I have been using Samsung Galaxy S II for the last 3 months and it is a very fast and powerful phone. The Galaxy S II comes with a 1650 mAh which is quite adequate for day today usage but if you are power user then the stock battery might not be adequate for you. There are few aftermarket extended batteries that offer extended battery with higher capacity and Mugen Power is one of them.
Mugen Power were very generous to send me a review unit of 3200mAh Extended Battery for Samsung Galaxy S II. The 3200 mAh extended battery offers nearly 2 times the capacity of the original stock battery and with additional capacity come additional weight and thickness. This review will focus on whether this battery is really worth the additional thickness and weight that it adds to your Galaxy S II.
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What is in the box?
- 3200 mAh battery.
- Replacement door for the phone.
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Specifications:
| Description | Specification |
| Capacity | 3200 mAh |
| Type | Lithium ion battery |
| Voltage | 3.7V |
Design and Ease of Use:
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The battery pack comes with nearly twice the amount of stock battery but now it is twice as thick. You get a battery cover with this battery pack as you cannot use the original cover due to increased thickness of the extended battery. The battery cover that comes with the battery is of good quality and looks like quite durable. If you had used the Galaxy S II without any external case you would feel that the phone keeps slipping away if you have a sweaty palm as the phone is very slim. As the phone’s thickness increases due to the thick battery and this results in better grip over the phone.
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The above pics give you a idea on how the phone looks with the extended battery installed in it. When using the Galaxy S II I always felt that I might scratch the camera lens as it was not recessed. By fitting the battery cover that came with Mugen battery the phone camera is now recessed and it won’t get scratched even if phone is placed camera facing down. You won’t be able to use any of the external cases that you might have got if you install the Mugen battery. Fitting the battery door was easy as the battery cover fits nicely over the phone without any gaps. On the lighter note I felt that Galaxy S II has a hump like the camels. 
The additional bulk is well worth the extra battery backup that you get.
Size Comparison with and without extended battery:
View 1:
View 2:
View 3:
View 4:
Battery Performance:
After you install your battery to get optimum performance it takes a couple of recharge cycle as with any other lithium ion battery. Mugen power gives detailed instructions on how to condition the battery initially. I was able to pull 1 day 8hours with moderate to heavy usage and 3 days 5 hours with light to moderate usage.
Moderate to Heavy usage: 1 Day 8 hrs
- 3G always ON.
- Brightness to set to Auto mode and in moderately bright environment.
- Gmail, whatsapp, facebook and Twitter for Android sync always ON
- 2 hours browsing using stock browser
- 2 hours of reading articles using Google reader
- 20-30 whatsapp messages.
- 20 photos clicked with Flash ON
- 25 mins of watching video using stock video player.
- 60 mins of Air Attach HD.
- 120 mins of voice calls.
- Phone signal strength varying between at –78 dBm to –111 dBm (Airtel Carrier in Chennai city)
Note: The phone is awake most of the time and screen as well.
This is bloody awesome when compared to the battery life of around 15-16 hrs that I used to get with stock battery. This means with my moderate to heavy usage I can easily pull nearly 1.5 days off with this battery.
Light to Moderate Usage: 3 Days 5 hours
- 3G always ON.
- Brightness to set to Auto mode and in moderately bright environment.
- Gmail, whatsapp, facebook and Twitter for Android sync always ON
- 2-3 hours of reading using Google reader
- 2 hours browsing Dolphin HD browser
- Reply to couple of emails using exchange mail, Gmail app and Yahoo mail
- 20 mins of Google maps.
- 2 hours browsing using stock android browser
- 60 mins of voice call.
- Phone signal strength varying between at –95 dBm to –111 dBm (Airtel Carrier in Chennai city)
Phone used as primary computing device:
I used the phone as primary computing device i.e. I was using the Galaxy S II as phone and as my personal desktop where all my computing needs like email, browsing, listening to music, downloading files over 3G and watching videos etc were done using Galaxy S II. All this was done over 3G mode and wifi was not used at all and the phone lasted me 13hours 35 minutes which is impressive.
Wifi Tethering:
Wi-Fi tethering of 3G connection puts tremendous pressure on battery. I used the phone in Wifi tethering mode and in 1 hour 42 minutes the phone lost 14% and if I go by this rate then it means that for every 7 minutes we lose 1% of battery and this means the phone will last 700 mins i.e. 11.6 hours which is very impressive.
Conclusion:
The extended battery gives excellent battery life when compared to the stock battery as it has twice the capacity; with the additional capacity comes additional thickness, weight and charging time. When weighing all these factors I feel that the battery life that you get out weighs the cons that come with this battery. As Galaxy S II the dual core beast is my primary phone and I end up using the Mugen battery as primary battery as I can do more with my phone now.
The extended battery costs USD 98.95 which does seem pricey but I would say it is worth the price and I highly recommend this if you are using Galaxy S II.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
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