Battery life in smartphones is always a little less than we need, and with the prevalence of external battery packs and portable chargers, replacement batteries almost get overlooked these days. Â With good reason.
Most add way too much bulk and weight to your device, and no one wants a phone that feels like a brick, much less looks like one. Â We’re all addicted to our super slim, super sexy devices. Â Why would we want to make them fatter and heavier?
Truth of the matter is though, should it really matter?  If you get a few extra hours for a couple of extra millimeters on the back of your device, it’s worth it.
Enter the Samsung Galaxy S3 Extended (3000mAh) Battery, an official accessory by the peeps at Samsung. It adds an additional 900 mAh which is a 43% boost over the standard 2100 mAh battery. NFC is still included, so you don’t lose that functionality, and it comes with a replacement battery cover to accommodate the extra size (in both Blue and White).  Unfortunately, due to the added bulk of the battery, my crystal case no longer fits, so you’ll have to shop around for cases that fit if you plan on purchasing this battery.
The replacement back fits perfectly, as expected, and the added depth recesses the camera, flash and speaker by about 2 mm, which I actually prefer as it means the camera is now less likely to get scratched in my pocket. Weight wise it adds 20 grams to the overall weight of my S3, making it 154 grams in total. Compared to 130 grams with the stock battery, it’s not much. In fact I barely noticed the weight difference! NFC still performs perfectly, with no perceptible drop in scanning performance.
The important part though, is how much extra time I got to play with my Galaxy S3 between charges.
With the stock battery I got about 10 – 12 Hours, involving some gaming, internet browsing, music playing over bluetooth and location  based apps ( Foursquare, Maps and Saga; all using WiFi, GPS and a-GPS).  The same usage with the extended battery, I got about 18 Hours usage, which is quite impressive.  I usually start getting anxious when my battery dips below 30% while I’m out and about, but that doesn’t happen with the extended battery.
Charging speed is also pretty good, the phone still fits in my KiDiGi charging dock with room to spare. Â The stock battery charged in about 3 Hours from flat, the extended in 5 Hours from flat, which to me seems reasonable.
All in all I can say I’m quite impressed with the Official Samsung Galaxy S3 Extended Battery, it doesn’t add much weight, but does add enough extra juice to get you through the day. Â Cases could be an issue, but I’m sure there are plenty out there that could accommodate the extra size.
