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Yet another Maxx newbie with battery issues

J

jalov

Member
Sorry to join the fray, but Ill just ask first and get it out of the way...is the ics operating system supposed to improve the battery life for a regular user?

I had a Droid 3 and was getting the same to better battery than with my maxx, and since the battery was touted as being amazing, I dont think its right to ask users to constantly monitor what apps they are using(I dont use many), turn off 4G (whats the point of having it then?) disable apps, watchdog your battery, dim your screen, etc. I tried disabling background data option that came with the phone, but I found if someone sent me an email at 9am, I would get it around 3:30pm, once again defeating the purpose of even having these options on my phone. I simply don't think its right that this much work has to go into a phone, and I'm concerned I should just take it back and get something else.

It does not seem like I am alone with all these issues. Its not the end of the world, not at all, but I was so convinced this was going to free me of having to have a charger at home, charger at my desk at work, charger in my car, and still have to worry about a low battery when I use the phone for normal usage. So again, I'll just ask the question, it is generally the consensus the ICS should improve these issues? Im not saying these things can't be prevented currently, but I am a phone novice/rookie. I have no idea what it means or what it does to root a phone, unlock a boot loader, etc. Might as well be speaking greek. Just looking for some answers for a phone simpleton.
 
4g is a battery hog plain and simple. You can't compare a 3g phone to a 4g phone simply due to the 4g radio using more power. If you think the maxx battery isn't good try using any other lte device and you will see how good it really is. Until more devices come out with integrated lte chips the battery will suffer. The s4 processor should help with that some and I would assume by next year there will be more chips with lte built in so battery should improve.
 
I got my Razr Maxx last night, plugged it in and let it charge to 100% prior to turning it on. I just plugged it back in to charge about 30 minutes ago. I got 20 hours and 36 minutes on one charge and that's downloading my apps, setting it up, couple of phone calls, lots of email, FB, and Twitter. No GPS. I'm on WiFi at home and only use 4G/3G when I'm away from home. I live in Nashville, TN which is pretty saturated with 4G so most of the time I'm using data it's 4G. I came from a Bionic with the extended battery and the Maxx easily doubles the batter life of my Bionic. I've read of others' issues with the Maxx's battery life. Wish I had the answer. I can tell you I'm floored by the battery life of my Maxx. Hope those having issues get them resolved.
 
jalov said:
Sorry to join the fray, but Ill just ask first and get it out of the way...is the ics operating system supposed to improve the battery life for a regular user?

I had a Droid 3 and was getting the same to better battery than with my maxx, and since the battery was touted as being amazing, I dont think its right to ask users to constantly monitor what apps they are using(I dont use many), turn off 4G (whats the point of having it then?) disable apps, watchdog your battery, dim your screen, etc. I tried disabling background data option that came with the phone, but I found if someone sent me an email at 9am, I would get it around 3:30pm, once again defeating the purpose of even having these options on my phone. I simply don't think its right that this much work has to go into a phone, and I'm concerned I should just take it back and get something else.

It does not seem like I am alone with all these issues. Its not the end of the world, not at all, but I was so convinced this was going to free me of having to have a charger at home, charger at my desk at work, charger in my car, and still have to worry about a low battery when I use the phone for normal usage. So again, I'll just ask the question, it is generally the consensus the ICS should improve these issues? Im not saying these things can't be prevented currently, but I am a phone novice/rookie. I have no idea what it means or what it does to root a phone, unlock a boot loader, etc. Might as well be speaking greek. Just looking for some answers for a phone simpleton.
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I would try to leave it on 3g or widow most of the time unless your like watching a movie or something where you need 4g and use juice defender It helps a little but it helps and dosent effect function to much
 
Skeeter125 said:
4g is a battery hog plain and simple. You can't compare a 3g phone to a 4g phone simply due to the 4g radio using more power. If you think the maxx battery isn't good try using any other lte device and you will see how good it really is. Until more devices come out with integrated lte chips the battery will suffer. The s4 processor should help with that some and I would assume by next year there will be more chips with lte built in so battery should improve.
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Agreed. I had the galaxy nexus and if i kept the 4g on and screen on auto I would only get 4-6 hours. I get 12-16 now, and even though it isn't as much as some people report, its good enough for me. Especially when my screen on time is usually around 4-5 hours
 
Check into how to properly "season" your battery

After breaking in I get the advertised life on my RAZR Maxx. Yesterday got up at 8:00am ran LTE all day...kid played games...watched videos...made calls...took pictures...browsed constantly and at 10:00 PM put back on charger with 20% left....
 
Praggles said:
Did you properly "season" your battery? To get the absolute most performance you should deeply discharge your battery to 10% or a little less then fully charge and leave on charger at least 8 hour for 5 full cycles. Thereafter perform a deep discharge and full recharge at least once per week. This info comes from Mugen and I follow it in all my phones religiously.

After breaking in I get the advertised life on my RAZR Maxx. Yesterday got up at 8:00am ran LTE all day...kid played games...watched videos...made calls...took pictures...browsed constantly and at 10:00 PM put back on charger with 20% left....that's performance.

Worst thing IMO you can do to your battery is short charge it. Resist the temptation to "top it off" and never run a healthy phone from the charger for extended periods...this is also the main killer of laptop batteries. The full cycling through 80% of capacity regularly is essential for long-term battery health.

So in the beginning breath deeply, exhale fully 5 times and then a couple of times a week thereafter. Two years later you will still be okay.
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That isn't right. Are you sure that information is for modern li-ion batteries? This seems like good advice for much older battery tech.
You want to avoid deep cycling the battery. one full cycle to calibrate the battery meter, and after that you want to avoid them. Smaller charging cycles are actually better than deeper, and unless it's on the charger 24/7 there really isn't any harm from keeping it on the charger.

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries
 
I def appreciate all the tips. I put on watchdog and juice defender. I don't know if I need both, or if its overkill, or even if I am using them right, but it seems to be helping. I also, sadly, turned off 4G. I guess I was taken in by all the commercials with the blazing fast speed 4G gives you, but if it kills your batter that much faster, I supposed I can wait 7 seconds rather than 4 for a web page to load up :)

Back to the original quesstion, though, will ICS improve the battery was well?
 
jalov said:
I def appreciate all the tips. I put on watchdog and juice defender. I don't know if I need both, or if its overkill, or even if I am using them right, but it seems to be helping. I also, sadly, turned off 4G. I guess I was taken in by all the commercials with the blazing fast speed 4G gives you, but if it kills your batter that much faster, I supposed I can wait 7 seconds rather than 4 for a web page to load up :)

Back to the original quesstion, though, will ICS improve the battery was well?
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Usually updates will help with battery life.
 
I have had maxx for about 2 months. Battery has been amazing, run 4g all day, full brightness, and do ANYTHING I need to from 6am til 10pm daily with 20-30% left when putting back on chrager.

Last week my battery started going noticeably faster. The only thing I did was added one app that I never used. My phone would be down to 15% by 3pm. I tried everything I could think of to figure it out, but had no luck. I came to the conclusion that something I had downloaded was eating all my battery. I deceided my only option was to do a factory reset. The next day my battery was back to normal.
Might be worth a shot especially since it sounds like you are still in the 14 day window.

I personally would not give up this phone for anything
 
bigmikey said:
I have had maxx for about 2 months. Battery has been amazing, run 4g all day, full brightness, and do ANYTHING I need to from 6am til 10pm daily with 20-30% left when putting back on chrager.

Last week my battery started going noticeably faster. The only thing I did was added one app that I never used. My phone would be down to 15% by 3pm. I tried everything I could think of to figure it out, but had no luck. I came to the conclusion that something I had downloaded was eating all my battery. I deceided my only option was to do a factory reset. The next day my battery was back to normal.
Might be worth a shot especially since it sounds like you are still in the 14 day window.

I personally would not give up this phone for anything
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Next time you can install an app like System Panel which can tell you if an app is using too many resources.
 
euph_22 said:
Next time you can install an app like System Panel which can tell you if an app is using too many resources.
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Which system panel app are you talking about? The one that has a lite version and a pay optional version that includes a task manager? Or the free one from cynax???
 
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