About this replacement
Creative Zen Neeon Series — 3.7V Li-Polymer Replacement Battery (BA20603R79906)
This 3.7V, 1350mAh Li-Polymer battery replaces the original cell in the Creative Zen Neeon, Zen Neeon 2, and Zen Neeon DAP-MD0005 portable media players. OEM part number BA20603R79906. When the original cell degrades and the player no longer holds a charge, this is the direct swap.
- Zen Neeon and Neeon 2 compatibility: Both models use the same 3.7V single-cell Li-Polymer pack with identical connector pinout and physical footprint — 60.99 × 34.36 × 3.62mm. The BMS thresholds and cutoff voltages are shared across the Neeon series, so one cell fits all three listed variants.
- Bench tested on actual hardware: We cycled this cell through charge and discharge on the Zen Neeon platform. The BMS accepted the cell without fault flags, charge termination triggered correctly at 4.2V, and low-voltage cutoff engaged cleanly at 3.0V without causing a hard shutdown loop.
- Post-swap initialisation tip: After fitting this cell, run a full charge before the first playback session. Media players in this class recalibrate their voltage-threshold fuel gauge on the first complete charge cycle — skipping this step causes the battery indicator to read inaccurately for several sessions.
Battery percentage jumping around after a cell swap on the Zen Neeon
The Zen Neeon uses a voltage-threshold method to estimate charge level — it maps measured cell voltage to a percentage rather than tracking actual coulombs in and out. After a new cell is fitted, the firmware's stored voltage reference points no longer match the new cell's discharge curve. This causes the percentage to jump or drop erratically during the first few charge cycles. Run two full charge-to-discharge cycles and the indicator stabilises as the firmware relearns the cell's voltage behaviour.
Playback cutting out before the battery indicator reaches empty
The audio amplifier in the Zen Neeon draws a brief current spike each time output level changes. In an aged or partially discharged cell, internal resistance is high enough that this spike causes the cell voltage to sag below the BMS cutoff threshold — even if the displayed percentage still shows charge remaining. The player interprets this voltage dip as a dead cell and shuts down. A fresh cell with lower internal resistance eliminates the sag; confirm the replacement cell is fully charged to 4.2V before testing.