[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Accessories] jp.esteban:
Mugen 4500mAH Battery with Extended Back Cover

TL;DR VERSION

Pros:

Really effing works

Good build quality with good materials (except for kickstand plastic)

Thoughtful kickstand on included battery cover

Well-known and respected manufacturer

Cons:

Expensive

Heavy and bulky

No matter how well-designed, it still makes the Note look ridiculous

Bottom Line:

It's a good buy.

You own a Note, so you're likely not one to be too particular about fancy looks, unlike all the iPhone fans who jeered the phone/tablet/phonelet/tablone just after seeing the one Superbowl ad. It may be pricey, but you get what you pay for; I've read horror stories about cheap Chinese batteries that would make you think twice about trying them out.

LONG VERSION

This will probably be my first and only useful post on XDA for a while, as I'm not yet very well versed in rooting or installing ROMs or any of the fancy programmer stuff the forum is well associated with. I'm more of a hardware and accessories guy, which is why things like batteries, cases and car mounts all interest me more than having the most bleeding-edge firmware updates.

That said, this isn't going to be a professional review in the style of Engadget or Anandtech, with their fancy charts and pinpoint accurate usage statistics. First of all I don't have the means to do this, let alone the time. Secondly, that stuff isn't important to me; I'm just a guy who wants more battery life out of his Galaxy Note, nevermind the to-the-second timestamps of usage statistics with varying settings and applications applied. (Also I just really don't have the time!)

On to the (laymen's) review.

Phone specs

I'm not sure if this really matters all that much when reviewing battery life, but for those nitpick-y enough to care, here it is (basically, it's all stock):

Samsong Galaxy Note GTN-7000

Brightness Setting: Auto

WiFi: Always On

3G: Always On

Android Version: 2.3.6

Baseband Version: N7000DXKL2

Kernel Version: 2.6.35.7-N7000DXLA1-CL886914 dpi@DELL170 #2

Build Number: GINGERBREAD.DXLA1

Functionality

I'm a heavy user. I also use my phone a lot. Sometimes it's not even to play a game or open an app, or even to see if anything new is in the notifications bar. I just really want to see the screen on, because man oh man is the display on this phone the stuff of wet dreams!

On the stock battery I get about 14 hours of life. It's not bad, but there's a caveat; when it starts getting low, I stop using my phone except for the most crucial of SMS/calling needs. I don't turn off WiFi/3G/background apps, no. I just stop using the Note. This is why I almost NEVER unplug the phone. In fact, for more hours of the day my Note is plugged in to one charger or another: on the daily commute, it's in my car mount; at work, I borrowed the office's Blackberry Playbook wall charger (nobody uses it anyway (oh snap)); at home, it's either on the included AC USB adapter or plugged into my laptop for charging all night long. The only time it's usually unplugged is when I'm walking, out shopping/watching movies at the mall, or at a friend's place; basically, whenever I'm not in the car, at work, or at home.

On the Mugen battery, for purposes of this review, I managed just shy of 22.5 hours (the screenshots below end after 21h56m38s, but it kept going until around 9:30am). I made it a point to not plug in to any source of power during the usage period (duh). I went all out, not holding back any punches, with WiFi and 3G always on, Trillian and Google+ running constantly in the background, and racing to finish "A Storm of Swords" on the Kindle app. This is my usual usage, and I decided to throw in some 30-odd minutes of gaming, about two hours of video, and even some Google Hangout time.

I fell asleep at midnight that night and woke up at 6:00am, allowing about 6.5 hours of off-screen standby time.

Now, let it be clear that no matter what apps or services you have running in the background, the real battery killer on this phone (and I'd imagine any smartphone) is the display. I always keep the brightness setting on Auto because a big part of the experience satisfaction for me is looking at my phone, and I really don't want to have to feel like I have cataracts when I glance at the screen. On the Battery Usage screen, Display always hovers around the 50% mark for me. It only ever gets passed by Android OS when I really don't want to look at my phone, usually during times of extreme hunger or loneliness.

Given that, I'd say 16 hours with an almost constantly-on screen and 6.5 hours standby is not bad at all. And for 22.5 hours of my life, I was completely unburdened by the necessity of a source of charging. Free at last!

Aesthetics & Ergonomics

Free to look like a total bozo. It's bad enough that, for non-headset users, we have to hold a 5.3" slab of plastic and aluminum to our faces when making a call. The feeling is amplified by it suddenly becoming twice as thick as it usually is.

But we're not iPhonerds so we don't care, right?

Well, we care a little bit. You'll notice your phone doesn't lay flat on the table anymore. It looks like it floats because of the tapered design of the back cover, but that's less cool than it sounds because you know it's only floating due to its large butt. Yes, the extended case comes with a kickstand, but when you're actually using it is the only time you'll be thankful for its largeness. Worst of all, if you've already purchased accessories and car mounts for your Note, you'll find that all of a sudden none of them are compatible with your expensive phone.

On the plus side, the extra thickness does make it seem like it's easier to hold. The scale design on the back cover is not only classy but adds extra grip to it as well, and the tabs seem to snap into the grooves even more securely than the stock backplate.

Bottom Line

It's a good buy.

You own a Samsung Galaxy Note, so you're likely not one to be too particular about fancy looks, unlike all the iPhone fans who jeered the phone/tablet/phonelet/tablone just after seeing the one Superbowl ad. It may be pricey, but you get what you pay for; I've read horror stories about cheap Chinese batteries that would make you think twice about trying them out.