If you have a look at Mugen’s HTC Hero Line-up, they currently have 2 different Batteries available:

• Mugen Power 1550mAh Extended Replacement Battery: a standard-sized, stronger Battery, that fits in the Hero without the Need of an additional Backdoor
• Mugen Power 3200mAh Extended Replacement Battery For HTC Hero (GSM) with Battery Door: the king-kong sized Replacement, which is powerfull, but needs a separated, much thicker backdoor. the problem here is, that the device looses it’s slickness, becoming a brick in your hand.

Part 1 of my Battery Test was performed in daily Usage, in the Conditions i normally use my Phones in. I’ll going to perform some more Tests under more power-consuming Conditions soon – in the Meantime, here’s the Settings i’m using in daily Life:

• 3G: off, phone only on EDGE, but permanently online
• Bluetooth: on
• WLAN: used whenever available – roughly 35-40%
• Mail & Twitter checks: every 5 minutes
• SMS messages: approx. 50-70 everyday
• Calls: approx. 2h every day
• Internet Surfing: around 1-2 h everyday
• Active Playtime with the Phone (Device not in standby): 50%
• some occasional App Tests, Camera Shots and seldom some MP3s

So, without further ado, here’s the Results of the first Test – all from full Charge until the Phones gave me the last 5% Battery Warning:

• HTC Stock Battery 1350 mAh. – 12 hrs. 15 minutes: As mentioned a few Times already, i doesn’t get much more than a typical Workday from the standard Battery. I get up at 6 o clock, working from 7 till 5, and usually about an hour later, i have to put the Hero on the Charger again.

• Mugen Power 1550mAh Extended Replacement Battery – 15h 5 minutes: almost 3 more Hours for the standard-sized replacement Mugen battery. this is pretty much what i was expecting for a battery with only 200 more mAh, yet it’s a bit more power for a reasonable price of just € 20,66 and the HTC backcover perfectly fitting!

• Mugen Power 3200mAh Extended Replacement Battery  with Battery Door – 37h 20 min: Yes, you read right, 37 HOURS with this Beast. The big 3200 mAh-powered Battery get’s you through 1 1/2 days on the same condition as the other Batteries, 3 times longer than the others. But, here’s where you have to decide: More Power and a thicker Phone or less Power and go with the slick, stylish Hero Layout? It’s up to you – i’ve prepared some Comparison Pictures for you, so you can see how much thicker your Phone gets with the Mugen Battery Door! The 3200 mAh Battery is currently available for only € 55,14!

I haven’t done the heavy Test yet, but so far i can say that Mugen has absolutely delivered the Power they have promised, which definitely is a blessing to all of us under-powered Phone Users, for reasonable Costs!

GALLERY (Hit the Thumbnails for the full View!)

• No.9 – Sony Ericsson Satio: a bug-infected SE handset with a great camera that sometimes appeared to have more issues than features.
• No.8 – Nokia 5800XM: i already got a lot of response to this decision, keep in mind that this is based on my personal tastes and experiences, my choices might not go along with your thoughts, and they’re not supposed to do that. anyways, the 5800XM, despite having the best stereo speakers i’ve ever heard gave me a world of troubles, spanning from damaged speakers and display to a totally useless homescreen (unless you get some 3rd party app help).
• No.7 – HTC/T-Mobile G1: The first ever google phone has sparked this Android love in me really well, resulting in eventually abandoning Symbian OS. But unfortunately the G1 was relatively unspectacular. Camera, Speakers, Battery Life .. nothing to really write a book about.
• No.6 – Nokia N97: a feature-packed mobile computer, which some hate to death and some praise as Nokia’s savior. i’m kinda stuck in the middle. while i liked the form factor with its extremely solid slider hinge and the overall features, i found the keyboard to be extremely annoying, resistive touchscreen is a matter of taste (i’m clearly against it) and RAM/phone memory issues that shouldn’t be found on a flagship device, right?

So much for the End of my List, but now let’s find out who’s on top, shall we!?

I’ll open my Top 5 with the Nokia E75, the red business-hotness i was lucky enough to trial in 2009. I reviewed this Handset in german for the first time, over at Sybo’s Symbian Mobile Blog, which was a lot of fun to write down! The positives were taking over on this Device, i absolutely loved the 4-row slide-out keyboard, the actual working Nokia E-mail (or however its called at the moment), the customizable quick-start buttons, the e-series active standby and much more all left a very positive impression of the E75. Scoring some negative Points are the rather bad, more N-Series like Build quality and minor Stuff like still a QVGA screen and only a Mono Speaker. Although i’m hoping the Build Quality was a rare blooper, The experience with the E75 has been overly great.

okay, to be honest, the Sony Ericsson X10 was in my Hands for roughly 10-15 Minutes on this Sony Ericsson Press Event i was invited to, back in November 2009. And i know its not even available yet, so my impressions are entirely based on Prototypes. So what gives the X10 the Rank No. 4? I guess it’s the high Expectations i have in this Device. It’s Sony Ericsson’s possible saving grace in the  smartphone world and although the Software was pretty buggy when i used it, Sony Ericsson is up to something and it could be good. Sony’s impressive X10, running on Android with a major overhaul including the brand new Timescape and Mediascape Applications, 8 Megapixel Camera for decent Snapshots, this HUGE 4 inch capacitive Touchscreen (no multi-touch though) and of course the Power of the 1 Ghz Snapdragon Processor have the Abilities to pull SE out of the Dirt and make this Wheel spinning again. i’m looking forward to get my Hands on this bad boy!

On Position No. 3 – my HTC Hero: No, this is not on Top of my List of Phones 2009. It’s close but it didn’t make it. I bought the Hero in June this Year, marking my Step away from Nokia and all it’s Problems, to something brand new, exciting. I knew Android already from my time with the G1 before and the Sense UI added this extra bit of spice to the overall experience. The Phone feels perfect in the hand, the materials are well-chosen with a bit rubber-like back plate so the phone always feels secure in your Hand. The capacitive, multi-touch Screen responds great and Software Updates made the Phone a lot faster than we experienced it at the Release – by the Way, HTC, you fancy giving us 2.0 or 2.1 goodness soon please? come ooon! But, the Hero is also not untroubled by some Downers, such as a weak Batter, a REALLY bad 5MP Camera and a slow 528 MHz Processor. We’ll see what the Android People has in store for 2010, cause one thing is for sure:  As much as i love my Hero, it will be replaced – but it’s still not decided which future Device will make it!

HA Gotcha! I bet some of you believed the Nokia N900 will lead my Top 5, after the awesome Time i had with it. But no, it’s not. Nokia’s Maemo Monster was a close Contender but was ultimately beaten only to it’s Newness. Yes, that pretty much gets it on Point. While the overall Experience with Maemo has been amazing, i was missing several Apps a lot. Twitter was a pain to use on a Device without Gravity and the bugging Mail Application reminded me a lot why i love Profimail so much. A slight Miss was also the 3-row keyboard, but at least this time the Button Feedback was a lot better than on the N97. Apart from that, the N900 offered sheer Power and huge Amounts of RAM to work with, the great to use Maemo OS with all its Widgets and extremely customizable Homescreen, a good 5MP CZ Cam, a VERY good resistive Touchscreen and so much more! The N900 has been one of the most satisfying, exciting Nokia Experiences i had in quite some Time and i’m really looking forward to try Maemo 6 in 2010! But as much as i loved the N900, it could not be beaten by ..

..my beloved Nokia N82! (The Picture shows the Trial Device i used, i have the black Edition) Yes even in 2009 the Nokia N82 has the Power to lead my Top of the Pops or so List. After trialing it, i decided to buy the black Edition Handset back in June 2008 and the N82 is still up and rocking. No Matter if it’s used as main Handset, or as a reliable backup Device on the road, it’s always there for me. No matter, where i go, what i’m doing, the N82 is always there. I’ve so much great Memories with this Device, i went through all ups and downs for the past 1 1/2 years, but at the end of the day always getting back up. Some messages stored on my N82 bring tears to my eyes, some pictures let me smile and lighten up my day. While some first SW Bugs have been terminated with Firmware Updates and is now running stabile, the Hardware has always been Money. The 5 MP Carl Zeiss Camera with Xenon Flash still produces Pictures that can easily go against all Kinds of Camera Phones and beat them down. Well, not all, but most of them Sure, the N82 may not be on top of the current tech standing anymore, but it’s consistency and reliability has proven time and time again why its not only my, but a lot of people’s favourite device, and that’s almost 2 years after it’s release. The Buttons was a bit of a headscratcher, but after a week i was used to it in such a nice way, typing was going like a breath. The D-Pad didn’t really attract me either, but it’s still solid and easy to use like on day 1. A Spec List that still reads along nicely, all that packed in a very handy Body are clearly making the N82 the Top Phone of my 2009 List. Oh btw, the N82 is the first Device i have ever bought a new Battery for, delivered just today. If that is no Indication how much this Phone still means to me, then i don’t know what is!

So there you have it, my Top Phones of 2009, i hope you enjoyed reading along – but tell us, whats YOUR Phone of 2009!?

2 Days before the end of 2009, Friend of the Site, James Whatley has published a new Post over on the highly recommendable The Really Mobile Project-Blog called “My Phone of the Year“. The result of his thoughts were very interesting and surprised a lot of us, but at the same time, James’ points were very reasonable and actually gave the feeling he was right – if you wanna find out which Phone rocked James the most in 2009, head over to the Really Mobile Project and read on! Parts of this Post are taken from my Reply i did on TRMP, but i felt like doing a list on my own, and additionally tweaking it a bit. my list will be about Phones i have used in 2009, not judging by their actual Sales Dates! Ready? Let’s go..

Placed at No. 9 and no surprise: The Sony Ericsson Satio! I was really looking forward to trial the Satio. Pictures posted on the net looked promising, even the UI looked nice, i was happy to see that the S60 homescreen was finally appearing to be usable. Got it in my hands, and first impressions have been overall positive. a device, well-made with a kickass camera, finally micro-sd support and some more goodies. until the bugs came, and they came big time. the SE homescreen was very nice, giving several shortcuts, latest pictures and more – cool if you consider the fact that it was the ONLY working homescreen option. none of the nokia-ones was working. several restarts a day, that gotten more and more and a not exactly hyper-responsive touchscreen left this whole Satio Experience with a sour Taste in the Mouth. Don’t get this wrong, SE even confirmed that they were sleeping in the last years and have now finally woken up, and the Satio is a nice Step in a good direction, but this device didn’t get a proper testing from the SE Developers. I hope future SW Updates will fix those Problems, unfortunately i had to give the Device back to Sony Ericsson before i was able to find out.

Rank No. 8 goes to the Nokia 5800XM here on the left (Picture courtesy of www.fony.sk). After seeing this Handset in action, the spark for touchscreen phones was flame on in me. The Size of the Device felt just right, the 3 MP Camera seemed so-so but okay, all needed Features were inside – i was basically ready to go! I received this Device (as a gift from my friend teo bartulovic aka Apocalypso, founder of www.symbian-freak.com) and used it for almost 3 weeks until i realized that i was lucky enough to score one with a damaged Speaker – the volume while calls was dropping and increasing repeatedly, making it almost impossible to do normal calls. if that wasn’t all, i had huge problems with my screen as well. My 5800XM basically refused to come back of the standby mode, resulting in an unusable phone. This, combined with a very buggy S60 OS (that again is not made for Touchscreen Phones without giving it a huge overhaul first) and a useless Homescreen has made the Nokia 5800XM a Handset i love to hate – despite the absolute best Stereo Speakers i have ever heard.

The T-Mobile G1, which i had in early 2009. To be honest, i’m not sure why this is only on the 7th Rank on my personal Hitlist. There was nothing majorly wrong with this one. I fell in heavy love with the form factor and found that the G1 keyboard is still one of the best (if not the best) i have ever used, in terms of spacing and layout. its no secret that i dont like the Nokia 3-row keyboards at all and some people complained about the misplaced ..ermm.. trackball part that gets in your way, but i didnt have a problem with it and loved using it. The G1 also marked the beginning of Android and my love for it, with Android eventually replacing Symbian as my Main OS. I guess it’s the unspectacularness of the G1 that left it behind in my personal Ranks. There’s nothing mindblowing on this Device, some things like the Speaker, Camera, Battery were not exactly satisfying. The rather cheap Build quality did also not contribute to a memorable Experience. But still, it was nice to use and the Time with it was great

Ah yeah, the Nokia N97, No. 6 in my ranking. Another phone i had a Love/Hate Relationship with. I can remember a lot of Symbian Freak Users praising this Device as the holy Grail, the Savior of Nokia.. I have to admit, it does sound attractive. 32 GB in-built memory + microSD support for up to 16GB of additional Space, new Widget Homescreen, full-qwerty with a new angle-positioned Screen position if opened, 5 MP CZ Cam, 1500 mAh Battery… it sounds like the perfect Package, THE all in one Device. And it gave me a hard Time finding Mistakes. The whole Device was built like a Tank (except the plastic backplate), the slide-mechanism was picture perfect, with zero .. and i mean ZERO space in both, opened and closed positions. When closed, the N97 felt like a candybar Handset and i have never felt this before. But again, Nokia has effed up big time in the Software. Some Apps simply not opening from the Homescreen Widgets, multiple restarts and the same basic S60 OS hiding under the widgetized (is that a word by the way? lol) have destroyed this nice first Impressions. Hardwarewise, the Keyboard debuted this stupid 3-row Design, with some of the Buttons giving a very bad Feedback. I really felt split-minded about the Nokia N97. The form factor was all me, but in the course of 2009 i realized that the OS was/is not the way i wanna go any more. sure, the OS is always something that can be fixed or improved via Software Updates, but i’m afraid my Needs can be fullfilled with that..

… are you curious for the TOP 5? Check back tomorrow, when i return with Part 2 of my Phone of the Year 2009 Hitlist!

“Pairing Android with Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon and presenting a 3.7-inch AMOLED facade, this certainly ticks the headline boxes, and the addition of a five megapixel AF cam capable of 720p video capture gives it an extra sheen of 2010 newness. The picture above is accompanied by less solid info indicating a 1,400mAh battery, which will be joined by the mandatory WiFi, Bluetooth and MicroUSB connectivity, plus MicroSD expansion, FM radio tuner, digital compass, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Then again, the source is the same bunch of heroes responsible for our extra early — and accurate — info on the HD2, so those specs may be considered pretty reliable. Oh, if you’re wondering about the touchscreen, it’s capacitive, like it should be.”

While i’m drooling about the Snapdragon Power and the capacitive AMOLED Display, i hope that HTC is working big Time on its Camera Department. The 5 MP Camera with so called Auto Focus, was nothing more than a Joke, and as much as i love the Hero in Terms of it’s functionality and great Sense UI, the Cam was a complete fail. 720p is a big Promise and i hope they do live up to it plus finally integration of a LED Flash to say the least. But imagine Android with HTC’s Sense UI, on a Phone with double as much Power as the Hero.. Good Times are ahead of us, and famous Eldar Murtazin of Mobile-Review.com stated there are some Major Android Phones are left out of the recently leaked HTC 2010 Roadmap!

While the Bravo/Passion is certainly Device, everything goes crazy for, the Roadmap also revealed something nice – the HTC Salsa. It looks like a Nokia E61 Clone at first, but it’s said to be HTC’s (and i think the World’s) first Android Device with a full QWERTY on it, giving it a similar look than Nokia’s highly recommendable E-series phones. Not much information available yet, 3,2 MP Camera, FM Radio and the well known 528 MHz Processors make it look more like a Mid-Class Phone. But that looks like a really nice Phone nonetheless..

HTC is up to something in 2010, and i believe it will be good!

All Pictures via Engadget.com!

With Mugen Batteries it’s different, because Mugen stay true to what they’re saying. Friend of Site Micky, from the highly recommended Nokiausers.net has recently put the same Test on his Nokia N97, using both the 1800 mAh Extended Battery plus the bigger 3600 mAh Battery, which comes with a separated Backdoor, as your Device can’t fit it in with the default Backdoor! I won’t spoil the Results here – if you want to check out how those 2 Beasts performed against the N97′s 1500 mAh default one, check out Nokia N97 Mugen Extended Batteries – Conclusion over at Nokiausers.net!

So whats going down here in the upcoming Days/Weeks?

• My Standard 1350 mAh Hero Battery – not too impressive honestly. With constant online Times, using Mails, Twidroid, often checking Facebook and Newsrob etc, i don’t get much more than 10-12 Hours. And this is with Bluetooth, 3G and Auto Screen Rotation being switched off, just for the Record. This Battery will go head-to-head against:
• The Mugen Power 1550mAh Extended Replacement Battery: 200 mAh doesn’t sound too much extra Power, but if you check out Micky’s Article again, you can see what 300 more mAh can achieve: Nearly DOUBLE as much Go-Time on light/medium Usage and almost 3 times better Performance on heavy Usage. Not enough for you?
• Then the Mugen Power 3200mAh Extended Replacement Battery For HTC Hero (GSM) with included Battery Door should be just right for you! First off, this Battery comes with the Battery Door, cause it simply makes your Device thicker. That much more Power of course needs it’s Space, so this Step is neccessary.  I’m not 100% sure yet, but i’m used to bulky Devices, so i’d be happy to have a bit more Phone for the Price of getting a lot more Battery Life – which you DO get, judging from what i’ve read so far! I won’t spoil no Results yet, but the Improvement should be big!

I’m REALLY looking forward to test those Batteries in my Hero and give you some first Hand Reports, about how much better the Performance with those Batteries get. A big THANK YOU goes out to Mugen for agreeing on the Test Batteries and in the Meantime, feel free to check out Mugen’s Shop by hitting the Picture down below!