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3800mah vs 2100 plus external charger

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Desertbum

Well-Known Member
Hey guys. I just bought a Nexus and am eagerly waiting for it's arrival. I am faced with a dilema that hopefully you all can help me out with. I work on an ambulance and work 24 hour shifts where a lot of times I'm away from station and can't plug my phone in. I also have a horrible memory and forget to bring my car charger. So I was thinking of ways to solve this and came to 2 solutions.

1) Get the 3800mah battery form Seidio with their case to help protect my phone on the job. I don't particularly mind the look of the phone like this but I don't really like the case and how it covers the camera lens.

2) Get the 2100mah OEM battery with an Otterbox case and also get one of those external chargers from Amazon. I love the way the phone looks in this regards and have heard that the 2100 will get you through about 13-15 hours with moderate to heavy use. Also I figured I could use the external charger to help my partner out.

So any thoughts? Also any recommendations for external chargers if I go that route? Sorry for the wall of text and thanks in advance!
 
Desertbum said:
Hey guys. I just bought a Nexus and am eagerly waiting for it's arrival. I am faced with a dilema that hopefully you all can help me out with. I work on an ambulance and work 24 hour shifts where a lot of times I'm away from station and can't plug my phone in. I also have a horrible memory and forget to bring my car charger. So I was thinking of ways to solve this and came to 2 solutions.

1) Get the 3800mah battery form Seidio with their case to help protect my phone on the job. I don't particularly mind the look of the phone like this but I don't really like the case and how it covers the camera lens.

2) Get the 2100mah OEM battery with an Otterbox case and also get one of those external chargers from Amazon. I love the way the phone looks in this regards and have heard that the 2100 will get you through about 13-15 hours with moderate to heavy use. Also I figured I could use the external charger to help my partner out.

So any thoughts? Also any recommendations for external chargers if I go that route? Sorry for the wall of text and thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

Just a warning, the Galaxy Nexus LTE (Verizon, Sprint; model i515) use a different battery than the Galaxy Nexus GSM (i9250). The batteries you listed on Amazon (at least that I've seen) are for the Verizon version.
 
mogelijk said:
Just a warning, the Galaxy Nexus LTE (Verizon, Sprint; model i515) use a different battery than the Galaxy Nexus GSM (i9250). The batteries you listed on Amazon (at least that I've seen) are for the Verizon version.
Click to expand...

That's fine. I am on the Verizon version anyways. I forgot to mention that. Thanks!
 
the most I've pushed the 2100 battery is 22 hours with 3 hr, 25 mins screen on time. That's with custom kernel and ROM(check the all things root Verizon section).

I've contemplated getting the extended battery, but I figure I'll never be more than 22 hours away from a charger again, it's no biggie.

Sidenote: why aren't you a firefighter? They make more
 
I'd just get a 2nd car charger and have it at the ready with your ID & keys to go to work with you every day. Seriously, mine does just fine for simple checking of texts and emails, but if I'm dealing with any serious screen time, I need to have a charger at the ready. If you're going to remember to bring along a charged external battery pack, you can remember to bring along a charger. You'll be happier in the end.
 
I have the stock 1850mah battery and another stock + external charger, all are brand name samsung. I have to actually use my spare MAYBE once a week, but I always keep it with me so I don't have to skimp on settings... I have my brightness all the way up, wifi/data/bt/gps/sync/overclocked all the time, use 4g constantly, and have a ton of interaction with my phone.

It cracks me up how people skimp the settings (especially brightness) on their $600 720p AMOLED, super gnar, powerhouse of a phone to save a $30 battery... doesn't make sense to me. I just always have a spare and never have to worry. I wouldn't use an extended battery I don't want the phone to be any thicker than it already is... that goes for any phone, not just the GNex
 
I purchased a no name 3800 on ebay with a back for 8 bucks delivered from Hong Kong. I was expecting the worst, but it out-shined the OEM battery by at least 50%. Make sure the battery you buy has the NFC if you use that feature. Most of them on eBay don't.
 
I have an external 8400 mAh battery charger. Works well enough for me, since it will charge the phone a few times over. However I only really use it if I'm going to be away from a charger for a significant amount of time or I accidentally forgot to charge my battery overnight. It is nice to be able to charge the phone when my car is off as well.
 
I have the 3800 Seido and actually prefer the hump in the back to protect the camera lens. Its not intrusive at all as to affect photography. It last me two days with medium usage. I use it as a weekend battery as that would last me all weekend, and the stock battery during the weekday for portability.
 
jova33 said:
the most I've pushed the 2100 battery is 22 hours with 3 hr, 25 mins screen on time. That's with custom kernel and ROM(check the all things root Verizon section).

I've contemplated getting the extended battery, but I figure I'll never be more than 22 hours away from a charger again, it's no biggie.

Sidenote: why aren't you a firefighter? They make more
Click to expand...

Haha if only it were that easy. I work as a reserve right now until I finish all my school. So i work 3 24's a week and a lot of the time I'm away from a charger.

So based on everyone's responses I think I am going to do the Samsung 2100mah battery and get an Otterbox defender. Now does anyone have suggestions on a good quality external battery pack charger that holds at least 5000mah so I can use it a couple of times?
 
Few notes about the otterbox defender.
1) put a screen protector on under the otterbox screen protector. I have scratches on my screen around the ear piece and LED notification area from the otterbox.
2) it will fit quite snuggly with the 2100 mAh battery, but leave a small gap by the camera cutout for debris to get in.
3) hope your uniform has cargo pockets or you like wearing a belt holster because that thing will not fit in your pocket. If you do get it to fit, your whole pocket is coming out when you pull it out because of the sticky surface

I switched to just going with my phone naked with only screen protector. Then I realized, wait I do drop my phone alot, so I just got a driztronic slim case. Phone fits in my pocket with it on.
 
I bought one of these a long time ago, and it can be a lifesaver if you find yourself in a situation where you need to charge your phone and have no outlets or car to do so. The batteries are rechargable (it will recharge itself next time you plug it into a wall outlet) and will last quite a long time. Since it comes with several different adapter types, you can charge iPods and other various gadgets with it as well. You can charge your phone with it several times before the batteries need recharging.

It will pay for itself several times over. ;)


Amazon.com: Tekkeon MP1580 TEKCHARGE Mobile Power Pack and Battery Charger: MP3 Players & Accessories

Requires 4 rechargeable Double A batteries... they aren't included.
 
@jova33: Ok thanks for the heads up on the negatives about the Otterbox with the extended battery. Is the issue with the camera gap a real serious one to the point where it was scratching or damaging anything in that area?

@Petrah: Thanks for the suggestion on that. I'll keep that in mind as a great, cheap solution.
 
With heavy use, I go through my 2100 and the stock battery, during my 8 hour work day, when im not near a charger. 24 hours? I have no idea what I would do. 4 batteries? ;) I have been thinking of getting a 3800 bat, and see what i get.
 
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But that's with custom ROM and kernel. Custom backlight settings. I never turn off Wi-Fi even when there's no Wi-Fi connection.
 
I managed 4 hours of screen on time on Jelly Bean, with 3 hours of it being in one go bringing the battery down to 45%. Magic. Granted, I was on Wifi the entire time and the battery itself only last 12 hours. Not bad for the stock battery though.
 
AOKP milestone 6, leankernel 3.9.0 230exp6. Undervolting with custom auto brightness levels. 2100 mAh battery.
I keep flashing these jelly bean ROMs, but then keep coming back to m6 because there's none that are really that spectacular. I don't ever use voice commands, and ICS is smooth and fast. The difference in speed is milliseconds to me.
 
jova33 said:
AOKP milestone 6, leankernel 3.9.0 230exp6. Undervolting with custom auto brightness levels. 2100 mAh battery.
I keep flashing these jelly bean ROMs, but then keep coming back to m6 because there's none that are really that spectacular. I don't ever use voice commands, and ICS is smooth and fast. The difference in speed is milliseconds to me.
Click to expand...

Ok yeah I downloaded AOKP MS6 but I got franco kernel because I read that it worked very well with that ROM. So in your experience the Jellybean ROMs don't seem to do that much more than ICS?
 
I suggest you get an external battery pack with a host of adapters. I find this to be more practical. 👍
 
Desertbum said:
Ok yeah I downloaded AOKP MS6 but I got franco kernel because I read that it worked very well with that ROM. So in your experience the Jellybean ROMs don't seem to do that much more than ICS?
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Hey, people say jelly bean is like butter, super smooth and fluid. I mean it is, and you can find video on YouTube of them hitting buttons on ICS and jelly bean side by side filmed in bullet time..... that's what it takes to see the difference.... a bullet time camera lol. I'm sure I'll switch to a jelly bean ROM in the future, when all the developers work out all the kinks, but for now I'm content.

Here's the link to the settings I use
http://androidforums.com/showthread.php?t=567061

With milestone 6 it seems you can't put the custom levels below 20, so the first three custom levels are 20
 
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