I think that I have said many times that the two things I really value about the Galaxy series (S3 in my case) is the support for SD card, and removable batteries. The advantage of a big screen is kind of offset by the fact that I can not securely hold and use the device in one hand regardless of how thin the device is (for my hands). That being the case, I decided to get the largest battery I could find. Initially, I went for a Q-Cell 4200mAh battery (it was the only one available in Japan really - least for the International version of the S3 which uses a different battery to the local ones). It was quite an upgrade over the stock battery. I could use My Tracks for over 10 hours (along with the GPS) continuously before I had to charge the battery. As long as it's just for the occasional check, I could also leave the screen brightness at max (necessary outdoor as the S3's screen is not exactly great under the sun). Great for an all day hike.

Sadly, the case cracked and no longer closed properly after one drop too many. Consequence of trying to use it one handed. I swear I must've dropped my S3 more than every mobile phones I've ever owned combined (which is hardly ever TBH), though to the phone's credit, the screen is still intact. Maybe the weight of the battery shifted the position of the phone as it falls though, as my flatmate's S3 cracked on the second fall. Well, the battery seems to have lost some of it's charge anyway, and now that I am back in the UK, I have bit more options.

Including the monstrous ZeroLemon battery. I've time and time again wondered why extended battery had in the same shape as standard battery with only the thickness increased, as opposed to increasing the length too, and it seems that the people at ZeroLemon thought the same way too. In doing so, I get a battery that is not noticeably thicker than the last one, but with a massive capacity of 7000mAh. Of course, it is proportionally heavier, in fact I think that this battery weight as much as the S3 on stock battery.

But this thing can last! I won't do a full review, as Anandtech has already done one (http://www.anandtech.com/show/7163/z...battery-review).

Trying to drain it without playing games takes a very long time (the instruction asks you to drain it down to 2% for the first few charges). At first I wanted to see how long it'll last on idle. I gave up after 5 days: http://prntscr.com/1jqm1e

The following time I used it "normally" (though it's worth noting that I am a much lighter user as I am busy with some things and don't have many people I need to contact by phone at the moment): http://prntscr.com/1jqmcz

I reckon that a more typical use(that doesn't incorporate heavy gaming) would be 2-3 days which is still pretty awesome. The downside though if you were to drain it down to red, is that it'll take a long time to fully charge (about 12 hours - so you are not going to get a full charge overnight assuming a typical 7-9 hours sleep). Still, that's not exactly the batteries fault.

I'll risk it, but here's hoping of course, that the ZeroLemon is sufficiently well made and won't get me into any trouble. There has been some horror stories regarding exploding batteries / setting fire recently: http://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news...ng-kong-398942 Most seems to suggest a fault at 3rd party chargers rather the batteries themselves. A warranty of 180 days on the ZeroLemon is a bit on the short side though