Any issues with a third-party battery in a mobile phone?

[Elliot B.]

I will be buying a Samsung Galaxy Note this week.

I believe it comes with a 2,500 mAh battery.

Whilst that is fine, I'll also buy a second battery as a spare/backup.

You can pick up a third-party 5,000 mAh battery for ?11.50 on Amazon (or ?15.00 for one with a cover with a kickstand)

Any thoughts on such batteries?

If you guys think they're fine, I may even use Samsung's 2,500 mAh battery as the spare/backup.

[Detection]

Things to be aware of with 3rd party batteries are Capacity being much lower than advertised and Lifetime/number of charge cycles being a lot less than genuine batteries, and I guess fire/leak hazard if poorly made / not certified

[Elliot B.]

Things to be aware of with 3rd party batteries are Capacity being much lower than advertised and Lifetime/number of charge cycles being a lot less than genuine batteries, and I guess fire/leak hazard if poorly made / not certified

All valid points, thanks!

Surely they'd be certified/legal if they're sold on Amazon?

[Detection]

Surely they'd be certified/legal if they're sold on Amazon?

I'd hope so, but Amazon is a kind of eBay in the sense that people (you and I) can sell things there ? (I've never looked into it though so could be wrong)

All valid points, thanks!

Surely they'd be certified/legal if they're sold on Amazon?

I've heard good things about these guys but they're not the cheapest

http://www.mugen-power-batteries.com/

[FiB3R]

Same story with PC PSU's. Cheap ones never live up to what's printed on the box. At least with a phone, a cheap battery won't cause system instability (afaik).

It's cheap enough to take a punt on, so I'd say go for it.

[Elliot B.]

<snip>

I've heard good things about these guys but they're not the cheapest

http://www.mugen-power-batteries.com/

They charge ?55.80 for a 5,400 mAh battery and ?27.88 for a 2,650 mAh battery.

Look at those prices. Do they think I'm a mug?

[Detection]

They charge ?55.80 for a 5,400 mAh battery and ?27.88 for a 2,650 mAh battery.

Look at those prices. Do they think I'm a mug?

Yea I know, not cheap, but I don't suppose genuine batteries from Samsung would be much cheaper, I linked to them because a lot of people on XDA recommended them for actually having the specs advertised

[Elliot B.]

Yea I know, not cheap, but I don't suppose genuine batteries from Samsung would be much cheaper, I linked to them because a lot of people on XDA recommended them for actually having the specs advertised

This has many fine reviews on Amazon and it's only ?11.49.

I don't mind if it's not 5000 mAh as advertised. For that price, I'll be happy for it to be 3,500 mAh - would still be more than the included 2,500 mAh battery.

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This has many fine reviews on Amazon and it's only ?11.49.

I don't mind if it's not 5000 mAh as advertised. For that price, I'll be happy for it to be 3,500 mAh - would still be more than the included 2,500 mAh battery.

Yea I think it's worth giving it a chance considering the price, I suppose even if you have to replace it twice as fast it would still work out cheaper

There's a site that rates different battery makes and puts advertised vs actual capacity but I can't remember the URL atm

EDIT - http://batteryboss.org/

Actually even Mugen gets a bashing in there but looks like it's pretty old, even their forum 404s

[AJerman]

Read here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1348

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Read here: http://forum.xda-dev...play.php?f=1348

Would have been a good review if the app he used didn't rate a 2500mAh battery at 2828mAh, makes me question the results for the entire test

But if true, and his scaling down of the results to match the original OEM battery works, then 5076mAh from a 5400mAh rated non-OEM battery isn't bad

[AJerman]

Would have been a good review if the app he used didn't rate a 2500mAh battery at 2828mAh, makes me question the results for the entire test

But if true, and his scaling down of the results to match the original OEM battery works, then 5076mAh from a 5400mAh rated non-OEM battery isn't bad

I didn't link to a review. I linked to the Accessories subforum with multiple topics about batteries, but I know what you mean. I did glance at the review you're referring to out of curiosity. As with any forum, you take it all with a grain of salt, read a few reviews to get a true idea. Most of those threads have results from multiple people and an overall conclusion of how well a product works, at least in my experience from accessory subforums on other phones I've had.

[Detection]

I didn't link to a review. I linked to the Accessories subforum with multiple topics about batteries, but I know what you mean. I did glance at the review you're referring to out of curiosity. As with any forum, you take it all with a grain of salt, read a few reviews to get a true idea. Most of those threads have results from multiple people and an overall conclusion of how well a product works, at least in my experience from accessory subforums on other phones I've had.

Yep I do that too, read a shed load of real user reviews and pick the average from that.

[n_K]

Same story with PC PSU's. Cheap ones never live up to what's printed on the box. At least with a phone, a cheap battery won't cause system instability (afaik).

I had an extended battery for my ngage, it was so fat that it cracked the case, and one day it got kinda hot (within 2 years of getting it) and the ngage no longer works! So yeah, be careful though I dare say replacement batteries are of a much higher quality these days.