Nexus 5 vs Nexus 5x
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@jjconstr The Nexus 5 is a great phone, soon to be better with a halium upgrade. The main complaint about it is finding a good replacement battery. I've tried a couple and found the best battery is from a German company - PolarCell Battery for LG Google Nexus 5 D821 D820 BL-T9 EAC62078701 2450mAh. It is available on eBay if you are not in the EU.
It's a good quality after market - which means new, not old stock sitting on a shelf for half a decade, nor is it a cheap knock off rebranded. I've had it for a year now and still holds a full charge just like it used to when I bought the phone from Google.
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@rocket2nfinity Agree on battery, that's the one I went for too.
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@rocket2nfinity
Thats great info. It will save me frustration and expense, for sure. I was about to order one after ordering the phone. Now I know right where to go. Does Nexus 5 have a model 780? If so, would that take the Polarcell battery? -
@Lakotaubp I did the Nexus 5X battery mod and that worked really well - until the wife dropped the phone and broke the screen. I didn't want to have to go through all that effort again to modify a new screen. And I've tried many OEM and Chinese after market batteries to find them disappointing and short lived.
But I've been very happy with the Polar Cell one.
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https://www.ebay.com/c/1239828136
Other sellers have it at different prices. But that's about right when international shipping and tax is included.
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@rocket2nfinity
Thanks for the confirmation. I tried some higher capacity batteries for a Moto e5 Play. got them from China of all places! Li-ion 4750mAh by Sporting Persistence. Instructions said they must be conditioned 2-3 times by charging 12 hours and fully discharging before recharging 12 hours each time. they didn't fully charge in 12, had to go another 12 and repeated the process 5-6 times. Now they work well, drain slowly in use. Maybe this is common knowledge for tech savy individuals. -
@Lakotaubp
Thanks for your confirmation. Simple things like battery selection can be like reinventing the wheel if unaware of others' research. Thanks for keeping it simple! I'll go get one of those now. -
@jjconstr That is a common trick that may or may not be worth it to recondition old batteries that have been sitting on a shelf (or in a device) for a long time. The problem with that though is that the chemicals degrade and dendrites form as the batteries age. That drain, charge, drain can help to coax a battery back to life, but how long it lasts after that is highly variable.
It's always best to get as new a battery as possible.
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@rocket2nfinity
Does that apply to new batteries, as I think they were?
The new batteries I got for my Acer Aspire were supposed to wake but never did. What do you look for in battery ads to find new stock for old devices? -
@jjconstr The batteries all have manufacture dates on them. Newer is better.
But even a new battery will need to be cycle charged like that if it's been on the shelf in a warehouse for a year or more. It's getting less and less of a problem with each new generation of battery, and you generally don't have to worry about dendrites in a new battery. So less chemical settling or fires these days. But lithium ion batteries still have a settling/dendrite problem. At least they don't have a memory like the NiCads did.
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@jjconstr And occasionally, even new batteries can have a defect out of the gate. Chances are, it was just defective.
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Need to note that the 5x is famous for failing with a "boot loop". In fact, one disgruntled owner has a annual holiday livestream of his 5x endlessly bootlooping.
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Just as I don't think it has been stated clearly We do not support the Nexus 5X.
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@Lakotaubp thanks for that! I sure am glad you guys and or gals steered me clear of it!
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@vandys
Thanks for your input! Maybe in the future Nexus 5x will be refined to where we can upgrade. It has some improved features.
jjconstr -
@rocket2nfinity Yes I bought PolarCell battery for my Lumia 950 phone, and it was better than the original in my phone.
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@jjconstr Forgot to mention - when looking for battery replacements, always compare to the original battery specs. A lot of knock-offs will either have incorrect current ratings, or lack the proper thermal sensor circuitry. Those batteries will error out on your phone, or under/over charge leading to problems. Others, just white out an old date and put in a new one. Stay clear of those.
So read the advertiser's specs, and ask the seller if you don't see where it says it is an electrical match and the manufacture date. The PolarCell one specifically mentions the thermal sensor and describes how they match the OEM battery with their design. A reputable battery seller will address any discrepancies between their and the OEM battery. PolarCell does for instance explain why their battery has more current capacity than the OEM.
And read the buyer comments! You can often flag a bad battery just from the comments of previous buyers.
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@rocket2nfinity Never thought of that. I'm prone to assumptions.I'll look for the electrical matchup next time. I ordered a PolarCell battery last night. Now have to wait on shipping.
Looking at the Get Touch page, should the software be downloaded after my phone arrives? Does the installer need downloading to pc? Which installer do I need? I have Ubuntu side by side on my pc, and the arriving Nexus 5 has Android. i don't know which Ubuntu version applies to my Bionic Beaver which I think is 18.04... Watching the video of the installation of Touch it looks real easy. Like they said, the installer does all the work.
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@jjconstr Install the snap version of the installer and use Ubuntu on your pc. You then will need to install snapped first. Installers are here https://github.com/ubports/ubports-installer/releases/tag/0.4.18-beta. you can do this all before your device arrives. There is plenty of info on installing snaps on the web. have a look and any issues just pop back.
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@Lakotaubp UBports site has the snap installer, right? I saw 5 links on the github page, but none said snap.