The ZeroLemon 7500 mah battery for Samsungs Galaxy S4 is a big step up from the phones standard battery, but is it any good?
Retailing for £23.99 this is a big battery, boy is it big - it will make your S4 twice as deep as it was before, and none of your cases will fit - so again the question has to be asked - is it really worth it?
The screenshot below may help answer that, over thirty two hours on battery, with just over nine of those hours being screen on time, that's an impressive achievement given the typical four hours of screen on time achieved using the stock Samsung battery.
That additional five or so hours of screen time included having additional services running such as instashare roundr Tasker sidebar etcetera that weren't in use with the standard Samsung battery - as well as gps and wifi and the phone still manages all day heavy usage.
The battery does have nfc but there is a catch, S-Beam will work perfectly but you will find it hard to read any nfc tags any more.
For example none of the blank nfc tags that work with the stock Samsung battery would work with the ZeroLemon replacement, at least not the particular one being used, nor would any nfc tag I could find elsewhere (such as the interactive ones at some bus stops).
Literally no tag would work, which was annoying but for me would only have been a deal breaker had S-Beam not worked, though rest assured that it works flawlessly as ZeroLemon claim.
Because the battery is so big it comes with its own rather large replacement housing that fits nicely around the phone and also provides a slight raised border around the screen so that if you lay it on a flat surface your screen won't come into contact with said surface and risk any damage.
If you commute, or use your phone for a lot more than just calls and texts (as many of us do), and you aren't bothered about your lovely slim phone suddenly looking like it's been stuffing itself with, well, whatever a phone would eat (if it could), then this battery could well be something you need.
I did ask ZeroLemon what tag types the NFC in their batteries will read but they did not provide that information, however their customer service is as good as they claim, the case that came with the battery had small marks on it and they dispatched one free of charge with a prompt response.
The case itself can be purchased in white or black and the only negative impact of the case, size aside, is that the sound from the rear speaker is covered by the battery and so the sound is channeled downward instead.
While some reviews claim this produces a muffled or quieter sound this has not been noticeable from personal experience, sound is fine and as clear as when using the original battery.
If you use your phone a lot, as in very heavy use (games, downloading, long commutes playing music, satellite navigation, taking a lot of pictures, etcetera) this is the battery for you.
It does have drawbacks, namely that nfc tags do not work (at least none of the ones I have tried, although NFC itself works because S-Beam uses it, and S-Beam works perfectly). Also your phone will now be a lot deeper, none of your cases will fit and you probably won't be able to wear skinny jeans any more - if you want to carry your phone in your pockets that is.
But once you have experienced being able to use your phone to its full potential, all day, without worrying if the battery will last until you get home as you gun down hordes of zombies, watch a hd movie, edit photo's, etcetera, you may find that, like me, you wouldn't go back to the stock battery.
It does have drawbacks, namely that nfc tags do not work (at least none of the ones I have tried, although NFC itself works because S-Beam uses it, and S-Beam works perfectly). Also your phone will now be a lot deeper, none of your cases will fit and you probably won't be able to wear skinny jeans any more - if you want to carry your phone in your pockets that is.
But once you have experienced being able to use your phone to its full potential, all day, without worrying if the battery will last until you get home as you gun down hordes of zombies, watch a hd movie, edit photo's, etcetera, you may find that, like me, you wouldn't go back to the stock battery.
