[Galaxy S 4 Accessories] joshm.1219:
Lol sorry that definitely came across harsh, i was in a mood last night I guess :p. I'm also one of the "idiots" that bought a Mugen battery before. It was a couple of years ago for my GNex, but I don't remember having as many reliable options back then as we do now.

Regardless, it is just silly at this point to buy from Mugen. They are way, way, way overpriced. They're so much more expensive then everyone else because they actually make their own batteries, while other companies source out their manufacturing. It might seem like an advantage but it really isn't. Anker, ZeroLemon, Hyperion, even Onite batteries have all been tested tons of times by people to show the mah they claim on their batteries is accurate. Even if a problem happens, they all have 12-18 month return policies. I've only ever bought from Anker & ZeroLemon but I know they both have great records of replacing batteries if there is a problem. If your ZeroLemon or Anker batteries really died in the respective 5 &3 month time periods you claim they did, contact the companies! They will definitely fix your problem.

Altogether, for my S4 & my Note 2, I have 4 Anker batteries & 2 ZeroLemon batteries. Never had a problem except for the ZeroLemon I purchased for the S4 which wouldn't charge & ZeroLemon sent me an overnight battery as soon as they received mine back.

There's nothing ridiculous about ZeroLemon's battery claims. I've had the 9300mah Note 2 battery since May & never had a problem. [MENTION=3996566]vectron[/MENTION] is the best accessory reviewer I've ever seen on a tech forum, here's a link to his ZL N2 battery review: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2243462 He tested the battery using an external battery monitoring setup to verify its claimed capacity. You can also see in the second post his results from Nova battery tester. I don't know how familiar you are with the program, but as he mentions while it doesn't provide the most accurate mah because it's basically a battery rundown test, all you have to do is compare the results to a stock battery. So results from the ZL relative to stock is that it lasted 3x as long, which is exactly what they claim. The stock battery is 3100mah, the ZL is 9300mah.

As you can see here, I took the wrapping off my N2 ZL to show it just 3 stock-size batteries wired together:

There's no special technology to what ZL does, they just cleverly make use of more space then the competition. While everyone else has simply made double-capacity batteries that were 2 stock-size batteries stocked on top of each other, ZL utilized more of the back of the phone. As you can easily see in the pictures, the Note 2 battery is one stock battery to fit in the cavity, then 2 stock batteries turned horizontally & spread even across the back from the camera to the speaker. To me, it's a way better method then everybody else. It is the same thickness as any other extended battery with 3x the original capacity compared to 2x. Plus it keeps the back flat as opposed to all of the pregnant-looking back covers for other batteries. :p

I also have the rugged case ZL made for the S4. It is really great quality for $20. I own three Otterbox defender cases & the ZL is basically a rip-off in design. Regardless, its still fits perfect & really offers even more protection than the defender.

As a disclaimer, I personally had a bad experience with my Mugen battery for the GNex so I won't lie & say I'm not biased about that. The battery itself was fine, but the back cover was a real piece of sh!t. The clips broke off easily as did the flimsy kickstand. To be fair, all of the back covers including stock were crappy for the GNex, Samsung has really improved on that front since then. From what I see though, the kickstands haven't changed in designed so I assume they're as flimsy as ever.

Of course, I'm sure Mugen has just as good a return policy as other companies. The only true advantage Mugen has is that they ship internationally when mostly everybody else doesn't. I want to specifically acknowledge how important that is. A lot of the world can really only go to Mugen and good for them that they offer international shipping.

If you're in a country where aftermarket battery companies other than Mugen ship their products, I believe you're absolutely wasting your money if you buy a Mugen. They are astronomically more expensive than the rest of the competition. There's at least four other companies that have been very well tested & reviewed to be reliable & honest businesses with quality products. Even if you are worried that they source out their manufacturing, they offer long return policies that many people have had a good experience with.

EDIT: As another disclaimer, ZeroLemon has had their problems too. Not with quality or return policy, but with being upfront with their customers. They only recently came out with the rugged cases for their batteries, even though they've been saying they would come out months ago. While they did admit they had to do a full redesign, there's no real excuse for the time it took them to come out with the cases. Multiple people contacted them & got a multitude of different responses back. The Note 2 case JUST came out, here I personally have an email saying it would come out in June: