Xperia X10 Blog

Mugen Power Xperia X10 Battery Review – Part 2

Mugen Power Xperia X10 Battery ReviewWe finally can deliver you part two of our Mugen Power Xperia X10 battery review. We want to apologise for the long delay in getting our results to you, but we wanted to make sure each battery had been properly run in before revealing our findings.

In part one, we went through the ergonomics of each battery including the weight and showed you what you get in the box. As a quick reminder, Mugen Power provide two batteries for the Xperia X10, a 3,600mAh capacity battery (with its own back housing) and a 1,800mAh battery, that will fit as normal. Click through for the results.

Testing

To test the batteries we ran one main test, three times for each battery. We then took an average of the battery times to determine overall battery life. Testing battery life can be extremely subjective so the test we devised was one that would stress the phone the hardest. These results, therefore, are not indicative of what you would see on a day-to-day basis and should be compared relatively.

The test involved not using a sim-card (partly as I needed to use my phone and didn’t want to skew results by the number of phone calls made). We turned on Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS. We also made sure the screen never timed out and set the brightness to 100 percent. We then used the AmbientTime Home launcher and left it running (with the animations) until the battery ran out completely.

Results

This is by no means a scientific test, but it should give you an idea on the relative performance of each battery. The 1,800mAh Mugen Power battery lasted for 259 (4h 19m) minutes on average, 17 minutes ahead of the stock 1,500mAh battery (242 minutes). However, both paled into comparison against the 3,600 Mugen Power behemoth that managed 496 minutes (8h 16m).

Mugen Power Xperia X10 Battery Review

Conclusion

We’ve talked about the bulk of the larger 3,600mAh battery in part one of our review, but the real question comes down to battery life. For those on the road, the extra size is probably worth putting up with considering the much superior battery performance. Yes, it is thicker (much thicker) and heavier than the original battery but on the flip side it delivers a battery performance nearly twice as long as the stock battery. On a day-day-day basis you do notice the bulk but it’s surprising how quickly you get used to it. The main bug-bear is obviously none of your existing cases will fit, although Mugen Power does have a solution for that. Yes, it is pricey at $ 96.95, but for those that spend most of their time on the road, it is likely to make a big difference to usage.

For the lower capacity 1,800mAh battery, the verdict is less clear cut. Yes, it offers an improvement over the stock battery, but in our testing, you probably wouldn’t notice a tangible improvement over the existing battery . However, if you were planning to buy an additional battery anyway, we would go for the Mugen Power battery every time. At the end of the day it does deliver an improvement in battery life (albeit small) and the cost differential isn’t too great. Topping that off with one of the most reliable third-party battery manufacturers just adds to the overall proposition.

Many thanks to Mugen Power for sending both batteries for us to test as well as giving us the time needed to post credible results!

X10

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26 responses to “Mugen Power Xperia X10 Battery Review – Part 2”

  2. Mugen battery = 2.1 update? no? SE SUCK.

    Although, that 3600mAh battery looks very attractive given the improvements over stock. I don’t really mind if it’s bulky, I didn’t buy this phone to show off its looks, although its good looks is the only positive thing about this phone.

  3. @x10
    thanks for the test! also it would be nice to submit battery usage percentage too, so we can have an idea in this test which part is consuming the battery the most.

  4. Thanks for posting the results.

    If anyone has any info or battery performacne of the 2500 mah batteries (not from Mugen), please leave a comment. The 3600 battery is really large, so the 2500 would be somehow a better trade off between size and capacity, but I am wondering if it is any good, regarding the low price, around 30 euro..

  5. Interesting, I wouldn’t really be interested in the large one of course except for long trips but even then having two smaller ones for my phones always was my preference. Did we get a price point for the stock SE battery?

  6. @Hisham – We’ll see what we can do on battery usage.

    @InSaiyanOne – The stock Xperia X10 battery is £22.48 at MobileFun, which compares to $33.95 (around £22) for the 1,800mAh Mugen Power battery. So they really are at a similar price point.

  7. No … I dont want that bulky thing on my pretty X10 .. no thanks…
    may be with 2.1 we might see battery improvement and by now people would be aware on how to handle the battery life effectively

  8. @X10 , thanks.

    You would think that by now SE also would of fixed their battery capacities. With such an intensive device having the competitor replacement battery perform better at a similar price is continuing to not encourage me about SE’s attention to details (the correct details ) when they made this device.

  9. I have to agree as I bought one of these batteries when they first came out… as is quite common, there was a bit of a drop off after 10 charges or so – before that I saw a significant improvement versus my (couple of month old) stock battery – which was running out early evening with reasonable use, whilst the Murgen gave me a full days charge. Now, after about 6 weeks the difference is negligible. I would agree that the Murgen is first choice for a replacement battery but in the long term not much better than the stock one.

  12. the screen brightness has been the biggest battery killer for me…since i moved it to automatic from the obviously way too bright setting i used to have i have noticed a large improvement in the stock battery

  14. original battery last less than an hour on 2.1, theoritical speaking 3,600mah last 2 hours on 2.1

  15. still don’t understand why X10 in normal load will finish the battery within an hour for version 2.1. With that kind of power consumption:
    1. we can boil egg
    2. or it burn itself and we have BBQ
    3. SE using low grade or recycled china battery
    4. they don’t have charger in their lab and they start off the test with 20% of battery life
    5. they didn’t use Mugen Power but Honda Racing Team
    6. The PC/Test equipment it connected drain power from X10, which mean, X10 to power up the PC/Test Equipment
    7. Steve Jobless sue Google for multi-touch, and warn SE not to upgrade as Android is making him jobless, SE accepted it and give all sort of excuses to delay/postpone/cancel the update
    8. X10 support ATI Eyefinity that can link to few 65K LCD for 3D gaming

    Guys, please help me to think of more excuses that SE using to delay/postpone/cancel the update

  16. constant whining about 2.1 doesnt mean its gonna come any faster think about the people with branded phones having to wait weeks more for the update due to the phone companys pissing about and putting up the update and then tearing it down like 02 has dont to hd desire users for the past 3-4 months ill not get 2.1 till december knowing 02 so anyone with a non branded phone be fucking happy youll get it straight away cos the rest of us with branded network phones will be waiting twice as long!!!!

  17. hmmm im wondering at what closecall just said i just checked the same site and the x10i has certified yet another update as of today 25th october hmmm kinda wondering whats going on there. as both x10a and x10i both recieved a further update verifiication

  18. Any chance you could do voltage comparisons through the discharge cycl? I bought an 1800mAh mugen at the same time as the phone, but I’ve had issues with it turning off at around 15% battery life. I don’t know if that also happens with the stock battery though, as I’ve barely used it.

  19. Thaaaanks bro, I just ordered the 1800 battery and payed through paypal!

    Now my x10 will even be more awesome with this battery and the 2.1 upgrade, I’m so happy thanks again X10 :>

  23. Having used the Mugen 3600 for a while now I can tell you it’s the best thing I ever got for a phone… It’s so nice to be able ot go three days between charges again – no more taking the charger for weekends away even with moderate usage (maps etc).

    Great stuff. I actually prefer the thicker feel too although it admittedly doesn’t look as good.