Actual Use Battery Life?

[Sabre66]

Now that the Hero has been out there for more than a few days, how about a daily rundown of battery life.

Day 1: Fully charged to 100% at 10PM. Left on overnight and the next morning was at 78%. Used moderately just trying to figure stuff out and adding a few apps and had 23% by 3:30PM

Day 2 : Fully charged to 100% at 9PM. Turned off. Woke up to 100% at 4:45AM. Used sparingly (3-4 quick 2 min calls, a couple texts, and jumped on web 1-2 times for less than 2 mins ea) and by 4PM had 28%.

Day 3: Charged to 100% at 8PM. Turned off at 10PM with 99% showing. Woke up at 4:45AM with 99% and made a couple quick calls, sent 2 texts before 11AM and was at 78%. Then added 40 contacts to phone and by 2PM it dropped to 38%. By 4:30PM it was on life support at 11%.

Day 4: Charged to 100% at 10PM and left on overnight. Started day at 7:45AM with 89%. Used moderately for similar tasks above and now at 3:15PM its at 65%.

So there you go. I'm not really happy with the battery life, but this is my first true "smartphone" so it might just be the norm. Seems a bit much to be struggling to keep above 30-40% battery life after only being on for 12 hours.

Are you guys seeing similar results?

 

[quentinfisher]

im getting similar stuff, started at 100% 8 this morning been texting and using pandora now at 63%, had it charging for a bit earlier but so far not very impressive considering everything else on the phone is top notch, ugh htc batteries are fail lol.

 

[johninbigd]

That's disappointing. I thought this thing had a big battery. It sounds like it's worse than the iPhone.

 

[bobeink]

How much are extra batteries? On my Instinct I always have a fresh battery ready to go (came with xtra batt and charger).

 

[305Cane]

8 pm off the charger at 100%

50% right now after web use and lots of texting.


my pre would have been obliterated. i also use tasKiller


i switched from a pre so im quite happy.

 

[pettit03]

Had the iPhone 3G before this and I think the battery life is worse on the Hero.

 

[johninbigd]

Had the iPhone 3G before this and I think the battery life is worse on the Hero.

Oh, great. That's one of the things that annoys the heck out of me with the iPhone. The battery is awful, especially after moving to that from a Blackberry Curve which had great battery life.

 

[305Cane]

dont you need to give Li ion batteries time to build up? say a week to gain their full charge capacity?

 

[quentinfisher]

true they say they get better with use, i know with blackberries you had to leave it on the charger for 24 hours and the battery was great after that.

 

[Fake Name]

dont you need to give Li ion batteries time to build up? say a week to gain their full charge capacity?

yep, thats what my dad said on my first day, he said to charge it, drain it(throught out the day!), and do that for a week, then I can do what ever I want with it

 

[Slug]

he said to charge it, drain it (throught out the day!), and do that for a week, then I can do what ever I want with it

Not recommended best practice for modern li-polymer batteries. These benefit most from frequent partial charge/discharge cycles e.g. normal use during the day and recharge overnight.

 

[Fake Name]

Not recommended best practice for modern li-polymer batteries. These benefit most from frequent partial charge/discharge cycles e.g. normal use during the day and recharge overnight.

isnt thats the same thing?

 

[Slug]

isnt thats the same thing?

I took "drain it" to mean a complete discharge i.e. until you get the "low battery" warning. Apologies if I misunderstood.

 

[Fake Name]

I took "drain it" to mean a complete discharge i.e. until you get the "low battery" warning. Apologies if I misunderstood.

thats what I meant, so I'm still not sure what to do to "fortify" my battery's life

 

[Sabre66]

I've noticed that after 3 full drains (under 10% life) and full charges that today it held up much better. Now to try some partials.

One caveat though - i was off today and around my home city which has better service than when i'm in my work city, so that could explain why it's holding a charge longer. Hmmm, now i'm wondering if its Sprint that's causing the battery drains and not me...guess we'll never know.

 

[etbrandt]

How much are extra batteries? On my Instinct I always have a fresh battery ready to go (came with xtra batt and charger).

I picked one up off of ebay that is coming from hong kong or china or something. Its a 1350 maH and cost like 4.98. Will see how it works out.

 

[rswheaton]

I am using Task Killer and this is under heavy usage. About 45 minutes of Pandora few app downloads and lots of browsing.

 

[Fake Name]

I've noticed that after 3 full drains (under 10% life) and full charges that today it held up much better. Now to try some partials.

One caveat though - i was off today and around my home city which has better service than when i'm in my work city, so that could explain why it's holding a charge longer. Hmmm, now i'm wondering if its Sprint that's causing the battery drains and not me...guess we'll never know.

It also depends on what apps are runing, for ex, if you have locale app running it constantly is runing and is tracking your every move, so that it self uses up a lot of battery .

 

[quentinfisher]

also turn off EVDO in your mobile network settings if you know for sure your not in a 3g area, it will keep the phone from constantly searching for a 3g signal and save some battery.

 

[Fake Name]

also turn off EVDO in your mobile network settings if you know for sure your not in a 3g area, it will keep the phone from constantly searching for a 3g signal and save some battery.

How do you do that?

 

[quentinfisher]

How do you do that?

settings>wireless network>mobile network settings>mode of operation which will give you a option of hybrid(searches for both, uses 3g as priority im assuming), EVDO only, and 1x only.

 

[Edaze55]

How do you do that?

Im going to assume he means turn off your Mobile Network option.

Menu > Settings > Wireless Controls > Mobile Network.

Or you can add switch widgets from HTC, under settings for everything you see below.

Mobile Network
Airplane Mode
Wi-Fi
Bluetooth
GPS

 

[NYVetteGuy]

If this wasnt my toy and was my everyday business use phone the battery life would be unacceptable...

 

[gclaus]

How much are extra batteries? On my Instinct I always have a fresh battery ready to go (came with xtra batt and charger).

25 bucks. You can get a charger that charges a battery without a phone for 25 buck too.

 

[quentinfisher]

I'm on day 3, having a task killer and screenbl has helped the battery a lot, but still doesn't get through a whole day, just been texting and running pandora, woke up at 8 with 100%, its now 4 with 28%, not bad, but not great either, wtb blackberry battery lol.