The Droid Incredible by HTC is, well -- nothing short of incredible (sorry, I just had to). What's not incredible is the meager battery life, with the stock 1300mAh power plant. That's where the 2150 mAh extended battery for the Droid Incredible comes in, getting you through the day -- and then some. Full review and pictures after the break.
The first question everyone always ask about these extended batteries goes a little like this: "Is it really that much bigger, and if so, does it make it ugly." The answer to that first part of the question is yes -- it does make it feel slightly bulkier. The answer to that second part of the question is no -- it does not make it ugly per se.
Being that the battery is a bit thicker than the stock 1300mAh, it requires a new door for the back. HTC keeps the same presentation and manufacturing quality as the smaller backing. It still sports the contours and grooves that Verizon says was designed in line with a "sports car" look and feel; all while the door snaps into place with ease. The door also still provides that soft-touch feel that comes stock on all Incredible phones.
Moving on to the numbers. After the aesthics question is answered, the next question usually goes a little like this: "How long does the battery last?" Good question! When reviewing this battery, I really wanted to push it to the max. I wanted to see how long, quantitatively speaking, HTC's battery could go. The average life before I needed to charge this battery was 19 hours after heavy usage. Before, with the stock battery, I was only getting about 8 hours of heavy use. Heavy usage includes: GPS enabled Foursquare check-ins, constant Gmail and Yahoo! Mail exchange, web browsing, SMS, MMS, an addiction to Asphalt 4, frequent auto-sync to Twitter and Facebook, always on 3G, and the brightness turned on a bit higher than the medium setting.
I could sit here and list all all the other pointless things I do on my phone on a daily basis, but all you need to know is that if you don't mind a little extra weight -- this battery gives you the best experience on the Droid Incredible. It may even give you two days worth, depending how hard you're pushing your Incredible.
The battery is available in the Android Central Store for $64.95. Scoop it up!
Filed under:
Tags:
50 Comments
Your link says 215ma instead of 2150ma, just saying
As I was reading the title and I saw 2150 I exclaimed "2150 MHZ PROCESSOR!" then i read the rest and was sad.
HAHAHAHA....I would gladly take that processor!!
Hey, there actually is an EVO extended battery. Seidio offers it. There are two, one that is like 1700 and one that is 3500. I have the 3500 Mah. It is VERY awesome, if you don't mind the added bulk, which isn't that bad.
For what i do, this battery really makes it happen. With heavy use, i'll go home and continue to watch movies/surf the web into the night with anywhere from 30 to 50% left before charging.
Awesome stuff.
WCM
Wait? This battery is "Offered" by HTC? Why isn't there an EVO variant?
Not a fan of the added bulk. I'll just buy a dozen chargers for every place a go within the course of a day.
These Pregnant Battery backs sure add a layer of uglyness to any phone. I could see them if you were going to be in the field all day on your phone.
Still they must take forever to charge.
Yeah, just for aesthetics, I think I would have to go with an 1800mAH. You supposedly get about 30-40% more than the 1500mAH.
I can attest to the added benefits of this extended battery, but there is a downside to it, due to the bulk and the shape. The phone can't take the same stresses (drop to floor) in the same way, nor can it take any type of bending stress that may be accented by the battery. I had a tring of bad luck with this battery that led to 1 digitizer replacement and 1 LCD replacement (2 separate incidences) that I never had issues in the same circumstances with the stock battery.
And part of the reason for these issues is the lack of third party cases that support any of the extended battery/back combinations.
I don't care about the added weight, I do care that it won't fit in my case!
+1. I have enough trouble finding things for my awesome incredible. With this battery nothing would work. Just ordered the 1750 and the innocase active. Should work.
I bought the extended battery and returned it after one day. The lock button became way too sticky with the new back door. At the store, we tried a second extended battery and battery door and I had the same problem. I'm currently using the stock battery, but I'm considering the Seido battery that is 1750mAh (same physical size as stock battery).
Amazon: Seidio Innocell 1750 mAh Battery
I got the Seidio 3500 mah battery from Amazon for $50 and love it. Can go all day with heavy use.
I only would buy one if i could use a hardcase with it.
From the looks of the pictures, it appears as if this extended battery is about as 'bulky' as my Seidio 3500mAh. If so, why not just go for the "big fish"? I easily get 2 days out of my Seidio... Will have to wait and see what difference (if any) Froyo makes.
If you can get 2 days out of the 3500 then it's not much better than the 2150 because I've managed to get 2 full days with the OEM battery. Plus I've read others who have the 3500 and say it's not quite 3500 but actually less, like how the seidio 1750 is really closer to 1500.
The 3500 MAH is much better than the stock battery.
WCM
I didn't say it wasn't, but its not much better than the 2150, which is what I said.
Definitely won't go an hour without my case thinking about the 1750 battery though
I have it, I love it, and it's even better that I got it for free! (thank you Verizon!). With "heavy usage" I got about 18-20 hours, with normal usage before I fully broke it in I got about 40 hours so I'm completely happy with this battery. And once I modified the Seidio Innocase Active to fit the battery, the aesthetics of the phone went back to being pretty good looking.
...and how may I ask did you get it for free?
When I got the Incredible as a replacement it just showed up a day after the phone did unexpectedly.
I love my extended battery. I can finally go 24 hours without a charge and more importantly I can get through the 8 hour workday without having to worry about keeping it charging all day. I could never make it to 5pm on the stock battery.
My initial thoughts were the battery was UGLY however I modded one of the silicone cases and now it looks just fine. I used an exacto knife and cut out a whole for the battery cover door to poke through. Now it looks great and doesn't have the ugly extended look.
I have the extended battery and I have a hard cover. Use a handy air Dremel and cut the hole for the battery cover to stick out. Have a lot of people asking how nice looks.
i ordered Seidio 1750 mAh battery earlier today hopefully i get alteast another 3-4 hours of usage .
I hear all the rage about the Seidio battery, but I would use caution. There are multiple sites out there that have tested Seidio's claims and they don't measure up to their stated power supplies. I ended up finding an HTC ozone 1500mah battery on ebay. Caution on that too as there are many fakes out there, but mine is legit. It offers "slightly" more time than the original battery, but not enough to rave about. What it does give me is a backup if I do run out at the end of the day. For $15 it's well worth it. I'd never pay $40 for a battery that is reported to offer not much more than 1300mah, even though its claimed to be 1750mah.
Too fat for my liking. Besides, I think I'm sold on SetCPU! I've only been using it a day and a half, but man.. I've never seen better results from my 1750mAh battery - ever!!
I can't believe how many uninformed posters there are. The Seidio 1750mAh is more like 1485mAh which is the same as the stock battery. You can read the reviews on BatteryBoss. The Seidio 3500mAh clocks in at 2800mAh, which while not really 3500 is still 2X the original stock battery on the EVO. Do some research and stop this butt-benching.
Seidio seems to have a big problem overstating the capacity of their batteries, this is from my experience and online experiments. I always suggest to sticking with OEM batteries if you have to have more juice.
I was lucky enough to get Verizon to swap out my Droid for an Incredible. (Droid was constantly shutting down). When they did, they could not find a stock battery and case, so they sent me the extended battery and back. Not knowing the difference really, I am pleased with the aesthetic of my phone. So far, I am also pleased with the battery life. I unplugged it at 6am, it's now 2pm and I've still got 70% battery. At this rate, I can wait until tomorrow morning to charge. I won't, because I've been using smart phones long enough to be gun shy. I always charge every night. It's nice to know that the battery's not going to die before 6pm tho.
When they did, they could not find a stock battery and case,
Wasn't it right there in the box? Don't tell me you accepted a parts deprived referb in exchange for a whole phone?
I used the Siedo 1750 mah and I love it! And no extra bulk. I bought a external charger and now I have a back-up battery that fits nicely in my wallet. So there you go.
I'm impressed that you were even getting 8 hours from the stock battery with heavy useage. I typically get only about 6 (no GPS, no games...just some browser useage, Slacker or Pandora on my way to and from work, and "average" SMS/MMS). I had to purchase another charger for use at work.
I was only getting about 6 hours from the stock battery too. I bought the 2150 for that reason and have been very happy with it. At first I missed the sleekness but being able to go all day without charging trumped aesthetics pretty quickly.
I disagree, I feel like the Incredible really is Incredible. No problems like the droid x or droid. Working at Verizon for over 5 years, i get to hear everyone complain. ;-)
The worst thing about the dinc's design is the camera lens sticks out when lying the phone on its back. It looks like this battery pack will keep the lens from scratching on a table.
Does a standard case still fit ?
That looks ridiculous !!!! why would anyone want that with a HUGE bump on the back of there phone ???
Because people aren't shallow and don't give a shit about what others think of their phone. A phone with a dead battery is a paper weight....but at least it still looks pretty.
If you are so concerned about looks get an iFad or a God Phone.
Why the hell doesn't HTC have an official extended battery for the EVO? Seems like that phone needs it more then this one. :(
I have had this battery for a month i have GPS off and WIFI on where available, bluetooth on all day. i get 12-14 hours compared to 4-6 hours with the stock.no games Facebook or news. just got 2.2 today should improve??
That battery is quite bulky, but the fact that the dInc is so light to begin with will probably offset that. And I do agree with xwiggy18x on the camera lens part.
Man I was hoping there'd be a general consensus on which battery to purchase: the 1750 or the 2150..
I have a 4000mAh external battery I carry for charging my various devices should I be away from the mains and need a booster shot. That way I have the juice for everything and don't have an ugly hump hanging off the back all day, just a wire from the external battery to the phone when needed for the long haul.
Why no extended battery for any of the Moto Droids (especially the original)?
{{-_-}}
Isn't it just so nice to be able to put in a bigger battery or spare battery whenever you want. Awww, iSorry.... iTear
I purchased the extended battery from Verizon and received it this week. Did the full charge on it with the phone off and then have been off cord since yesterday. Currently i'm up to 21:49 uptime and 5:21 awake time and have about 30% of the battery left. I've got plenty of widgets and apps running and have done lots of pandora listening and even a cardio trainer run with GPS off (accelerometer). Anyway, so far, so good, no way I would have a charge left with the stock battery. I'm going up to the Virginia Creeper Trail this weekend for a 4-6 hour bike ride so it will be nice, hopefully the GPS will hold up for that long so I can track the whole ride. I will most likely carry the spare with me too.
Quick question, does a battery just sitting outside of the phone eventually lose its charge? IE, do I have to keep swapping them out to keep them charged?