Cheap, seemingly legit, extended life battery

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fortunz

Senior Member
Apr 19, 2009
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Now that I'm using Android and my phone's life has been extended, I wanted to extend its battery life too. Branded extended life batteries are really expensive at retail. Seidio and mugen both sell 3000+mah for something like $80. HTC sells a smaller 2150 for around $40.

According to batteryboss.org, HTC's 2150 battery (rhod170) is pretty much the only battery that meets its mah rating, so I went hunting for a good price on one. Found this one for $5 shipped, or $7.51 for two if you want to better your odds. Figured it was either fake or used or otherwise had issues, but I got mine in the mail and it has zero contact wear and looks the spitting image of the legit rhod170. Seller has 5 left at the time of this posting. You can easily find other batteries advertised as rhod170 for $10 shipped, but it's always anyone's guess if they're legit or not. I had to roll the dice with no idea, and I thought someone else would appreciate hearing that this particular seller shipped 2 rhod170s that very much appear to be legit. Took about 1 week to receive from NY.

You need the extended cover to go with it. The cheapest I could find was from batteries4less, which you can shave another 10% off with save10 coupon code. It does look exactly like the OEM, with both HTC and verizon branding, however my particular one bulges a little in the middle when attached, like it isn't latching as well there. It isn't really noticeable unless you're looking for it, and it could be the fault of one of the drops my phone has taken over the years. Shipped quick, maybe 3 business days.

With both battery and cover, YMMV. I won't know for a couple of days at least what the lifespan is. And I'm still looking for a program that I can use to get accurate, easy-to-compare bench information from. Suggestions on that front are welcome. My original battery 1500 mah battery has been in use nearly 24/7 for almost 2 years. I'm not sure a comparison to that would be helpful to anyone.

See (someone else's) pictures here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=578388&page=2
 

fortunz

Senior Member
Apr 19, 2009
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Since my last battery was in use for almost 2 years, I'm not sure comparison to it is worth anything. Battery life was atrocious. I basically kept it perpetually plugged in with just a few hours a day away from an outlet of some sort. I had cables everywhere to keep it charged. Now I can go 2 days of moderate use without plugging it in. I'm very pleased, especially given the price.
 

freaknormel

Senior Member
Aug 30, 2007
191
1
Couple of months ago, i bought the rhod 170 from ebay, using it since than, but to be honestly, the batterylife isnt much longer than the original one.
I think i have bought a FAKE one, this one is RED ( not black like at the picture )
See picture below.


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

5usd is very cheap ( maybe too cheap ) are you sure it is orginal htc battery, and no chinese garbage?

This website had the same battery
http://www.wirelessground.com/tilt2extbatt.html
It looks like the orginal htc battery, you can also look to the video with the guy who looks like he woke up couple of seconds ago, and inmediately started making the video. The website you gave is 6 times cheaper.. isnt that a little bit
suspiciously?
 

fortunz

Senior Member
Apr 19, 2009
859
130
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5usd is very cheap ( maybe too cheap ) are you sure it is orginal htc battery, and no chinese garbage?

This website had the same battery
http://www.wirelessground.com/tilt2extbatt.html
It looks like the orginal htc battery, you can also look to the video with the guy who looks like he woke up couple of seconds ago, and inmediately started making the video. The website you gave is 6 times cheaper.. isnt that a little bit
suspiciously?

I have no new information. Mine still looks real and it still gives me better battery life than my OEM 1500 ever did, even though XDAndroid isn't as battery friendly as winmo.

If you're considering grabbing one of the same, you're gambling, just a little less than if you got a similarly priced rhod170 from a seller with no positive feedback yet. You can hedge a little more by buying 2 and hoping at least one works to spec. If you want a guarantee, you'll have pay $40ish to a well-known outfit that takes returns.
 

fortunz

Senior Member
Apr 19, 2009
859
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Looks the same thickness to me (though black is a slimming color), and there's no spare room in mine. Both are made by HTC, it's just the one you got was designed for the GSM while mine was CDMA.
 

freaknormel

Senior Member
Aug 30, 2007
191
1
I have ordered 2 pieces. lets see what it gives me. Do you have any information about how to use it first time ? ( fully charge ) downcharge etc..
 

fortunz

Senior Member
Apr 19, 2009
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I have ordered 2 pieces. lets see what it gives me. Do you have any information about how to use it first time ? ( fully charge ) downcharge etc..

I've read varying views on that. Lithium Ion batteries like these don't have memory effect, however, there might still be metering issues (relating your phone's ability to measure how much battery power is actually left). In android, I used a utility that wiped out past information collected on my 1500mah (don't know if there is a winmo analog) and did a full charge and full discharge right off the bat. Since then, I've kept it topped off as there is unanimous agreement that you shouldn't discharge lions often.

That's what I did, but I can't promise it's the best way. I have no inside information, that's just what I've culled from contradictory sources.
 
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fortunz

Senior Member
Apr 19, 2009
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I couldn't tell ya, but since the particular seller I linked is out of stock of the batteries, I'm not sure it matters.
 

eyeb

Senior Member
Mar 6, 2011
337
53
i like chichitec's slim extended battery, bought 2 of them with a wall chager for $30 a while back, 1900mAh each. One of them lasts me 2 days but I full charge at night out of habit and not wanting to be stuck without phone on 2nd day even though I only reach 60-70% after first day lol
 

whitecracka

New member
Jan 26, 2011
4
0
fortunz, i see you have a rhod500, do you know if that battery works with a rhod400 as well?

---------- Post added at 07:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:29 PM ----------

Correct me if I'm wrong - but after searching, it appears the answer is yes.

Would the BTE6875 be equivalent to the RHOD170?
 

Caldair

Senior Member
Dec 28, 2008
616
674
My 2 cents

Mugen batteries are the best. They are the only extended slim batteries I have ever tried that actually live up to the name extended and outperform the stock batt. I have had 4 of their batteries for various devices and this week I just got the first for my Rhod and what a difference! Don't know why I waited so long to get one... I guess the rhod was just supposed to tie me over til WP7 came out... but now it looks like I'm trying to hold out for windows 8 (or 64bit cpu).

At any rate you can try to find a good one on Ebay for $10 and buy 4 different ones in the process, or you can do what I would recommend and spend $35 just buy Mugen.
http://www.mugen-power-batteries.co...373-1800mah-extended-replacement-battery.html
They have links for 4 diff models too!