[Epic 4G Accessories] kelmar13:
***I just posted this review over on AF but will post it here as well. Hopefully someone will find it useful.***

Well, I must admit that like most, I was skeptical about how this battery would perform. I have read negative reviews about extended batteries (in general) not living up to par and have heard excellent things about them as well. I have always been under the impression that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I think I may have just found the exception to the rule!

When Seidio first offered the Innocell 3000mAH Extended Life Battery for the Epic 4G, I was interested in trying one but didn’t know if would live up to the hype. Seidio contacted me and offered the opportunity to review the battery. Needless to say I was excited at the chance to see if the battery was all that I hoped that it could be.

I am very good with mechanical devices and electrical equipment but to me a battery is just a battery. I can throw a multimeter to it just like the next guy but have ZERO knowledge as to what makes one battery better than the next. This review will cover my personal opinions on the Innocell 3000mAH Extended Life Battery and are not the opinions of the Forum, Seidio or anyone else. As always, YMMV.

Packaging

Nothing special about the way it arrived. The packaging was on par with what I expected it to be. That is, nothing too fancy nor too simple. The battery arrived in a separate container from the replacement battery door. There were also instructions included with the Innocell Battery that said

It’s worth noting that for Epic users, the charging indicator will actually turn blue instead of green.

Fitment and First Impressions

The battery is obviously larger than the stock battery. As such, a replacement door is needed that fits the new battery. Seidio reports that the new battery and door only adds 0.8cm to the depth of the device.

Everything is pretty simple and straight forward. The quality of the battery and the replacement door both appear to be of high quality and the replacement door features the “soft touch” plastic that Seidio is known for.

The battery slides into place with no problem.

The replacement door isn’t as easy to put on as the stock door. I’ve been informed that Seidio has released further installation instructions since my review of this product.

I found that it was easier if I aligned the far side of the door (side with the volume keys), pushed down on the top/bottom pieces to click them into place THEN push down on the other side (with the power button). It still won’t click in all the way but when you pull out on the side of the case just a bit and push down it seems to click right into place.

The phone with extended battery fits fine in my hands. I was concerned that it would be too big for my hands but this was not an issue. It is also easily fit in my pockets. The battery door does affect how shoulder friendly the phone is during a phone call though as the slanted portion of the door is directly where it would rest on your shoulder when making a call. The replacement door does not interfere with the flash or camera use and yet provides a subtle bit of protection for the edges of the camera lens.

Battery Use

Now… this is where things get fun! I had every intention of testing both batteries (stock and extended) and leaving them running until they died. I can confidently say that I quickly found out that I didn’t need to do this.

I would consider myself a moderate user. With the stock battery I could have 3G/wifi on the entire day and make an hour or so of phone calls, take care of work emails and personal emails, surf AF and other goodness and typically would be anywhere from 30%-5% at the end of 15hrs or so. If I used my phone as heavily as I might normally want or need to there would be no way I would last through a single day. If I wanted to include any movie watching I could kiss my battery goodbye.

Rooted users - I found that I did NOT need to calibrate the battery and that the percentages shown appeared rather accurately and without any sudden drops or changes. :D

The extended battery is simply amazing as far as I’m concerned. I’ve followed the same scenarios in the same locations for the same amount of times with amazing results! With the extended battery I’ve had 3G/wifi on except for 6 hours each night when sleeping when I turned off 3g/wifi but left the phone ON. Over 2.5 days on a single charge!!! For the past 3 hours I’ve been running movies on the phone TRYING to kill the battery and it FINALLY hit 5%.

Overall, I can easily and confidently say that I am EXTREMELY pleased with the Innocell 3000mAH Extended Life Battery and that I will now be able to FULLY use my phone as it is intended to be used without the need to carry a second battery, without the need to have a charger on hand and without the need to worry if my battery was going to make it through the day!

I will shortly be purchasing the Spring-Clip Holster to replace my usual Innocase Holster Combo.

I would HIGHLY recommend this product to anyone needing to push their battery life a bit further or to anyone who would consider themselves a power user.

It can be purchased from Seidio's website HERE.