Every product is designed to meet certain needs. Sometimes, when you want to increase one area to the maximum and are willingly to accept some compromise, products like the ZeroLemon extended battery come into play: it will triple your battery capacity for the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 ! From 3220 to 10.000 mAh. The obvious compromise here will be a heavier, bigger and bulkier phone to carry around. But for some who really need the increased endurance, this promises to be a really great upgrade. If you’re looking for LR44 Battery that is designed for use in small electronics, Aussiebattery has the cheapest alkaline batteries.
ZeroLemon
Home to the World’s Highest Capacity Smartphone Batteries
ZeroLemon is created by a handful of smartphone enthusiasts who want more power with their phones. They created the world’s first Tri-Cell Battery Design and apply it to all flagship smartphones so that users around the world can enjoy the world’s highest capacity battery. Thus they strive to provide the ultimate smartphone reliability.
Pricing and availability
*At the time of the review:
£ 69.99 – via Amazon.co.uk
$ 64.99 – via Amazon.com
Presentation, Specifications and Instalation
*Courtesy of their website:
– The world’s highest capacity Galaxy Note 4 Battery @ 10000 mAh. More than 3 times the original capacity & slimmer than other manufacturer’s extended battery.
– Compatible with all Galaxy Note 4 models.
– Largest Capacity Battery in the World Guaranteed.
– Full NFC support for S Beam and Google Wallet.
– Patented Design- Patent #: US D700,39 S – The original innovator of the world’s largest TriCell Extended Battery.
– Newly Design Rugged Case with Double Corner Technology to reduce shock from natural drop angles. Belt Clip.
– 180 days Zero Lemon Warranty Guarantee with Amazon 30 day Full Refund Guarantee; 24 hours / 6 days a week support; 100% Zero Defect Guarantee.
– Case Dimensions: 6.43×3.51×0.81 inches
– Battery Dimension: 4.19×3.06×0.53 inches
– Weight: 431g
– Y Sku: Y668
– UPC: 4897010516968
So ZeroLemon promises the world’s largest extended battery solution for your Samsung Note 4 smartphone. The upgraded battery is so big it’s nice to see that they offer a case as well and even a belt clip.
But the most important spec that catches our eye is the fact that it has a TriCell technology. This means that the phones software may have issues fully recognizing the new total battery capacity because it might only ‘see’ one layer of the new battery. Almost like 3 stock batteries connected in parallel. We will soon see if this is the case or not.
Packaging and visual inspection
As accustomed by ZeroLemon, this kit comes as well, in a resealable plastic bag. All white backgroudn with the logo in the front.
Then on the back they give you the first time usage points to begin the calibration process.
The content of the bag is as follows:
– 1x ZeroLemon 10.000 mAh extended custom battery
– 1x Microfiber cloth
– 2x Screen protectors
– 1x Warranty card
– 1x New outer shell frame
– 1x New rubberized custom case
– 1x Belt clip
The outer new shell is composed of 3 parts. One of them is a plastic divider with foam just in case you want to use your stock battery but with the new frame and case. thought that anybody will do that but nice detail.
Let’s focus onto the battery. To have 3x times the stock capacity, it need to be 3x times as big in size to accommodate the new battery layers. That bulge is practically the stock battery and then the big hump is the extra capacity. That’s why they offered a new frame and case as well.
This cutout here is to redirect the sound coming from the flat speaker on the back of the phone. Thus we would expect some noise muffling.
So, the battery goes in.
From the side we can clearly see how big it is. Practically another phone on top.
Then take apart the new frame and sandwich the phone in them.
Like so.
Now everything is flush.
Over the new phone per say, put in the final cover. It is a very snug fit and I like that it has a lip that comes perfectly secure over the screen on the side. This will ensure that the cover will never fall off and in the same time it will protect the screen if it fells on flat surfaces.
Now the phone literally becomes a brick.
Let’s explore the new phone. On the back, the camera cutout shows us how much added thickness there is. Overkill protection for the camera is now achieved.
On the bottom, he have new covers for the S-Pen and the power connector. Notice also the extra holes for the microphone and the redirected speaker’s sound.
The covers are secure enough to last multiple uses. In time eventually this may break give the fact that they are plastic.
Even with my magnetic charging plug, the case has enough clearance to still use this charging option.
On the sides, you kind of loose the tactile feedback from the volume and power buttons. But they work nonetheless.
Notice the 2 cutouts on both sides. These are for the belt clip.
With the new size I found no trouble regarding clearances to mount my phone in the car holder. All of this is you have a really good quality holder because this need to handle the extra weight.
Ok, now let’s see if it really delivers that much new endurance.
Testing, Results and Analysis
ZereLemon recommends the following steps to be done in order the battery and presumably the phone’s software will acknowledge the new capacity:
1 – Charge the battery for 12 hours before initial use
2 – Charge it while the phone is closed (we will get back to this in a second)
We will add that:
3 – Even if the phone will read 100%, wait until the green LED will flash. Then it will truly be at 100%. We will explain why in the next paragraph.
Endurance.
Now this is where it gets tricky. The phone doesn’t know that this is a new battery with triple the capacity of the original one. 10.000 vs 3220 mAh. When I started the phone for the first time it has 60% but it started to decrease normally like it was the 3220 mAh original one. One explanation comes form the fact that the ZeroLemon 10.000 mAh battery has a 3 cell layer design which means that the phone reads 3 different batteries in parallel.
To prove this, look at the battery charts. When it depletes and reaches let’s say 1% where usually the phone will turn itself off, but here basically it will access the remaining 2/3 more.
If you turn the phone off and remove the battery for a minute then put it back it will now read 40-50% because now the phone sees the second layer per say. Use and deplete once more to 1% and do it again then another the final 30% which is the last 3/3. Annoying, as it sounds, it is.
Another option is that you let it at 1% and install a battery voltage monitor and extrapolate from there. Full charge should be at 4385 mV and the when it will shut down will be 3442 mV.
Or use the phone even at 1% but the problem is that under 5% the software will override and you can’t use the camera with flash, no GPS or music. Even the brightness bar disappears (as seen in the photo) and you are left with no sun legibility. Another workaround I have found for the brightness it that to use a movie player app and set the brightness there to the desired level which will override the phone’s low limit. The same for the camera – is to install a 3rd party app. Basically override everything with aftermarket apps. But for the camera for example you will not have 4K filming capability or 1080p 60 fps like the stock app.
Getting back to the first time charging routine, we discovered that, although ZeroLemon recommends to charge the battery with the phone turned OFF and the Fast Charging OFF, when the phone is turned off, the software will override your command that you turned off the fast charge and will fast charge with the higher amperage. So, don’t turn off your phone.
All in all, 5%, 1% or removed the battery multiple times, we managed 2 full days of intense everything. Data, GPS, WiFi, movies , browsing and gaming.
So, the ZeroLemon 10.000 mAh will deliver on the notion that you will have a lot of battery reserve but a lot of nagging compromises.
Conclusion
So, there you have it. If you want the extra endurance be prepared to face some compromises. Maybe a permanent fix will come in a future software update from Samsung or this is how a 3 layer cell battery performs. Maybe ZeroLemon will redesign future batteries. But smartphones with removable batteries are becoming something obsolete, thus we shall see what the future may hold.
To conclude the Zerolemon 10.000 extended battery for the Samsung Note 4, does what is says on the box. Offers the biggest capacity upgrade and you will literately triple your endurance. Normally I would get only 12 hours by a single charge if used heavily on the stock battery. Or 24 hours with moderate use. With the Zerolemon 10k I got almost 20 hours of screen time which is ridiculously good. Or 3 days with the moderate usage.
Thus it gets 4 out 5 stars because you have to deal with those minor inconveniences regarding software calibration and the new bulky size. In my opinion this is a stretch to use it day to day so i would recommend this if you have to do a long trip and want to be sure that you have the extra reserve.
The Good:
+ Great endurance upgrade
+ Excellent phone protection
+ Good bundle
+ Decent warranty
The Bad:
– Literally will brick your phone into a weapon of blunt damaging potential – bulky to handle and to use.
– Affects a little the overall quality of the music output on the speaker
– The calibration doesn’t work that well – the phone has trouble to recognize the new capacity and the only workaround is that when it reaches 5 %, remove the battery for a few minutes, it will reset the phone’s database and when it will be put back it it will start from 60 %. Thus 1/3 is gone and you are left with the remaining 2/3 parts capacity. Why 5% ? Because then the Android overrides everything and you can’t use some main functions like the camera, GPS, flash, music etc.
Glob3trotters “Great” Award 4 out of 5
Many thanks to ZeroLemon for supplying us with this sample !
Can I buy just 3 Belt clips only from you?
Hi. I don’t sell them, just review them.