There are several types of mobile phone batteries in the market. They are: Nickel Cadmium (Ni-Cd), Nickel Metal Hydride (Ni-MH), Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) and more recently Lithium Polymer (Li-Ploy).

Ni-Cd batteries are now considered "old technology" but are still used for mobile phone sometimes. Ni-Cd batteries tend to suffer from what is commonly known as "memory effect". This occurs when recharging a battery before it is fully discharged causing the battery to "remember" its previous partial charge level and not recharging to its full capacity. Conditioning (repetitive fully charging and discharging) may sometimes help erase built-up memory, but not always.

Ni-MH batteries are a superior replacement for Ni-Cd batteries because they are available in higher capacities and are virtually memory-free. That means you can charge the battery when it is convenient for you, not when the battery is fully discharged. Ni-MH are now commonly used in mobile phone batteries. Ni-MH batteries are also more environmentally friendly than Ni-Cds since they do not contain heavy metals.

Li-ion batteries are now replacing Ni-Cd and Ni-MH as the preferred mobile phone battery. They offer higher capacity and longer life yet are lighter and slimmer than Ni-Cd and Ni-MH and are free of "memory effect". Li-Ion batteries are generally more expensive but very economically priced. They are also environmentally friendly because they do not contain toxic materials such as Cadmium or Mercury. Li-Poly batteries are the latest in battery technology and are still rare and expensive.