Battery replacement, is it worth it and can you fit a larger one inside?

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22sl22

22sl22

Senior Member
May 21, 2012
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Hi everyone,

I have had my Nexus 4 for over a year and have noticed that the battery just doesn't last as long as it used to. So I ask, those who have replaced it, is it worth it and do you see a difference? Also, can you fit a larger battery inside with the glass back still intact? Like maybe a 2500 size instead of the stock 2100?
 
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DrFredPhD

Senior Member
Oct 30, 2010
333
46
It's not worth it until you rule out other causes of the battery draining. Software is the problem 99 times out of 100. You should only ever replace the battery with an original one.
 
Planterz

Planterz

Senior Member
Feb 28, 2014
2,275
817
Tucson, AZ
22sl22 said:
Hi everyone,

I have had my Nexus 4 for over a year and have noticed that the battery just doesn't last as long as it used to. So I ask, those who have replaced it, is it worth it and do you see a difference? Also, can you fit a larger battery inside with the glass back still intact? Like maybe a 2500 size instead of the stock 2100?
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After about 500 cycles, a lithium rechargeable battery will have lost upwards of 20% of its original capacity. If you charge more than once a day, you could have reached that point by now. A new battery is about $20 off eBay. I can't comment on the difference it actually makes because I got my Nexus 4 with a broken screen and replaced the screen and battery at the same time.

You can also extend your battery life by flashing a custom kernel like HellsCore (which is slightly undervolted) and play around with underclocking, undervolting, different governors, and running on fewer cores. For example, I've kept mine at a dual core 1.2GHz with intellidemand governor (CM11), and it still runs smoothly most of the time, with only the occasional hint of stutter. And if you want to play a game or something, just crank everything back up. And of course there's the obvious battery-saving methods, like turning screen brightness down, disabling GPS/wi-fi, synching less often, and limiting data to 3G instead of 4G. Plus the less obvious methods like Greenify and/or Tasker.

To my knowledge, there's no higher capacity batteries, or even external battery cases for the Nexus 4.
 
22sl22

22sl22

Senior Member
May 21, 2012
3,530
3,277
London
Planterz said:
After about 500 cycles, a lithium rechargeable battery will have lost upwards of 20% of its original capacity. If you charge more than once a day, you could have reached that point by now. A new battery is about $20 off eBay. I can't comment on the difference it actually makes because I got my Nexus 4 with a broken screen and replaced the screen and battery at the same time.

You can also extend your battery life by flashing a custom kernel like HellsCore (which is slightly undervolted) and play around with underclocking, undervolting, different governors, and running on fewer cores. For example, I've kept mine at a dual core 1.2GHz with intellidemand governor (CM11), and it still runs smoothly most of the time, with only the occasional hint of stutter. And if you want to play a game or something, just crank everything back up. And of course there's the obvious battery-saving methods, like turning screen brightness down, disabling GPS/wi-fi, synching less often, and limiting data to 3G instead of 4G. Plus the less obvious methods like Greenify and/or Tasker.

To my knowledge, there's no higher capacity batteries, or even external battery cases for the Nexus 4.
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DrFredPhD said:
It's not worth it until you rule out other causes of the battery draining. Software is the problem 99 times out of 100. You should only ever replace the battery with an original one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Thanks for the replies.

I've tried software tweaks, kernel tweaks, everything, greenify all things in that sorts, different kernel profiles etc. It makes a difference but still not as good as it used to be. I might as well try replacing it, I can always put the old battery back in if I want, not that hard to change. There's a Galaxy S3 battery, I think its the same size, not sure with a higher capacity, same size, same voltage etc I could go for that if I wanted to :good:

Sent from my Nexus 4
 
Planterz

Planterz

Senior Member
Feb 28, 2014
2,275
817
Tucson, AZ
22sl22 said:
There's a Galaxy S3 battery, I think its the same size, not sure with a higher capacity, same size, same voltage etc I could go for that if I wanted to :good:
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Have you seen what the N4's battery and connector looks like? That ain't gonna work. It won't fit, for one thing. Wrong shape, and the N4 battery is pretty slim because it doesn't have a stiff protective covering (it's actually kinda flexible - be careful prying it off the adhesive) and even if you found a battery that did fit, you'd have to rig up some sort of splice for the connector, which would probably take up more space, defeating the purpose of finding a higher capacity battery.

I did find a couple battery cases. There's the Mugen 4500mAh, but it's both freaking huge and freaking expensive (nearly 1" thick, $90), and the ZeroLemon, but it's also freaking huge, only has a (removable) 2200mAh battery, and I can't find one anywhere actually for sale.
 
22sl22

22sl22

Senior Member
May 21, 2012
3,530
3,277
London
Planterz said:
Have you seen what the N4's battery and connector looks like? That ain't gonna work. It won't fit, for one thing. Wrong shape, and the N4 battery is pretty slim because it doesn't have a stiff protective covering (it's actually kinda flexible - be careful prying it off the adhesive) and even if you found a battery that did fit, you'd have to rig up some sort of splice for the connector, which would probably take up more space, defeating the purpose of finding a higher capacity battery.

I did find a couple battery cases. There's the Mugen 4500mAh, but it's both freaking huge and freaking expensive (nearly 1" thick, $90), and the ZeroLemon, but it's also freaking huge, only has a (removable) 2200mAh battery, and I can't find one anywhere actually for sale.
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Yeah I've seen all the cases already. Too big. I don't mind doing surgery on the battery to make it work but only if I can find a higher capacity one that's gonna fit I'll consider it.

Sent from my Nexus 4
 
Planterz

Planterz

Senior Member
Feb 28, 2014
2,275
817
Tucson, AZ
22sl22 said:
Yeah I've seen all the cases already. Too big. I don't mind doing surgery on the battery to make it work but only if I can find a higher capacity one that's gonna fit I'll consider it.
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I've thought about trying getting a new back cover (minus the glass), cutting a chunk out of it, and rigging up a larger capacity battery. It's the connector that stops me (that, and my lack of knowledge and tools to do so).
 
22sl22

22sl22

Senior Member
May 21, 2012
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London
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DrFredPhD

Senior Member
Oct 30, 2010
333
46
There is no way you're going to put an s3 battery into a nexus 4 and have good results, please put any notion of this out of your head now, it's pretty absurd. Also you may struggle to use your original battery after replacement, a lot of people damage it during removal.
 
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22sl22

22sl22

Senior Member
May 21, 2012
3,530
3,277
London
DrFredPhD said:
There is no way you're going to put an s3 battery into a nexus 4 and have good results, please put any notion of this out of your head now, it's pretty absurd. Also you may struggle to use your original battery after replacement, a lot of people damage it during removal.
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Look at the above thread, its possible and doable, not absurd. :)

I'll be careful when taking it out, its easier with a hair dryer because of the adhesive under the battery

Sent from my Nexus 4
 
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DrFredPhD

Senior Member
Oct 30, 2010
333
46
Anyone who did it is an absolute idiot, but whatever, melt your phone and burn your face off if you want. Notice how there are no follow up posts from anyone even a month down the line in that thread, I think they all died (but seriously, their battery is ****ed now and they're too embarrassed to post anything)

But here's some videos of lithium batteries exploding from incorrect charging

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMy2_qNO2Y0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VswaFOrVM6I

Also the fact you want to use a samsung battery has me even more concerned

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=s...HV0QXy24CoCQ&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=643

http://www.androidpolice.com/2013/0...-burn-from-a-galaxy-s3-samsungs-off-the-hook/ (This girl used a fake s3 battery, in an actual s3. You're gonna put a fake s3 battery in a Nexus 4?!?!?!)
 
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stazi34

Member
Aug 14, 2014
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0
I agree with what DrFredPhD said, LIB are very dangerous if tampered with or altered physically.
 
R

rondias18

Senior Member
Jul 20, 2013
216
131
Mumbai
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If you're really having drastic differences in battery life then you're supposes to then I would suggest you replace your N4 battery with an original one itself, don't go for any other options :)
 
Planterz

Planterz

Senior Member
Feb 28, 2014
2,275
817
Tucson, AZ
stazi34 said:
I agree with what DrFredPhD said, LIB are very dangerous if tampered with or altered physically.
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Yeah, running/charging multiple lithium batteries typically isn't a good idea. But the videos that DrFredPhD posted aren't what you'll get with a cell phone battery.

Li-ion and Li-po batteries in commercial devices have built-in circuitry to prevent overcharging, overdischarging, reverse polarity, and short circuits. If you short it, the circuitry kicks in and kills everything. Putting it back in the device/charger resets the kill switch. Same if the charge gets too high, or the discharge gets to low. Circuity switches the battery off, and prevents overcharging and runaway discharging.

Those videos show batteries that don't have that circuitry. Either it was removed, or they're cells used by hobbiests and were purchased unprotected. Unprotected cells are available for hobbiests (R/C stuff, high-powered flashlights, etc) and some use them because the circuitry in protected cells leeches a bit of your juice. In an R/C car, that could mean a few more seconds and one more completed lap, in an R/C plane or helicopter, a few more seconds of air time before you crash. But there are obvious dangers.

Those dangers don't exist with commercial protected batteries. Well, they do, but that's when you buy a cheap knock-off from China, or the cell is defective, like those Sony and Dell laptops that were catching fire several years ago.

But even with protected commercial batteries, problems can occur (just not explosively dangerous ones). If the cells are mismatched in capacity, or one has a higher charge than the other, the higher capacity one will try to charge the other one, and the battery life of both will suffer, plus since they're also trying to power the device or receive a charge, they'll get really hot and can be damaged. Running identical cells is one thing. Charging should be done separately so that they start off the same. It's not the same as with a laptop or electric car, because they have additional circuitry to make things safe. It's also not the same as using a battery bank to power/charge your device, because effectively, that's just the same as plugging into a USB jack.
 
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DroidBois

Senior Member
Jul 1, 2010
673
22
Canberra
Battery Monitor Widget Pro is reporting around 1700mAh or less to me now so I'm wondering if my battery also needs to be replaced... Happy to use quality OEM but can it be done myself or should I pay someone?
 
Planterz

Planterz

Senior Member
Feb 28, 2014
2,275
817
Tucson, AZ
DroidBois said:
Battery Monitor Widget Pro is reporting around 1700mAh or less to me now so I'm wondering if my battery also needs to be replaced... Happy to use quality OEM but can it be done myself or should I pay someone?
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You can replace it yourself. You'll need a T5 TORX driver for the screws at the bottom of the phone, and then something thin to pry the halves apart, preferably plastic so you don't damage your phone's body. It helps to heat it up with a hairdryer to soften the glue.

As for that app, I don't know if I trust it.
 

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    There is no way you're going to put an s3 battery into a nexus 4 and have good results, please put any notion of this out of your head now, it's pretty absurd. Also you may struggle to use your original battery after replacement, a lot of people damage it during removal.
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