Cell Phone Battery F.A.Q. & Tips

1. Laptop Battery FAQ & Tips
2. Camcorder battery FAQ & Tips
3. Digital camera battery FAQ & Tips
4. Cell phone battery FAQ & Tips
   - Cell Phone Battery Care Tips
   - Cell Phone Battery Capacity
   - Talk Time and Standby Time
   - Choosing the Right Cell Phone Battery
   - Extend Your Standby and Talktime: Reduce Your Consumption
5. Other battery knowledge

• Cell Phone Battery Care Tips

- New cell phone battery should be charged and discharged fully. It need to be charged at least 12 hours before using it for 3 times, usally overnight.
- After you have fully charged the new cell phone battery for 3 times, just keep your charging time less than 14 hours. Usally 2-3 hours is OK.
- Our cell phone battery is a Lithium Ion battery, so it should be charged often and kept fully charged as much as possible.
- Even if you use AC power most of the time, use the cell phone battery periodically to keep it fresh and healthy.
- Store cell phone batteries in a cool, dry place away from heat and metal objects


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• Cell Phone Battery Capacity

The capacity of a cell phone battery is an indication of how much "power" the battery can hold. It is typically measured in milli-Ampere hours (mAh). For example, a 900 mAh capacity rating for a battery means that if a load of 900 milli-amps were applied to it, the battery would fully discharge in one hour. The higher the mAh rating of a battery, the more talk time and standby time you can expect to get. Higher capacity batteries will also take longer to charge than lower capacity batteries.

Batteries are often categorized by capacity using naming conventions like "Standard", "Extended", "Extra Capacity", "High Performance", "Slim", etc.


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• Talk Time and Standby Time

Cell phone battery talk time and standby time ratings are manufacturer specficiations that provide a "best case" indication for how you can expect a battery to perform. For example, you should read a rating of 200 minutes of talk time and 150 hours of standby time to mean you can expect to achieve either up to 200 minutes of talk time or up to 150 hours of standby time, but not both. 200 minutes of talk time would be equivalent of talking on the phone constantly for that length of time, and 150 hours of standby time would be like turning the phone on and leaving it on the desk, without using it to make or receive calls, for 150 hours.

In practical use, of course, people typically use both talk time and standby time on each battery charge. Talk time and standby time ratings are usually expressed as performance under optimal conditions, meaning no conditions exist that require extra use of power. Conditions such as low signal strength, operating in analog mode rather than digital, and extreme temperatures (either hot or cold) will all consume extra power and lower your talk time and standby time. Time spent playing games, composing text messages, listening to music, recording and replaying sound bites, taking pictures, and other functions will also reduce talk time and standby time.

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• Choosing the Right Cell Phone Battery

There are several factors you should consider when deciding which cell phone battery is right for you.

Capacity: Higher capacity batteries will give you more talk time and standby time between charges, but with the better performance comes larger size and greater weight. Some high-capacity batteries are too thick to fit into standard holsters, desktop chargers or car kits. Depending on the phone model, a high-capacity battery may require a larger battery door/cover. Slim batteries are lower-capacity batteries that reduce the weight and size of the phone so it fits nicely in a shirt pocket or purse, but the battery will need to be recharged more often and may not provide enough power for a whole day's use. If you don't normally leave your phone on continuously and like the smaller profile, the slim battery may be the best way to go. Standard batteries fall between high-capacity and slim, and they are a good compromise to give you a little of the advantages of both high-capacity and slim sizes. Most new phones are shipped with a standard capacity battery.


OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) or Aftermarket: Nearly all cellular phone batteries can be purchased either as OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer, meaning they are manufactured by the same company who made the phone) or Aftermarket (manufactured by a company other than the manufacturer of the phone). OEM batteries will almost always be priced higher than their aftermarket counterparts partly because of the perceived value of buying the "name brand" and, in some cases, because the OEM manufacturers have more stringent material, component, and assembly quality standards. Many aftermarket batteries are of equal or better quality then their OEM couterparts, and they can provide significant value for your dollar. Often available in capacities higher than that offered by the OEM manufacturer, aftermarket batteries are often much less expensive and carry the same one-year manufacturer's warranty as their OEM equivalent. In general, the performance of quality aftermarket batteries is equivalent to the OEM batteries.


Getting the Best Deal: As with any product, the lowest priced cell phone battery may not be the best deal. Beware of batteries priced very "discount"; they may be reclaimed or refurbished rather than being new and never used. They may have inferior components (particularly the battery cells), or they may also have a very old manufacture date, greatly reducing their value.

Know who you are buying from. How long have they been in business? Do they offer a warranty and a satisfaction guarantee? Can you contact them in the future if needed?

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• Extend Your Standby and Talktime: Reduce Your Consumption

There are a few things you can do that won't necessarily affect your habits, while reducing your energy consumption, thus allowing you more standby and talktime between each charges:
- get rid of the little sound that the phone makes when you press a key. You should find how to do that in your phone's settings.
- use a ringtone instead of the vibration alarm whenever possible: ringtones drain less energy.
- The Backlight makes the screen and keys of your phone visible in the dark when you open the flip cover or press a key. As you will notice, that light times out, typically after two or three seconds. On most phones, you can adjust - and reduce - the backlight timeout.
- If you have a dual mode "digital and analog" phone, this one is very important: when you travel in an analog area and you know you won't need your phone for a while, turn it off, since the analog system is tougher on cell phone batteries. Digital phones actually have power management features - similar to those of your computer - that analog phones don't have. For example, a Nokia 6160 has 100 to 200 hours of standby time in digital mode but only 30 to 50 hours when in an analog area. A huge difference!



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