Motorola Droid Battery Life?

[jbhumph]

My girlfriend just got a Motorola Droid (was using a Storm 1 before) and LOVES it. One concern we have had though has been the battery life. It lasts maybe 8-9 hours depending on how much she uses it. Is this typical for the Droid? If not, what can we do to improve the battery life?

She is already using app killer and just got the phone....maybe 2 weeks ago so I would think that life would be pretty good right now. Any help would be great! Thanks guys and gals

 

[BucYouUp68]

Let me google that for you

 

[ricksievers]

Its all in the setting up of your phone. Do a search on setting up your phone to save battery.

 

[CrazyFool287]

Let me google that for you

@BucYouUp68 - Try typing in "Droid" first before you are going to be a wise ass...

@jbhumph - Now, getting to a real answer - Go to Settings > About Phone > Battery Use. My guess is that you'll have to adjust the screen brightness, as "Display" is usually at the top of things listed.

By default, screen brightness is set to automatically change depending on the lighting your phone is in. I'd change it to manual and then set it at 50%. See if that helps the battery.

Adjusting settings like that can really increase the battery life. Also try the screen timeout length.

Hope this helps.

 

[takeshi]

There are tons of threads on the various Android forum sites regarding battery life. I strongly recommend searching for them and referring to them as my memory isn't 100% reliable.

Definitely start with the Battery Info screen and tackle the battery hogs. Most people don't realize that their usage can greatly impact battery life. If you're browsing for hours on 3G there's little to be done about it -- you're going to use up the battery. Any new device goes through a "new toy" period where the user uses it much more often than normal and battery life is typically very poor during this period.

If WiFi is available, try to use it as WiFi uses a bit less power than 3G for the same amount of data.

There are things such as GPS that can impact battery life but the GPS receiver only eats the battery while it is actively used. If an app frequently polls the GPS receiver for location that can impact battery life. You can turn off GPS but I'd recommend addressing the actual problem and either adjusting the polling settings or whatever it takes to deal with the problem app itself. Some apps don't seem to properly release the GPS receiver which can also cause battery life issues.

Poor coverage will definitely impact battery life.

Frequently polling for email or other data will also kill your battery faster.

The display is generally a battery hog for everyone, including myself (and in general my battery life is very good).

She is already using app killer and just got the phone....maybe 2 weeks ago so I would think that life would be pretty good right now.

Do not use an app killer to improve battery life. Odds are that whoever recommended this didn't know what he/she was talking about. Unless you really know what you're doing, remove the app killer. You can actually make battery life worse by killing the wrong apps.

Again, consult the other threads for more suggestions.

 

[caustic]

It all depends on how you're using it. Constantly browsing the web or messaging, with the screen on, it can run down fast. Mine is only at 70% battery and it's been unplugged for 2 days. Just a few calls and a bit of use.

 

[jbhumph]

I have been a member of many forums throughout the years and did try a search first. Many threads were older and with updates, etc., there are always new ways to improve battery life. Also, what is the harm in making one thread? If you don't like it, don't view it or respond to it. Thanks for trying to be a smart ass....it's so nice to see people trying to help one another on these forums and certainly makes new members such as myself welcome here...thanks again

Thank you to those that gave a helpful response. I am fairly knowledgable about phones and technology but thought I would see if the experts here had any new suggestions. I have an iphone so had to adjust brightness, location services, etc. to help on mine. Thank you again for those that are actually trying to be helpful

 

[BucYouUp68]

@CrazyFool287, Are you a Admin here? I thought Not.

@jbhumph, I was trying to help you out. This has been discussed millions of times here.

 

[ttaylor0024]

LMGTFY Fail.

I have to agree with you on this one... That was good

 

[Rodeojones]

The "let me google that for you" stuff is really annoying. I've noticed it a lot lately. If you don't want to answer the question for the OP, then don't.

 

[anaphora68]

To answer the question, I've had my Droid for a few months now, and the battery life is pretty great for a smart-phone. I've had mine off the charger for nearly 48 hours, and I still have about 15% left on the battery.

If I'm using the phone heavily, I can get a full day (6am to midnight) worth of use out of it, and still have leftover juice.

You're not going to get blackberry-like battery life here. The screen is simply too big, and there is way too much running in the background (BB relies very heavily on push and external servers, whereas the Droid uses a lot locally, gmail pushes, but that's about it).

If you really want to unlock the potential, root. I have my wife's Droid rooted and she hasn't complained once about battery life.

Too bad I can't say the same about my Incredible's battery life. I can't even make it a half day with it.

 

[donmcdougall]

One issue not mentioned here is how aagressive you are in your pushing of e-mail. You can turn off the synch or you can have it on 100% of the time. The less you use it the better.

 

[anaphora68]

Push does not use all that much battery (Gmail), as long as you're not trying to sync more than one or two accounts.

If you are talking about pull, with other email programs, then that is a different ball-game.

 

[watersrules]

Let me google that for you

I might be living under a rock, but thats the first time I've seen this site.. hilarious!

 

[mplevy]

I might be living under a rock, but thats the first time I've seen this site.. hilarious!

You've been living under a rock, this site's been around a while but it IS funny...

To keep the post on-topic, my battery life has been HORRIBLE recently, but I'm also not home. Despite otherwise "good signal" I'm charging 2-3 times a day...

 

[The_Chief]

Let's see... owned my Droid since 11/6/2009; yesterday I texted, made phone calls, surfed the web, checked news & weather and listened to 5 or 6 CDs worth of music for hours and hours. Went to bed last night with 70% battery LEFT. Not bad, IMHO.