The new dual 21700 batteries and NVMe board offer 4 hours and 31 minutes of 1080p video play time, while the dual 18650 battery board offers only 2 hours and 27 minutes.
I’ve already bought my unit, and I’m going to test it soon. I’ll continue using 30A batteries. I’m excited to see if it works properly! 
I have Already Pre Order it Can’t Wait 
I can’t wait to use it with these batteries.
Molicel INR21700-M65A 6500mAh - 26A
I’m getting it with these Battery molicel P50B 5000mAh
I suggested this very upgrade to them a month ago and they replied that it was already in the works. I didn’t think it would be so soon after! I ordered one as soon as I saw the announcement!! Such a worthy upgrade!!
Did anyone get a confirmation that the whole setup with the batteries fit in the original backplate?
I emailed them about it 2 or 3 days ago, but no answer so far.
I also emailed them 3 days ago with no answer. Then went to reddit and saw that they said it fits into the stock backplate. No modifications needed.
In my opinion, this upgrade was designed to fit under the original backplate, and everything suggests that it does, since it was specifically designed for the uConsole.
I found the design quite interesting, especially the new connectors and screws they used. The batteries are now properly secured to the chassis. I believe about 5 mm of space was lost on the right side, but that shouldn’t affect the fit of the AC1200 board.
Anyway, I’ll wait until mine arrives. I bought it the day before yesterday—as soon as I received the email, I placed my order.
Another cool thing they released is a new HAT for the Raspberry Pi (SDR,GPS and Lora). It looks great and is very affordable for radio projects. For now, I’m just waiting for everything to arrive so I can test it.
Nice ! How did you guys chose your batteries ? Any specific criteria, apart from capacity ?
Flat top, no protection circuit, trusted brand, and trusted website. Nothing else really. If its unprotected then its definitely gonna fit and you don’t really need to worry about its size.
It fits the stock case.
Yeah! I really find the idea interesting. It’s worth testing, but… day one. Take my money !
battery
I got the 21700 Battery today Now I just waiting for The Battery Holder
preorder mine also and looking at which batteries to buy
The best ones recommend by Vileer are these.
I just found this on AliExpress:
Original EVE 58E INR 21700 5800mAh 3.6V Maximum Discharge 16.8A High Capacity Rechargeable Lithium-ion Battery For Power Tools
I’m a huge fan of Molicel 1850 30A batteries. They’ve always served me very well in my radio projects. This time, however, I had trouble buying Molicel 21700 cells because of local regulations.
So, I bought EVE 40PL INR cells, which can deliver 70A and are designed for high-drain applications.
Well, the battery pack hasn’t arrived yet… but if I fry my uConsole, I’ll let you all know.
Note: That’s not going to happen. 
https://www.nkon.nl/pt/amfile/file/download/file/278/product/5594
Important warning: This battery is very sensitive to heat. If your uConsole reaches temperatures close to 60°C, do not buy this battery.
I’m not joking: improve your uConsole’s cooling and thermal management before using these cells.
I run an active cooler on my uconsole, so I had to modify the back cover to accommodate it. I have no regrets about doing this because it keeps the heat from reaching the back cover and making the uconsole uncomfortable to hold, so I don’t worry about batteries getting too hot in my unit.
Well, this is just a word of caution: when two things heat up at the same time, their heat adds up. If the uConsole is already warm, charging these 21700 batteries will also generate heat inside it, so the temperature will rise regardless of the cooling method being used.
I created a script to monitor most heat-related aspects of the uConsole, including HackerGadgets components, fan usage and performance, storage temperatures, and several other parameters.
Since this is a new component, I suggest using the script to collect real data and monitor the batteries while they are charging. I’ll leave the link below:
Note: To monitor the NVMe temperature, you need to install smartmontools :
sudo apt update
sudo apt install smartmontools -y
I wonder why I can run my CM5 uConsole with an NVMe and passive cooling without any issues.
It depends on how you use it. For regular use without demanding applications—basically as a desktop—you don’t really need to worry about this - 18650 batteries are still a good solution for these scenarios.. However, if you start processing large amounts of data or running specific applications that require more power…current, you’ll put additional load on the CPU, RP1, radios, and other components, causing the entire CM5 setup to heat up. For my use cases, 21700 batteries are an excellent upgrade. I need to keep the current draw and discharge stable and under control, but now I can do so for longer.
HG themselves acknowledge that this upgrade was designed to overcome some limitations. Maintaining a stable 5V supply depends on the type of use, and adequate current capacity is essential, especially under heavier workloads.
That’s why I keep saying that the 30A Molicels help prevent this from happening, even with 18650 batteries. Now I’ve bought a 70A cell, which gives me a huge amount of headroom and should help keep the uConsole from suddenly shutting down and making me lose whatever I’m working on. Today, I’m getting about 2 hours of battery life under heavy load, practically the same runtime they measured with the 18650 batteries—and that’s no coincidence.
It’s not just about capacity; current capability matters too, especially high-discharge performance. Anyway, once I test these in the new battery pack, I’ll decide whether it’s finally time to retire the 18650s.
