iPhone 4/4S Battery Replacement - Worth it or not?

LMaster Bates on 19/05/2014 - 19:49

I currently use an iPhone 4S which I have had since launch day in 2011; it is therefore 2 and a half years old and whilst in good nick, the battery life has become rather woeful.

I have toyed with changing the battery myself; mostly because I like to tinker with electronics and the challenge of tearing things down and putting them back together. My only fear is that AFAIK you cannot buy a replacement battery direct from Apple without them charging for fitting and whilst there are a tonne of batteries for sale from eBay/overseas resellers (where they are cheapest) most are substandard and carry the risk of being less powerful than quoted.

So… firstly I would like to know if you have experience of changing the battery in an iPhone yourself and whether you experienced a marked improvement or not, and secondly it would be good to know where you purchased a decent battery from.

Points to note:

  • I work in an office and can charge my phone throughout the day.
  • I also have one of the Sony portable charging units scored from this deal which means I can juice it up anytime, anywhere.
  • I am waiting to see what the new iPhone 6 brings to the table in September before upgrading or moving to Android.

Poll Options expired

  • 5
    Yes - It makes a difference
  • 2
    No - It's not worth the effort/cost; just charge it twice a day for the next 4 months
Mobile

Comments

  • mangolassi on 19/05/2014 - 20:44
    +1

    Changing the battery is just as easy as changing any other battery. Just follow this guide and you shouldn't have any issues.

    Edit: Here is a genuine OEM battery.

  • ALpha on 19/05/2014 - 22:55

    Yes, changing the battery is easy. Won't know if any sold on eBay or China retailer is genuine but certainly OEM. Last May, I replaced the battery on my iPhone 4 with one costing USD4.99 from DX but that particular battery is sold out. Still working well.

    If you have the plastic tools and do not mind the source of battery, try http://www.dx.com/p/replacement-3-7-1420mah-battery-battery-… for USD4.98 though no review yet.

    There are many such batteries being sold on eBay, such as http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/3-7V-1430mAh-Li-ion-Internal-Batt… for USD2.55 + 50c postage.

    Less than a cup of coffee… unless the battery shorts the iPhone. Proceed at your own risk:-)

  • exnihilo on 21/05/2014 - 01:46

    Usually after around 500 charge cycles, presumably around one to two years, the performance of lithium battery will be greatly reduced (e.g. the capacity reduce from 1300mAh to 1000mAh). And safety problem might also arise because of metal crystallization in the battery. However, if you going to change the battery by yourself, be cautious when handling other parts such as microphone—-heard lots of people had problems after changing batteries…

  • Master Bates on 11/11/2014 - 11:03

    Just a quick update (6 months on) I finally changed the battery! It was as easy as you all indicated, and it only ended up costing me $7 from eBay. It was $9.98 with tools, but the tools didn't fit the screws, so I was partially refunded. Thankfully I had previously bought a screwdriver for 1 cent from T-Mart that allowed me to complete the job… long live OzBargain.

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