Spoke to Verizon about Eris battery life

[cevMkV]

same here, wouldn't surprise me if half the people complaining about battery issues are using atk. I'm not sure what the problem is but it seems to bog everything down regardless of how much you kill. My phone runs better with more apps installed and running then with just a few things and it.

i agree...i let android decide what it should be running and what it should shut down. my phone runs the best this way and i get lots of battery life

 

[pittguy578]

Called Verizon tech support today about the battery life on the Eris. I basically told them that I was not interested in switching devices, what I was doing to extend my current battery life, etc. He told me that Verizon is aware of the issues with the battery on BOTH the Motorola Droid and the Eris. He said that they believe that people are not getting long enough battery life because of the software, and that before the new year we were expected to get 2.0, and within the first 3 weeks of the new year an update that should fix battery issues. And just to clarify, I informed that I was not speaking about the 100% wake up time causing the battery to drain prematurely but just poor battery life with normal use. He said that he was aware of both issues and asked if I wanted to switch to the Droid. I told him that I preferred the Eris and would rather wait it out if the problem was going to be addressed in the future. So, basically Verizon is aware that Eris users are getting mediocre battery life and expects an update (sometime between now and January 2010) will fix this problem. He also said that Eris would be getting the 2.0 + battery update BEFORE the Motorola Droid gets any updates. Supposedly, the Motorola Droid update had been pushed back with no release date set. Dunno how accurate his information is vs. the documents Phandroid have published, but in his defense, the tech was pretty knowledgeable about the Android OS.

So - there is hope!

How much longer is it supposed to last? Is it significant?
I took my Eris back because of battery issues. I would buy it again if it would last me a full day.

 

[OfTheDamned]

How much longer is it supposed to last? Is it significant?
I took my Eris back because of battery issues. I would buy it again if it would last me a full day.

Quite a few people have found that cycling the battery a few times will really condition it and let it run for much longer. Some people that picked up the Eris on launch day are reporting 15 hr+ with normal to above average use throughout the day. The battery cycle charging plus the tips about turning things off and on have apparently extended the battery life quite a bit.

 

[pittguy578]

Quite a few people have found that cycling the battery a few times will really condition it and let it run for much longer. Some people that picked up the Eris on launch day are reporting 15 hr+ with normal to above average use throughout the day. The battery cycle charging plus the tips about turning things off and on have apparently extended the battery life quite a bit.

My problem is the smart phone is too dumb when it comes to battery life.
I don't want to have to constantly think about my phone and how to conserve it's battery life. I just want to use it for at least, maybe a day and a half without a charge. All of the things that use battery life should turn off after it is idle for a certain period of time. I certainly shouldn't have to worry about draining a battery for simply putting it on my nightstand overnight.

I loved this phone, but I need battery life. That is why I took it back.
I may get an Omnia 2 instead-allegedly it can go for two days without a charge.

 

[snorge]

My battery life has been getting longer and longer. After about a week since activation my phone easily makes it through a full day of moderate usage without needing a charge. One thing I've noticed is that the built in battery indicator often looks low even when the phone has a lot of life left. The battery widget seems to be a lot more accurate.

 

[hrbib21]

^I think that's about right. I installed the battery widget last night and it seems to be much more accurate than the OEM indicator.

 

[funkdoctor]

Something interesting:

When Im at home, I usually turn off the mobile network and just leave the Wi-Fi on. Last night, I had some friends over and had a little much to drink. At some point when I went to charge my phone before bed, I turned off the wifi and never turned the mobile network back on. So the phone charged all night with no data connection. Well, it must have gotten one heck of a charge because Ive been laying on the couch with my daughter watching tv and after using a few different apps, facebook, news, few calls and a few texts, etc. at 11 am I have only used cell on the battery graph which is definitely not normal. Someone else who doesnt need notifications at night try charging the phone with the mobile network turned off and see if you get the same results.

 

[tats_06]

I am a heavy user and new to android...but noticed battery life is getting better as time goes on. I did a few full drains/recharges. Downloaded handcent sms, and my awake time is at 30%. By about 7pm I need to recharge, but have only had mine for about a week and a half. I tried task killers, but personally think android is marvelous at memory management and I am real picky about it as came from storm/storm 2 which weren't so great at first at memory management. But I am not worried as I know software updates can do great things!

 

[spawn]

Correct. Any updates would come from HTC, not Verizon.

Sense is a HTC app and so is the Google 2.0 upgrade but as stated by HTC themselves on an interview with the guys from engadget, ultimately Verizon says what goes and what doesn't. Will we get the 2.0 update? I'm pretty sure we will.

 

[spawn]

same here, wouldn't surprise me if half the people complaining about battery issues are using atk. I'm not sure what the problem is but it seems to bog everything down regardless of how much you kill. My phone runs better with more apps installed and running then with just a few things and it.

I was one of those people that were using ATK. I removed it and it seems to be running a little better, no great but just a bit better. There is got to be a Task Killer out there that doesnt kill your battery...anyone?

My problem is the smart phone is too dumb when it comes to battery life.
I don't want to have to constantly think about my phone and how to conserve it's battery life. I just want to use it for at least, maybe a day and a half without a charge. All of the things that use battery life should turn off after it is idle for a certain period of time. I certainly shouldn't have to worry about draining a battery for simply putting it on my nightstand overnight.

I loved this phone, but I need battery life. That is why I took it back.
I may get an Omnia 2 instead-allegedly it can go for two days without a charge.

FINALLY!!! admitting there is a problem is half the battle I agreed with you 100%.

 

[funkdoctor]

Sense is a HTC app and so is the Google 2.0 upgrade but as stated by HTC themselves on an interview with the guys from engadget, ultimately Verizon says what goes and what doesn't. Will we get the 2.0 update? I'm pretty sure we will.

Yes they have a say about when we get it, maybe even if but I would love to see a quote saying verizon had a hand in designing sense 2.0. Also, there are people who have obtained a copy of the beta, so its definitely coming

 

[Rockytop]

I'm on day 3 with Eris. Last night, I powered the phone completely off...plugged in power all night. The LED was red. Got up this morning and saw the LED light was green. Unplugged it, powered up....IT ONLY HAD 87% BATTERY!! What's up with that????

 

[Caddyman]

its the battery meter/gauge is off kilter. I am sure your battery is charged fully.

 

[Rockytop]

its the battery meter/gauge is off kilter. I am sure your battery is charged fully.

Actually, no...I put the phone back on charge and the red LED came back on, and took about 90 minutes for it to turn to green. The battery indicator showed 100%...but quickly went down to 87% after a couple texts...checked email once...and took a quick look at Twitter. All tolled...about 5 minutes usage.
I'm really considering either staying with iPhone (although the ATT net sucks)...or going to the Moto Droid.

 

[rswanson]

I have to throw in with Rockytop here. I drained my battery down to involuntary shutdown three consecutive days and hooked up the charger overnight. Each morning, as I powered the phone on, my gauge would read 94-95% by the time the phone was powered on. Leaving the phone connected to the charger, I quickly reached 100%. But after being unplugged for a short while, the charge would dive to the low 90's again quite quickly. It seems flawed to design a device that utilizes 5% of its available power just booting itself up.

As for the 'seasoning' issue, I have used a lot of Lithium Ion batteries and I don't recall ever having to 'season' one to get a normal amount of usability out of it.

In every forum I have perused over the past few weeks (and that's been a lot of reading) there is absolutely no consensus on what battery apps to use (or whether to not use any at all), what settings to tweak, and what functionalities to leave on or shut off.

All this seems to point to one of two things- there is a flaw with either the phone's software or something poorly designed with the handset itself. Hopefully, its a software issue that can be corrected with a future release. Given HTC's track record, I'd wager its a software issue.

 

[Garick]

The problem is that there are so many different settings (many of which are not explained very well), 3rd party applications, levels of use throughout a day and several threads here on the same subjects. Its tough to get a consensus out of that. There does seem to be a lot of people that are unhappy with their battery life though. This is my first smartphone and first time being on a phone message board so I don't know what the norm is.

A little more than 11 hours today and my battery is at 76%. Only one short call, a reboot and a little bit of use, awake time of 7%. I had mobile network on all day running dealdroid and gmail but I have disabled always-on mobile data. No gps or bt, stock messaging app. I'm running advanced task manager which does not run in the background but allows you to close everything (including itself) with one touch.

I think I am happy with that.

 

[rswanson]

The problem is that there are so many different settings (many of which are not explained very well), 3rd party applications, levels of use throughout a day and several threads here on the same subjects. Its tough to get a consensus out of that.

I will agree there is a LOT that you can do with the phone in terms of customization and an infinite combination of variables factoring into the battery life but when you have people both espousing a certain Task Killer app and others eschewing its use, the problem goes deeper than performing a few tweaks and 'seasoning' a battery.

I still have yet to read of anyone that has gotten anywhere near the 300 hours advertised standby time- not even close. All the research I have done is pointing towards software issues of some sort. And this wouldn't be the first phone to experience that!

I do get at least 12 hours of use out of the phone with moderate to heavy usage (still in the constant tinkering phase of ownership) so I can make do. Would it be nice to never have to fret over a drained battery? Yes. But all said and done, the Eris is a great little phone...that hopefully gets a little better with some support from HTC and VZW.

 

[snorge]

It seems to me the battery doesn't fully charge unless the phone is powered on while plugged in. Other than that I have no complaints at all with the battery life after some breaking in.

 

[jeffyo]

BTW, I should also note that I uninstalled Advanced task killer and the effects seem to be positive. If I want to close apps, I just do it from the "Application Manager" in settings. Hope this helps!

I have not tested this, what did you see with this app installed as far as power usage?

 

[jeffyo]

I use Advanced Task Killer Free. Does the same thing that guy described but it takes a lot less time.

If you wanted to use less resources on that program you could create a shortcut on the home screen to the manage applications screen instead.

Just a suggestion. Seems like that would be the equivalent and economical one too.

 

[rswanson]

It seems to me the battery doesn't fully charge unless the phone is powered on while plugged in. Other than that I have no complaints at all with the battery life after some breaking in.

Again, having to 'break in' a Lithium-Ion battery in order to get normal usability seems to be confined to the Eris? That would be unlikely. Logic is telling me otherwise. And why would the device need to be powered on to fully charge the cell? Certainly a design flaw there.

 

[Needsdecaf]

Again, having to 'break in' a Lithium-Ion battery in order to get normal usability seems to be confined to the Eris? That would be unlikely. Logic is telling me otherwise.

I believe it's calibrating the meter / system. Not the battery.

And why would the device need to be powered on to fully charge the cell? Certainly a design flaw there.

It does not. Mine does not have this issue for sure.

 

[W4LLY]

I plugged my phone at 8:30am this morning. It's now 9:34pm. I'm at 11% and crawling down. This is over 12 hours of use. I am content.