Absurdly awful battery life!

[adamman41]

This is ridiculous, everyday so far 7 pm is the latest i can make it to on a full charge. I took it out of the charger 5 hours and 20 minutes ago and im at 40 percent with not much use, just a little bit of web browsing, no calls, and maybe one or two texts. WHAT THE HELL

 

[Stangs55]

Something's wrong.

My iPhone 3GS ran out of battery everyday around 4pm...my Droid has yet to run out unless I'm stressing it with the intent to drain the battery for calibration purposes.

First thing, I would grab Taskiller from the Market and try killing any crap that my be running in the background eating resources.

Second, if that didn't work...return it to Verizon and get a new one while you're within the initial couple of weeks. Could certainly be a lemon.

 

[adamman41]

Something's wrong.

My iPhone 3GS ran out of battery everyday around 4pm...my Droid has yet to run out unless I'm stressing it with the intent to drain the battery for calibration purposes.

First thing, I would grab Taskiller from the Market and try killing any crap that my be running in the background eating resources.

Second, if that didn't work...return it to Verizon and get a new one while you're within the initial couple of weeks. Could certainly be a lemon.

what does a lemon mean? would I need to get a whole new phone and re-install everything on it, or just replace the battery?

 

[T0LLPHR33]

Something's wrong.

My iPhone 3GS ran out of battery everyday around 4pm...my Droid has yet to run out unless I'm stressing it with the intent to drain the battery for calibration purposes.

First thing, I would grab Taskiller from the Market and try killing any crap that my be running in the background eating resources.

Second, if that didn't work...return it to Verizon and get a new one while you're within the initial couple of weeks. Could certainly be a lemon.

I 2nd this...with task killer it says a ton of battery...especially if your not needing a bunch of the applications that run in the background...

I have the 41/09 model and have had it just under 1 week...just letting you know that my phone is able to last almost 3 full days on 1 charge...typically lasts about 2 1/2 days before I get the low battery warning to charge...

 

[adamman41]

I 2nd this...with task killer it says a ton of battery...especially if your not needing a bunch of the applications that run in the background...

I have the 41/09 model and have had it just under 1 week...just letting you know that my phone is able to last almost 3 full days on 1 charge...typically lasts about 2 1/2 days before I get the low battery warning to charge...

I use the free advanced task manager. and I don't have that many things running. What do you have running in the background usually only?

 

[adamman41]

I use the free advanced task manager. and I don't have that many things running. What do you have running in the background usually only?

also do you think it could be a phone issue and would best buy replace it? would I lose everything I downloaded and stuff?

It says my display is using up a large percentage of the battery, but the screen goes off prety quickly and I have it on auto brightness, i don't understand. my percent usages today so far are:

6 hours since unplugged

32% display
19% browser
15% phone idle
13% cell standby
12% android system
2% Android OS
2% voice calls
2% core apps
2% meebo IM
2% the weather channel
2% dialer

IM AT 30% left after 6 hours with minimal use

 

[T0LLPHR33]

I use the free advanced task manager. and I don't have that many things running. What do you have running in the background usually only?

weatherbug, email from gmail and hotmail...that's about it...

the battery will last a lot less if I have been fidgeting with my browser or have pandora playing for a while...

I can do a test and post it up a little later...I'm at work and am a little busy right now...

 

[adamman41]

weatherbug, email from gmail and hotmail...that's about it...

the battery will last a lot less if I have been fidgeting with my browser or have pandora playing for a while...

I can do a test and post it up a little later...I'm at work and am a little busy right now...

thanks so I can close stuff like maps google talk storage, tts service, alarm clock and stuff??

I was afraid to close suff that starts up automatically but you think I should?

and if i have a faulty device, could I just try a different battery and see if thats the issue or would I need an entirely new device and would best buy replace it?

 

[adamman41]

I don't understand how everyoneor a lot of people are easily getting a full day+ with use when I can hardly get 10 hours with minimal use!!

 

[brettlewis]

most resources are used in the display.
Either turn down the brightness, or set it to auto so it will dim when is bright out. Otherwise, when your not using it, put it to sleep.

 

[T0LLPHR33]

thanks so I can close stuff like maps google talk storage, tts service, alarm clock and stuff??

I was afraid to close suff that starts up automatically but you think I should?

and if i have a faulty device, could I just try a different battery and see if thats the issue or would I need an entirely new device and would best buy replace it?

yep...you can turn all that stuff off...when you turn your phone back on they will automatically start back up...you will be fine bro...

i know another member in here had battery problems and when going into verizon wireless the employee did a battery check and everything was fine...she ended up just replacing his phone entirely...they may do the same for you...that's why the 30 day no questions asked return/exchange policy is key...

 

[adamman41]

yep...you can turn all that stuff off...when you turn your phone back on they will automatically start back up...you will be fine bro...

i know another member in here had battery problems and when going into verizon wireless the employee did a battery check and everything was fine...she ended up just replacing his phone entirely...they may do the same for you...that's why the 30 day no questions asked return/exchange policy is key...

okay cool, it's just anoying I can't make it through 7 hours with minimal use. I hope this stuff will work but it seems like I shouldn't have to turn off every single thing for it to last an entire day. so I'd need a new phone not just a new battery?

 

[adamman41]

also should I check what model it says this phone I'm using is under the battery? Has that had an impact on people's phone performance?

 

[T0LLPHR33]

okay cool, it's just anoying I can't make it through 7 hours with minimal use. I hope this stuff will work but it seems like I shouldn't have to turn off every single thing for it to last an entire day. so I'd need a new phone not just a new battery?

not saying you need an entirely new phone...was just stating what another member here had gotten done...

but I agree you shouldn't have to turn off features just to keep battery life going...but we all agree that this phone acts more like a PC then actual cell phone...with that in mind I understand why most have been having low battery problems...

 

[smilepak]

You have IMAP or POP3 check email every 1-5 minutes + WIFI always on + disable auto display brightness adjustment?

On a full charge at 3:00 PM, by the next morning for me, I am still at 80%, so battery is pretty good IMO

 

[adamman41]

You have IMAP or POP3 check email every 1-5 minutes + WIFI always on + disable auto display brightness adjustment?

On a full charge at 3:00 PM, by the next morning for me, I am still at 80%, so battery is pretty good IMO

I only have gmail accounts and wifi is always off, i keep auto brightness on cause its too annoying to have to put it low and then brighten it manually when i need to and i think the auto does a good job of adjusting brightness.i just charged my phone up to 100% since posting earlier and killed almost every task running except MEEBO IM which is a necessity for me to keep running and through 46 minutes i am already at 90%, down 10. at that right im looking at less than 10 hours with hardly much use

 

[adamman41]

i just ended a bunch of tasks like locale and google voice and next time i checked my task manager they were back, are you supposed to close your task manager down also? im at 80% hardly touching the phone in an hour and 50. ughh

 

[blognog]

turn off gps when not using it. And use weather.com in browser instead of The Weather Bug. How often do you need to know weather? I usually look out the window.

 

[adamman41]

turn off gps when not using it. And use weather.com in browser instead of The Weather Bug. How often do you need to know weather? I usually look out the window.

ya gps has been off and i got rid of weather widget before trying this battery attempt. 80% after 2 hours 15 mins so far

44% display
13 phone iddle
13 android system
12 cell standby
9 browser
2 core apps
2 market
2 meebo
2 os

at this rate I'll be out of battery in 10 hours total with hardly any use. Should I just get the phone swapped or the battery swapped? And will ilose all my apps and stuff I did if i do?

 

[aaron5610]

I think that all of that stuff will come back on your new phone when you set up your gmail on your new phone. I know the contacts will and another user said his applications came back after he replaced his phone. Hope this helps.

 

[Amaroth]

um my phone lasts for a long time. fully charged in the morning, by the time i get home from work it is only at 50%. thats about 8-9 hours later.

 

[CombatChuck103]

10 hrs 45 minutes since last plugged in.

I'm at 80%, and that's with moderate web and voice usage. I've also sent/received about 100 texts today.

 

[adamman41]

10 hrs 45 minutes since last plugged in.

I'm at 80%, and that's with moderate web and voice usage. I've also sent/received about 100 texts today.

so in summary, I should go to best buy and just ask to swap phones, or swap batteries?

 

[JAGI410]

The first 2 days with mine it needed to be charged every night. The 3rd day I let it die completely and charged it overnight. Now I can go nearly 2 full days without charging.

 

[SharonW]

ya gps has been off and i got rid of weather widget before trying this battery attempt. 80% after 2 hours 15 mins so far

44% display
13 phone iddle
13 android system
12 cell standby
9 browser
2 core apps
2 market
2 meebo
2 os

at this rate I'll be out of battery in 10 hours total with hardly any use. Should I just get the phone swapped or the battery swapped? And will ilose all my apps and stuff I did if i do?

I'm no authority on this, hell, I don't even have my phone yet, but from all the reading I've done your battery life doesn't sound abnormal.

First, most smart phones extensively use up a lot of battery life, way more than a regular phone. I believe normal use for the Droid is listed at giving you like 6.75 hours. Smart phones are battery hogs.

Second, I've read that the battery obtains optimal usage after being used and drained and recharged several times.

Third, the biggest drain on the battery IS the display, as you can see. So that bit of advice about managing the brightness is very good. Every little thing you can do to adjust the display will help. Moreover, while you think you're not doing very much with your phone, surfing the web and emailing and stuff like that won't be anything by comparison to the drain from the display so don't sweat using it. Use it!

Lastly, the task manager and kill apps are really good apps, but there are always some apps that need to run in the background and will automatically reappear like 20 mins. later after killing so that you can use your phone the way it's intended. So don't be surprised to see some pop back up again even after you've killed them.

And, of course, one last little thing. At least, unlike the iPhone, you can buy a second battery for backup.

Maybe someone could post a poll asking everyone what their batter life is. With choices like:

5 hours or less
6-8 hours
8-10 hours
etc.