Thinking of getting an extended life battery, questions.

[Livin PA]

So I had my Motorola Droid Bionic from the time it was released up until 2 months ago when it stopped recognizing my SIM card, Verizon replaced it for free since I have the protection package. The only negative thing about it was I had to use the battery from the original phone. This battery seems to be on it's way out in my opinion. First of all the battery gets very hot, a few times it got up to 110 F according to my battery app. Secondly, it feels like the battery life has taken a real nose dive since I got it. Under heavy use (Watching YouTube video subscriptions on my 4G connection) the battery will be on it's last leg in under 3 hours, when it's in standby it will last 6 hours maybe before it's down to 20%. For the past few months I have been eyeballing this BW8X Extended Battery that is on Amazon for $28. I was just wondering if this is the best extended life battery and if you guys would recommend it? My concern is it a simple plug and play or do I have to calibrate it to take advantage of it's full capacity? My phone isn't rooted an I am worried that to calibrate it I will have to go through this process which I don't want to do. Thanks.

 

[FunN4Lo]

I bought that exact bat and cover from the same supplier in February. I have a non-rooted Bionic. No calibration required. The bat and cover were OEM Moto/Verizon not a knock off. My Bionic was bought soon after they came out and still had the original bat too, so it was light years of improvement. Definitely worth it.

 

[Livin PA]

Thanks Fun, I read one of the reviews on Amazon that said calibration was required and that got me concerned.

 

[aaf709]

Although you don't need to calibrate, if you want to, this is what FoxKat recommends (no root or app required):

1) Charge to full (with power off)
2) Run until empty
3) Charge to full (with power off)

 

[bweN diorD]

Although you don't need to calibrate, if you want to, this is what Foxkat recommends (no root or app required):

1) Charge to full (with power off)
2) Run until empty
3) Charge to full (with power off)

if you "run until empty", you take the chance the battery will enter a dormant unrecoverable state.
this is well documented.

 

[FoxKat]

Although you don't need to calibrate, if you want to, this is what Foxkit recommends (no root or app required):

1) Charge to full (with power off)
2) Run until empty
3) Charge to full (with power off)

Just one change to the "METER" calibration procedure mentioned above. Step 2 is "Run until phone tells you battery is depleted and says to plug in the charger". Under no circumstances do you want to try and deplete the battery until it reaches 0% and powers down automatically. In fact you want to avoid self-power-down if you can at all times.

With a new battery, charging the battery to 100% with power off BEFORE USING THE FIRST TIME is key to getting the best performance from your battery. This isn't "calibration" of the battery but it is "exercising" it to achieve the maximum capacity from the battery.

Good luck!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[aaf709]

Sorry about that. I pulled from an earlier post and didn't notice that I had said "Empty." Yeah it should be around 15% when it says to charge.

 

[FoxKat]

Sorry about that. I pulled from an earlier post and didn't notice that I had said "Empty." Yeah it should be around 15% when it says to charge.

No need to apologize...between bweN diorD and I - we've got your back!

Also, depending on which version of Android you're running, this could be either 15% or 10%. The easiest way to know for sure is when the phone tells you to connect the charger.

Good luck!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[deduct]

Why shouldn't you let phone shut itself off and then charge while off foxkat? I have always done it that way starting with my bionic to my maxx. And my wife's RAZR. I've never experienced any negative effects from doing it that way. That I know of that is.

 

[mykl376]

I have 3 extended batteries, and an external battery only charger. I like to keep a spare in case my bionic gets thirsty. I'm a heavy user, and wouldn't make it all day if I didn't swap batteries or charge throughout the day. I can't even imagine using my original stock battery anymore, so wimpy! 28 bucks isn't bad, I got all mine for 25 on sale, retail being 50 last time I bought one.

 

[wooddale]

I just bought a Bionic to play around with for $50. Im looking to buy an extended battery do I really need tro get an OEM battery and cover? I would almost be spending as much for battery as phone. Do the other ones work as well?

 

[deduct]

I just bought a Bionic to play around with for $50. Im looking to buy an extended battery do I really need tro get an OEM battery and cover? I would almost be spending as much for battery as phone. Do the other ones work as well?

I have used both Oem and off brand batteries in my bionic. The off brand batteries are never as good as oem. Trust me it's worth the extra $ to go with the Motorola extended battery.

 

[aaf709]

On Amazon the cost for the OEM extended battery (plus cover) is about $24. I paid that much when I first got the Bionic. It has finally started to fail after 2 year, but a new one (less cover) is about $13.

Amazon.com: OEM BW8X Motorola Droid Bionic XT875 Extended Battery 2760mah and Extended door cover: Cell Phones & Accessories

 

[Mike.757]

Why shouldn't you let phone shut itself off and then charge while off foxkat? I have always done it that way starting with my bionic to my maxx. And my wife's RAZR. I've never experienced any negative effects from doing it that way. That I know of that is.

If you run the battery down until it shuts the phone off, you take the chance of putting the phone into a state where it will not recognize the charger. If you get to that state, you will need either a factory cable or an external battery charger. If you have a non-removable battery you are hoping that a factory cable works. By discharging until you get the "recharge" display then recharge until the phone tells you to unplug, you reset the battery calibration flags without risking the chance of putting your battery into a deep discharge state.

 

[ScottyDsntKnow]

I've let my phones die to calibrate them since 2010 with no less than 5 different phones and never a single issue with charging them back up. At any rate don't mess around with the junk aftermarket batteries, get the OEM one. I've had my OEM battery going strong since this time last year. I go into work on a full charge and with a nice custom rom on it with CPU sleeper and normal use to check social media, some texts, maybe a call or two I'm still at 60% or better when I get back into my car to go home at the end of the day. Heck its been off the charger since this morning and its midnight now and its still above 50% lol. Added bonus to the OEM extended battery is that the phone will still fit in ALL docks including the lapdock. Also you get the badass TPU case and it STILL fits in all the docks minus the lapdock which you can just remove the TPU case to put it in if you use a lapdock.