Battery life improving?

[Statmtb]

I've had my DX for about a week now. At first the battery life was just terrible. Now it seems to be improving a little bit more every day. I didn't install a task killer or anything either.

I saw some threads where some have experienced this with other phones but didn't see any with the DX. Anyone else have a similar experience with the DX? Sorry if this has already been discussed. I looked but didn't see it.

 

[just4747]

lol

 

[Deleted User]

I've had my DX for about a week now. At first the battery life was just terrible. Now it seems to be improving a little bit more every day. I didn't install a task killer or anything either.

I saw some threads where some have experienced this with other phones but didn't see any with the DX. Anyone else have a similar experience with the DX? Sorry if this has already been discussed. I looked but didn't see it.

I think it may have been discussed but my experience was pretty on par with yours. The phone really seems to warm up and I'm consistently getting a day and a half on moderate use now. When I first got it (launch day) it struggled to make it for 8 hours.

 

[Teegunn]

A lot of that IMHO is that when you first get it you can't put it down and use it constantly. As time goes on the "newness" of it wears off and a person probably doesn't use it as much. I suppose there could be a break-in period with the battery, but I would bet my first scenario is more likely. My X doesn't get very good battery life. Neither did my Inc. I didn't expect to get great battery life with either, so my expectations being lower was realistic.

 

[IsaacRN]

I was averaging about 8 hrs without touching my phone before I needed a recharge. After about two weeks, I can go 12+ hrs with moderate use and sometimes im reaching 24+ with minimal use.

 

[Szadzik]

Battery life improves after a few charging cycles in all phones. This is a characteristic of all Li-Ion and Li-Pol batteries.

 

[Deleted User]

Actually, battery life doesn't improve with charging cycles, since, unlike NiCd and NiMH batteries, they don't develop memories or have memories out of the box.

What does happen, though, is the battery meter calibrates itself so the estimations are better. Plus, after a week or two, you stop getting so antsy and excited with the phone that you need to just turn on the display and swipe through a few home screens every 5 minutes.

 

[Szadzik]

Actually, battery life doesn't improve with charging cycles, since, unlike NiCd and NiMH batteries, they don't develop memories or have memories out of the box.

Are you saying that battery life in NiCd and NiMH improves with time? I think you are talking about what was known as forming the battery (sometimes erroneously called formatting) and I am not talking about this as it does not apply to Li-Ions.

What does happen, though, is the battery meter calibrates itself so the estimations are better. Plus, after a week or two, you stop getting so antsy and excited with the phone that you need to just turn on the display and swipe through a few home screens every 5 minutes.

Meter calibrating itself does not mean it will show that the battery will last longer.

All battery manufacturers state clearly that Li-Ion batteries reach their full potential after a few charge cycles.

And no, I do not mean fully discharging and charging the battery for 12 hours like we used to do with NiCD and NiMH batteries as that would harm the Li-Ion battery more than help it.

I think you are mostly talking about some stuff related to NiMH times and forming batteries even though I never mentioned that.

 

[Deleted User]

Are you saying that battery life in NiCd and NiMH improves with time? I think you are talking about what was known as forming the battery (sometimes erroneously called formatting) and I am not talking about this as it does not apply to Li-Ions.

No, I was saying that full cycles of nickel batteries helped mitigate the memory effects of the battery - which many people are under the impression also helps lithium batteries.

Meter calibrating itself does not mean it will show that the battery will last longer.

Absolutely. I agree. But it will contribute to the end user having an impression of a battery difference since most people use that estimation as the basis for their battery life rather than actually timing it.

All battery manufacturers state clearly that Li-Ion batteries reach their full potential after a few charge cycles.

I don't know that I agree with this. Having published material that says, "this works" is not the same as having empirical evidence that it does. I can't find evidence to show that cycling the battery actually has a positive effect on its life, and in fact, just the opposite - all of the studies that I have read that actually have evidence to back up their claims have found no improvement in cycling batteries.

For example:

Battery performance as a function of cycling

 

[Szadzik]

I fully agree that if we take 1000 cycles in a battery as an example it will show degraded performance and that is what they say in the test. We are talking about a few cycles in the beginning of battery's life here and not 1000 cycles.

 

[Deleted User]

Sure. So where's the evidence?

Are you saying that in all of the compiled data on lithium batteries, nobody scientific has ever noticed this or thought it noteworthy enough to document formally? In that site I linked, there are dozens of pages and charts and charge/discharge rates, and best practices and not one of the sources for this information considered it important to note that battery life noticeably improves when cycling new batteries?

Sorry, I just don't buy it without some evidence. All I ever see is someone repeating what they heard or read or someone at the Verizon store told them...

The trouble with all of this is that it's become an old wives' tale, so you can't trust that it's true just because a lot of people say it. Historically, there have been battery types that have benefited from this, and the meter calibrates when this is done once, which are both good reasons for a rumor to continue to be spread.

 

[bigbadwulff]

I think the 'improved battery life' comes from using it less and less. When you first get it you use it constantly and then your use goes down as time goes on.
Just my two cents worth.

 

[Szadzik]

Just saying what I know and what users report and what you will find on every manufacturers description about Li-Ion batteries. I am not going to argue about this.

 

[Statmtb]

Thanks for the replies and opinions! My argument to the "you're just using it less" idea is that I'm actually on it more as I'm getting used to it and finding out more what its capable of.

 

[bigbadwulff]

I'm betting you aren't
You may do more with it, but the time it takes you to do it now that you are used to it, is less.

 

[dbenge947]

I have noticed that I get better life out of this than I did on my Eris, the other plus is it recharges extremely fast. My USB plug in that I have in my car would take 6+ hours to charge my Eris when driving around my DX can go from 60-70% to full charge in 20-30 minutes.

 

[mlauber]

Ok two things I know from personal experience.

Li Ion batteries seam to last longer after a week of so of use.

When charging a Li Ion battery it usually takes about 3 hours. The battery is charged about 70 percent in the first hour or so and charged to 100 percent in the last ~ 2 hours.

That said, I have used a lot of smart phones going all the way back to the Palm Treo.

Droid X is the best so far.

iPhone 3g was the worst.

 

[redryder]

I set my X to battery saver mode. It is working great. I don't notice any huge difference in anything.

I am now at the end of day 3 without a charge (light usage). It is just now down to 30%. Tonight I will plug it in.

 

[Chaznsc]

FWIW I have experienced the same exact thing with my Droid 2 ....... Battery has improved 30% or better!