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Ask Slashdot: Where Can I Find Good Replacement Batteries?
An anonymous reader writes: I have an old phone with a battery that barely works anymore. My current phone's battery is mediocre — I can put up with it, but I've been thinking about getting a new one. My four-year-old ThinkPad holds less of a charge than I'd like, and less than it did when I bought it. In all these cases, the only thing holding me back from buying a new battery is that I'm not sure where to find a good one. Searching for my phone's battery on Amazon (or any major online retailer) yields a dozen results, all fairly cheap. But which are reliable? They all seem to have varying reviews, ranging from "Perfect official factory replacement!" to "Garbage knock-off, worse than the battery I replaced." Part numbers don't seem to help, as the knock-offs replicate those pretty well. I ask you, Slashdot: where can I find a good replacement battery?
It is tough. I'd suggest you try to find a battery with a higher mAh than the original because they usually are crappy but it might just help a bit.
Anker products.
As you note, the problem with batteries is there's just so much undifferentiable import crap. Lots of it has fancy packaging.
Anker is no doubt trafficking in generics as well, but they do have their own design department (even goods like their Qi chargers that are made out of glass and metal have logos embedded in them and don't look like everyone else's generics) and when I posted a lukewarm review on Amazon ("Seems to work, nothing impressive, but good that it works.") about a phone battery, a rep with native English contacted me immediately and asked if there was anything they could do or offer to improve my experience from lukewarm to stellar.
So that at least is indicative of a company that cares. Note that I don't work for Anker, but since that experience (the phone battery was my first purchase of their products) I've purchased a number of subsequent products and none of them performed more poorly than the original OEM equipment, so that's at least something in this world of mostly fake batteries.
STOP . AMERICA . NOW
Tell us exactly what model phone and exactly what brand and model battery.
That way you have a better chance of catching the attention of someone with experience with what you need.
Otherwise I wave you in the vague direction of Batteries+
I see even classic Slashdot is now pretty much unusable on dial up anymore.
> They all seem to have varying reviews, ranging from "Perfect official factory replacement!" to "Garbage knock-off, worse than the battery I replaced."
This is because amazon lumps reviews from different sellers together. Once you've identified a potential seller/product you want, go into the list of sellers, and make sure to pick one with good reviews. It's going to be more expensive than from a place with 2 stars, but at least it'll work.
Amazon offers 30 day returns. If it fails fast they will take it back. Be wary of items they just fulfill, return policies vary (and Amazon has great service). Compare the manufacturers warranties, ask a question on the Amazon item pages.
Read the most recent reviews. I've seen several "different item/different serial #" issues with Dell batteries. Items presented can change over time, they are mutable.
Don't rush. You've been putting up with the performance you are seeing, you can take it another week or two.
Anyway, that's how I buy batteries...
BlameBillCosby.com
I just ran into this with my wife's Dell laptop. I tried an aftermarket battery at newegg that had some glowing reviews and some terrible reviews, but was cheap enough (about $35) that I was willing to give it a try. It sort of worked for about a month, and now won't charge at all. So, we wound up buying a replacement direct from Dell for $150. I also recently bought an aftermarket battery for an old Toshiba laptop, but it only lasts about 1.5 hours if I'm lucky. It was $15 from Amazon. I guess you get what you pay for. So, other than paying through the nose for a genuine battery from the manufacturer, I don't know where to get good quality laptop batteries anymore (it used to be you could find decent batteries at various places on line, but all I see is junk now...)
On the other hand, I bought a new battery for my phone (an HTC) and got a battery made by a company called Anker. It works great and have had no problems with it. Bought several more for my wife's and my mother's phones, and they work well too. You can find Anker batteries on Amazon.
B&H Video
Amazon when Amazon is the source
Pretty much don't look for price, look for details in the Specifications and Reputable Reviewers.. its finding these temporary sign posts that mark a good source.
More and more its random process
Go anker, they have worked very well in the past for my phones. Avoid andida, 2 sets of batteries Went bad in 32 days
It's pretty much a crap shoot. The Amazon reviews are always mixed, but look for the most 5s and the least 1s.
I've purchased a bunch of packages of two batteries and a travel charger for $10-$20. A few of them have been garbage, but compared to $40 each for an OEM battery, it's worth throwing a few away.
I recently got Caseology batteries for my Galaxy S5 and they're fantastic.
...is there a way to bury posts yet?
Mugen Power Batteries, great batteries, excellent price. They make extended batteries, some that fit in stock battery compartments, some that use extended battery covers. I've used them on several phones, and am about to buy one for my new LG G3 (only an extra 100ma, but when you're on call, it helps).
Came here to say Anker. I purchased 2 replacement batteries for my phone (Galaxy s2x) + standalone battery charger as a bundle from Amazon.ca for $28 delivered.
Batteries work great, and the standalone charger seems to be able to charge any kind of battery I can throw at it.
My first attempt at ordering a battery on ebay for $9 was a washout - took a month to arrive, and was complete crap when it did.
Make a best guess of the reviews, keeping in mind that some are astroturfed, both for and against, and roll the dice.
Either give it away or get top dollar, but never sell yourself cheap.
I can second Anker batteries, mine worked fine. I can't say I'm as thrilled with their wall-wart router, but that's probably more on me. Two data points isn't too useful, but if I had to recommend someone, I'd say "Anker didn't suck for me". No bigger help than looking at their Amazon reviews though.
I'll second Anker. I have a couple spare batteries for my phone and they work great, good enough that I've been using one as my primary battery for the last few weeks because I am too lazy to swap it out with the OEM one.
My wife is a slut, what should I do?
Do? Your wife.
A tip: When you get a new smartphone these days, buy one or two spare batteries while they are widely available, and well before the device is deprecated and hard to find a good battery for, let alone an official one. Store your spare li-ion batteries with a half charge, and/or just alternate use of the batteries. Spare accessories are also a nice selling point if you upgrade and want to sell your old phone on ebay, or to a friend.
Li-ion batteries lose about 20% of their lifespan every year, I've had plenty that die faster, perhaps due to much more intense cycling and usage. Having spares you rotate means you'd still have most of your battery range after a year of ownership.
After logging in slashdot still does not take you back to the page you were on. It's been that way for 20 years.
The trick to using eBay is that the seller needs to have a lot of positive star ratings and has a recent selling history - as in they do this to make money, it's how they eat. Not someone with a 6 star rating who hasn't sold anything for months to years. The more perfect a score (closer to 100%) rating the better. The more decent ratings the better. Also, this is critical, read the seller feedback, they're short, but they scream volumes. When searching for items, search for words like "genuine OEM" or "original (brand here) battery". Lastly, when paying, use PayPal since they cover your ass if/when a seller doesn't come through. It has happened to me before twice in like 7 years and PayPal has helped me out and refunded my money both times. I love eBay and have been using it for years. You can find some really obscure stuff and can land some great deals if you're patient, persistent and careful. No one likes getting fleeced or screwed over. Do you homework and you'll get exactly what it is you're after. One last thing, don't be afraid to email the sellers and ask questions. If they don't reply, don't buy from them. You can even be bold and ask to negotiate price (within reason). You'd be surprised what you can get if you're nice, respectful and within reason. My thoughts anyhow...
I second Anker. Have had very good luck with their products across the board. I have a suspicion that they're actually an Amazon house brand, but I can't confirm it.
Agreed on Anker products. I have gotten replacement cellphone and laptop batteries, as well as an external 15000 mAh battery pack, and solar charger from them. Everything is solid.
I bought Anker batteries for my (now Ancient) Thinkpad T42p and Macbook Pro 4,1. Prior to the purchases, I bought some cheep ones for the thinkpad and dropped (a lot of) money on the OEM replacement for the macbook and the Anker battery is actually better than Apple's.
This was over a year ago and half ago, and They're still in use.
Do not read this
If possible, I have my batteries rebuilt. A small ma/pa shop near me [bbmbattery] cracks the case, disassembles, recycles old cells, and replaces new cells with quality batteries often of higher capacity. In my opinion, it's well worth the cost from an environmental perspective.
Generically speaking the only way to be 100% sure to get a good battery is to overpay for the OEM battery from a reliable source (not the cheap"OEM" battery on ebay which is probably a fake anyway). Failing that my preference is to go cheapest possible on ebay. Yeah, you have a high chance that it won't be a great battery but you aren't paying much for it either. If you want to try to improve your odds on ebay you can look for sellers with good ratings or try to connect up with some community for your device like on XDA (they usual have accessories forums) and see what other peoples experiences are.
I'll second/third/fourth this... I had an HTC Arrive (Sprint's WinMo7 phone), and bought a couple Anker batteries and a charger. I switched from the HTC battery to one of the Ankers as my primary battery, because it lasted substantially longer. I still carry the universal charger when I travel, as it can charge my camera batteries, anything that charges over USB, etc. It's a little finicky to get it to contact the battery correctly sometimes, but overall it works quite well and is far more flexible than any other charger I've seen.
I've had GREAT success with Batteries Plus (Now called Batteries Plus Bulbs), so much so that I'm actually a loyal customer fan boy.
They sell Rayovac contractor's packs of batteries for like $8 you get 25 AA,AAA batteries. Similar prices for 9V, C, and D.
I've purchased 2 laptop batteries from them, 1 cell phone battery. I've recycled an old car battery with them.
They recently had a promo selling LED light bulbs that normally cost $12. They were selling them for $3.
They do minor electronics repairs. They sell *awesome* flashlights.
CHECK THEM OUT. See if they have a store near you.
http://www.batteriesplus.com/
I'm not sure how Slashdot became a place for shopping advice but... This really isn't that hard. Most places such as Amazon, Newegg, etc. have customer reviews. Select from the ones having large number of overwhelmingly good reviews. As an FYI, particularly with phones, OEM batteries are in many (most?) cases salvaged from used devices, and are not new. If you insist on going the with OEM batteries, then only buy from the OEM unless customer reviews provide a compelling case otherwise.
Two of my imaginary friends reproduced once
Good to know. I just brought an Anker battery.
Looking through the Amazon review for my battery replacement, I found that most places had low prices and disturbingly low reviews-- as in dying exponential function. I noticed that that Anker was priced a bit higher but didn't have the bad reviews.
So I took a chance that no one is gaming the Amazon review system and spent a few more bucks on their replacement battery. I'll see when the time comes to swap out the original battery...
Your comment makes me realize that tactic might work for toner, too... it has the exact same problem in my experience.
Unfortunately, unless your device uses disposable battery types (AAA, AA, C, D, 9V - in the US, at least), your battery is almost certainly custom-manufactured.
This is especially true of Lithium-polymer batteries
Device manufacturers love this for a couple of reasons:
* They aren't constrained by the size/shape of the battery.
* Since the battery size isn't standard, they are assured they are likely the "sole source" of the battery, and will happily gouge its customers for replacements.
Unless you're buying the OEM battery, you are getting a knock-off of dubious safety at best.
I'd like to emphasize that I said safety, not quality. Unlike NiMH or NiCD batteries, lithium batteries are much, much more dangerous and unstable.
A manufacturing defect in a NiMH or NiCD (or alkaline) battery will, at worst, give you a mild burn.
In contrast, a manufacturing defect in a Lithium battery can burn a hole through your floor (house or car), severely burn a human body, or poison you. Sometimes all of the above.
I'd add that the majority of lithium battery fires are from thirdparty "value" batteries from 'nameless' importers of Chinese knock-offs. (Though there were notable fires in Dell and Apple batteries about 8 years back)
So the real question you should ask yourself: Which is worse: Being gouged by a greedy manufacturer, replacing the device, or assuming the risks involved with buying a knock-off battery? None are good options.
It'd sure be nice if manufacturers would come up with 'standard' sizes for lithium batteries - so batteries would compete on their merits, rather than being sole-sourced.
I have had good luck with Ray-O-Vac batteries from there for laptops, cameras, & cellphones. For one camera I have though, all they had was some cheap, no-name, Chinese manufactured battery that didn't work so well. I've had pretty good luck at the store for the most part though.
FWIW I had an Anker replacement laptop PSU die on me in two months, opening it up revealed shoddy construction to the point where I was amazed it worked.
Maybe their battery products are better, but their PSUs in my limited experience are poor.
If there is a decent brick-and-mortar store within a reasonable driving distance, I'd shop there. Of course, this won't change what quality batteries you find, but--Apart from the issue of supporting your local economy, if the battery fails within the warranty period, it's a heckuva lot easier to return/replace/exchange it than trying to fiddle with an online retailer.
Plus, some stores (my local Batteries and Bulbs store, for example) can open many devices that are not designed to be opened by the average consumer. Finally, they are a LOT more likely to sell you the correct one on the first try.
"Don't blame the log for the fire." --Andrew Ratshin
I'm not sure if he reviews all different types of batteries, but "NLee the Engineer" reviews tons of rechargeable batteries (and other stuff, as you'll see at the link) at Amazon, and he seems to really know his stuff.
Basically, after you've found what you're looking for, his reviews seem to be very knowledgeable. He'll knock bad products and give good reviews to good ones.
His link:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/p...
The nice thing about Anker is that they're honest about being a third party. Entirely too many companies do their best to visually imitate OEM equipment.
"They redundantly repeated themselves over and over again incessantly without end ad infinitum" -- ibid.
Why not just rebuild your old battery pack? Easy. Be sure to buy nice japanese components.
Anker Galaxy II replacement bat is as good as the fresh OEM one ever was. And the Anker universal charger works a treat. It has sliding contacts and a spring-loaded housing that will fit any mobile phone bat you could think of.
I can charge the still-okay OEM and keep it as a spare.
Oh, and I also like my Lumsing energy bank. Nothing to do with Anker. But the Lumsing is downright swanky.
"No fear. No envy. No meanness." Liam Clancy
Seconded on Anker batteries. I didn't like the funky wall charger with the movable contacts, ended up not using that. But the battery was fine.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
If you need an obscure battery right away, try Batteries+, but be prepared to pay big time for it.
If you need an obscure battery and can wait, there are often resellers on Amazon that will get you what you need DIRT CHEAP! If it turns out to be crap, you can just be thankful that you paid a fraction of what you would anywhere else, and then try somewhere else.
An even bigger issue than buying replacement batteries is replacing batteries in cell phones that are said to have batteries that aren't replaceable.
It shocks me that companies can be so hostile to their customers as to force them to buy new cell phones after the inevitable degradation of the batteries.
I've had good experience with Anker batteries and chargers for a couple of years, and quick response to and resolution of a query.
KCS
1. Never buy something that hides the battery behind screw or *shudder* glue.
2. Got to eBay.
3. Find different batteries. Be aware that one seller may advertise the same battery in many ways, so get very different batteries.
4. Order one of each from sellers with 99% or better positive feedback.
5. Order an external charger for that model of battery, so You can keep a few spare batteries charged and ready to go.
6. As they arrive, test them.
7. Leave appropriate feedback. If someone claims OEM, and it's not, then leave negative feedback. If You have to talk to them to get the right thing, or if it arrives late, leave neutral feedback. Working items that arrive on time and as described get positive feedback.
Some will say that it is wasting money to order multiple batteries. I would ask how much a working phone with a great battery is worth ($200+) relative to the cost of a battery ($3-$20). I am willing to do what I must to get the best battery on the market.
I use a ZeroLemon battery at the moment. $50 is worth it, given the capacity and included case. My Galaxy Note 2 lasts 3+ days of hard us
The online auctions tend to sell store stock from failed stores and the batteries have been on the shelf way too long. The catch is that the batteries may seem fine at first and you give the seller a good rating but after a few days the battery shows its true quality. Local stores often have good stock but they price gouge. I can buy a new portable phone as cheaply as buying a replacement battery. Radio Shack can't figure out why they are sinking. Check their prices and you will know why they are in trouble.
Here's my experience. Buy something from eBay or Amazon.
Well, we've bought a lot of batteries from various people I've been harvesting laptop batteries for the 18650 cells to put into phone recharging backs so we can play Ingress for effectively limitless hours, and for eCigarettes. That's given me a look inside them, and what condition the actual cells are. Leftovers, I sell to friends and friends-of-friends at cost.
The recharge packs I have take 4 18650's, so if I get 2500mAhcells, I have a 10000mAh pack. I went with carriers that have a physical on/off switch, rather than the soft switch like the Anker has, so they can sit a long time without discharging. I haven't needed to change batteries on them yet.
Generally, I buy from eBay. I'm looking for the higher cell counts, and aiming for about $1 to $1.50 per cell. So a 8 cell pack I want to spend $8 to $12 on.
When I crack them open (always more work than it sounds) they all have the standard overheat sensors, which was the concern before about exploding batteries. They have all been wired well. Out of say a couple dozen packs, I received one that had a dented cell in it. It didn't hurt the performance of the cell, but since it was dented, I refused to use it or give it to anyone. Some of them, I've damaged the wrapper, so I re-shrink wrap if I'm in urgent need of them, or I dispose of them.
Regardless if it says on the listing that it's an OEM or 3rd party pack, almost all of them have had no-name cells in them. I did get a few true Sony, Panasonic, or Sanyo cell, but they are rarer.
They've all tested out to be the listed capacity, and they all have worked at the expected life expectancy.
The only big exception was the battery for my old cell phone. It originally came with a 1400mAh battery. The only cheap seller listed 1600mAh for about $10/ea. I used them, and they were fine, but they only lasted as long as my original battery when it was new. When they finally started failing, I pealed the stickers off, and the original markings showed they were 1400mAh batteries. If I had been paying extra for the extra capacity, I may have been upset. Since I just needed batteries that worked, it didn't matter much.
I played Ingress a *lot* with my phone though that period. That draws a lot of power, so I kept a couple spare batteries in my pocket all the time so I could swap them as needed.
My new phone came with a much larger battery (part of my selection criteria), and I don't play as much. I let it charge in the car when I'm driving. If I'm walking, still carry the external pack, just in case I need it.
So.. Pick something cheap on eBay. Look for listing saying they're "new". Don't expect a higher capacity batter to be any better than the original battery. Since you're looking for cheap, you can generally afford to get a spare. :)
Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
Your needs may differ from mine, but these three distributors get me what I need.
MTO Batteries
Thomas Distributing
Wholesale Batteries Direct
I've used all three multiple times over multiple years and so far I've yet to have an issue.
Interesting. Usually when I buy from Ebay the results are mediocre at best and the seller demands that I give him a full star review. I don't have the ebay foo or the patience that you have. I've bought cell batteries from a ebay seller that looked very much like what you recommend, and they were junk. I also bought from a random, supposedly reputable dealer on Amazon, and they were junk (brand name, two year old batteries). Went to a local store specializing in batteries and they were junk too (also two year old, brand name, batteries). The problem with a lot of vendors is that batteries have a shelf life. If the new batter is more than a year old, it's not going to perform.
I'm trying Anker now and will see what happens.
I bought an Angel battery for my son so gs3 and it works well,. Cost a bit more than other batteries but you get what you pay for
I, too, have had a good experience with Anker. The battery for my Epic 4G still works great over a year later. They care about customer satisfaction and it shows. They're proud of their product, not ashamed of it like most others in this arena.
Follow the advice on looking up sellers and it's quite easy.
1. Find product I like at price I like.
2. Look to the right of the product page. If feedback is less than 97% then you're in questionable territory.
3. Click the seller rating and look at the dates the reviews were posted. If they are recent then you're good to go.
It's also worth looking at the negative reviews. Some customers are outright asshats. I typically don't put much value on reviews that say the seller was unresponsive and they jumped straight in and contested the sale. It smells of an impatient git who should be walking to a counter and not ordering online. Most sellers will actually try to talk their way out of something if they are dodgy enough. I've never seen someone demand 5 star reviews. What typically happens is they send you a canned reply email saying in many different ways "Thanks for ordering, we've dispatched it, please leave 5 star reviews for us." which in reality is about common curtsey and feedback anyway. The worst they can do is leave you a bad feedback, and boo hoo, it's not like someone can't sell you something if you have a bad buyer feedback rating. Auctions are legally binding.
The reality is even when dealing with cheap Chinese crap I have on several occasions not have items arrive and after a quick email to the seller they've shipped it out again. In some cases it's clearly not their fault because 2 of the same thing then arrives in my post on different days.
You don't need to be savvy to buy from ebay, you just have to have common sense and don't expect that $20 Rolex to actually be made from white gold.
Same issue as the poster, dying batteries with pretty thick bulges from LiPo expansion on a 4-year old HTC phone. Same dillema searching for reputable products, found Anker batteries and bought 2 of them. Very happy with their performance. Tested them with a LiPo hobby charger using a charge-discharge-charge cycle and the mAh rating on them came within the advertised 95-97% value. Batteries still work great after over 1-year of usage.
Anker Universal Cell Phone Battery Charger - $9.99 USD @ Amazon
I love their universal battery charger with the sliding battery terminals that do polarity auto-detection. I can charge all kind of different batteries in it since many phones now don't have separate battery charger cradles.
Or it comes free if you buy 2 battery packs from Anker, or at least mine did a year ago since I can't find it bundled with anything anymore.
I have some cordless phones that have served our household well for a number of years. The original batteries lasted a couple of years before they wouldn't hold much of a charge. I was able to work via the cordless phone via the speakerphone for over an hour before the batteries gave out. Now, a couple of replacement batteries later, I consider it a good day if I can stay on a phone call for, say, 20 minutes and that's using a battery that's only a couple of months old. It almost makes me wonder if they're not selling used batteries. With the replacement batteries costing $15+, it's not likely that we're going to do it any more. The missus is the last major user of the cordless phones and she's switching to mobile next month. The crappy battery life is one of the reasons she's switching.
I have worries that I'll run into the same battery rip-off with my laptop. And those batteries run upwards of $100. Given the track record of the supposedly equivalent batteries we've been finding for our phones, I'll probably go with an original manufacturer battery for the laptop.That's probably no guarantee but I'm guessing they won't be as bad as the third-party batteries.
CUR ALLOC 20195.....5804M
That's strange. I've never had a seller demand anything from me. About half of the purchases I've made recently gave me positive feedback as soon as the received payment.
Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
I bought two Anker batteries for my Galaxy S3. They were considerably better than the stock battery when new. They swelled after sometime over a year and didn't hold a charge as long as when new. But I don't think the stock batter lasted much more than a year either. Actually, I'm pretty sure even after being degraded, they held a better charge than the stock battery when new.
I also have a rechargeable battery that can be connected to a phone via USB to charger the phone. It works great. I also bought a USB 3 PCIE card from them. It started getting flakey after 6 months. I sent them an email and was surprised to get a response in a day or two. All they asked for was the serial number for quality control purposes and shipped me a new one at no charge.
I've also received multiple emails from them asking me to contact them if I had any issues with any product I've purchased from them. From my experience, they seem to have above average products, though not spectacular. However their customer service is outstanding.
Did Netcraft confirm it?
Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
Lastly, when paying, use PayPal since they cover your ass if/when a seller doesn't come through. It has happened to me before twice in like 7 years and PayPal has helped me out and refunded my money both times.
I would have to disagree with that. My mileage did vary.
A couple of years ago I used Paypal to buy a product that was never shipped. The vendor ignored my complaint, and Paypal equally ignored my complaint. And I mean IGNORED.
Sheesh, way to make it difficult. Am I the only person who just orders a new battery on the manufacturer's website or from their Amazon page?
Everybody's said it already, but here's another vote for Anker. I've bought batteries from them for three phones and they've all been great, and if you read Amazon reviews, you'll find their customer service in the rare event of problems is second to none.
After reading the first 20 posts, and owning an Anker 40 Watt 5xUSB charger which works just fine, I conclude the the fakers will now start faking Anker batteries :-(
http://aliexpress.com/
I've a samsung galaxy s, found a seller with $5 batteries, grabbed four of them,
three work fine, been swapping them in my phone for a few months
the last one charges fine with the wallwart but if i stick it in my phone and plug in the cable the phone crashes :)
the brand name on the batteries is deji, but who really knows
So which phones would that be where the batteries cannot be replaced?
Apple's iPhone are designed with battery that should not be replaced by the end-user. The only official policy is that you should bring a phone with a dead or dying battery to the shop for replacement, whereupon the salesperson will try to persuade you to buy a new phone because replacing the old battery is almost as expensive as the newest shiny toy.
You can try to replace them, but it's non trivial, you need to actually disassemble the phone, which might void your warranty.
Compare with any other brand sold in Europe:
You just to :
- buy a replacement (either the original part from any phone shop, or by a 3rd party like mugen)
- power off the phone
- open the battery lid (just pushing a button)/swap the batteries/close the lid
- power on
- don't forget to throw the battery in the appropriate recycling bin instead of putting it into trash.
That's it.
(Please note: air-mailing lithium batteries has a special regulation. Some postal service just refuse to handle them "on security ground", even if they are standard conformant, the proper paperwork is filled, and (like everyphone battery, unlike some modelling batteries) the protecting electronics are actually embed inside the battery itself. That's plain stupid. And it might block your possibility to return the battery for RMA)
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
I have an external anker battery for keeping my phone charged during ingress and it's nothing short of great.
Will recharge a laptop given the right cable or keep my phone going for days without a wall plug in sight
"The trick to using eBay is that the seller needs to have a lot of positive star rating..."
How the fuck is that a trick? That's what they're there for. To rate a seller.
You fucking moron.
Unless all smartphones on a carrier with service near your home and office and with the ability to run the apps that your employer requires have a battery not intended for end user replacement. Of course, one could "choose" not to take a job in the first place, but then complaining about not being able to find a job would bring accusations of not trying hard enough.
The trick to using eBay is that the seller needs to have a lot of positive star ratings and has a recent selling history - as in they do this to make money, it's how they eat. Not someone with a 6 star rating who hasn't sold anything for months to years.
If all buyers followed this rule, how would a seller opening for business for the first time go about building enough feedback to get started, especially with eBay's slow start rules for new sellers?
I thought some middlemen were standard operating procedure in selling physical goods. I buy from a middleman when I buy anything at Walmart or Amazon. I bought my ASUS Nexus 7 tablet from Google Play Store; is that too much of a middleman?
A lot of Ask Slashdots are like that these days. The asker does not have the balls to make his own original research and take responsibility of it. Instead he wants some kind of confirmation from others to create a warm fuzzy feeling that he made the right decision.
oh yes. Anker is definitely genero city. e.g. An extended cap batt that I purchased for a phone that I had a few years ago came with engrish and all. Did yu know that batteries have crusts?
On definite chinese batteries: I'd be wary og their claimed capacity v. their actual capacity. I'd also be VERY concerned about manufacturing quality, as in we don't want them bursting into flames.
So my approach would be to try to find actual manufacturers or resellers who sell only certain manufacturers with reviews/investigations from people who have purchased from them.
e.g. I've seen reviews of batteries from some sellers that just slapped a new label over the OEM label. These cases were usually the ones lying about battery capacity, which is quite common in ALL Chinese products, or if you're feeling kinder you can call it outrageous exaggerations, e.g. calling a SoC 1GHz because it contains a 600MHz CPU + 400MHz GPU for example and calling the same "dual" "core". It's pretty hilarious if you know about this practice, but is still a PITA.
Weigh the replacement if you want to get a good idea of capacity. Battery weight is closely related to capacity and generally the crappy replacements will only be two thirds or less of the weight of the original.
Never buy something that hides the battery behind screw
Never? Toy safety regulations in some countries require certain classes of battery-powered devices to have a screw on the battery door so that toddlers can't open it and eat the batteries.
That's fine so long as the device manufacturer continues to make replacement batteries. For example, now that 10 inch laptops are hard to find new, where should one find a replacement battery pack after the maker of one's existing laptop EOLs it?
I really like your answer!
It is really, really difficult to protect ourselves from every abuse to which a corporation might subject us.
It's important in this conversation to understand that batteries have limited lifetimes, perhaps as little as 2 years, or less if defective.
I was standing in a store thinking of buying a top-of-the-line unlocked HTC phone for $750. Then the salesperson told me that the battery is not replaceable! That caused me to try to avoid buying anything from HTC. I don't like helping abusers.
I never would have guessed that an expensive phone would be considered a throwaway.
HTC CEO: If you learn that I have joined the board of directors of HTC, I will try to convince the other board members that abuse is bad practice. If I am successful, leave the building immediately. You are fired! It's unlikely I would be asked to join the board of directors, but that is a way of expressing the intensity of my dislike for abuse.
Why buy an unlocked phone? Travelers in other countries buy local SIM cards for GSM phones. That means anyone you meet can call you at a local number while you are in the area.
I regularly www.batteryupgrade.com to obtain bigger than included batteries for my devices, very good service and quality to my experience
I just checked, and the laptop battery I bought last December for our Toshiba is an Anker, with a higher mAh rating than the OEM battery. It's still working great with a decently long battery life, so consider that yet another recommendation. I didn't know anything about the brand at the time - I bought it because it offered longer life than OEM, and it was highly rated on Amazon.
As for cell phones, I bought a couple EC Technologies batteries for our Samsung cell phones one year ago that are still going strong. I get two full days of life from a charge with moderate usage on my Exhibit 4G.
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