Related
Pictures are ordered chronologically
This is the 3600 mAh Mugen Power extended battery for the SE Xperia X1
Battery Test Coming Soon
Part 0 – Shipment and Delivery
The package came in bubble wrap envelope.
Pre-ordered it before May 1 release date, and the battery dispatched May 1.
No tracking number provided. Received it May 11, 2009.
The shipping distance is from the Netherlands to the California of the US of A.
Signature confirmation required, so you don’t call the company and lie to them that you didn’t fraudulently ask them to send you a replacement. I was seriously considering about doing this because they didn’t tell me about signature confirmation, and they didn’t give me delivery confirmation.
BTW, I have complained to eBay sellers before that I haven’t received item, and I received second helpings.
Part 1 - X1 3MP Captures
01 – Front Packaging
For 100 dollars + free shipping you get the worst packaging ever from such a “well respected” 3rd party battery maker. At least they awkwardly put some foam/padding inside the package.
02 – Back Packaging
The back packaging is also nothing special, but it’s so cheap. But the good (or maybe bad) part is that they didn’t fuse the back and front seams together like most companies do for these types of packages. This makes it so easy to open the package without damaging. There isn’t even tape to seal it up. Just open it up like a bag of chips.
03 – Model Number
Model NO. HLI-BST41XL
04 – Major Disappointment
Please read the text in this picture. It’s very important if you own this battery. Anyways, I don’t know who to be mad at… should I be mad at Sony/HTC or should I be mad at Mugen? Seriously…is this inevitable? Can anyone tell me?
05 – Easy to Open
See, you can open this with no hassle, unlike other packaging. There will be no damages to the package, and scissors are not required unless you are a kindergartner, a noob, or a drunk.
06 – Unimportant Picture
No comments
07 – Suggestions
No comments
08 - Warnings
No comments
09 - Terrible Warranty Sticker
The warranty message is apparently a sticker with misaligned text. Mugen doesn’t really care about packaging; I tell you that.
10 - Front of Reflective Plastic Cover and Battery
There is a transparent cover/sticker on the front of the battery cover. I took the sticky cover off and the plastic cover is like a mirror but it’s plastic! The typo is still on the battery; it looks exactly like the commercial stock image with the same typo. Way to go Mugen, you’re almost like a Chinese replica phone manufacturer.
11 - Back of Reflective Plastic Cover and Battery.
The plastic feels cheap and looks cheap, especially the interior.
12 - Battery Still Has Typo
I have already covered this dissapointment in a previous photo.
13 - Do Not Do This to Battery
No comments
Part 2 - Canon 7MP Captures
14 - Good Quality Picture of Battery
Look at the bottom, you see that long slit? Guess what it is…it’s electrical tape (I think, correct me if I am wrong). It reminds me of those cheap generic batteries.
15 - Electrical Tape on the Bottom
This is how the tape looks at the bottom of the battery. It looks like it’s going to peel off on its own. Can someone explain to me why this is necessary? Should I peel it off?
16 - Electrical Tape on the Top
This is how the tape looks at the top of the battery. No other comment, but please answer my question from photo 15.
17 - Phone Starting Up With New Battery
No comments
18 - Nice Reflection A
If you don’t have a mirror screen protector installed on your phone, you can install this extended battery cover to use as a mirror alternative.
19 - Nice Reflection B
No comments
20 - Shiny Corner
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21 - Battery Cover Sucks
The battery cover does not fit perfectly.
22 - Battery Cover Off
No comments
23 - Just Learned That The Chrome Finish of My Phone Is Plastic and Peels Off
Off topic but while I took these pictures, I encountered another disappointment. This time I am disappointed with the Sony Ericsson’s build quality. I always thought that the chrome finish of the Xperia X1 was metal. It’s actually plastic and I just peeled a chunk of it off. Prior to this I thought that the raised bump that used to be there was a minor product defect. I thought that because metal was malleable, maybe it had to bend up a bit. But I am wrong, the chrome is made of cheap plastic. However, the Sony Xperia still has the best build quality compared to most phones that I have ever touched.
24 - So That You Can See
If you can’t see it, here is the square box that will help you locate the damage.
Also, I do not have an image prior to the peeling off of the chrome. And I lost the little piece that broke off.
Part 3 - X1 3MP Captures
25 - Pointless Mugen Screenshot
Why do they even have this picture? Are we so stupid that we don’t know what full charge is? Or are stupid to think that most people are this stupid? Or are they smart that they know most of us are stupid?
26 – Operating Instructions
No comments
27 - Operating Instructions Zoomed Out
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So How Much Thicker Is The Battery?
Take the OEM battery cover off of the X1
Try this at home, take the OEM battery out of your X1.
Put the OEM battery cover back on the X1
Put the OEM battery on top of the battery cover.
This is exactly how thick the Mugen battery is on your X1.
How Does It Affect Pocket Space?
My phone has become as thick as my wallet, but I am easy going guy when it comes to pocket space. Besides, I hang my keys on my pants with a bolt snap.
Here is my configuration:
1) phone always to the left of myself [left pocket]
2) wallet always to the right of myself [right pocket]
3) keys hanging on waistline to they can jangle and annoy people while I am walking
4) garage door opener always held on my left hand
How Does It Affect My Small Hands?
Weight:
Not too noticeable…
Keyboard Typing:
Typing has become much easier. Well at first, I thought it ruined my typing Xperience, but that’s because I got used to typing on a thin keyboard. Anyways I learned that it took 5 minutes of practice to get used to a thick keyboard and it took me like 5 days of practice to get used to a thin keyboard. This could also be because my prior Xperience with the X1 keyboard has gotten me so pro at typing that I can adapt to any modifications even faster. Whatever, your opinion on this is based on yourself. I think it is because I like something to “handle” while I am typing. Typing on the previously thin keyboard is like typing on paper. Seriously.
Portrait Handling:
I have small hands for a male but I am telling you, wow holding this thicker device is satisfying! I feel like I have a grip and if someone tackled me, I would still be holding on to the phone.
I didn’t feel comfortable using my stylus on the thick device though. Do you know why I don’t favor the grip this time? It is the relatively. Suddenly the stylus loss weight, and I can’t balance myself with the phone.
Landscape Handling:
I’ve already explained typing on the keyboard. But in regards to holding, I felt more comfortable in portrait mode, and holding it to watch YouTube isn’t as fun, but holding it to type is better.
The Cool Thing About The Extended Battery?
Wow, this is a bonus. The battery is shaped in a way that the phone can stand up in landscape mode! It can stand up while the keyboard is out and while the keyboard is in!
Works best on a flat surface.
More Pictures:
Aesthetics:
Aside from the noticeable imperfect fit, the cover looks very nice but it doesn’t beat the OEM cover.
The mirror capabilities of the cover is great.
Quality:
Battery cover feels cheap.
Packaging is one of the worst of all time for something that should cost 100 dollars.
Bad typo, low quality instructions, low quality packaging, and misaligned text.
Battery cover doesn’t fit perfectly; meaning there are noticeable gaps, but it still attached to the device 100%.
The charge quality is overkill, everything I do lasts 3 times longer...tired of running out battery after watching 2-3 movies? Now you can watch 6-9 movies!
Pros:
You can use the battery cover as a mirror to look at your face and under a chicks skirt…etc.
Battery cover easy to remove, unlike the OEM cover
It doesn’t feel like falling off but you notice gaps between device and attached battery cover
Extended battery cover can be used like a kick stand, landscape cradle
Improves my keyboard typing and makes it more comfortable
Feels comfortable while talking on the phone
Cons:
Mirror smudges
Battery cover too easy to remove, unlike the OEM cover
Sony Errison typo
Imperfect Fit [but it still attaches completely]
Incompatible device drivers or hardware for battery = inaccurate capacity measurement
Extra weight, extra bulk
Too expensive for build and packaging quality
The Xperia can not recognize the actual amount of remaining battery.
Verdict [w/o Duration Test]:
I don’t suggest you buy this battery. But since my phone can now stand on landscape mode, I will keep the battery.
Verdict [w/ Duration Test]:
The battery lasts really really long, actually it plays mp3 for more than 8 hours non-stop...imagine how long it will last in standby mode... I suggest you buy this if you don't care about any of the cons, but a major flaw is that it is impossible to determine how much charge you have left in your battery.
This is a very nice review. I am still reading. Thank you for spending time for doing this.
Cheers
So far, the battery doesn't last any longer than the normal 1500 mAh. A big let down. The packaging did say that I need to charge and disrcharge 5 times to reach full capacity. I will do that and see if it this extends battery life.
Using the 3600 so far drains as fast as the OEM.
Also, the four illuminations lights instructions doesn't seem accurate. For some reason when I charge my phone with the battery, 3 of the lights flash at the same time and than one loner light flashes after it. This is the sequence of light illumination that I see. But this loner light is always the upper left light located near the start menu.
UPDATES will be included in the first 3 postings, soon.
poetryrocksalot said:
So far, the battery doesn't last any longer than the normal 1500 mAh. A big let down. The packaging did say that I need to charge and disrcharge 5 times to reach full capacity. I will do that and see if it this extends battery life.
Using the 3600 so far drains as fast as the OEM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maybe that's the driver thing... did you try to let it discharge to 0% and see if the phone continues to operate?
anyways... to thick for my taste, the back cover is horrible (looks a bit better with the silver phone... but with the black one...) and holy ****, how could they release this with the "Erisson" XD
cursor said:
maybe that's the driver thing... did you try to let it discharge to 0% and see if the phone continues to operate?
anyways... to thick for my taste, the back cover is horrible (looks a bit better with the silver phone... but with the black one...) and holy ****, how could they release this with the "Erisson" XD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The battery came pre-charged at 50%. I charged it to max, and now I am using it until it reaches 0. The cover looks quite nice on my silver Xperia.
BTW, black Xperia sucks...the black oem battery cover peels off "paint" I think. This problem doesn't exist for the silver oem battery cover. I assuming that the black Xperia's are basically coated with fine black paint.
People should have gotten the silver one.
Also what I meant by "the battery doesn't last any longer" I mean the battery drains just as fast. The amount of time it took me to drain the battery by 30% feels the same on both batteries. So if it takes 5 hours to drain 30% on the small battery, it also takes 5 hours to drain 30% on the extended battery. I haven't ran out of battery on the extended battery yet. I am sorry for the confusion.
UPDATES will be included in the first 3 postings, soon.
i disagree with the black xperia sucking
imo it looks much better tho the paint does come off but untill it gets very bad , it looks miles better than the silver
Very nice review and pictures, thank you.
I too have just received the extended battery... the fit is perfect in my case... if fit does not relate to size that is
It is a bulky unit, and the verdict is still out on the usability factor vs. the extra size, weight and different case that you'd need to use with it [I am not a pocket phone guy).
I had previously loaded the 1% battery increment hack; I wonder if the updated dll may track the capacity better than the stock rom's or not... it is too early to see.
Will post back after a few days usage experience.
SO you were saying that the xperia housing wasnt cheap at all an already it peel off...jajaj
Sorry i couldt resist it...
I have the same issue...
So happy not been the only one...
vagelis said:
Very nice review and pictures, thank you.
I too have just received the extended battery... the fit is perfect in my case... if fit does not relate to size that is
It is a bulky unit, and the verdict is still out on the usability factor vs. the extra size, weight and different case that you'd need to use with it [I am not a pocket phone guy).
I had previously loaded the 1% battery increment hack; I wonder if the updated dll may track the capacity better than the stock rom's or not... it is too early to see.
Will post back after a few days usage experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't installed the 1% battery, I usually wait 1-3 months for bugs to clear up before I start installing something new.
I agree with the "size" doesn't matter.
One question though, what do you mean it fits perfectly? Does your battery have a gap between battery cover and the device? If you look at picture 21, There is a noticeable gap between the new cover and the device. It still holds on to the phone but dust and moisture can get into the battery more easily
Fulgore69 said:
SO you were saying that the xperia housing wasnt cheap at all an already it peel off...jajaj
Sorry i couldt resist it...
I have the same issue...
So happy not been the only one...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're evil to be happy that someone else have the same problem.
I tell you what, if I have aids, it'll calm me down if you did too. XD
poetryrocksalot said:
I haven't installed the 1% battery, I usually wait 1-3 months for bugs to clear up before I start installing something new.
I agree with the "size" doesn't matter.
One question though, what do you mean it fits perfectly? Does your battery have a gap between battery cover and the device? If you look at picture 21, There is a noticeable gap between the new cover and the device. It still holds on to the phone but dust and moisture can get into the battery more easily
You're evil to be happy that someone else have the same problem.
I tell you what, if I have aids, it'll calm me down if you did too. XD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I saw your pictures, and yes I *do not* have the gap you have on the side the plastic cover meets the casing close to the SE logo. The plastic cover meets the edge of the phone case more smoothly than the pics you posted.
I have had my phone shipped to SE twice for the famus cracking problem, and the first time I received it back that plastic backing (of the phone) was not fully aligned even witht he metal cover...I had to press the plastic cover until it 'clipped' back in place. I am not saying that your issue is on the phone side, but it is somewhere...
Perhaps mugen's shipped you an early run of the plastic top....
i notice a few comments about sonys build quality...remember that this was built by HTC... i think sony was as dissappointed as we are and theyve given them the boot. rightly so.
i wonder if this is two "normal" batterys strapped together internally?? lol. it wouldnt be the first time a company has done this. from the thickness and the construction i wouldnt be surprised. and from the way the battery drains this seems to support this. that would explain why it drains at the same rate as a normal battery. youll probably get to near zero and then youll have many more hours before it runs out because then its draining the second battery. hopefully your update when youve completely drained the battery will shed more light on this.
whats different about the charging illumination? mine has always flashed three then a single one. and from what i can tell this is the standard. charging sequence.
thanks for the extensive review, it was very helpful.
anothadave said:
i wonder if this is two "normal" batterys strapped together internally?? lol. it wouldnt be the first time a company has done this. from the thickness and the construction i wouldnt be surprised. and from the way the battery drains this seems to support this. that would explain why it drains at the same rate as a normal battery ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would not think that this in the case, as the stock battery is 1500mAh, and the Mugen is 3600mAh... the battery drain is always proportional to the applied load, so, given the extra capacity and the same load (the x1) you will have a longer runtime. The only issue is, the bios will not be able to 'read' the additional capacity, as it is not calibrated for it.
We expect overall performance of the battery to be somewhere in the middle, i.e. about 2/3 of the nominal 3600mAh capacity...as xda devs have always given us new things to play with, there even might be an updated battery.dll or calibration configuration we'd eventually be able to test with it.
anothadave said:
i notice a few comments about sonys build quality...remember that this was built by HTC... i think sony was as dissappointed as we are and theyve given them the boot. rightly so.
i wonder if this is two "normal" batterys strapped together internally?? lol. it wouldnt be the first time a company has done this. from the thickness and the construction i wouldnt be surprised. and from the way the battery drains this seems to support this. that would explain why it drains at the same rate as a normal battery. youll probably get to near zero and then youll have many more hours before it runs out because then its draining the second battery. hopefully your update when youve completely drained the battery will shed more light on this.
whats different about the charging illumination? mine has always flashed three then a single one. and from what i can tell this is the standard. charging sequence.
thanks for the extensive review, it was very helpful.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly! Mine flashes three at the same time, and then 1 flashes alone. However, the instruction says that the flashing pattern rotates, but don't. Although, prior to yesterday, I didn't even know the "specific" illumination pattern for charging was 3 lights, then 1 light, WITHOUT rotation.
And about the HTC build quality. I also thought that SE switched to Mobinova because of the bad HTC build quality. However, I am not looking forward to the X2 as much because Mobinnova has only made 1 phone, and the public opinions on this phone are so far VERY BAD.
I think SE should switch to Nokia and Nokia should switch to Windows Mobile. Otherwise, just stick with HTC and give them another chance.
So far, the battery meters of my phone all say 0% and the the phone is still on for 30 minutes now. Prior to this, when the phone was 10 and 5 percent, I got messages that the battery was low, and then very low... but I am really looking forward to XDA developing us a driver, but I bet those people who can develop these drivers need donations for a test battery.
Also, prior to when I said that the extended battery drains at the same rate as the OEM battery was because the extended battery works awkwardly. I think the battery will last longer, than I thought. Basically, the phone only recognizes about 50 to 75 percent of the battery's current charge. The remaining 50 to 25 percent aren't included in the battery meter.
I also think that if you want this phone to charge to 100%, you have to leave it charging for an extra hour after the battery meter reaches 100%...since I am sort of uncertain whether 100% is actually 50% to 75% or 100%
I think that the battery still charges after 100% but when it reaches 100% the battery meter stops counting, and when you drain the phone it will reach 0% because the remaining charge is not remembered by the device.
I am unsure of this. I could be wrong.
Perhaps the battery program Batti 2.4 can show the 'real' power?
I have the mugen 1800 and it also shows strange behavior with the power meter, like when the meter shows about 30% left.... a few minutes later phone dead, battery empty!
michaelthemage said:
Perhaps the battery program Batti 2.4 can show the 'real' power?
I have the mugen 1800 and it also shows strange behavior with the power meter, like when the meter shows about 30% left.... a few minutes later phone dead, battery empty!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am using WisBar advance, it has a battery meter, and it works EXACTLY the same as Batti Power indicator. I already told you...all of my battery meter shows the same results.
It has been about 2 hours of non stop Rock Music (Pocket Player) and the the phone still has enough juice to keep playing at 0 percent charge!!!!
Don't know that program. Can it show the juice too? Would be interesting if those batteries 'really' have 1800 or 3600.
And how is the battery's temp after 2 hours of music nonstop?
i also noticed the right side of the chrome edge left a little gap between it and the back cover. it must have been because of the many times i took off the battery cover.
michaelthemage said:
Don't know that program. Can it show the juice too? Would be interesting if those batteries 'really' have 1800 or 3600.
And how is the battery's temp after 2 hours of music nonstop?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's been 3 hours now, and the music is still running, the battery is warm but not hot. Of course it's not like I am talking on the phone. A phone gets hot when you talk and press your cheeks, not when you play music.
Edit: It took like 5 non stop hours of non stop music to deplete itself after the zero percent mark. As for the amount of hours after the Zero percent: it doesn't matter, because the battery drains just as fast as the battery drains on the standard battery.
http://www.shop.power-skin.com/powerskin/samsung/galaxy-s2-tmobile
I had one for my vibrant, liked it and have ordered one for my SGS 2. Will post photos when it arrives.
*update* it's arrived - that didn't take long.
According to the folks at Powerskins, the battery is 1500mAh.
Like with the vibrant it doubles the width of the phone. I like the extra heft so it's not a big issue for me. Fit is good, the case is not going to come off with normal use. The plug fits very securely into the phone (the vibrant unit had a bit of play).
The device can be charged then deactivated by holding the power button on the back. That will let the phone battery run down rather than constantly peak charging it...
Take a look and decide for yourself.Apologies for a couple of the photos being a little blurry - the HD7 does that sometimes.
Using tapatalk on my Galaxy 2 to post this!
it doesn't say how much extra battery it gives you
it's a nice concept, but it makes the phone twice as thick
Yes... You have to not mind the extra thickness. I suspect the battery its the same mAH rating as the built in one but am not certain.
Using tapatalk on my Galaxy 2 to post this!
"More, PowerSkin® is XPAL Powered, meaning it's charged by patented battery technology that reflects the highest standards of safety, quality, and performance."
what exactly do they mean from the above description? this case has a built in battery pack or something? if so, it should add significant bulk.
I wouldn't buy this. Your better off buying a case and a separate battery. These cases plug into to the micro usb socket so when your charging the phone your charging the case. If the phone is fully charged and the case would charge the battery of the phone while the phone is draining its own battery. This will make your oem battery die faster since its going through full cycles more. I had one for mytouch 4g its battery died within 3 months from this case.
As soon as I bought a new battery and stop using the case the battery has been fine. I had that phone since its release date. Basically have the case charged but don't turn it on till the battery dies in your phone first. I wouldn't even keep it plugged in since the back is so easy to click in and activate the power skin. These cases also have the worst protection ever for a case. The phone is easy to fall out of the case. There is nothing to hold it down to keep it secure in place. Even a cheap gel skin has more protection than these things.
Killbynature said:
I wouldn't buy this. Your better off buying a case and a separate battery. These cases plug into to the micro usb socket so when your charging the phone your charging the case. If the phone is fully charged and the case would charge the battery of the phone while the phone is draining its own battery. This will make your oem battery die faster since its going through full cycles more. I had one for mytouch 4g its battery died within 3 months from this case.
As soon as I bought a new battery and stop using the case the battery has been fine. I had that phone since its release date. Basically have the case charged but don't turn it on till the battery dies in your phone first. I wouldn't even keep it plugged in since the back is so easy to click in and activate the power skin. These cases also have the worst protection ever for a case. The phone is easy to fall out of the case. There is nothing to hold it down to keep it secure in place. Even a cheap gel skin has more protection than these things.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yup, that's true
it's not just this case, or vibrant or mytouch, that happens to all battery life.
i used to always leave my phones plug-ed in when i'm able to, to keep the battery topped up
but that killed the battery faster
since i stopped that, and went the route of replacing batteries after they go down to 15% percent (the auto low battery warning pops up) and switch to a fully charged pack, all my batteries last waaaaaaaaaaaay longer than when i kept it topped up on the charger
Posted photos in op
Using tapatalk on my Galaxy 2 to post this!
I don't like how it looks like the left side on the front shot its not rigid. That's what I hated about the d3o flex cover. Looks all uneven n can't even see the bezel in some spots. Bottom right seems jacked up
too. I can see bezel in the pic.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
My sister got one of these for her Galaxy S1 ... not that great only gave her about an extra 1-2 hours max before it died. Also you have to charge it and the internal battery separately, taking it off every night so that you can charge them both.
Not worth it, in my opinion.
only 1500 mAh!!!!!!! it's so not worth it
LOL
i was expecting at least 2500 mAh out of that bulky pack
power-skin
anyone ever use this? they got one for our phone
i saw it available online, im curious as well..how much bulk it adds and what it really looks like..$40 is a ridiculously steep price for a battery and a case though
I have one and use it. I also have a spare battery. between the two I'm good for 24 hours
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1331293
power-skin
for anyone who has the powerskin case for this phone or any other...where do you keep your phone when you are out? in your pocket? if the added thickness im curious if its too bulky to carry around that way...ive been trying to search for a holster or case but i havent come across one...if anyone knows of one please link me
i had one for the vibrant and it did help with battery, it just kept the battery at 100% but the extra size was too big...i would recommend maybe a bigger battery.
Powerskin for tmo galaxy s2
has any1 tried this product yet ? thinking about it twice the battery sounds like is worth the price to me........... LET ME KNOW ?
http://www.shop.power-skin.com/powerskin/samsung/galaxy-s2-tmobile
I have one which I like. You can read my thoughts about it here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1331293
Hmm...for twice the width you'd expect more no?
Also, how does this affect the LED flash when taking pictures?
Dont buy one
Eh, I kind of stopped caring for that review as soon as you said that you're limited to being close to the computer with the generic micro USB cable they gave you Hahaha. For the record, any usb cable will work. I wrote a review in another thread. Here's the excerpt.
Horvaticus said:
I bought one of these at the AT&T store in my local mall and paid $80 for it, after having someone recommend it to me. After having worked at Best Buy, I was a little bit skeptical on what a salesperson offered to me, but seeing as though I had bricked my previous 2 skyrockets by altering the voltage settings on them and the guy was nice enough to exchange them for me, I decided to give it a whirl, since I was spending company money and not my own.
Now, I'm big man with huge hands, and coming from an iPhone 4 which was heavier than the Skyrocket due to glass construction, the larger screen was nice, but I missed the heavy feeling to it. The case immediately remedied that by adding a strong sturdy feeling to it. In addition to that it provides a nice rubbery grip along the sides of the unit with a slight grip along the back panel, making it not as difficult to take in and out of your pocket as regular rubber silicone cases.
As far as the charging goes, I used to be wary of leaving my skyrocket out of its case in fear that the battery would die overnight, which was an issue, as I'm often forgetful to put it on a charger overnight. It's nice being able to sleep soundly at night knowing that I can throw the battery pack on and not have to worry about waking up late or whatever. I suppose that's why some people have dedicated alarm clocks, however, but I'm not one of those people.
The battery life is good. Despite the battery in the pack not being as big as the OEM battery, I find that when I get the low battery warning at about 15% and turn the case on I'm normally back up to a strong 90-97% by the time the case turns off an hour or so later. Perhaps that's just me though. In addition to this, I also find that the case gets HOT while charging it, but that's to be expected. And since it's Winter, I don't particularly mind.
It's slightly annoying to have to take the phone out of the case to plug it into my computer to do the USB transfer, but at the same time it's such a non-hassle to take the phone out of the case I don't really mind. Besides, I have 3 sets of chargers with the phone, so I can charge the phone on the computer and the case off the wall, hahaha.
As far as protection goes, it's decent. There isn't alot of screen coverage, but that's what a screen protector is for. I personally don't plan on dropping it OR getting a screen protector, but, just a heads up. I like how the center of gravity on the unit is changed, so that out of the two times I dropped it it landed on either the absolute bottom near the charger where there is alot of extra padding or it landed on the bridge that connects the battery structurally to the rest of the case near the camera.
All in all, sometimes I take it out of the case when I'm feeling elegant, but like someone else said in this thread it makes for a good backup battery. I suppose sometime in the future I'll just be using it as a backup charger, but for the time being, I really enjoy the ability to leave my brightness at full and not have to worry about the battery running down. In addition to that, when I went online to the powerskin website and saw they were giving an emergency cellphone away with online order I asked about a similar deal for buying through AT&T. Customer service apologized and told me they didn't, but they instead sent me a cheapy little portable speaker, which was nice of them nonetheless.
So, coming from a neckbeard that bought about 12 different cases for his red iPhone 4, (some clear, some rubbery, and one battery pack...) and being relatively new to the form factor of the Skyrocket, I would say that personally I would rate the case at about a B, for the aforementioned reasons, with the cons being that it heats up, and does have the potential to damage the battery if you don't watch turning it on or off when you're supposed to.
Also, screw you guys who got it for $35. I could have used that extra $45 for a night at a bar and written it off as a business expense. :|
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Hey guys, I've been on this accessories forum for a while, and I really like to browse through it when I'm on the train. To my knowledge there hasn't been a review for the t mobile Powerskin case. Now I know that there are a lot of variations of cases with battery implementations, but I was in t mobile a few weeks ago and I said meh what the hell. I've been using this case for 3 weeks and have put it through vicious usage. Considering that I take a 4-5 commute daily from home to school, and then work, and once again my cave. So this case/battery has been a wonder.
Pros:
I. The case obviously protects the phone fully, also from the screen to the end of case there is a length of 1cm so if it drops face first the screen won't crack/scratch, unless there is grit or whatever else on the floor/sidewalk.
II. The case itself isn't heavy, I cannot give a specific weight but when it's on the phone it does feel slightly heavier. But then again the extra battery life does defeat this mishap.
III. Unlike other cases, pressing the volume rockers, and power button isn't difficult. Atleast in my opinion they feel more comfortable, and concrete.
IV. You are able to charge your phone within the case, and the best part is, again in my opinion, that your phone chargers first then the case charges, all in all there is a 4-5 hour, charge more of less, but I believe that the phone should charge first it is logical, if the phone and case were charging simultaneously it would take much longer to recharge.
Cons:
I. The case itself is $59.99
II. The battery contains 1500mah, since the galaxy s3 holds 2100mah I'm presuming a 60-70 percent charge.
III. The case picks up dirt like lint and dust, etc. But only for a week, then it stops (for the neat freaks out there)
All in all I love it, even though it's a little bulky and the battery life is 1500mah it is useful protects your phone and gives it some juice. As I said there are other variations of this case online. But if you need some juice, and you don't like buying things online, this might be a possibility.
I will update this post with pictures of the case, and maybe some more pros, and hopefully no cons (since I've had the case for about 3 weeks)
Thank you, and like this if you feel I've done a good review, and thanks again. Hopefully I've been helpful.
First
C0mm0n_Sense said:
First
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First what?
Just felt like commenting....
This is a review of UNU Unity Battery case for Galaxy S5. http://www.myunu.com/unity-s5.html , also available on amazon www.amazon.com/UNU-Unity-Samsung-Galaxy-Battery/dp/B00J2H6PX8/
The idea of battery case is not a new concept. A few years back, it used to be popular in a form of external battery attachment molded into a bulky case with hardly any protection. Then, this idea was improved by using custom shaped batteries (double or triple capacity) sticking out of the original smartphone battery pocket, and using a custom plastic or TPU shell as a battery cover for a basic protection. Unfortunately, both of these approaches affected the thickness of the phone (by more than doubling it), phone protection was reduced, and often NFC support built into OEM battery was not available. UNU decided to improve this concept with a very clever solution. Here is what I found.
Arrived in a very simple package, the front is an open display under the cover revealing a slick look of what appears to be a typical smartphone case. You wouldn't even think for a second it was a battery case until you flip it over to see a description of UNU Unity Series with a detailed list of features, pictures of assembly, and benefits of additional hours by doubling the battery capacity. Yes, that's exactly what this battery case does - it doubles the capacity of stock 2800 mAh battery and provides a pretty decent protection by surrounding your Galaxy S5 in ultra-slim soft touch case.
Let me first start with a battery itself. As a standalone piece, there is a custom chassis with UNU's own 2800 mAh battery which goes into battery compartment of S5 instead of your OEM battery. It has an identical footprint and thickness comparable to OEM S5 battery with an addition of chassis on the top where you place your original S5 battery. This way both of the batteries are connected together, charging from the same S5 pins, and appear to Galaxy S5 as a single 5600 mAh battery tracked in your notification bar where you usually see battery percentage. This integration is completely transparent to your phone just like with any other extended battery.
The case is made up of two parts, the battery cover and the bumper. This is where UNU's design stands out from the crowd. Instead of a bulky TPU case with loose fitment or minimum drop protection, you actually get a quality back cover made out of durable PC hard shell material with a soft touch finish and an interlocking bumper that snaps securely to protect edges of the phone and provide a decent front lip which enables you to place the phone face down without touching the display. I have a tempered glass on my S5 and it worked well with this case, and I still had clearance to place the phone face down. Regarding the case itself, every port opening had a precise cutout and perfect alignment. Micro-usb port had enough clearance to flip the cover open, there was plenty of room to access heart rate sensor, and power/volume buttons had a nice tactile response.
Having a rounded shape of the back cover made this case feel very slim in your hand, yet still providing a secure grip. Overall, the case and the battery is approximately 78g, and if you take into consideration removal of original S5 battery cover which is no longer used in a new assembly, the total weight increase should be under 70g. Also, due to original battery being placed on top, you still get access to its built in NFC antenna. Regarding the performance, though UNU provides a reference of how many additional hours you will get - I honestly don't want to get into these details because we all use our phones differently. If I'm going to say, "oh, I got 10 more hours of game play" it will be relative to my specific phone use with everything else I'm running on my phone and all other background processes. It's hard to do apple-to-apple comparison between two phones even of the same model when it comes to battery life unless you have a carbon copy image of every app and setup. The bottom line, you are doubling your battery capacity so as a minimum you should see 75%-80% increase in additional use hours (nothing is ideal due to efficiency).
Overall, I was very impressed with a design concept of this battery case, with its innovative approach to double the battery capacity, and with attention UNU paid to the case design with an ultra slim form factor which feels like a regular case rather than a bulky battery add-on. I know it's a bit pricier than other extended batteries, but considering that it's not just a double battery but also a quality case, I think price increase is justified. So if you are looking to double battery life of your S5 and don't want to double the weight or bulky appearance of your phone, I highly recommend to check out UNU Unity case for Galaxy S5.
Here are the pictures.
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Never seen this battery design in the past. Nice kitchen, counter and fridge..:good::good::good:
ggcs said:
Never seen this battery design in the past. Nice kitchen, counter and fridge..:good::good::good:
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Thanks! That's were I "cook" all my reviews Check out more from my sig link
I love this! Definitely a great and better addition to our extended lineup! Thanks for the full detailed review. I subscribed and hope to see you post more about the performance as the days go on
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using XDA Free mobile app
Is this case waterproof??
It doesnt look like the battery sits flush against the surface of the back. Is there a gap between the back and the extended battery? (Where the original battery goes just under that between the black plastic and the s5 body.)
Looks really awesome! Thanks for the review. Does anyone know how i can get it outside of US?:good:
I just got mine today. I like the fit and feel of the case. Seems like quality to me. I can't comment on the battery as I just put it on. When I initially purchased it I thought it was like a mophie, but now after I see what it is, it may actually be better than a mophie. I am not quite sure about the technology but it certainly may perform much better. No need to charge it separately and turn it on and off.
Hmm, since this looses waterproof/resistance one could put a wireless charger on it
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using XDA Free mobile app
Good review. Will no doubt look at something along these lines in the near future.
Pretty sweet . I thought it would be much bulkier.. Its good to know it exists.. Thanks for the review . If in the future i need to go without a charger for more than 40 hours at a time i might consider it .. as of right now i am a moderate to somewhat heavy user and get 35-45 hours without needing a charge. I had good battery life right out of the box but now that im using Faux123 kernel my battery life is excellent . I thought i used my phone heavily . I guess you must travel a lot to need something like this . Anyway ill shut up ... Thanks again for the review and for the pictures Very Helpful
I'm getting my s5 tomorrow. Is this the only mophie like case for the s5?
s5 unu
I just got my unu unity case today and its abit bulky but still usable with one hand. The weight added is noticable but not overbearing. The soft touch case is a little slippery but at least its not a fingerprint magnet. And when I received my device it had 55% charge on it and 100% on my stock battery. As a note a few people are having issues with it so when you receive it turn it on to see if it works with just the unu battery, then add your battery and test nfc to confirm a commection to the original battery. As I stated earlier I received mine at 55%, tested, turned off, installed unu with oem battery then turned it on to find it at 55% and nfc working. At this point I plugged it into the charger and in about 2 minutes charged to 78%. I believe that both batteries contribute equally and one does not charge the other meaning no attrition. After the two minutes it took about 25~30 minutes to finish charging. Im on my first charge, and I average 3~4.5 hours of screen on time with oem only. Now im currently at 3 hours with 63% and 10 hours of standby time with powersaving mode off. I have screen brightness set to auto all the time and played a little monopoly, played about 25 minutes of spotify on sprint 3g and spent the rest of the time on google chrome. (Side note im using metal rom on sprint that has a stock kernel)
So for a recap when you get your unu turn it on with just the unu battery to see the % and to confirm it works, turn off, add your battery turn on and test nfc. Then average your battery and unu % plug into a charger and see it jump(charge fast) near or to that average then slow down and charge normally. Then install the bumper ! BOTTOM FIRST ! People have snapped the bumper installing it the wrong way. Below are some pros and cons:
Pros
-Double battery life literally
-Decently sturdy construction
-nfc
-no extra case to charge
-Smooth case doesnt attract fingerprints
Cons
-somewhat bulky for those who like tpu cases (came from diztronic)
-heartrate sensor is harder to get to
-speaker sounds kinda off because its a hollow shell
And not really a con but I wish unu filled the empty space with some shock absorbant material.
If you choose to buy this case go through unus website get about 20$ off with UNUINSIDER and free shipping but right now due to high demand they wont ship till end of august but its definitely worth it (50$) through their website.
blopez24 said:
I'm getting my s5 tomorrow. Is this the only mophie like case for the s5?
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Much better than a mophie because it doubles battery life without attrition and you have full acess to the usb port.
darkfangex5 said:
I just got my unu unity case today and its abit bulky but still usable with one hand. The weight added is noticable but not overbearing. The soft touch case is a little slippery but at least its not a fingerprint magnet. And when I received my device it had 55% charge on it and 100% on my stock battery. As a note a few people are having issues with it so when you receive it turn it on to see if it works with just the unu battery, then add your battery and test nfc to confirm a commection to the original battery. As I stated earlier I received mine at 55%, tested, turned off, installed unu with oem battery then turned it on to find it at 55% and nfc working. At this point I plugged it into the charger and in about 2 minutes charged to 78%. I believe that both batteries contribute equally and one does not charge the other meaning no attrition. After the two minutes it took about 25~30 minutes to finish charging. Im on my first charge, and I average 3~4.5 hours of screen on time with oem only. Now im currently at 3 hours with 63% and 10 hours of standby time with powersaving mode off. I have screen brightness set to auto all the time and played a little monopoly, played about 25 minutes of spotify on sprint 3g and spent the rest of the time on google chrome. (Side note im using metal rom on sprint that has a stock kernel)
So for a recap when you get your unu turn it on with just the unu battery to see the % and to confirm it works, turn off, add your battery turn on and test nfc. Then average your battery and unu % plug into a charger and see it jump(charge fast) near or to that average then slow down and charge normally. Then install the bumper ! BOTTOM FIRST ! People have snapped the bumper installing it the wrong way. Below are some pros and cons:
Pros
-Double battery life literally
-Decently sturdy construction
-nfc
-no extra case to charge
-Smooth case doesnt attract fingerprints
Cons
-somewhat bulky for those who like tpu cases (came from diztronic)
-heartrate sensor is harder to get to
-speaker sounds kinda off because its a hollow shell
And not really a con but I wish unu filled the empty space with some shock absorbant material.
If you choose to buy this case go through unus website get about 20$ off with UNUINSIDER and free shipping but right now due to high demand they wont ship till end of august but its definitely worth it (50$) through their website.
Much better than a mophie because it doubles battery life without attrition and you have full acess to the usb port.
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Dang it... I should have gone through myunu.com and saved that 20 bucks... Hope everyone else can see this deal!
Thank you to darkfangex5 for that promo code! I ended up ordering one and it came a lot quicker than I expected, especially with the website saying that the all black cover was out of stock and wouldn't ship until August 30th. I ordered mine August 20th and it was delivered August 25th.
I listened to darkfangex5 advice about trying with just the unu battery first and then both together. The Unu battery had 56%. I can't recall exactly what my stock battery had but it was somewhere around 60%. I turned the device off and put both batteries in and made sure the NFC was still working. I wasn't on my phone much the rest of the day and gave it a full charge through the night and have used it for about 5 hours so far today. I have been using my phone heavily (as I normally do) these past five hours with about one hour of streaming netflix to chromecast and about 2.5 hours of audio podcast listening (downloaded, not streaming). In addition to that I also had the screen on for about 2.5 hours as well. At this rate I should be able to get about 20 hours of a full charge which falls right in line as I used to get about 10 hours with heavy usage before needing a charge.
As far as a review of the look and feel of the case goes, I like the look a lot. It is a clean design. It does have a smooth finish and is a tad slippery but nothing I am worried about yet. I did accidentally crack the bottom of the ring piece trying to install the cover (was too eager and didn't read the instructions fully). It does not seem like the crack will have any issues though. I am not a fan of the power button design. It is set up like a hinge connected at the top of the button so you need to press the lower portion of the button for it work. Not a huge deal but sometimes I find myself having to press it twice since I wasn't low enough on the button. One thing I didn't think about was how it would fit in the Samsung car mount I bought for my S4. It still fits in the mount but it is not as secure as I would hope. Lastly the cover does add a few mm of height above the headphone jack. I use an aux cord in my vehicle since I don't have bluetooth and the headphone jack does not fit snuggly into the phone but I still get full audio. I'm sure a different/slimmer aux cord will solve this issue.
Thanks to those who bought and reviewed this product. I am very happy with my purchase so far.
A quick overview of my review:
Pros
-Double battery life
-Still have NFC capability
-Looks of the case
Cons
-Slightly bigger than expected (mainly my fault for not checking size of my car mount and aux cord)
-Case could be slightly more rugged
-Not a fan of the power button design
7220
So after of couple of days/weeks of use, how's your UNU Unity battery so far? Are you still pleased with it? I just might order one in a couple of days for myself!
the_agima said:
So after of couple of days/weeks of use, how's your UNU Unity battery so far? Are you still pleased with it? I just might order one in a couple of days for myself!
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I have had one for about a week now. Its a good case and battery combo. Too much battery for me though. I'm not a power user by any means. I'm probably gonna sell mine if you are interested let me know.
Slick Back
Hello,
Looks like they fixed the slick back like the one I tested. The finish of the back is very slick and can slide out of your hand easily. This looks like they changed the finish of the back to something more like a TPU case that is not as slick in your hand.
Good on them... That is my only real issue with the product...
the_agima said:
So after of couple of days/weeks of use, how's your UNU Unity battery so far? Are you still pleased with it? I just might order one in a couple of days for myself!
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I've had mine for a few weeks. My initial impressions still stand with one exception.
The glossy white/light blue combo still looks like a teenage girl's case. I thought it would get scratched up pretty badly (I am a "face up" rather than "face down" person on the rare occasions my phone is on a surface instead of in my pocket) but it has not at all, still looks brand new.
I still wouldn't call this a particularly slim case but it definitely seems smaller than the alternatives.
Getting into the USB port door is absolutely no problem, they got that part of the design completely right. The headphone jack opening is too small for what used to be the standard size plug (seems that new ones are a lot slimmer now).
There is some dust getting in, which I still don't like. And the hard plastic is creaky and hard and really wouldn't provide cushioning against drops.
So, as a case... meh.
I'm loving the extra battery life though. I've been playing a game recently that with the extra battery takes me under 50% remaining at the end of some days. Without playing that game I would normally only have to charge every other night. I can tether for a couple hours without needing to plug in to power while doing it. Really convenient.
It is kind of annoying when the low battery stuff starts to squawk at a point which is really earlier than it needs to. Small price to pay
Will I keep it? Not sure. I'm leaning towards no, sacrificing the extra power since normally I could last a day ok. But I may give the GS5 to my wife in a few months and maybe the case would be more appropriate for her.
Thank you both for your feedback!
Looks like the LG V40 will launch late this year. Some info on it can be found here: https://wccftech.com/lg-v40-specifications-feature-launch-date-leak-specifications-features-price/
https://forum.xda-developers.com/lg-v40
Guess am sticking with the v20. I cant live without removable battery. But Im always looking to import.
bountyman334 said:
Guess am sticking with the v20. I can't live without removable battery. But Im always looking to import.
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You want removable battery because your battery dies during the day or what? And you want to swap it out?
People keep saying the can't live without removable battery but won't ever say why. My wife and I have not have removable battery on our Androids since 2014, so I don't quite understand.
First, with newer phones with high IP ratings -- like V30 IP68 -- you can't have removable battery without a lot of engineering headache. Also designing back exit port (with clear exit/entry/walls) for user battery removal makes the phone bigger than it needs to be.
Second, the V30 battery life is EXCELLENT. Some days I don't even charge my phone until I get home from work, as the V30 system has great built-in battery saving. I do keep Quick Charge chargers in car and at work, just in case. (Why? Because of my previous phone.)
Coming from a 2014 Moto XT1225 with a 3900 mAh battery, I was very worried about battery life on a phone with smaller battery (3300 mAh) and larger OLED display (6" vs 5.2"). I've been pleasantly surprised. Ironically, the older Moto XT1225 with bigger battery would not hold a charge all day long, thus my charger stash in car and at work... And I'm still going to keep those. There's no harm in charging while I'm using Google Waze navigation or topping off at work while I'm typing on my laptop.
Third, no current or future premium phones are going to have removable battery. See point #1. So, unless you are going to keep buying increasingly older refurbished V20 phones, at some point you're going to need to move forward.
I love IP68 protection, myself and the V30 has headset jack and Qi wireless charging -- which are my "lines in the sand" for what I need on a phone.
I wouldn't mind the LG V40 battery being a little larger than LG V30 3300 mA... but I am quite pleased with the battery performance of the LG V30.
ChazzMatt said:
You want removable battery because your battery dies during the day or what? And you want to swap it out?
People keep saying the can't live without removable battery but won't ever say why. My wife and I have not have removable battery on our Androids since 2014, so I don't quite understand.
First, with newer phones with high IP ratings -- like V30 IP68 -- you can't have removable battery without a lot of engineering headache. Also designing back exit port (with clear exit/entry/walls) for user battery removal makes the phone bigger than it needs to be.
Second, the V30 battery life is EXCELLENT. Some days I don't even charge my phone until I get home from work, as the V30 system has great built-in battery saving. I do keep Quick Charge chargers in car and at work, just in case. (Why? Because of my previous phone.)
Coming from a 2014 Moto XT1225 with a 3900 mAh battery, I was very worried about battery life on a phone with smaller battery (3300 mAh) and larger OLED display (6" vs 5.2"). I've been pleasantly surprised. Ironically, the older Moto XT1225 with bigger battery would not hold a charge all day long, thus my charger stash in car and at work... And I'm still going to keep those. There's no harm in charging while I'm using Google Waze navigation or topping off at work while I'm typing on my laptop.
Third, no current or future premium phones are going to have removable battery. See point #1. So, unless you are going to keep buying increasingly older refurbished V20 phones, at some point you're going to need to move forward.
I love IP68 protection, myself and the V30 has headset jack and Qi wireless charging -- which are my "lines in the sand" for what I need on a phone.
I wouldn't mind the LG V40 battery being a little larger than LG V30 3300 mA... but I am quite pleased with the battery performance of the LG V30.
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I want removable battery so I can replace it myself when it gives signs of wear. Without taking the whole damn phone apart!
I never take baths with my phone, all phones have enough water resistance so you can walk with them in the rain.
I really don't see the point in having water proofing on modern phones. Not when it comes at the cost of repairability or drop resistance.
FACT: old phones with removable battery were much more resistant on drops even if their parts (cover, battery) flew in all directions on big drops. I dropped old Nokia smartphones from 2nd story with no damage. How does water proofing help your flagship these days? They crack from laughable heights of under a meter.
I'm pretty sure drops on hard surfaces are much more common causes for damage than the lack of water proofing ever was in the past.
DLS123 said:
I want removable battery so I can replace it myself when it gives signs of wear.
I never take baths with my phone, all phones have enough water resistance so you can walk with them in the rain.
I really don't see the point in having water proofing on modern phones.
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It's not taking baths, it's the drop off the edge of swimming pool. Drop in the toilet. (Ugh). Kid knocking over pitcher of tea at the dinner table, directly onto your phone.
V30 has mil spec ratings for dropping. See the forum description on the PC website version. Phone will keep functioning. I do keep case on for glass back as it's slippery.
LG V30 in United States has two year warranty.
ChazzMatt said:
It's not taking baths, it's the drop off the edge of swimming pool. Drop in the toilet. (Ugh). Kid knocking over pitcher of tea at the dinner table, directly onto your phone.
V30 has mil spec ratings for dropping. See the forum description on the PC website version. Phone will keep functioning. I do keep case on for glass back as it's slippery.
LG V30 in United States has two year warranty.
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Maybe you shouldn't take the phone near the swimming pool. Or buy a phone specifically made for extreme environments if you're really not able to be careful about using electronics near water or keep it away from kids.
I don't care about the specs for dropping and whatever others have tested and written about the phone.
I learned on my own how those specs mean absolutely nothing. I dropped the V30 from 60 cm on wooden floor. The screen cracked, water resistance is gone. These new designs are terribly flawed. Superior materials (plastics) have been replaced by metal and glass. Neither provides any functional advantage. They just make the phone more heavy and slippery. Add to that the craze about screen to body ratio aiming for 100% that does nothing but make the phones even more fragile.
DLS123 said:
Maybe you shouldn't take the phone near the swimming pool. Or buy a phone specifically made for extreme environments if you're really not able to be careful about using electronics near water or keep it away from kids.
I don't care about the specs for dropping and whatever others have tested and written about the phone.
I learned on my own how those specs mean absolutely nothing. I dropped the V30 from 60 cm on wooden floor. The screen cracked, water resistance is gone. These new designs are terribly flawed. Superior materials (plastics) have been replaced by metal and glass. Neither provides any functional advantage. They just make the phone more heavy and slippery. Add to that the craze about screen to body ratio aiming for 100% that does nothing but make the phones even more fragile.
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Click to collapse
Well, you're never getting removable battery on a new premium phone, no matter how much you complain.
How often do you replace your batteries anyway?
Love the peace of mind of IP68, whether I ever need it or not. I've not had removable battery phone since 2014 and never missed that feature.
Sent via open market LG US998 V30/V30+
@DLS123
i think that everything comes down to money... if you had the money you would change the friggin phones every month, every week... but it's like the fox and the grapes (if you understand what i mean)
as for battery change, how often do you change them? once a year? once two years? you might not even keep a phone that much and speaking about the phone beinng dismantled like that it means that you don't even do the operation of changing the battery
ip68 protection is very good. many people kill their phones because of liquid damage. there are many situations you cannot really control, like a sudden rain while you are outside, or dropping the phone into toilet, or having it on the table and someone spill some glass with water on it, etc... ip68 protection is more than welocome, it helps you sleep better at night. i once killed a nexus 5's display because i had it on the floor and at night i wanted to drink some water but because i was sleepy i dropped the bottle on the floor, didn't realize the phone was there until morning when was too late already. you putting the blame on us killing phones because of liquid damage makes you something that i cannot write here... many of us want less stress on our heads about phones. PLEASE do not judge us about something you cannot understand
i have had many phones with alot of physical impact damage, broken screens, broken cases, even bent cases. afterall it is a phone which is not made from vibranium, it's glass and plastic but if you refer at nokia 3310 with "old phones with removable battery" sentence then we might have a problem. everything with a full body display BREAKS, i can and i did, not on purpose anyway. nobody wants their phone to be a second baby and keep it all day long in silk... it's a phone, it's an OBJECT. everything in this world breaks with the right amount of force.
this is why i always use full body cases and tempered glass screen protectors, to minimize the repair costs. i am one of the few ppl out there who do not care about how it looks as long as i do not change display once a month.
damn, i abuse them like hell. my 5x even had three full charges a day, fully emptied, overheated till 80 degrees and it still works like a charm, with new battery and thermal pad to cool the processor little bit more. on the other side v30 gives me twice the battery life n5x had but sometimes i eat two v30's betteries in a day, removed thermal throttle completely so the gpu do not go dows when i play games.
changing the bettery is not that hard, you just need some good double adhesive tape and a small cross screwdriver and, of course, a new bettery which costs 10 euros.
don't be such an ignorant *something* and put your hands to work, evolve yourself or, if you do not want to, keep your outdated v20 and, please, do not criticize our awesome v30
I think water resistance is a great feature. Like insurance, I never intend to use it, but I still like having it "just in case".
I also think user replaceable battery is desirable, because the battery is the one thing that wears the most in a modern smartphone, and the one thing that makes it impractical to use a phone for several years. V30 has good battery life: I charge mine only every 3rd night (occasionally every 2nd night) and generally get 8 hrs SOT or more. But I use Battery Saver most of the time, and I do it mainly to reduce battery wear, because I need to keep this phone useful for at least 3 years. Had the battery been user replaceable, I wouldn't have that concern.
Alas, the two features are not compatible for the reasons described, so each has to prioritize and decide for him/herself.
I prefer anodized aluminium to glass, both for its looks, its feel, and its resistance to fingerprints. Hence V30 wasn't really my preferred phone at first. But it was my wife's, and with T-Mobile's BOGO AND LG's $400 rebate, it was a no-brainer. And I have since come to like it a lot, particularly after I trimmed the bloat, found the right case for it, and after I realized how great that Sabre DAC is. Paired with decent headphones, it really is a poor man's Hi-Fi system -- and a pretty darn good one too.
And I also really appreciate LG's 2-year warranty!
I insisted on 2 things with every phone I ever bought: removable battery and expandable storage. I never once replaced a battery (and every phone was a flagship on a full 2-year contract). I did, however, always rely on an extra microSD card for media and to make it easier and safer to flash new ROMs. But now that I have 128gb built-in, even that is hardly an issue. I never pay any attention to glass vs. aluminum vs. plastic body, because my phones all live in matte black TPU cases so they all look the same from my point of view.
I was as closed-minded as the next guy for nearly a decade, but darned if technology didn't just evolve beyond my needs.
SilverZero said:
I was as closed-minded as the next guy for nearly a decade, but darned if technology didn't just evolve beyond my needs.
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LOL. Nice post!
Edit: I haven't yet filled up my 128GB either, even with most of my CDs as FLAC and a ton of hi-res music files to boot. And if I ever do, V30 still has an SD card slot. So it really has worked out to be the right phone for me, even though I didn't realize it at first.
I tried replacing phone batteries in the past. I learned that (1) low price aftermarket batteries have inferior performance and are a gamble with respect to safety, (2) OEM batteries are either way overpriced if fresh (only available while the phone is still in production), or "new" aka unused but stale*, or used and stale*.
Basically, it is a waste of time and money at best to replace a phone battery. (It is also a safety risk with most aftermarket Li-Ion batteries.) So, a phone is a 2 year device. After that, the battery is at end of life, the phone is slipping into obsolescence, time to get a new phone, forget about replacing batteries.
* Li-Ion batteries in this class have only a 2-3 year life whether they are used or not, as soon as they are manufactured the clock is ticking. Freshness matters. A 2-3 year old battery has only 60% or less original fresh capacity.
Tinkerer_ said:
I tried replacing phone batteries in the past. I learned that (1) low price aftermarket batteries have inferior performance and are a gamble with respect to safety, (2) OEM batteries are either way overpriced if fresh (only available while the phone is still in production), or "new" aka unused but stale*, or used and stale*.
Basically, it is a waste of time and money at best to replace a phone battery. (It is also a safety risk with most aftermarket Li-Ion batteries.) So, a phone is a 2 year device. After that, the battery is at end of life, the phone is slipping into obsolescence, time to get a new phone, forget about replacing batteries.
* Li-Ion batteries in this class have only a 2-3 year life whether they are used or not, as soon as they are manufactured the clock is ticking. Freshness matters. A 2-3 year old battery has only 60% or less original fresh capacity.
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Now that's a really good point you're making, that quality batteries are difficult to find after a couple years, or unreasonably expensive. I hadn't thought about that. Of course not that it matters with V30 :silly:
But I will say that good battery care really does make a difference with Li-Ion batteries, including minimizing the number of charging cycles AND minimizing the amount of time spent at the top and bottom of the battery's range (where its chemistry suffers the most). Case in point is the old Samsung laptop on which I am writing this: Its battery wear is still less than 20% after over six years. It is plugged in most of the time, but with Samsung's Battery Life Extender enabled, which stops charging at 80%. During those six year I've used it on battery about twice a week for meetings or presentations or working outside, but I try to avoid running it down completely. I charge it fully to 100% when I need the extra battery runtime, but mostly I have kept it within the 20-80% zone where Li-Ion is most comfortable.
With my V30 it is not practical to stop charging below 100% as I charge overnight. And maybe LG's charging logic makes it unnecessary. But I do avoid running it down completely, and I only charge it every 2-3 nights. So far my battery health is still at 102% after 8 months, according to AccuBattery -- although I am not sure how accurate that really is.
And we have soooooo hijacked this thread
So the V40 aspect of having a non-replaceable battery (like the V30 and most other current phones) was the point that went off on a tangent about the issues of phone battery replacement.
Here's the scenario, where you are careful to maximize your original phone battery by optimal charge state between 20-80%, moderate temperatures, moderate power draws, etc.:
You managed to keep it viable for an unusually long service life, maybe 3 years. Good! (But even optimal charging and service conditions cannot change the chronological aging problem of Li-ion batteries, so 3 years has dropped capacity to only 60% and falling.)
Now, you have a phone that is obsolete, with sub-par battery runtime. And, the other systems of the phone are at end of life too, because it is all designed for a 2 year service life, so failure probability is increasing rapidly.
Available batteries are stale and/or inferior quality (and most are safety hazards).
Are you going to try to keep the phone going with replacement battery? It is past the point of diminishing returns, and most aftermarket batteries are an increased safety hazard too (charging should be done only in a fully ventilated area with nothing nearby that can burn).
After learning all this by experience, I gave up on replacing phone batteries, and the user-replaceable battery.
Face it, a phone is just a disposable 2 year device. Replaceable battery is irrelevant. IMHO.
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TheDannemand said:
Now that's a really good point you're making, that quality batteries are difficult to find after a couple years, or unreasonably expensive. I hadn't thought about that. Of course not that it matters with V30 :silly:
But I will say that good battery care really does make a difference with Li-Ion batteries, including minimizing the number of charging cycles AND minimizing the amount of time spent at the top and bottom of the battery's range (where its chemistry suffers the most). Case in point is the old Samsung laptop on which I am writing this: Its battery wear is still less than 20% after over six years. It is plugged in most of the time, but with Samsung's Battery Life Extender enabled, which stops charging at 80%. During those six year I've used it on battery about twice a week for meetings or presentations or working outside, but I try to avoid running it down completely. I charge it fully to 100% when I need the extra battery runtime, but mostly I have kept it within the 20-80% zone where Li-Ion is most comfortable.
With my V30 it is not practical to stop charging below 100% as I charge overnight. And maybe LG's charging logic makes it unnecessary. But I do avoid running it down completely, and I only charge it every 2-3 nights. So far my battery health is still at 102% after 8 months, according to AccuBattery -- although I am not sure how accurate that really is.
And we have soooooo hijacked this thread
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It's not really hijacking. Somebody said they wouldn't buy a better phone (we're hoping V40 will be a better phone) than the V30 (because it is posted in this thread, so therefore the implied comparison between the two) because it won't have replaceable battery. HUH?
Well, V30 also doesn't have replaceable battery and neither did my previous Motorola phone. So, that person wasn't just criticizing the still unknown V40 but even our current V30 phone.
They won't even buy V30, which is the best phone of 2017.
In a way, we're explaining even our V30, otherwise we would all be stuck using slider keyboards Eclair Androids. For good or bad, software keyboards are defacto. (No, don't even mention BlackBerry. They are not a trend.)
And sealed batteries are defacto.
* IP68 beats any reason for replaceable battery.
* Batteries are goingng to last 2-3 years. By then, you're going to get another phone.
* Also, battery charge lasts longer than in the past, where people needed to swap out batteries mid day.
* There is also QuickCharge technology that will give you six more hours in 15 minutes... I keep Quick Charge in car and at work.
Now you can always argue for bigger batteries, but sealed batteries are here for premium phones.
Same with IR blasters. No one is begging to control their TV with their phone. Sure, it's a "cool" trick to show off one time, but it is a not a real life concern for millions of people.
Now headset jack and Qi wireless charging, THOSE are important.
DLS123 said:
Maybe you shouldn't take the phone near the swimming pool.
Or buy a phone specifically made for extreme environments if you're really not able to be careful about using electronics near water
or keep it away from kids.
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I could also admonish you to never be so clumsy... Forget about hyperactive kids, you dropped and broke your own phone. Ironically, ig you had at least dropped it in water, it would be OK.
DLS123 said:
I dropped the V30 from 60 cm (about 24 inches) on wooden floor. The screen cracked, water resistance is gone.
These new designs are terribly flawed. Superior materials (plastics) have been replaced by metal and glass. Neither provides any functional advantage. They just make the phone more heavy and slippery. Add to that the craze about screen to body ratio aiming for 100% that does nothing but make the phones even more fragile.
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Cracked with drop of 2 feet to wooden floor, then you didn't have a case on your phone or the right case? Yeah, it's ironic we have to cover our glass phones with plastic.
You need a case for the back glass and you need raised lip on the case to protect the front display from hitting the floor.
But I like larger displays, I love IP68, I will not buy a phone without Qi wireless charging (so you can't have metal).
I do agree with you that a tightly sealed modern plastic which would still give you IP68 would definitely be better than glass (same plastic stuff race car driver helmets are made of) -- but you still wouldn't have removable battery. Those days are over.
And even though we cover our glass phones with plastic cases, somehow the buying public WANTS shiny glass at least to buy the phone. Then immediately cover it with plastic -- never to be seen again!
TheDannemand said:
I think water resistance is a great feature. Like insurance, I never intend to use it, but I still like having it "just in case"....
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FWIW, I don't think my V30 would've survived my trip to Spain for San Fermin without IP68. I can say with certainty, that it is not only water resistant, but also WINE RESISTANT!
San Fermin WINE INCOMING!!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlJH_ZPBxdT/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
pjsnyc said:
FWIW, I don't think my V30 would've survived my trip to Spain for San Fermin without IP68. I can say with certainty, that it is not only water resistant, but also WINE RESISTANT!
San Fermin WINE INCOMING!!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlJH_ZPBxdT/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
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LOL Yes, I can see that :laugh:
Drinks with sugar content (like wine and sodas) are some of the worst if they get inside electronics, because the sticky stuff remains and can keep shorting even after the liquid has dried out. So this is a perfect example of where IP68 proved to be "worth the insurance premium".
ChazzMatt said:
You need a case for the back glass and you need upper lip on the case to protect the front display from hitting the floor.
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I started out with a clear TPU case with upper lip (this one) because I was terrified I would drop my expensive new glass phone. And while it did indeed protect, I never got to like the phone all the time I used it: It ruined the V30s elegant design and, ironically, it actually made me drop the phone TWICE on our tile floor because the sticky silicone rubber surface somehow surprised the tactile expectations of my hands when handling the phone.
After a few months I got a hard cover slim skin case instead (this one) and it completely changed my experience with the phone: It looks great (people now ask what kind of phone I have) and feels great in my hands. And while I realize it won't protect as well in case of a drop, I haven't dropped it since, because the mat silky surface behaves as my hands expect.
We recently got the same case for my wife's V30 -- although Rose Gold! She continues to use a Spigen clear TPU case during the week because she often drops her phone at work. But when we go out, she puts on the slim skin case
Late reply,
I understand the need-ness for ip rating and what not, but I can to grips that you'll never find a "flagship" in this day and age with everything you need ie.; Remote control, replacement battery, fast charging, military grade protection (I degress, maybe a sales pitch). I'm pretty sure everyone on xda is a tinker.. wanting to see how everything works.
With that being said I don't knock no one for their choices. I fully support anyone and their ideas. I know we are stuck (v20 7.0 2yrs) with awesome hardware but a ****ty company (sometimes or department). I don't really upgrade that much because I researched alot before I make a decision.