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Help Sprint Hero is killing the battery of my Jabra BT530

HeikoMax

Member
Dec 10, 2009
85
1
SoCal
I just received my Hero (Sprint) a couple of weeks ago and the battery life of the handset has been very good. I am running 1.56.651.2. BT pairs and connects quite reliably but I did have some issues when I first got the phone. It does not seem that I have the battery issues often talked about. The problem I am experiencing is that the battery life of my Jabra BT530 headset is absolutely terrible since using it with the Hero. It goes only about 6 hours without very much talking.

I used the same BT530 with my Touch Pro up to the time I switched to the Hero and I go could go days without recharging. Something must be killing the battery life of the headset. I have unchecked the option to play media over the headset thinking that would conserve battery life. I left the phone audio option checked. I do not use the headset very much so there is no reason that it suddenly can't make it through a work day.

I've searched and only come up with the usual battery issue with the Hero and the BT problems people have had.

Thanks for any help!
 
I have the same Jabra BT530 and I can stream music through it for 4-5 hours straight before it dies.

Thanks for the feedback. I have not had a problem with my BT530 until now. I suppose it could be that the battery on it is just dying but it really seemed like the lack of capacity happened overnight. Also, my BT530 is only about 6 months old.

I was wondering whether there was something about the way the Hero's BT was connecting such that there was a constant connection with the BT530 such that it drains the battery. I unchecked media audio thinking that might be it and I even tried unpairing and repairing with the same results. Today, my BT530 was out of juice after 6 hours of standby.
 
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I have this same BT and saw the same drain in battery life. I thought maybe the BT530 was going bad. I have mine paired with 2 phones that would in the past last all day with no issues. Now I cannot get through the mid afternoon say about 2pm before it starts dying. If I stream Music it dies a little quicker.
 
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I have this same BT and saw the same drain in battery life. I thought maybe the BT530 was going bad. I have mine paired with 2 phones that would in the past last all day with no issues. Now I cannot get through the mid afternoon say about 2pm before it starts dying. If I stream Music it dies a little quicker.

Okay, so it's not just my BT530. My experience is the same as yours. What might the problem be? I love the BT530 (so much more than the Jawbone II I had been using) so I'm disappointed if it's something weird and specific to it. I'm going to try a brand new headset from another brand and see how that goes.

Jabra will replace mine under warranty but I have to send mine in first before they send out a replacemnt. :mad:
 
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I have this same BT and saw the same drain in battery life. I thought maybe the BT530 was going bad. I have mine paired with 2 phones that would in the past last all day with no issues. Now I cannot get through the mid afternoon say about 2pm before it starts dying. If I stream Music it dies a little quicker.

After doing a little research, I found that there is a "new" firmware update from Jabra for the BT530 called SW 1-7-0. It is from much earlier this year; around March. I bought my BT530 in July from Costco and I have no idea which version firmware it had but it might have had an earlier version. I'm not even sure what the changes are but supposedly address sound quality and volume. I am just hoping that somehow it solves my battery drain issue. Here is the link to the updated firmware.

http://www.jabra.com/sites/Jabra/GN...are/Upgrade instructions Jabra BT530_6303.zip

The instructions are easy to follow but the software would not work on my Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit machine. It did work on my XP machine. I successfully updated the firmware and I'll test it tomorrow to see if it make a difference.
 
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AT LAST! Someone with the same problem I'm experiencing!!

I have a Jabra BT8040, and I have the exact same problem. Worked fine on my Moto Q for over a year. Now it can't go through a full day of light usage without dying.

I started a thread on this over in the non-Sprint HTC Hero (apparently that's the wrong forum for it, since I'm with Sprint). But nobody has responded yet.

http://androidforums.com/htc-hero/27830-bluetooth-headset-battery-dies.html

Let us know if the firmware update does the trick for you. Now that I know it's happening with other Jabra devices, I'm going to look on their support site.
 
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I just heard back from Jabra support:



Maybe one of you can get farther, if your headset is still under warranty.

Well, so far the firmware update hasn't helped much if at all. I know it was a long shot anyway. I think my less-than-six-month-old BT530 has a worn out battery. I want to get a new BT headset other than a Jabra and see how long it lasts. If it goes days, then I'll know for sure that it's the BT530.

Jabra support offered me a replacement if I send mine in first and then wait for them to send one to me. How inconvenient! I bought mine from Costco so I might as well just return it to them and get something different. :mad:
 
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Its possible this model has a knack for suffering a poor battery experience. Before I bought mine I read a few reviews of the batteries taking a dookie. I've had no problems with mine.

Did you follow the instructions and fully powercycle the battery on the BT 2-3 times? I did.

Are you or have you left it on the charger long after the charge was full like the manual tells you not to do?

Just curious as I know a lot of electronics are more forgiving in these areas than a BT earbud might be.
 
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Its possible this model has a knack for suffering a poor battery experience. Before I bought mine I read a few reviews of the batteries taking a dookie. I've had no problems with mine.

Did you follow the instructions and fully powercycle the battery on the BT 2-3 times? I did.

Are you or have you left it on the charger long after the charge was full like the manual tells you not to do?

Just curious as I know a lot of electronics are more forgiving in these areas than a BT earbud might be.

If it was just one headset model, I'd be inclined to agree with you. Maybe it could be chalked up to batteries going bad.

But we have several different users with at least TWO different Jabra headset models that have experienced the same problem: headsets work fine, until switching to the Hero. Surely our batteries aren't all going bad right when we change phones.
 
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I will add that on my BT530, I have been on 1-7-0 for over a month. I have 2 cell phones that it is paired on, one is the Hero the other is a Motorola W755. If I leave it paired to the Hero, it only lasts about 4 to 5 hours before needing a charge, but once I turn off the Bluetooth on the Hero it will go all day on just the W755. I did have it replaced since I got the Hero thinking it was the headset, but I still have the same problem with the new headset out of the box. So I am going to go with it not being a battery issue on the headset, but more of an incompatible issue with the headset and the Hero. I notice from time to time that the Hero also takes 'control' of the headset when I receive text messages too.
 
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Its possible this model has a knack for suffering a poor battery experience. Before I bought mine I read a few reviews of the batteries taking a dookie. I've had no problems with mine.

Did you follow the instructions and fully powercycle the battery on the BT 2-3 times? I did.

Are you or have you left it on the charger long after the charge was full like the manual tells you not to do?

Just curious as I know a lot of electronics are more forgiving in these areas than a BT earbud might be.

Seems unlikely to be the cause. For the last three days or so I left my earbud on but not paired with my phone. On one day I listened to a stream for ~30 minutes. Today I listened to a stream again for ~30 minutes. In the past when the battery is almost out, I get warning beeps, but did not get that today. After the stream I left the headset on, but paired. I made sure to kill the streaming app. ~4-5 hours later the headset was completely dead.

Is this only Jabra headsets, or has anyone else seen other headsets with this problem?
 
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Wow, what an annoying issue. I am very glad to hear that it is not just me. I am convinced that it is not just my BT530 but all BT530 headsets. The big question is why is it happening? Is it something about the way the BT530 and the Hero connect such that there is some power drain due to superfluous transfer or data or something? I theorize it's a BT connection that isn't just a sort of "stand by" but a constant connection where signals are going back and forth constantly. I am no expert but it seems like a good theory.

I'm pissed off about this for obvious reasons but I really do like the performance and fit of the BT530. I've been scouring the Internet for a replacement that doesn't cost $100 or more. :(
 
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I broke down and bought a Plantronics Discovery 975. It is supposedly a great headset. I just got mine today so I'll try it over the next few days and see how the battery life and performance are. I am hoping that it resolves the Jabra BT530 problems. I don't have A2DP but I can live with that if I can get more than 6 hours of standby with my BT.

On a side note, the Plantronics 975 looks and feels very cool. The Li-Ion charging case is very cool, complete with a tiny LCD showing battery life of the charging case and BT headset. The quality is excellent and the first calls I have made have been excellent sound both ways.
 
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Just a quick update for those who have followed this thread: I'm going on three days since I have charged up my Plantronics 975. It's still going strong despite light to moderate use and constantly being paired to my Hero.

I love the 975 so far. I did some testing last night while it was quite windy. Even with wind strong enough to be blowing big tree branches around and mess up my hair, the listener reported good sound and very light background noise. I tried driving with my car window down halfway going 70 mph and all that the listener heard was a light rumble in the background while my voice was clearly audible.
 
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Just a quick update for those who have followed this thread: I'm going on three days since I have charged up my Plantronics 975. It's still going strong despite light to moderate use and constantly being paired to my Hero.

I love the 975 so far. I did some testing last night while it was quite windy. Even with wind strong enough to be blowing big tree branches around and mess up my hair, the listener reported good sound and very light background noise. I tried driving with my car window down halfway going 70 mph and all that the listener heard was a light rumble in the background while my voice was clearly audible.


This one does not play music right? I have to have one that plays music, radio, video audio. The Jabra BT530 is just about the only one that does this
 
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This one does not play music right? I have to have one that plays music, radio, video audio. The Jabra BT530 is just about the only one that does this

Unfortunately the Plantronics 975 does not play music. In fact, I can't listen to visual voice mail through the headset, unless I'm doing something wrong. It is a bit inconvenient as even today I was in a training and wished I could covertly listen to media. :(

Just as a final verification, I will try my BT530 with my Touch Pro just to see how long stand by is. If it craps out after 6-8 hours when connect to my TP then it will confirm that it's the BT530. I will report back....
 
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Unfortunately the Plantronics 975 does not play music. In fact, I can't listen to visual voice mail through the headset, unless I'm doing something wrong. It is a bit inconvenient as even today I was in a training and wished I could covertly listen to media. :(

Just as a final verification, I will try my BT530 with my Touch Pro just to see how long stand by is. If it craps out after 6-8 hours when connect to my TP then it will confirm that it's the BT530. I will report back....

Update: I have had my BT530 connected to my Touch Pro with voice and stereo for over 30 hours and the BT530 is still running. I have not used it for calls or anything so it's been in pure standby mode. It's definitely not the headset so there is just something about the connection between the Hero and BT530.

My Plantronics 975 is doing well and I really like it. I highly recommend it if you're willing to spend $100+ on a BT headset. :D
 
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The 975 is nice but if I spend $100+ on a headset it had better well stream music to it. I tried the Q1 from Blueant, very nice great fit and voice quality. It even has an update to update to A2DP. Unfortunately it does not work with the Hero. :( I emailed the tech support and tried all what they said but even after the update it would not play the media from the phone. Reluctantly I returned it for the BT530. Only because it was the only one I could find that was A2DP ready. On a normal day of playing music/answering calls I can get 5-6 hours out of a charge.
 
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Unfortunately the Plantronics 975 does not play music. In fact, I can't listen to visual voice mail through the headset, unless I'm doing something wrong. It is a bit inconvenient as even today I was in a training and wished I could covertly listen to media. :(

Sorry I didn't see this earlier, I had tried the 975 too, on their website it says it does not work with visual voicemail on Sprint's Hero because visual voicemail is played in A2DP, so no you are not doing anything wrong.

The real reason I am bringing up an otherwise dead thread is that I ended up turning my bt530 in on the (at the time) new Jawbone Icon. It also did not support A2DP, so no visual voicemail, but I am on my phone so much, that I really needed a headset to last more than 4 hours without going dead for no apparent reason. Glad to say I think this might have been the wise choice as Jawbone just released an update for the Icon, so it now supports A2DP, which means visual voicemail is now heard through the headset. And I have a headset once again that goes all day without draining with no warning.

Theres my update.
 
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