessory with the Note 2, makes the Note a bit more bulky. For example; A standard non-flip back cover makes a naked Note 2 about 6/16th of an inch in depth. Attaching a OEM flip cover increases the depth to 8/16th of an inch. With this accessory back charging cover, the depth increases to 11/16 of an inch. So yes it does add considerable depth to a Note. But if one considers a full rugged cover protector, it basically adds the same amount of depth but does not provide additional power like this accessory does.
As for weight, each on its own (The Note 2, and this battery charging cover) are light in weight, but when combined, one does feel the weight. But as with the Note 2 display, one gets used to it after a while.

So bottom line, is it worth it
Without actually testing the battery and whether it performs as it should (that's part 2) I can say IMHO, I think this accessory is worth it. It is built very well, quite sturdy and will basically increase if not double the time you need a charge in those critical situations where powering down, exchanging batteries is a problem. On a personal note: There have been numerous times, where I have heavily used my phone all day and still have an event to go to but did not have a chance to recharge. I can just take this accessory with me and once my phone gets to the 5% point, connect the usb connector to it and continue using my phone. So yes, I do see a need for it and I would certainly use it when such situations demands it.

Part 2 below will outline the battery and if it does indeed last as long as a OEM battery. (I just have to figure out how to test it and what app to use to test it. If you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know)

TS out (taking a break and putting fingers on ice)

 

[twospirits]

Part 2 (reserved)

 

[ScandaLeX]

Looking forward to part 2 after you rest and test and rest and test some more.

Just noticed no NFC clips in battery door. Is that a deal breaker?

 

[twospirits]

I was going to adressed this in part 2, but considering that one has to put on the oem back cover and in the case of the Sprint version which I have, the oem cover had the nfc chip. I want to test to see if attaching the external battery will hinder the nfc chip but will have to 1- wait for part 2 and 2- see if nfc is enable.

Patience young skywalker

TS out

 

[srikat]

extended BATTERY CHARGER CASE SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 2 from fl0088 | eBay

better link

 

[twospirits]

srikat, That link leads nowhere, you should use this one instead that leads to all the sellers items. This way if a item is no longer available, at least it may be re-listed and found using the better link. I added it to your post.

Disclaimer Note: This is not the only seller, selling this type of item on ebay, and some may find it cheaper elsewhere, (as noted by Drex in the other accessory listing thread), but in contacting the majority of the sellers that do offer this type of item and asking questions, this seller is the only one that answered my questions in a timely (actually fast) manner and did not beat around the bush in some of the questions I asked. In other words I went with my gut instinct.

Oh and again, if anyone has any suggestions on how I can possibly test this device for actual mAh and using a app, please let me know. Thanks

TS

 

[Corki2]

srikat, That link leads nowhere, you should use this one instead that leads to all the sellers items. This way if a item is no longer available, at least it may be re-listed and found using the better link. I added it to your post.

Disclaimer Note: This is not the only seller, selling this type of item on ebay, and some may find it cheaper elsewhere, (as noted by Drex in the other accessory listing thread), but in contacting the majority of the sellers that do offer this type of item and asking questions, this seller is the only one that answered my questions in a timely (actually fast) manner and did not beat around the bush in some of the questions I asked. In other words I went with my gut instinct.

Oh and again, if anyone has any suggestions on how I can possibly test this device for actual mAh and using a app, please let me know. Thanks

TS

I'm not sure about mAh reporting but GSam is a great tool to see your battery stats and it shows the percentage each app is using.

 

[twospirits]

I have Battery Monitor Pro but looking at the data is like a deer looking at headlights right now.
I'll try it out.

TS

 

[drexappeal]

Part 2 (reserved)

I think we need an update on this, TS...lol.

 

[twospirits]

ummm, oppss.

actually I haven't found a way to test the battery by hooking it up to something, but all I can say is by experience, the battery cover does last long. At least long enough to get out of a jam when one needs extra juice or until they can find a wall socket. Unscientifically, it lasted 5 hours on heavy use, 7-8 hours not heavy. but my use may differ from others.

TS

 

[drexappeal]

ummm, oppss.

actually I haven't found a way to test the battery by hooking it up to something, but all I can say is by experience, the battery cover does last long. At least long enough to get out of a jam when one needs extra juice or until they can find a wall socket. Unscientifically, it lasted 5 hours on heavy use, 7-8 hours not heavy. but my use may differ from others.

TS

LOL...Good enough for me. I'll probably get one eventually, just for days that I'm going to be out and about and not near a charger for majority of the day, but using the phone heavily.