High Capacity Battery For Nokia 808

So the title of this piece is more a request and desire than an actual statement of fact. I really wanted to get a high capacity battery for my Nokia 808, it uses one hell of a lot of power when you use the camera a lot, and died on a couple of occasions whilst I was recently on holiday, and even having the Nokia DC-16 with me didn't completely rescue me when out and about and away from a power source, in fact I walked halfway up a waterfall in Austria with my mobile charger attached to the 808. As a result I did a search on the web for a high capacity replacement for the standard BV-4D 1400 mAh battery that comes as standard with the phone from the factory. In all fairness, the BV-4D doesn't do bad under normal usage, about a good working day with moderate use, but crank up the camera unit and it can easily be killed in less than two hours !!

As a result of my quick search I found Gold 2680mAh BL-4D Business Battery for Nokia E5 E74 N8 N97 Mini 808 Pureview on Amazon. The claimed capacity seemed great and the price of about £13 seemed unbelievable ( as the old saying goes, if something seems too good to be true, it generally is !!) So I placed my order and waited for the battery to arrive, which it did within a couple of days and first impressions were that it seemed quite good, packaging and unit itself a little gaudy, but it fit the battery compartment of the 808 perfectly and I dutifully followed the instructions after letting the battery level drop bellow 10%, fully charging and discharging the new battery and started to use it on a daily basis in my phone. Initial thoughts were that the new high capacity battery was a little disappointing, as it only seemed to last as long as the original despite almost double the capacity. However batteries often take a few cycles to reach there maximum capacity, so I persisted and encouragement from Richard Yates , who had bought a similar battery, that the battery did in fact improve after a few charge cycles ! Well after almost a month, I have to say that all that glitters is not gold and that although I have no way to check,but the BL-4D CANNOT have the claimed capacity?? At best it just about equals the original equipment, but there is no way that the little gold square has anywhere near 2680mAh capacity as I have never once got more than a full day out of it and have had it fall to less than 10% mid afternoon a couple of times after heavy use.

Now despite what I consider 'misleading' information on the advertising of the battery and some disappointment at it not reaching my hopes and expectations, I am keeping it. Despite it's failings it does in effect double the battery power I can have available with my 808 and having a spare battery in your pocket is easier and quicker in emergencies than using a mobile charger when you are out and about, and as I said at the beginning it was in all fairness very cheap ! No doubt spending considerably more on the Mugen high capacity replacement battery would achieve exactly what I wanted, but as it wasn't available at the time, I've got what I've got and along with my DC-16 I think I can survive for a while power wise.

To conclude, I cannot recommend the Gold Battery, however, if you just want a cheap spare battery for any of the phones listed, it's ok, just ignore the claims of the manufacturer and expect it to do what the original battery did, because in my experience, that's all it's capable of.

Thanks for reading and please don't take this piece as a warning, more a bit of information, the gold battery will power your device, just not for any longer than the battery that came as original equipment with your handset .

Stephen Quin

04/11/2012

Link for Gold battery http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008CYPJ5C/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00

Link for Mugen battery

http://www.mugen-power-batteries.com/mugen-power-3000mah-extended-battery-for-nokia-808-pureview-with-battery-door.html