NFC antenna with Extended Battery

[Habious]

Just wondering - am I the only one who has transplanted the NFC antenna from the stock back into the Extended Battery back cover?

I LOVE this phone! The feature-set is exactly what I was looking for, especially the NFC ability. Love the idea of cutting-edge hardware options that no one else has.

However, my first 2 weeks with the phone were a nightmare with battery life. I cannot get a full day out of it (I don't mean a "full 24 hours", I mean just leave the house at 7 and arrive home at 6 with a working phone). I have a charger at home, and at my desk, and in my car. I also bought a standard-capacity spare battery and carried it around for the 2pm swap-out. But, all of this was just too much of a PITA...and it's something I had to monitor.

I didn't want to have to worry about my battery. I just wanted to use my phone and know (without even thinking about it) that the phone will still be working at the end of the day.

Enter the el-cheap-o 3800 mAh Extended Battery, courtesy of eBay. $9.95, shipped (from China) for the battery and new back cover. Yes, the phone is no longer the svelte little thing it once was, but it works...all day (and all night).

However, replacing the back cover killed my NFC feature. I was almost willing to live with this...until Google Wallet went live. At that point, I wanted my cake, and I wanted to eat it too.

Took some experimenting to get it to work reliably but, I now have my Nexus S 4G, with 3800 mAh Extended Battery...with intact NFC communications. I even used Google Wallet a couple of times this weekend, and have the NFC Task Switcher set up to change my profiles when I go to bed.

Sweet!

 

[KillerQ]

it it as easy as it seems? How durable is the antenna once it's 'pulled out?'

 

[Habious]

it it as easy as it seems? How durable is the antenna once it's 'pulled out?'

It wasn't as easy as it seemed.

First, the antenna tears very easily (I ruined one, taking it out). I purchased an additional "stock" cover, just so I'd have one to play with/ruin to do this.

You need to use something thin, flexible, and plastic. I used a thin guitar pick. The FIRST time I tried it, I used a thin-bladed screwdriver...and ruined an antenna in doing so.

You need to pry up from the corner that has the contacts. On my first attempt, I shyed away from that area, because that was the one place I didn't wan to mess up. However, once I got the (ruined) antenna off, I saw that the antenna contacts go all the way out to the very edge of the sticker, except for the corner with the contacts. So, that's where you need to start from.

Once it's off, it seems fairly durable. I didn't use additional adhesive to make it sick on the new back. In fact, I took it off the old back, put it on the new back, took it off the new back, put it back on the old back, took it off the old back, and put it again on the new back...all without using any additional adhesive.

My original idea was to line the contacts up, with the NFC antenna following the curve on the inside of the Extended battery door. But, when I did this, I could not get the NFC to work at all. I verified to 4 decinal places that my alignment to the contacts was good. Still nothing.

I thought maybe there was too much clearance, and that there was an "air gap" between the contacts on the back of the phone and the NFC antenna contacts. So, I added some double-sided tape by the contacts to "raise" them up a bit. That made the battery cover fit VERY tight...but still didn't get the NFC to work.

At that point, I assumed I broke the NFC antenna (the 2nd one in 2 hours). I took it off and put it back on the original battery cover. NFC worked fine. Clearly not the antenna.

I don't know if the NFC has an issue with being "bent" around the Extended Battery cover but, what I ended up doing was moving the NFC antenna down, so it's basically over the top of the battery...and is laying flat on the back cover. I then ran a couple of wires from the NFC antenna contacts to the contacts on the back of the phone.

I really didn't want to do this, but that's the only way I could get it to work.

I can provide pics of the finished product if anyone is interested (will post after work tonight, if requested).

 

[Noetic_Nick]

I'd love to see some pics of your work, when you get a chance.

 

[Habious]

I'd love to see some pics of your work, when you get a chance.

Sure thing. I'll try so post up some pics tonight, after work.

 

[6tr6tr]

Can you also post a link to where you got such a cheap battery?

 

[BlackHawkA4]

Can you also post a link to where you got such a cheap battery?

That's cheaper than I paid for 1500mah; but, mine was a Samsung for 12 bux.

Personal opinion: All this work is too much. Just have 2-3 regular batteries. lol. Keep it slim. Doesn't have forever to charge 1 battery. Have one charging while the other is draining. Keep your NFC without messing with the cheap antenna as it appears. It's not like it takes 10 minutes like a blackberry to boot up, lol. less than a minute.

 

[Habious]

Can you also post a link to where you got such a cheap battery?

I got this link from here...another thread.

eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices

They ship it direct from China. Mine took about 2 weeks, but it's $9.95 shipped. Hard to beat it.

The back cover could fit a little better...and I had to do a little Dremel'ing by the power button cutout to make it fit properly, but I'm very happy with it. YMMV.

Also to note...there are quite a few "package" deals on eBay right now for the same battery (different sticker, but it's the same battery), the back cover AND a spare-battery-only charger. That package is going for around $38.00. It's not quite as good of a deal, but it's still a very good price for the whole package, especially if you think you'll need a spare battery charger at some point.

However, I bought this "package" (in addition to the $9.95 battery) because of the picture in the listings. It CLEARLY shows an NFC antenna inside the aftermarket battery cover (with a little arrow pointing to it, labeled "LTE 4G antenna" - which it's obviously not). I was thrilled when I saw this! I thought "Yes! Save me the trouble of doing the transplant myself". However, upon arrival, it's a plain ol' blank back cover...no NFC antenna (or "LTE 4G antenna").

Here's a link to an example of this.

AceSoft 3800mAh EXTENDED BATTERY W CHARGER Google Samsung Nexus S 4G 4-G Sprint | eBay

Easiest way to find them all (and figure out who has the best deal) is to do a search for "nexus s 4g 3800" (without the quotes). I think it's the same person selling all of these. Every single one of them, coincidentally, is in California. I ordered mine on a Thursday, and it was in my mailbox on Saturday (East Coast). So, very fast shipping.

 

[BlackHawkA4]

AceSoft 3800mAh EXTENDED BATTERY W CHARGER Google Samsung Nexus S 4G 4-G Sprint | eBay

I have that charger, L O L1 5 bux on it's own. 7 hours to charge from dead on a 1500mah batter. Does the job overnight though, lol. The LED on one died out. It still charges but you can't tell when it's on or done.

 

[Habious]

Personal opinion: All this work is too much. Just have 2-3 regular batteries. lol. Keep it slim. Doesn't have forever to charge 1 battery. Have one charging while the other is draining. Keep your NFC without messing with the cheap antenna as it appears. It's not like it takes 10 minutes like a blackberry to boot up, lol. less than a minute.

It's true about the boot time. That was one of the first things I noticed about this phone. I came from the Palm Pre...which has a ridonkulous boot time!

But, the problems I have with the spare batteries are things like...remembering to carry them wherever you go...keeping track of which ones are charged, which ones need to be charged....and, most importantly, to constantly monitor my battery level. If I don't, I end up with a dead phone and don't realize it.

I don't want to have to worry about it. I want my phone to just work...period. If I use it just a little, use the crap out of it, keep a constant eye on the battery, level, totally ignore the battery level...doesn't matter.

I get 22-26 hours of USE on this battery. 10% remaining...equals about 3 more hours of use left.

To me, that's worth some compromise. But, with my NFC mod, the only compromise is "sveltness".

Personally, I haven't been svelt in 20 years, so I don't mind.

 

[Habious]

I have that charger, L O L1 5 bux on it's own. 7 hours to charge from dead on a 1500mah batter. Does the job overnight though, lol. The LED on one died out. It still charges but you can't tell when it's on or done.

There's no question that the quality of aftermarket accessories varies with manufacturer.

I LOVE Seidio accessories...really nice stuff.

But, their high-cap battery and back cover for this phone...is like $67.00!! That's a BIG difference in price.

Throw on another $25+ for a spare battery charger, and you're touching nearly $100.00, once you add on shipping for the stuff.

 

[BlackHawkA4]

There's no question that the quality of aftermarket accessories varies with manufacturer.

I LOVE Seidio accessories...really nice stuff.

But, their high-cap battery and back cover for this phone...is like $67.00!! That's a BIG difference in price.

Throw on another $25+ for a spare battery charger, and you're touching nearly $100.00, once you add on shipping for the stuff.

The only thing I despise about that charger is the charge time. Other than that I'm happy with it for 5 dollars. To be honest it does what I need. At first I thought it would charge quickly. 3 hours. So I figured I could sit here playing games for hours just swapping back and forth. Obviously the swap would not last the charge time if I sat on the phone for hours. But, with normal use I'll make it to about 8-10 hours in my office (where service is spotty). Usually till the end of my shift. So, then, I'm on a spare battery at 21:00 and I don't plan on staying up another 8-10 hours from then so it makes me through the day.

On my days off with normal use and better service I usually won't touch the second battery. Maybe towards the end of the night when I'm at the ladies house and I'll use it while she's watching what she wants on TV, lol.

5 dollars that charger is great though. 17 bux for a Samsung 1500mah and that charger v. the 45 "Official" Samsung battery and charger set.

 

[Habious]

OK...as promised. It's late so, quick-and-dirty descriptions. I think it's fairly self-explanatory.

Here's where I had to "make bigger" the notch in the back cover for the power button. Don't know why it was in the wrong place...but all three covers I got were like this (2 el-cheap-o Chinese-made ones, and even the one from Seidio). Apparently, I have a one-off Nexus S 4G that has the power button located 1/8" above where it is on EVERY OTHER Nexus S 4G. I feel special now!

Here it is with the cover removed. You can clearly see the black/yellow wires I used. This is the "done" picture, since I didn't document the several hours worth of things I did WRONG before I got it right. I put some electrical tape over the contacts...both on the phone side and the battery cover side.

Here you can see where the NFC antenna is lower on the Extended Battery cover than the stock cover. I did this so that the NFC antenna could stick flat against the cover. It didn't seem to want to work any other way.

Here's a close-up of the soldered contacts on the back of phone phone.

And here's a closeup of the soldered contacts on the back of the battery cover/NFC antenna.

I used just a couple of pieces of solid telephone wire. Probably not the best choice, but it's what I had lying around in the right wire gauge. A stranded 22GA wire would work better. It's more flexible and less prone to breakage after repeated movement than the solid telephone wire. It's also harder to work with, though. Everything's a trade-off.

Also, I intentionally kept the wire run short. You can make the wire nice and long...so you've got plenty of room to pop the back cover off, set it aside, change the battery, etc. But, you have to find a place to stow that extra wire when you close up the phone. and it's all got to be bundled up in the part of the battery cover that's NOT all fat, with tons of extra space. You're up near the camera lens and speaker.

I'm not telling anyone that this is THE way to do it...this is just the way *I* did it.

Questions/comments welcome.

 

[BlackHawkA4]

Hey. Nice that looks good. Lol.

 

[KillerQ]

Nice Job!

As you mentioned - I found that longer wires made the door manipulation a bit easier. As you can see in the attached pic, my battery door is on the right.

Later,

Matt!

 

[Habious]

Nice Job!

As you mentioned - I found that longer wires made the door manipulation a bit easier. As you can see in the attached pic, my battery door is on the right.

Click to view quoted image

Later,

Matt!

OK...now you're just making fun of me.

 

[KillerQ]

No, no.... not at all....

I was just planning on using longer wires and I can only imagine how it's going to look, lol.

Thanks for the pics, they are a HUGE help....

Later,

Matt!

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

 

[BlackHawkA4]

No, no.... not at all....

I was just planning on using longer wires and I can only imagine how it's going to look, lol.

Thanks for the pics, they are a HUGE help....

Later,

Matt!

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

Speaking of huge: that battery door is GIGANTIC! How do you hold that thing?!

 

[Jimmyzaurio]

I bought a battery replacement that doesn't include the NFC antenna, the question is: the smartphone works without that antenna?
I would really appreciate your help