Before buying, I had read the reviews and was concerned about the battery's quality and ability to hold a charge. The shipped battery had just one bar showing. I plugged it in to charge overnight, but the next day, saw it was still at one bar. I was about to return it and contacted the company for RMA, which they sent immediately.Before I got around to mailing it back, I tried recharging the battery in a different outlet, and it charged fine. User error: my power strip was defective (likely damaged after a recent power outage); the battery is perfectly good.Important: I followed the recommended procedure for charging new batteries. I charged it fully and then let it discharge fully, past the "low battery" warning until it had no juice at all. I ran it through this complete cycle twice. The battery has been performing fine. I get several days on standby and more than enough talk time. (I am NOT a heavy cell phone user.)