I have compiled (with help from other members) a listing of several different tips and websites with information on how to “break-in”, train, condition, extend, etc your battery. I DO NOT guarantee any of this information, but I have used some of this information and it has helped me. As I have mentioned before, I am anal when it comes to stuff like battery life and I always take excellent care of my possessions. With that said, I hope this helps all of us so we can get the most out of our incredible phones.
“Breaking-In” the battery: The Battery: (directly from the incredible’s user guide)
*Charge the battery (Do this before you use it for the 1st time! HTC recommends charging it the first time for 8 hours.) The battery in your phone hasn’t been charged yet. While your phone is charging, it’s important that you do not remove the battery pack. Doing so can damage your phone. Also, please don’t try to take your phone apart. (If you do, it may invalidate your warranty.)
Your phone comes with a rechargeable Lithium-ion polymer or Lithium-ion battery and is designed to use only manufacturer-specified original batteries and accessories. Battery performance depends on many factors, including network configuration, signal strength, the temperature of the environment in which you operate your phone, the features and/or settings you select and use, items attached to connecting ports, and your voice, data, and other program usage patterns. Inserting the battery:
Remove the back cover. Refer to “Removing the back cover.”
Insert the contacts side of the battery first and then gently push the battery into place. Removing the battery:
Remove the back cover. Refer to “Removing the back cover.”
Lift out the battery from the notch near the speaker.
Charging the battery:
The battery is partially charged when shipped. Before you turn on and start using your phone, it is recommended that you charge the battery. Some batteries perform best after several full charge/discharge cycles.
--Attach the power plug to the AC adapter.
--Connect one end of the USB cable to the sync connector on your phone.
--Connect the other end of the USB cable to the USB port of the AC
adapter.
--Plug the AC adapter into an electrical outlet to start charging the battery.
As the battery is being charged, the notification LED shows a solid red light when the battery is being charged. The light turns to solid green when the phone is fully charged.
When you charge the battery while the phone is on, the charging battery icon is displayed in the status bar of the Home screen. After the battery has been fully charged, a full battery icon will be displayed in the status bar of the Home screen.
--Use only an approved charging accessory to charge your phone.
--Do not remove the battery from the phone while you are charging it using the AC or car adapter.
--As a safety precaution, the battery stops charging when it overheats.
Kappy’s tip: I believe a proper calibration of the battery meter on the phone is important (At least 1 full charge and discharge, but possibly 3-5 full charge/discharge cycles). Before using the phone for the first time (this is great if you order online or pre-order the phone), plug the phone in and let it charge (turned off) fully. HTC recommends charging it the first time for 8 hours! I know at the store they turn it on and program it for you and whatnot, but after that I would turn it off, go home, and charge it fully. I know this is hard to do, but “good things come to those who wait” :-)
Train/Condition the battery: Kappy’s tip: Notice #13 below. I totally agree with this! It has been said that with today’s modern re-chargeable batteries they do not have memory and you do not have to worry about over-charging them. I agree and disagree with that. From my personal experiences I seem to notice that if I re-charge the battery with most of its life left (70%+) or leave it on the charger over night, my battery dies quicker (this may not be an issue with the battery, but my battery meter on the phone needing to be calibrated). I used to ALWAYS do this and have now stopped. I recommend charging your battery when it is 50% or LOWER and letting it charge to full capactiy if possible (and charge with the phone turned off).
I also recommend that at least once a month letting the battery run down to the red (10% or lower) and fully charging it turned off. That keeps it fresh and keeps the battery monitoring system on the phone as accurate as possible. DO NOT let your battery sit dead for an extended period of time or plugged in to a power source fully charged for an extended period of time. Also, try not to use your phone a lot or for an extended amount of time (until it dies) in the red. I do not recommend fully discharging the phone often. Once a month (or 30 charges) is fine.
Extending your battery life: Kappy’s tip: Remember, conditions such as signal strength, how many programs/applications you have running at once, and how old your battery is will determine battery life. The following are steps I feel you can take to extend your battery life:
--Download power-saving widgets or add them to your home screen. Some will already be on the phone (see pages 36, 37, 127, and 138 of the user guide). These will allow you to easily turn off bluetooth, wifi, and data. I also recommend turning off GPS. I would turn these off when not in use. (See attached thumbnail. Thanks GeorgeH!)
--Turn down the screen brightness. Keep it at an acceptable level.
--Adjust screen shut-off time or use the power key to turn off the screen immediately when you’re done using it.
--Turn off some and/or all push notifications if not needed (e-mail, facebook, MySpace, twitter, etc).
--Turn off live wallpapers or anything else “live”.
--Limit speakerphone use.
--Turn off haptic feedback/vibrations.
--Turn off any key tones.
--Keep ringer volume and ear piece volume as low as you personally can.
--DO NOT let the battery become ultra hot or keep it in a hot car for an extended amount of time.
--Periodically clean the battery contacts of any dust/dirt.
--Use wifi when possible.
--Limit game playing.
--Watch your camera use, especially if using the flash. *Thanks floorit!
--Use a task-killer? This has been debated and is up in the air. I only suggest using one if you are having trouble closing programs or have really poor battery life.
--Regarding “sense”. You can create profiles and add different power management widgets to those profiles. This could help for those who really like to customize their phone. *Thanks GeorgeH!
--Watch out for applications that are constantly updating or using data.
Applications that (have been known to) drain battery life:
--Handcent SMS (There was a bug, it should be fixed now) *Thanks NKT!
--Weatherbug (If you leave location on. It tracks your location so it can update the weather at that location) *Thanks NKT!
Conclusion:
I think the information I have listed above and the information below could be helpful to all of us so we get the most out of each battery cycle. Remember, your battery will die at some point :-(. It is okay, because we can replace the battery! PLEASE REMEMBER to recycle your dead battery appropriately! Talk to the phone techs at your local Verizon store for more tips and information. Don’t forget to play around with your settings and try your own techniques to preserve battery life and please share with the rest of us!
And for Steven58 =D You can always purchase an extra or extended battery to keep with you! Thank you to everyone who has helped me with this and I hope it will be helpful to everyone. Feel free to contact me about adding any more information!
*FURTHER READING/MORE INFORMATION*
From “Optimizing your Droid Eris battery life” thread: *The stock Verizon visual voicemail app, if active it known to keep your phone "awake" there is no way to uninstall this app, just don't use it. Also the Youmail app will keep your phone "awake" as well.
*For the below 4 settings (tips 2, 3, 4, and 5) you can easily set toggles on your home screen to flip these on and off with one touch. Simply hold an open spot on your home screen to add widget, pick HTC widgets, pick settings, then add whatever widget you want to control.
2. Turn wifi off when not using it (settings>wireless controls>wifi on or off)
3. Turn GPS off when not using it (settings>location>turn gps on or off)
4. Turn Bluetooth off when not using it (settings>wireless controls>turn bluetooth on or off)
5. Turn Mobile Network off when not using it (settings>wireless controls>turn mobile network on or off)(if both this and wifi are disabled you will not be connected at all to the internet. the only thing you will be able to do is make/receive phone calls and send/receive sms messages, this will give you tremendous battery savings though)
6. Turn off audible touchtones (settings>sounds and display> audible selection)
7. Turn off haptic feedback for typing and touchscreen inputs (with keyboard up press the gear for settings>sound feedback and vib when typing OFF)
8. Also turn off screen animations. (settings>sounds and display> animations)
9. Turn screen brightness down to a moderate level.
10. Turn on disable auto backlight. (settings>sounds and display> disable auto backlight)
11. You can set screen time out to 30 second, I leave mine at a minute, thing is just to remember to hit your red call end button when putting the phone down.
12. Turn off auto-sync for your Google account features (setting>data synchronization>Google)
13. Conditioning the battery by letting it run all the way down and then charging it up seems to help a lot. For best results, do this three days in a row.
14. It is reported that using wifi rather then 3g service from Verizon uses less battery...so if you are in an area for an extended period of time with wifi available use it and see. *SPECIAL THANKS TO CADDYMAN!
Incredible’s user guide to optimizing the phone’s battery life:
When you’re on the go, it’s not always easy to charge your phone’s battery as often as you’d like. Follow these tips to extend the time between charges: --Turn off wireless functions such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and data connection when you’re not using them. See the Internet and Bluetooth chapters for details. --Do not use GPS satellites to determine your GPS location. See the Maps & Location chapter for details. --Lower the screen brightness. See “Adjusting the screen brightness manually” in this chapter for details. --Switch off screen animations. See “Switching animation effects on or off” in this chapter for details --Cut down on activities such as Internet browsing. Wireless data consumes a lot of power. --Avoid making very long phone calls or using the camera for extended periods of time. --Consider carrying a spare battery for times when you can’t charge your battery for an extended period. --Batteries gradually lose storage capacity over time. Consider replacing your battery after eight months to a year, or if you notice that the battery life is decreasing.
Checking the power usage of applications:
Press HOME > MENU, and then tap Settings.
Scroll down the screen, and then tap about phone > Battery > Battery use.
NKK:
-Trickle charging is not what you people are referring to. If I have a batter made to accept a charge at 10 volts, trickle charging is putting a 2 (or any number less than 10) on it, and getting a smaller current flow. Lithium batteries CAN NOT do this. It ruins the batteries. The ones in your phone will accept a charging voltage at about 5V (USB spec). When you say trickle charge, you mean charge at less than 1 ampere (USB spec is 500mA). There is never any reason for you to charge your battery at anything other than 5V +/- 5% or so. All chargers and USB ports do this. Although in an emergency you can use something else (I have seen a 9V used in emergency b/c current flow is a more important thing no to exceed), it is not advisable nor logical to do that for everyday charging.
-Batteries live longer with a slower charge and moderate discharge rate. Although 1A may be within the appropriate tolerances of your battery (it is what your chargers are set as their max), a 500mA charge if you have the time may be healthier in the long run. Note these are all maximum currents. Depending on the resistance of your charing circuitry and battery, you may be getting less current. The circuit just trips at the max. The voltage is the invariable specification on chargers (except exotic ones that you will probably never use to charge a phone).
-When charging, your battery goes up to out 4.20V per cell. It almost guearenteed has a built in circuit to stop charging at 4.30 V/cell, as that is the border of unsafe. The time you spend at 4.20V/cell should be minimized.
-Lithium ion batteries require no break in or anything of that sort. The first charge is as effective as the 30th, and that is it. That being said, a complete charge and discharge will calibrate the digital charge estimator, and your battery does auto shutoff when the charge is too low (it prevents itself from dropping to "OMG my batter no longer holds a charge after that last discharge" level), so make your own call. Perhaps no more than once a month? I usually do it if I notice the battery indicator is too off, as it getting 3 hours off a charge after it says 10% remaining. I also do it when I first get the battery...I play with it, full charge, full discharge, full charge, possibly another full discharge if it happens (if not, it is probably still calibrated), and that is it.
-Lastly, a point on how a battery charges. It goes up to about 70% charge, and then tops off as the current drops down to about 10% of the initial current. Fast chargers only go up to 70%. The last part, the topping current, takes about 2x the time the first part does. Thanks NKK!
*DISCLAIMER: I am not responsible for any issues that could happen from any of this information.*
Last edited by Kappy; May 4th, 2010 at 11:11 AM.
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Charging the battery before turning on your phone for the first time is often out of your hands when it's the Verizon employee who does it to set up/transfer info onto the phone before you even get it.
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Charging the battery before turning on your phone for the first time is often out of your hands when it's the Verizon employee who does it to set up/transfer info onto the phone before you even get it.
I know, sucks. However, if you order through the mail you could :-)
I'm not certain turning the GPS off is such a great idea. I realize it would save battery life but doesn't 911 need this on to figure out where you are? Maybe there are two GPS chips in the phone if so then turning off the one is great. If its the same GPS chip I think I would rather take the chance of having to replace my "user replaceable" battery then risking my life or someone else's.
The whole letting it discharge is wrong. Lithium based batteries do not like this. They like partial charges. End of story. I do not want to get technical (have done it in other threads elsewhere, and no one really understands), but PM me if you want, and I can.
-Nkk
Citation: I am a Chemical Engineering/Physics major working in a materials science battery lab focusing on the resetting of Lithium ion batteries. Oddly relevant, no?
EDIT: This is not to say never let them discharge. The overall bad done if you do it once may be outweighed by allowing your phone's battery indicator to correctly calibrate.
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I read somewhere that you shouldn't let Lithium based batteries go below 40% charge, so charging every night was ideal.
Charging at 40% probably isn't a big problem, but I wouldn't let it sit on the charger once it is fully charged...
I know "what they say", but from my personal experiences, letting it sit on the charger all night effs up the batt. Did it to one of my phone religiously and the battery was crap after a few months. With my next phone I took it off the charger once it said fully charged and got much more out of it.
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The whole letting it discharge is wrong. Lithium based batteries do not like this. They like partial charges. End of story. I do not want to get technical (have done it in other threads elsewhere, and no one really understands), but PM me if you want, and I can.
-Nkk
Citation: I am a Chemical Engineering/Physics major working in a materials science battery lab focusing on the resetting of Lithium ion batteries. Oddly relevant, no?
EDIT: This is not to say never let them discharge. The overall bad done if you do it once may be outweighed by allowing your phone's battery indicator to correctly calibrate.
Sure, if you want to PM me some more in-depth info. I'd appreciate that. I am always looking to learn new things. Thanks.
I'm not certain turning the GPS off is such a great idea. I realize it would save battery life but doesn't 911 need this on to figure out where you are? Maybe there are two GPS chips in the phone if so then turning off the one is great. If its the same GPS chip I think I would rather take the chance of having to replace my "user replaceable" battery then risking my life or someone else's.
i know on my storm 2 it has the option for the gps to be on for 911 only. I wonder if incredible will have this option?
Charging at 40% probably isn't a big problem, but I wouldn't let it sit on the charger once it is fully charged...
I know "what they say", but from my personal experiences, letting it sit on the charger all night effs up the batt. Did it to one of my phone religiously and the battery was crap after a few months. With my next phone I took it off the charger once it said fully charged and got much more out of it.
I charge my phone every night and the battery life isn't that much different than it used to be, other than being 3 years old.
I charge my phone every night and the battery life isn't that much different than it used to be, other than being 3 years old.
That's great. I'm just saying from my PERSONAL EXPERIENCES, leaving a battery on the charger after it is fully charged (like OVER night) damaged the battery and I would not recommend it.
Feel free to do whatever you want. If that works for you. GO FOR IT!
I will, but I'm not posting my personal experience in an "official" guide like the top post. I'd like to hear nkk's opinion on the matter.
I PM him and asked for more info so I could go over it and if it makes sense/ is correct I'd gladly update the post.
As with anyone's info.
My personal experiences are based off of what I have read around the web and then followed myself.
It is entirely up to each individual user to make whatever decisions they want.
I was JUST TRYING TO HELP by offering some tips and advice. I am in NO WAY saying I am an expert or the authoritative voice on re-chargeable batteries. I wanted to be able to offer a starting point for people with battery questions.
If you don't agree with my advice or the advice of others from the first point that's fine. No one is forcing you to.
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I'm not arguing that's what you experienced. My problem is someone will read it and declare it canon. Then they will regurgitate it to others and it becomes fact, just like the task killer situation with android.
I'd rather not post it without fact either way. The word "official" means as much as "soon" around here.
I'm not arguing that's what you experienced. My problem is someone will read it and declare it canon. Then they will regurgitate it to others and it becomes fact, just like the task killer situation with android.
I'd rather not post it without fact either way. The word "official" means as much as "soon" around here.
I've tried to keep it as subjective as possible. I named it official so incredible battery info would be in 1 place where everyone could submit info and I'd continue to edit the initial post and give credit to those who post. I didn't want a lot of threads clogging up the forum on incredible battery questions and info. Just 1 place so it'd be easier for members and visitors.
I apologize if the post bothers you or leads you to think it is something more than it is or that its 100% the only way or something.
Since I have gotten a couple of requests, I will type up an explanation. Sorry for the wait, but it will take a few days, as my school is having a carnival in two days and I am part of an organization that is participating a lot. I will aim for posting something by Monday, ok? By then, the carnival will be over and other people can clean up (I did enough setting up to not feel too bad) .
Nkk
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As far as the over night thing goes someone is missing opportunity to come out with a Charger/ Maintainer You know... one that goes to "maintain" mode one your battery is fully charged.
1. Modern smartphones use Li-Ion batteries. These do NOT have to be fully discharged from time to time, and in fact it does more DAMAGE than good. That theory was based on some older versions of Nickel batteries.
Most of this stuff is easily researched in various sources. Sources not based on personal anecdotes.
The rest of the advice is sound. Although I would like to see more data on GPS being off. My experience is that GPS is usually only used when an app calls for it. If nothing is using it, it shouldn't pull any more power.
Last edited by dibs ODDJOB; April 21st, 2010 at 10:52 PM.
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Leaving the phone on the charger overnight....paranoia, nothing more than that. I have been doing that for the longest time and never had a battery problem in any device I have ever used. That being said... Batteries do degrade after many battery drain cycles. In this day and age, there is built in circuits that prevent overcharging of the battery and just supply the phone with power to use whil eon the charger(yes I do this on my droid alot while surfing the web)
So all I will say is, PERSONAL PREFERENCE! I leave mine plugged, what about you?
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Ok, I have been reading some thing about batteries here, and I want to merely state a few facts.
-Trickle charging is not what you people are referring to. If I have a batter made to accept a charge at 10 volts, trickle charging is putting a 2 (or any number less than 10) on it, and getting a smaller current flow. Lithium batteries CAN NOT do this. It ruins the batteries. The ones in your phone will accept a charging voltage at about 5V (USB spec). When you say trickle charge, you mean charge at less than 1 ampere (USB spec is 500mA). There is never any reason for you to charge your battery at anything other than 5V +/- 5% or so. All chargers and USB ports do this. Although in an emergency you can use something else (I have seen a 9V used in emergency b/c current flow is a more important thing no to exceed), it is not advisable nor logical to do that for everyday charging.
-Batteries live longer with a slower charge and moderate discharge rate. Although 1A may be within the appropriate tolerances of your battery (it is what your chargers are set as their max), a 500mA charge if you have the time may be healthier in the long run. Note these are all maximum currents. Depending on the resistance of your charing circuitry and battery, you may be getting less current. The circuit just trips at the max. The voltage is the invariable specification on chargers (except exotic ones that you will probably never use to charge a phone).
-When charging, your battery goes up to out 4.20V per cell. It almost guearenteed has a built in circuit to stop charging at 4.30 V/cell, as that is the border of unsafe. The time you spend at 4.20V/cell should be minimized.
-Lithium ion batteries require no break in or anything of that sort. The first charge is as effective as the 30th, and that is it. That being said, a complete charge and discharge will calibrate the digital charge estimator, and your battery does auto shutoff when the charge is too low (it prevents itself from dropping to "OMG my batter no longer holds a charge after that last discharge" level), so make your own call. Perhaps no more than once a month? I usually do it if I notice the battery indicator is too off, as it getting 3 hours off a charge after it says 10% remaining. I also do it when I first get the battery...I play with it, full charge, full discharge, full charge, possibly another full discharge if it happens (if not, it is probably still calibrated), and that is it.
-Lastly, a point on how a battery charges. It goes up to about 70% charge, and then tops off as the current drops down to about 10% of the initial current. Fast chargers only go up to 70%. The last part, the topping current, takes about 2x the time the first part does.
Hope that clears something up,
Nkk
Quoted from Official HTC Incredible Thread
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It's the same battery as the Eris, so if you head over to those forums most of these questions have been answered as well
I am thinking that it is too! I have an extended battery on the way from Seidio for the Droid Eris (1750 mAh), but I was hoping anyone with both an Eris and Incredible could swap the batteries, try it out, and tell us.
I'll be able to answer this in one week, once my Incredible gets here, since my wife already has an Eris. Of course, about 100000000 people will probably answer this sooner.
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Yeah it will be the first thing I try out when I get it in the mail on thursday, I have being shipped to my work and I'll have my spare battery fully charged and waiting on it's (hopefully) new homes arival
Please don't put a 5$ battery in your incredible. Buy a quality batt. I'm sure an extended version will be offered given the phones immense amount of hype already.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by turbohonda85
Please don't put a 5$ battery in your incredible. Buy a quality batt. I'm sure an extended version will be offered given the phones immense amount of hype already.
I don't know I thought about buying a 1750 from Sideo for $50 but instead ordered 2 1500 batteries from Ebay that also came with a extra battery charger for $14.99 shipped . And I couldn't be happier with the batteries they give a little better life then the stock 1300, and they look identical to the stock battery even say HTC Innovation on them. So I don't buy into all the pay almost as much as you paid for the phone on a mildly extended battery crap.
I don't know I thought about buying a 1750 from Sideo for $50 but instead ordered 2 1500 batteries from Ebay that also came with a extra battery charger for $14.99 shipped . And I couldn't be happier with the batteries they give a little better life then the stock 1300, and they look identical to the stock battery even say HTC Innovation on them. So I don't buy into all the pay almost as much as you paid for the phone on a mildly extended battery crap.
+1
I went on a long trip to Africa and bought about 7 batteries for two of my digital cameras, all were of varying cost, manufacturer. I still can't tell the difference between the stock $50 Panasonic and the generic $15 Amazon special. It might be a small difference, but not enough to warrant the 4x price increase.
I am thinking that it is too! I have an extended battery on the way from Seidio for the Droid Eris (1750 mAh), but I was hoping anyone with both an Eris and Incredible could swap the batteries, try it out, and tell us.
The touch pro 2 battery fits in the incredible and gives you 200 more milliamps. Not sure if the touch pro 2 and eris are the same. If they are then ur good to go..
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Quote:
Originally Posted by emw85383
The touch pro 2 battery fits in the incredible and gives you 200 more milliamps. Not sure if the touch pro 2 and eris are the same. If they are then ur good to go..
Yes that's awesome, the Eris is the same as the Touch Pro 2 .
Citation: I am a Chemical Engineering/Physics major working in a materials science battery lab focusing on the resetting of Lithium ion batteries.
What are your thoughts on wireless charging solutions? (ie. those charging pads and what not)
Does anyone know if the incredible has overcharge prevention where it automatically stops charging when the battery is full? (symptoms would be it charges to full, then when you look at it, it'll be back down to 95% or 90% before it'll start charging again to prevent over charging.)
Think I'm just going to go ahead an buy the extended battery for the incredible when it comes out. Shutting off the main reasons I'm buying this phone doesn't seem like something I'm willing to sacrifice.
I bought the extended battery for my env touch and absolutely love it. I hated not browsing the web when I was bored because I wanted the stock battery to last me through the day. Now I can leave everything on if I wanted (which I don't) and it would still last me two days.
I do go through proper charging sequences and try to get a full charge with the phone off every week. But I cannot see not using widgets, live wallpapers and apps that run in the background and push info. Those are the reasons I love android.
is this similar to laptop energy saving profiles? for instance, if I'm at the office I might need more features running than if I were on a travel trip or at home, and so by choosing different profiles I can customize my energy usage depending on where I'm at and what I'm doing?
Want incredible battery life? (OFFICIAL HTC INCREDIBLE BATTERY THREAD)
. 
You know... one that goes to "maintain" mode one your battery is fully charged.
