Accessories Second Battery / Extended Battery?

[ckeegan]

So, I've only had the D2 since Friday, and I know you're supposed to let the thing go through some cycles before you determine battery life. Anyway, just kind of preparing for the future, and was looking around at Verizon's site.

The Droid 2 spec page says that it comes with a 1400, the battery in my D2 is 1390, the standard battery they list on the accessories page is 1420, and the extended is 1860.

Who knows what to believe, but I've been trying to find total thickness on the Droid 2 (or Droid) with OEM extended battery. Hell, if it's just as thick as my Touch Pro2, I might as well take the 34% bump in battery life.

 

[ckeegan]

UPDATE: Of course I found a good source right after I hit submit. These guys are claiming some damn good battery life, and the increased size looks to be almost nothing.

Motorola Droid-2 Extended Battery Review. 1860 mAh - Droid Forum - Verizon Droid & the Motorola Droid Forum

Not to mention the BAT30 promo code saved me 30%, and with free overnight, it'll be here tomorrow. $35+tax.

Eh, I threw a 32GB microsd in the cart while I was at it.

 

[jmz768]

BAT30 has expired. Oh well, my fault for waiting an extra day to order.

 

[ckeegan]

First full day with the OEM extended battery, and I'm at 40% left with 10 hours off the charger. By Monday, I should have a pretty good baseline of what this thing will do on a full charge.

 

[westau]

First full day with the OEM extended battery, and I'm at 40% left with 10 hours off the charger. By Monday, I should have a pretty good baseline of what this thing will do on a full charge.

Keep us updated, I am interested to know how much better it is. Also, how much more does it stick out then the original battery and does that bother you any?

 

[ckeegan]

Keep us updated, I am interested to know how much better it is. Also, how much more does it stick out then the original battery and does that bother you any?

Honestly, the extra thickness is so insignificant, it's actually amazing for an extra 34% battery capacity. I don't have anything handy to measure with, but it's literally the extra thickness of a quarter, as I'm holding one up to it right now.

 

[jradicle11]

How do cases fit?

 

[pool_shark]

I don't bother with other batteries, I just charge frequently. I charge it over night, I charge it in the car, I charge it at the office while listening to music or watching movies, I charge it on the laptop while using my laptop.

 

[RJT185]

I don't bother with other batteries, I just charge frequently. I charge it over night, I charge it in the car, I charge it at the office while listening to music or watching movies, I charge it on the laptop while using my laptop.

Won't all that partial charging reduce the efficacy or longevity of the battery??

 

[pool_shark]

Won't all that partial charging reduce the efficacy or longevity of the battery??

I've heard people say that but I've never seen any proof. I did the same thing with my Treo and my Omnia, I had both of them for over 2 years with the original batteries.

 

[RJT185]

I've heard people say that but I've never seen any proof. I did the same thing with my Treo and my Omnia, I had both of them for over 2 years with the original batteries.

I guess I did the same with my enV Touch, so no reason to think it'd behave any more differently. Thanks for you input!!

 

[kdbolt70]

How do cases fit?

I have one of the 'rubber' cases from Verizon, it fits decently over the extended battery cover. The middle you can tell there's a bit of a bulge so it's not entirely flush with the keyboard, but other than that you really can't notice it.

 

[jmz768]

Received my extended battery about an hour ago and am very pleased with the fit and finish. The door is high quality and it adds almost nothing to the width (1/16"). If the phone would have shipped with this as the standard battery, nobody would be complaining about the phone being too thick.

 

[Jas31483]

Bought this battery a few days ago from my local Verizon Store. LOVE it! Like everyone has stated there's very little thickness and weight added to the phone. Battery door stays on nice and tight and color matches phone perfectly. I can easily get a full days use out of the phone with plenty life left come night time. Also a quick note for those who own the motorola oem dock. Works flawlessly. The new moto dock made specifically for the DROID 2 (Multimedia Charging Cradle XT) has an insert in the cradle that hugs the phone nice and tight. After purchasing the phone I was curious as to if I would need to remove that insert, worrying that my phone would no longer stay nice and snug into the dock. Well low and behold the phone still fits, with the extended battery, into the dock without removing that insert. That's how little extra thickness this battery adds. This battery is definitely a must have in my book.

 

[Pesti13nce]

Where is option to tell how long it's been off the charger?

 

[RJT185]

Where is option to tell how long it's been off the charger?

On Battery Manager, tap on the image of the battery to see usage statistics, the time since "unplug" will be atop.

 

[ckeegan]

OK, so I've had the extended battery for about 10 days now, and overall, it's a big improvement over the standard battery. As many have said, it adds almost nothing to the thickness of the Droid 2. Even with the extended battery, my Droid 2 is still amazing thin next to my Touch Pro2.

People who claim to be "heavy users" are claiming the standard battery is sufficient, but I can't imagine how those people can be categorized that way. I use my phone for business, and I am on the road for a good portion of every day. Some people are claiming 32 hours off the charger with the extended battery, and in my opinion, they didn't need the extended battery to begin with.

With the standard battery, I took my D2 off the charger at 7:30am, and was at 15% by about 2-3pm. The extended battery has yielded far better results for my use. I am now able to take my D2 off the charger at 7:30am, and I don't hit 15% until about 9pm.

I have been a smartphone user since 2004, so I know about battery management. The fact is that my Touch Pro2 would consistently last a full day (my definition would be 15 hours) with the standard battery. I know that Android demands more battery life, and I never used things like Pandora with my Touch Pro2 (not by choice of course). Not to mention widgets, etc. The only things that auto-updated on my Touch Pro2 were push e-mail, weather via HTC Sense, and my Twitter acct. This is far different in Android.



I guess putting some solid numbers behind my average usage will help too. My average day consists of:

~ +/- 100 minutes of talk time (yesterday was 126 mins; day before was 97 mins)



~ +/- 160mb of data/day (about 4.8gb/month)
-Pandora
-Beautiful Live Weather (set to 30 minutes)
-I Heart Radio (gotta love listening to Mark Madden from 600 miles away!)
-A little bit of Kongregate while waiting for clients
-4 e-mail accounts set to push (or 15 minute update intervals)
-Facebook / Twitter updates to my business pages
-11 RSS feeds
-NFL Mobile (streaming highlights, reading news, etc)

I also have my screen set to auto by the way.



I have come to expect charging my phone every night, as I've been doing it for 6 years. Therefore, 13-15 hours suits me just fine.

Just thought I would share.

 

[Redflea]

Charging before run down won't hurt these batteries...they will actually last longer in the long run if you don't let them run down more than 30% to 40% before charging.

Draining to very low every few months will help keep the battery meter accurate.