QUICK GUIDE:
Post #1: Battery Test / Buyers Guide
Post #2: Battery Mod / Homemade XL Battery, Users Mods & Info
Post #3: Battery Meter, Q&A & etc...
Before asking questions please look to Post #3 under Q&A (Work in progress)


News: You can measure the capacity of you battery your self via your N900 using some scripts (NOTE: Not the method the battery's in this thread was tested with, this was done with more consistent equipment)
impeham made a script to make the battery measuring much simpler get it here


This is a new Thread to sum up battery's bought from EBAY, DX and else where.
This is a thread to show people where to buy and where not to buy.

Update: Battery's are now sorted after capacity (Real) and will only display battery's that can be bought, update still in progress, also need a new confirmed source for SCUD.
Old results are in post #6

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PolarCell Batterie Nokia X6-00 5230 5800 N900 C3-00 BL-5J XpressMusic XM Battery
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Japod BL-5J Replacement 3.7V 1350mAh Li-Ion Battery for Nokia 5800
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Genuine Nokia BL-5J 3.7V 1320mAh/4.9Wh Cellphone Battery for 5800
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High Capacity 1500mAh BL-5J Battery
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Pisen BL-5J Replacement 3.7V 1250mAh Li-Ion Battery
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BAT MAXXIMUS NOKIA 5800 1600mAh Li-Ion battery
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KBTEL KB-5J 2150mAh Rechargeable Battery
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Mugen Power Nokia N900 2400mAh Extended Replacement Battery
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-------- List of whats next ------- Bought and waiting for delivery -----


---- Future Test -----


--- Testing with eqipment ----
I use a charger/discharger for RC systems, it gives the mAh value when it charges and discharges.
My procedure is to charge the battery for testing completely up, then discharge it completely down, this gives me the mAh when discharging, now i charge the battery all the way up again, this gives me the mAh again, now the results i post here are the best "score" the battery achieves.
All battery's are first subject to 5 charge cycles, this is to get the best result, it of course does only mean a gain of 5 - 20mAh but it still counts.


--- Video testing will not be done anymore since the mAh test is all that is needed ---
My video testing on the phone is done with videos converted to H.264 to the limit of what the phone can handle, and im using custom brightness level 3, which is brightness 160 so that consumes some power.


Spreadsheet of the battery's tested so far: (same order as above)
News: Now in color (RED = BAD, BLUE = OK, GREEN = GOOD)



UPDATE: have cleaned up the results, now no more video play length. The video test is still a good way for you out there to test your orig. battery VS battery bought elsewhere.


Winner battery so far is Scud blue DREAM 1460mAh@1530mAh from aliexpress.com



This Post is going to be edited alot of times so check here for updates.


--- If you like the work im doing just click "Thanks!" ---
--- Since i used beyond 300$ so far making this buyers guide, donations are also welcome ---

Price adjusting for the new higher cost of mugen covers.

--- old news ---
First MOD was with the 2 fake ys4u battery's.
of course this has no real benefit because of the low capacity.


Second MOD has the 2x 1250mAh battery's from 'christgift'

Have not included a schematic because this new 2512mAh battery uses the circuit from one of the new battery's, so now the circuit is where it normally is, and now there are only 2 wires (+ & -) to worry about.

The 2mm DC has a direct connection to the battery's before the protection circuit, i use a dedicated charger this way.

The new battery really really works
Can really feel the 2512mAh or the 90%+ increase in capacity. If any of the new battery's that are in route are better (1300mAh+) than it would be MOD nr 3.

And so far it's 25$ for 2x battery's and mugen cover.
Of course the price so far has been higher because of all the battery's i have bought, but that is all so for testing purposes and to make a big buyers guide for you out there.


This 3 mod has 2x Japod 1350mAh battery's and has a total of 2763mAh, a 109% increase in capacity from the stock original nokia battery but does cost 10$ more than mod 2.



Dual Scud Battery.zip
Zip contains additional photos of the dual scud battery

This 4 mod has 2x Scud 1420mAh battery's and has a total of 3044mAh, a 130% increase in capacity from the stock original nokia battery (1320mAh)

Price: 32$
17$ - 2x Scud 1420mAh + shipping
15$ - Mugen XL cover
Just corrected the price, i only paid 17$ for 2x!!!!!!



NOTE: Pictures is of the crappy battery from 'londonmagicstore', didn't have any more scud battery's to take pictures of....
Battery Dissemble.zip
Zip contains photos of what to do
Youtube Video of the disassemble of the battery

Description will come soon...

ATTENTION: Mugen has changed it's policy on selling these covers, now you have to submit a order nr. for previous bought mugen battery... or you can submit a picture of your broken cover to prove that you have bought a mugen cover/battery before. This of course makes it very hard/impossible to make a dual battery....
NEWS (11/8) octagonhead tried to order a cover with a random/fake order number and it worked, so as stated input 50002XXXX (replace the x's with some small random number, less than 3000) in the previous order nr, and until mugen again scratches their head this should work.
How to buy the mugen cover.
Go to https://www.mugen-power-batteries.co...backdoor.html# and order HLI-N900XL, dont worry about if you never have ordered a mugen battery they don't check, as of now i have got 3 covers and i have never bought any mugen battery's ever.
HtheB wanted to add that if you use the voucher code FACEBOOKSPECIAL you get a 7% discount (this if for everything on the mugen website, not just the XL-Cover)


'sEKI' Nice looking dual Blue Dream Battery
'zimon' Very simple and easy to do
'cantruchd' Very simple and battery's can be reused as singles
'KetkuFIN' The NON-Mugen cover version of a dual battery
'electristan' Take on the 'cantruchd' mod
'wakko' version done like my version
'sanros' Dual Scud using 'cantruchd's mod
'Estel' Extra mugen cover modding, camera lens shutter
'dr_frost_dk' BatteryGraph of Dual Scud POWER!!!
'dr_frost_dk' My simple and cheap external/internal charger


So if you think this is useful just click "Thanks!"

And if anybody else have bought battery's and want to share there experience, please do.

Also if anybody have some battery's that they want to see tested please link here also

A good home test is simply to compare runtime with continues video play, put 2-3 movies on your phone and compare original battery to the battery you bought. than it's just a matter off leaving the phone alone to play movies and just checking up on it with 10min intervals.

My N900 is only about 1 month old so my original battery is pretty fresh.

I have been doing discharge tests on the original battery to make a graph since im very tired of the normal battery meter that doesn't work very well.

So here is my QBW script for my own meter Version 1.1
This meter is precise to 2% since my discharge graph is only made with 2 digits.
But it really shows you the REAL remaining capacity (+/- 2%) and also current voltage.
The output is "3.800V - 50.0%"

UPDATE: Have made a new small V1.6 of the meter with LED notification when battery is 15% and lower and now also indicates when charging.

Install instructions:
Place .PNG images in /home/user/MyDocs/.images/queen_beecon_dir/
And import beecon in QBW
Battery meter V1.6.zip
Battery meter V1.6 (no LED).zip

NOTE: if you have any problems with the display the fix is here http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=70590
This is to fix the display if it shows a weird %.
NOTE: As of power kernel v47, there has been another display error caused by dual mv output, the fix is here



Change log:
Ver 1.6: Same as V1.5 but added "Charging" text when charging
Ver 1.5: Small design with LED notification when <15%
Ver 1.4: Same as V1.3 But now with LED notification
Ver 1.3: Same as V1.2 But code has been refined thanks to No!No!No!Yes!
Ver 1.2: Now with background color to give a less dull and more visual detail of the current battery capacity
Ver 1.1: Just an update, changed % to 1 digit since it never shows more anyway


Decided to make this because many of the same questions keep coming up, and it is understandably since there is over 300 posts now, it can be hard to find something specific.
This is new, and will be going through the hole thread, this will take some time......

Q: Can i use 5800 XL battery instead of Dual or Mugen battery?
A: No, the pins are on the wrong side, you would think it would work but please read a few posts ahead from here

Q: What is the lowest Voltage before the phone shuts off?
A: 3.3V or 3300mV is where the phone sets the limit.
Q: Is the battery empty at 3.3V?
A: Pretty much, on a normal 1320mAh battery you will at this point have a maximum of 25mAh left before hitting 3.0V, and from 3.0V to 2.2V (ABSOLUTE MINIMUM) there will be 5mAh more.

Q: Doesn't the mugen cover make the N900 massive/thick
A: It's not to bad, but it has a funny advantage, it is easier/better to type on the keypad

Q: my battery only shows 1222mAh not 1320mAh
A: This is not accurate because this is set by a resistor, this means you can make your battery report anything from 200mAh to >3000mAh, this has no relevance, my test is like i wrote in post #1, based on equipment to measure capacity.

Now that i have various battery's laying around i made a small pocket flashlight, this is made with a mix of white and warm white flat top LED's and the 2 battery's from 'ys4u'.
The mix of warm white and white is to get a neutral white 'color'.
Only has about 2 hours runtime on the poor crappy battery's.

I bought this one few months ago from DX: http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.32444

It is an original Nokia battery, and atleast the one i've got from them is completely original (no fake).

The capacity is also equal to any other bl-5j nokia batt (i have 4 of them), so for those looking just for an original replacement, this is the perfect deal (for the price, of course).

damn,your phone looks really fat.does it fit in your pocket?
or do you have to carry a special bag for it????

It fits fine in my pocket
its not that bad as many think, and for now it's the only way to get heavy use of the computer/phone.
Lithium battery's will get better, read that with the help of nano technology the capacity can get up to 10x what it is now.
Would be cool with a battery with 10000mAh+ or as i would say 10Ah+, this will of course need a good charger or some time to make a full charge from empty.

Some reading:
Lithium-sulfur batteries could store triple the power of lithium-ion
New Nanowire Battery Holds 10 Times The Charge Of Existing Ones


-------- BACKUP of POST #1 ---------
Just placing all the old results here to make way for a new cleaner look and with current battery's only.

-- Original battery that came with my N900 --
Original battery was tested and has a capacity of 1300mAh

-- 1920mAh battery from 'e_cell' (EBAY) --
1930mAh BL-5J HIGH CAPACITY BATTERY FOR NOKIA 5800 N900
Capacity for this battery should be 1920mAh
After extensive testing the capacity was 800mAh

-- Nokia BL-5J Battery from 'ys4u' (EBAY) --
HIGH CAPACITY REPLACEMENT Nokia BL-5J Battery 5800 X6
Capacity for this battery should be 1320mAh
After extensive testing the capacity was 800mAh

-- Nokia BL-5J Battery from 'christgift' (EBAY) --
REPLACEMENT BL-5J BATTERY FOR NOKIA 5800 XpressMusic
Capacity for this battery should be 1320mAh
After extensive testing the capacity was 1250mAh

Nokia BL-5J Battery from 'oig.buy' (EBAY)
REPLACEMENT BL-5J BATTERY FOR NOKIA 5800 XpressMusic
Capacity for this battery should be 1320mAh
After extensive testing the capacity was 1250mAh

Nokia BL-5J Battery from 'fashionuniononline' (EBAY)
REPLACEMENT BL-5J BATTERY FOR NOKIA 5800 XPRESSMUSIC
Capacity for this battery should be 1320mAh
After extensive testing the capacity was 1250mAh

High Capacity 1500mAh BL-5J Battery (Eastmaze)
High Capacity 1500mAh BL-5J Battery for Nokia Cell Phone
Capacity for this battery should be 1500mAh
After VERY extensive testing the capacity was 1300mAh
NOTE: This battery was hard to test because it has a very good protection circuit, and my charger charges the battery's to the MAX!!!
This battery does not do what it says it will do but it at least has the same capacity as the orig. nokia battery

BL-5J Replacement 3.7V 1320mAh (Dealextreme)
BL-5J Replacement 3.7V 1320mAh Li-Ion Battery for Nokia 5800
Capacity for this battery should be 1320mAh
After extensive testing the capacity was 320mAh !!!!
NOTE: was expecting 500mAh since i know this battery is fake, but 320mAh!!! damm this battery sucks.... hehe

Japod BL-5J Replacement 3.7V 1350mAh Li-Ion Battery (Dealextreme)
Japod BL-5J Replacement 3.7V 1350mAh Li-Ion Battery for Nokia 5800
Capacity for this battery should be 1350mAh
After extensive testing the capacity was 1370mAh
NOTE: The first battery that does what it says it should and then some

Pisen BL-5J Replacement 3.7V 1320mAh (Dealextreme)
Pisen BL-5J Replacement 3.7V 1320mAh Li-Ion Battery for Nokia 5800XM/5802XM/5900XM/5230/X6
Capacity for this battery should be 1320mAh
After extensive testing the capacity was 1280mAh

Genuine Nokia BL-5J 3.7V 1320mAh (Dealextreme)
Genuine Nokia BL-5J 3.7V 1320mAh/4.9Wh Cellphone Battery for 5800
Capacity for this battery should be 1320mAh
After extensive testing the capacity was 1320mAh

EXTENDED 1500 mAh BATTERY FOR NOKIA N900 (londonmagicstore)
EXTENDED 1500 mAh BATTERY FOR NOKIA X6 5230 5800 N900
Capacity for this battery should be 1500mAh
After extensive testing the capacity was 900mAh
NOTE: can see through the paper cover that it says 1000mAh....

HIGH CAP GOLD BL-5J BATTERY FOR NOKIA N900 (EBAY)
HIGH CAP GOLD BL-5J BATTERY FOR NOKIA N900 5800 XPRESSM
Capacity for this battery should be 1930mAh
After extensive testing the capacity was 1250mAh
NOTE: Fake battery but still good since it is close to normal capacity of 1320mAh

SCUD 1420mAh Nokia BL-5J Battery (aliexpress)
scud 1420mAh Nokia BL-5J Battery
Capacity for this battery should be 1420mAh
Retested by Estel, and the capacity was 1250mAh
Scud changed this battery to fit all nokia models, this is no longer the champion

PolarCell Akku Nokia X6 N900 5800 XpressMusic 'wannsee-electronic' (EBAY)
PolarCell Akku Nokia X6 N900 5800 XpressMusic (BL-5J)
Capacity for this battery should be 1400mAh
After extensive testing the capacity was 1400mAh

2250mAh Capacity BL-5J Battery (deal24hours)
2250mAh Capacity BL-5J Battery For Nokia 5800 N900 C3
Capacity for this battery should be 2250mAh
After extensive testing the capacity was 1410mAh

1700mAh BATTERY for NOKIA BL-5J 'phone_repair_parts' (EBAY)
1700mAh BATTERY for NOKIA BL-5J
Capacity for this battery should be 1700mAh
After extensive testing the capacity was 1390mAh

KBTEL KB-5J 2150mAh Rechargeable Battery (Dinodirect)
KBTEL KB-5J 2150mAh Rechargeable Battery
Capacity for this battery should be 2150mAh
After extensive testing the capacity was 1220mAh
NOTE: Says 1200mAh under papir cover.

MaXXimus 1600 mAh Nokia 5800 battery (maxximus.pl)
MaXXimus 1600 mAh Nokia 5800 battery
Capacity for this battery should be 1600 mAh
After extensive testing the capacity was 1250 mAh
NOTE: Tested by 'Estel'
Link provided redirect to google-translated (Polish to English) version of battery description. build-in buy function is valid only for addresses in Poland, but they're willing to send abroad (for higher price) if you contact them via contact form. If only would anyone want to buy their overpriced battery It seems to me that it's same battery as christgift is selling, only rebranded.

SCUD Li-ion Battery BL-5J for Nokia N900 (aliexpress)
SCUD Li-ion Battery BL-5J for Nokia N900
Capacity for this battery should be 1445 mAh
After extensive testing the capacity was 1520 mAh

Mugen Power 2400mAh XL Battery (mugen)
Mugen Power 2400mAh XL Battery
Capacity for this battery should be 2400 mAh
After extensive testing the capacity was 2240 mAh

Scud Blue DREAM 1460mAh Battery (Aliexpress)
Scud Blue DREAM 1460mAh Battery
Capacity for this battery should be 1460 mAh
After extensive testing the capacity was 1530 mAh

SCUD 3.7V 1450mAh BL-5J Li-ion Battery (avatardeals)
SCUD 3.7V 1450mAh BL-5J Li-ion Battery
Capacity for this battery should be 1450 mAh
After extensive testing the capacity was 1520 mAh

a 10000mah battery would make me reeeeal happy

I was rather impressed by:

http://www.eastmaze.com/High-Capacit...1394.html?c=63

In a few test runs it's come out as 1310 - 1330 mAh using N900's own battery fuel gauge chip, and assuming RS=21 as determined experimentally by one of the kind sould in #meego.

Impressive that it's as good or better than original Nokia BL-5J, which iirc tested out as 1250-something with the same method.

Internal resistance "feels" like its lower, but that might just be a sign that there's no protection circuit in it...

The bq27200 fuel gauge doesn't use any method close to a "proper" one. It just integrates current discharged, until it reaches 3248mV (and the point at which this happens varies with system load, of course), and then assumes that the battery is at 6%, calibrates charge meter according that. The 0% is assumed to be at 3V.
Under normal operations N900 doesn't reach voltages this low.

My 2400mAh mugen showed up as 2400mAh with the same method when new, and now after some months of abuse it shows up as 2300mAh.

When you say "dedicated charger", do you mean an actual Li-Ion charger, or are you hooking up some random Nokia "charger" powersupply?

Yes an actual Li-Ion charger, i have several from basic just working stuff to semi-pro and pro chargers.
Could all so hook it up to some random Nokia charger, but than i would have to monitor the battery or else it would go way beyond 4.2V and potential cause the battery to vent with or without fire or explode.

The best thing with my own custom "charge port" is that i can charge with 1C no matter how big the battery is, which means that when i get some good battery's with 1200mAh+ than i can charge the battery with 2.4A, this will mean that charge time would be max 1.5 hours.
Or could charge for 30min and have enough power to last a day with good usage.