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Desire battery consumption

Tom, welcome mate, yes a lot of questions have been asked and yes there is a search function but sometimes it is easier to just ask a question :rolleyes:

I'm sure you have now read the FAQ's, but IF you or anyone else has this problem then I suggest you recalibrate the battery.

This can be done by following the XDA method (which is a bit long winded) or follow the method I use which is to charge to 100%, then remove from charge and IF the % drops off within the first 10-15mins put it back on charge to 100%. After doing this you should get a full charge every time you charge ;)

As a side note to this, I would recommend NOT leaving the phone charging overnight! I have found that when constantly charging overnight you have to recalibrate the battery again :( My phone charges in a couple of hours, so I charge it before I go to bed and when I wake up it is usually either still at 100% or around 97% (depending on what I have running).
 
Hi all,

I'm new to this forum, although I have been lurking around since I got my Desire back in August.

I was wondering if anyone else ever gets a glitch where the battery usage found under Settings>About Phone>Battery>Battery Usage doesn't update. The time since unplugged is still changing, but the values are not. Currently they are:
Android System - 93%
Cell Standby - 5%
Phone Idle - 2%

This has happened to me once before where there values were frozen with Android being 96 and the others at about two each. I restarted my phone then since it had been up about 500 hours. This was last week, and after restarting the usage started registering normally again. However, now, with only 68 hours up time, the problem appears to be back. Just curious if anyone else had ever encoutered this.

I'm using the phone currently so I won't be restarting it for a few hours, but when I do, I'll post back with whether it fixes the issue.
 
Hi all,

I'm new to this forum, although I have been lurking around since I got my Desire back in August.

I was wondering if anyone else ever gets a glitch where the battery usage found under Settings>About Phone>Battery>Battery Usage doesn't update. The time since unplugged is still changing, but the values are not. Currently they are:
Android System - 93%
Cell Standby - 5%
Phone Idle - 2%

This has happened to me once before where there values were frozen with Android being 96 and the others at about two each. I restarted my phone then since it had been up about 500 hours. This was last week, and after restarting the usage started registering normally again. However, now, with only 68 hours up time, the problem appears to be back. Just curious if anyone else had ever encoutered this.

I'm using the phone currently so I won't be restarting it for a few hours, but when I do, I'll post back with whether it fixes the issue.

It is possible that those values remain correct from 100% to 0% depending on your usage.

Other than the values remaining the same, what evidence is there to suggest its frozen/
 
That would be because his problem has already been resolved. The attitude at the start of the thread is another story. If someone on the street asked you for directions, would you treat them like that because there was a sign nearby? No. You'd point them towards it, or towards their destination. You don't have to bow down and kiss their feet, but being hostile doesn't help anyone.

Since I was the "aggressive" one I guess I should respond. In your analogy, sure I would simply explain how to get there - I might even point the sign out so they can, in future, see similar signs as helpful (teach a man to fish etc.). If another person then asked the same question I might either tell them to follow person #1 (if they're still visible) or repeat the exercise. I might even do this for a further couple of times...

After a while, though, I might just start pointing out the sign. If the long queue of people still kept asking, though I might just tell them to Foxtrot Oscar. Sue me, I'm not a people person.

If you can continue to give the same instructions repeatedly then you're clearly a better person than I am but recently (I'm guessing due to the success of the Desire) the same questions have cropped-up again and again. I've personally answered this one four or five times recently. I started with a verbose, helpful answer but eventually started simply linking the FAQ with a pointer to the Q that answers the OP's question (at least I'm still giving the answer, and did I get any thanks? :D).

Apologies to Tom, it's not your fault you were the one that exasperated me (although I'd suggest the advice above about reading existing thread, looking in the FAQ and searching before posting holds for pretty-much ANY internet forum - it's just good practice) but I had hope my petulant outburst might dissuade others from posting similarly popular (some might even say "Frequently Asked") questions.
 
back to the battery issue

we tried this:

hold a party, invite only DESIRE owners, at the beginning of the party everyone must take the battery out of his/her phone and put it in a big bowl at the front door. The when they leave they just pick up the first battery thier hand falls on.

didnt increase the battery life at all in our case, but may help others....
 
Hi all,

I'm new to this forum, although I have been lurking around since I got my Desire back in August.

I was wondering if anyone else ever gets a glitch where the battery usage found under Settings>About Phone>Battery>Battery Usage doesn't update. The time since unplugged is still changing, but the values are not. Currently they are:
Android System - 93%
Cell Standby - 5%
Phone Idle - 2%

This has happened to me once before where there values were frozen with Android being 96 and the others at about two each. I restarted my phone then since it had been up about 500 hours. This was last week, and after restarting the usage started registering normally again. However, now, with only 68 hours up time, the problem appears to be back. Just curious if anyone else had ever encoutered this.

I'm using the phone currently so I won't be restarting it for a few hours, but when I do, I'll post back with whether it fixes the issue.

I get this too. I'm pretty sure it is frozen as if you click on 'screen on' for example it tells you how long it thinks the screen has been on for. I've got mine on 'since last unplugged' - I unplugged it this morning, and it says the screen has been on for 96.8% of the time - 1m 23s. It's been on far, far longer than that.

I quite like using this feature to see how efficiently my phone is running so this is quite annoying.
 
It is possible that those values remain correct from 100% to 0% depending on your usage.

Other than the values remaining the same, what evidence is there to suggest its frozen/

I had my screen on for in excess of 2 hours and it wasn't showing up at all. Neither was WiFi, which was also on for several hours. Every day, both of those values show up in top battery usage even with less time active.

I get this too. I'm pretty sure it is frozen as if you click on 'screen on' for example it tells you how long it thinks the screen has been on for. I've got mine on 'since last unplugged' - I unplugged it this morning, and it says the screen has been on for 96.8% of the time - 1m 23s. It's been on far, far longer than that.

I quite like using this feature to see how efficiently my phone is running so this is quite annoying.

Exactly. The values are correct initially, when the usage is first checked, but then they fail to change. Even if usage dictates that they should definitely be changing. It just happens randomly, and restarting always fixes it.
 
I've seen massive improvement in my Desire since installing Green Power (from the Android Market). I wrote a quick review:

HTC Desire – Green Power App Review | Computersight

Thanks for that, I'm trying it out :)

My battery rarely dies on me but it has become a bit of an annoyance. Like yesterday, I wanted to go out but had to charge my phone for half an hour before I could so it would last the night (was on ~ 30% after sending a couple of texts, listening to a little bit of music and not much else after being fully charged in the morning).
 
Hoping I dont get flamed for asking this but why does it happen on the Desire and not other phones/devices I have that also use li-ion batteries?

It doesnt explain that in the FAQ.:)
 
Thanks for that, I'm trying it out :)

My battery rarely dies on me but it has become a bit of an annoyance. Like yesterday, I wanted to go out but had to charge my phone for half an hour before I could so it would last the night (was on ~ 30% after sending a couple of texts, listening to a little bit of music and not much else after being fully charged in the morning).

^^^ Green Power seems to have made a huge difference on my phone :)

The battery still drains fast in use, but while the phone is sitting in my pocket the battery takes forever to go down, which is a huge improvement. Most of my battery usually drains whilst it's just sitting there in my pocket at work.
 
ive recently noticed that even after a nights charge when i take phone off cable it still says onlu 96% ish ! :(
have to then turn off data and charge some more to fill it

also - im guessing that live wallpapers hammer the battery rather ?

cheers
dan
 
Hi everyone, do you know if the Desire is Mac compatible? Can I download apps and upgrades via Mac rather than PC?
With android you usually download these things over the air (3G or WiFi) rather than through a computer. And if you want to transfer a lot of data to the phone (e.g. copy a few GB of music across), just plug it in and select "disk drive" mode, and it will mount the SD card like a flash drive.

The HTC Sync software is Windows-specific, but it's not essential.
 
This thread should be called the dire battery thread. I've tried all these 'tricks' and settings. I still get four hours use at max if I use it.

Please dont tell me not to use it, i bought it for its features.
 
I've seen massive improvement in my Desire since installing Green Power (from the Android Market). I wrote a quick review:


Your self promotion is a bit shameless, don't you think?

I've seen many many posts linking to your review of Green Power in many different threads. Looking through your post history, it looks like EVERY post you make is to link to a review on your website. Are you here just to generate page hits?

From your review:
The last check on battery up-time was 1 day, 2 hours, 23 minutes. I
 
ive recently noticed that even after a nights charge when i take phone off cable it still says onlu 96% ish ! :(


This is normal and the phone is designed this way to prolong the life of the battery.

It will charge to 100% and then stop charging until it reaches 90%. At that point it will start charging again.

Unplugging and replugging should restart the charge.

Also, there's a fix here if you really care all that much...

[BATT Fix] Get your phone charged to 100% when you pick it up in the morning :) - xda-developers
 
A few days in, and the battery is lasting noticeably longer, YAY. :)

Charged it and used it last night, kept it on all night and it was 80% this morning, it's now 17.30 at the end of my work day, and I've had push mail on all day, had a few short phone calls and surfed for half an hour, and it's at 32%. Quite acceptable.


I am new to smart phones and basically the lingo in the forum is latin to me. Had mine for only 4 days and still trying to figure things out. Battery life is terrible on my phone and I'm trying to find ways to extend the life. What does 'push mail' mean/how to you do it? Thanks for all your help!
 
hi troops, its dr noob again. iv been doing the battery check thing with the *#*#46.. etc, and read on other threads that large blue bars in the 'partial wake usage' can sometimes indicate a hefty waste of battery in the background. today my 'Maps' bar was considerably larger than the android system (and stupid handcent, but thats a different story).

i tend to only have 3G on when i need it, and upon checking my google maps it appeared the 'latitude' part of the google maps was trying to share my location etc. so i disabled that and hopefully that should be it sorted.

but does anyone have some expert advice on how to treat the whole 'partial wake usage' etc.
cheers
 
Having bought the HTC Desire last week, which is also my first smart/android phone, it probably comes as no surprised that the first thing I ended up doing was searching google for battery saving tips. In doing so I stumbled across this thread.

I just wanted to give a quick thanks to everyone who posted tips/suggestions through the thread in regards to what can be turned off when not needed. As a result my battery usage has fallen quite a bit (it probably helps that the "ooh shiney and new" feeling and urge to use unnecessarily play with it is fading too.)


I'd say 67% Battery left after 25hrs is more than acceptable. :)

phone.jpg
 
my battery is hillarious I drive a truck for a living and all the time im inside it i charge the battery, if a unload while using spotify for 2 hours the battery is down to 50%... and when i sleep i uses Sleep Up! app for 15 minuits and after that goes to standby with a fully charged battery the phone is dead when I wakes up 7 hours later ^^ I mean its still a phone you should be able to leave your home with out a chrager for atleast a day
 
So I have original Desire battery, never had anything bad to say as after my day use I had about 40% left and I charge it at night but for about week I have some problems I charge it at night and it has less then 15% left when I get home and I dont understand why. Could it be Traffic Counter that I installed recently or that I stated to use mobile network? But I use it for about 15min in day. How do you thing what cousing this?

and sorry for my bad english
 
I have only had my desire for a couple of days. I have had a hero for around 9 months.
Re - hero - i get a day out of moderate use, and less than a day with heavy use.

Re Desire - too early to tell. What I have been doing is when i first charged it (made sure i charged it for at least 3 hours) and then since that time, I have been ensuring I completely drain the battery before recharging, this will improve the battery life after a few charges.
I have turned screen brightness down completely while indoors and I am hoping to get at least a day out of the battery. will let u know progress

General tips:

Data use and inefficient widgets are the main reasons why battery life gets drained quickly. If you turn off autosync for non vital widgets, your battery life will improve dramatically.

Most useful tip though - reduce screen brightness if you use the handset a lot, and you will find the battery life increasing significantly.

close apps that you do not need running in the background. i really like task panel lite, i move the apps i never want killed (eg touch flo) to an ignore list and there is an autokill widget that you can put on your screen that kills unnecessary background apps.

Hope that helps

Not quite right with batteries these days. you do NOT need to deplete the battery in the vain hope it'll perform better on the next charge. The reality is that you should not need to have to reduce whatever by manual intervention - that kind of defeats the object of a smartphone.

To me the thought of a smartphone lasting as long as the quoted time is utter rubbish - I'm sure there's a law somewhere about false statements. Reasonable use and a charge is needed after a day. Using GPS (unconnected to a car or battery charger) will deplete the battery ultra fast. I can remember in the past leaving my Hero unused and it lasted 3 days!

Michael
 
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