The need for power…

One of the most important tactical considerations when playing Ingress is keeping your mobile device (aka “scanner”) powered.  Most mobile phones have enough battery capacity for a couple of hours of continuous play at the most.  But at the end of the day, after your phone has been in your pocket for several hours, your battery may not be capable of letting you play – especially if it is an older battery with reduced capacity.

There are three ways to prolong your power in the field:

1. Use an external power source such as an external battery or car-based charger to externally power your scanner
2. Use replacement batteries that can be swapped in as each battery is depleted
3. Use an extended battery with a much larger capacity than standard batteries.

Each of these options has its own advantages and disadvantages.  External power allows for non-stop play without having to restart your scanner at some critical moment; but they mean using bulky battery packs and clumsy cables.  Replacement batteries allow your scanner to remain slim and light at all times, but require you to completely shut down your scanner to put in a new battery, which often occurs at a most inopportune moment.  Extended batteries can enable extended, heavy use; but mean carrying a bulkier device.

The best extended batteries available

If you decide that the extended battery option is for you, then you should check outZeroLemon’s batteries for various Android mobile phones.  They claim to have the longest-running, highest capacity batteries available, as well as assuring the quality of their products with a 180-day warranty.  Having heard some very positive reviews of ZeroLemon’s products, I purchased one of their extended battery kits for my Samsung Galaxy Note 3.

The kit comes with the largest capacity mobile phone battery in the world, with a whopping 10,000mA of power (10A).  This translates to around three times the life of a standard Note 3 battery, and means some serious stamina in the field.  This afternoon, I played for around three hours after using the phone intermittently during work.  Even after all this activity, my battery capacity had fallen by less than 20%.

Not just a battery…

The ZeroLemon batteries do not fit into the standard battery cavity in the Note 3.  Rather, they stick out behind and to all sides of the orginal battery dimensions, making the standard rear case cover unsuitable for use.  For this reason, ZeroLemon batteries come with a shock and water-resistant hard case with a built-in screen protector, as well as a wrap-around soft bumper case.  The Note 3 battery also comes with a snap-in holder for the whole shebang, with a belt clip in the back that doubles as a kickstand.  It’s all very well put together; once assembled, the phone feels hefty but rock solid.

Conclusions

So far, this product is performing very well indeed.  I’m pretty happy to add my endorsement to the many that are already out there for the ZeroLemon extended battery kits!  Check out this video by another ZeroLemon customer if you want to know more. 🙂