Battery Life (Possible bug?)

[poster55]

I've noticed a lot of variation in reports of battery life on this phone. I know myself the first time I used the phone I only had 7 hours under heavy usage, but after the second time that went up to 14 hours. The third charge it's up to 20.

I'm wondering if this is just a calibration issue out of the box, and it needs a few charges to figure out how long your battery really lasts. Anyone experimented with this and seen if the 10% is really 10% after 7 hours?

 

[GlockGuy80]

20 hours??? Under what type of usage? I am getting around 6-8 hours of moderate to heavy usage. Wifi off, GPS off (unless I am using it) and network not set to "always on." I have drained to 1 bar (roughly 14%) and back to full with 4 hours charge about 5 times since I got the phone and it's not getting any better.

 

[necosino]

I had a similar issue with my Omnia when I first got it. However, after talking to a few friends, I let the phone completely die, charged (while off), and repeated this two more times (so it died three times, and charged while off 3 times) and I noticed a big improvement. I'm doing the same thing with the Incredible.

I use the power control widget a LOT. Quick-kill wifi/GPS and turn the screen to the dimmest setting in 1 or 2 taps. Indoors, I find the lowest screen brightness to be completely adequate for texting, games, and quick searches; unless I'm going to be doing a lot of reading, in which case I turn the brightness back to "auto-adjust."

When I have my phone idling, my power control widget has everything off.

As you can see, I recommended this approach too. I had my phone on high-usage (screen always on brightest, streaming music, wifi, bluetooth, etc etc etc..) and my phone lasted like 7 hours. So yeah, the battery is a lot better than it has gotten credit for. Wait a few charges and then reevaluate it..

 

[manbearpig10]

I think my phone or battery is bad. I timed it yesterday and had 4 hours of standby on my phone (didn't use the phone at all except to check the battery level). My phone gets really damn hot too. I will be swapping it out for another one.

 

[Scincidae]

20 hours??? Under what type of usage? I am getting around 6-8 hours of moderate to heavy usage. Wifi off, GPS off (unless I am using it) and network not set to "always on." I have drained to 1 bar (roughly 14%) and back to full with 4 hours charge about 5 times since I got the phone and it's not getting any better.

The first 10-15% of charge that you go through on the battery usually drains faster than the rest of the battery. This is usually because even if the battery says 100% it usually isn't and then it drops very fast which causes people to assume the worst. Not saying the battery doesn't drain fast but you should consider that.

 

[cdodge]

There is definately something up. Yesterday I had around 10 hours with heavy usage and now today I barely squeezed 4 hours. I have only had it for 2 days so maybe its a calibaration thing

 

[poster55]

I think it's maybe too early in the game to accurately judge the battery life. I think there are definitely some calibration issues going on here, which might actually be effected by being turned on in the store before you have a full charge vs charging first when you order online.

I have noticed the users that give the battery a full drain, then a full charge, and repeat this 2-3 times reporting a much much longer battery life. In my experience (which is limited) This has held true for me too.

I have been playing with my phone non-stop since I got it. I charge it to full, then drain it to red, and charge it again. I haven't tried charging it with the phone turned off yet, but I did toy with charge times.

First Charge: 1 hour 30 minutes on the charger (I wanted to play with it but I had class) - Lasted 7 hours. 5 hours Active use, 2 hours idle. (approx, don't remember exact numbers)

Second Charge: 8 Hours on the charger. Up time 14 hours 48 minutes. 12 hours 37 minutes active use, 2 hours 11 minutes idle time

Third Charge: Approx 4 hours with phone in sleep/idle mode. Up Time 20 hours 9 Minutes. 11 Hours 36 Minutes Active Use, 8 Hours 33 Minutes Idle

Not sure what I will get on my 4th charge. Took it off about 2 hours ago... Battery Life at 87%, and I was playing Jewels and Pocket Empires, as well as browsing android market for the first hour of that. I also ran some system analysis software (OS Monitor, a virus scanner, and a file manager to move around some stuff.) As well as took some photos with the camera, made 2 calls, and send some text messages.

 

[zemerick]

For the first few cycles, you should ignore the battery indicator completely. Your battery is not dead until the phone turns itself, THEN charge it up ( including a fair bit past full to make sure the battery is actually charged to full...remember, the indicator IS wrong until after it has been calibrated. ) Usually it'll take about 5 of these full cycles to get an accurate battery indicator. From there, ideally you should charge the battery when it is more so around 30-40 percent to help improve the longevity of the battery. ( Theres a reason they ship the batteries at 40 percent charge, put simply Li-Ion love bein around that level. )

 

[tudmf]

Phone running mobile connect (always on), WIFI, Friendstream, played games (Pocket Empires); moderate to heavy use. 19 hours later still have a 66% charge. I did sleep for 9 hrs of it. Battery definitely is not as bad as some make it out to be.

 

[Vihzel]

If you need to, get the Seidio extended battery for the phone. I got it and I really did notice better battery life.

 

[gavin77]

On my second full charge/drain cycle.....been going 31 Hrs, with some long phone calls, moderate internet use, and email, etc.....about 30% left. I do have have the roaming feature, (enable always on mobile), turned off. Seems to have helped a lot, and the full drain and recharge has helped as well. So one more cycle to go, and the battery should be calibrated fairly well.