Related
*jump to ashtricks for immediate problems without reading software/ROM changes.
I know this is going to be made especially difficult with all the different software/combo's that can be loaded, but I have to post this up and see if any one else has seen this and if it might be hardware or software.
I have a HERMS 100 (8525). I first got the phone in April with WM5 (don't know which build they might have been on then) and which ever Radio was coming on them then. My battery would usually last 2 days with my avg use.
This has been the case threw upgrades until the last 2-3 months. I upgraded From one version of WM6 to VP3G's 2.X build of WM6 and I upgraded the radio to which ever version was the newest at that time (maybe 1.47 or 1.50). I Noticed a sudden drop in battery life, but the phone pretty much always made it a full day even with high use, so I didn't think much of it. I did notice about this time that sometimes the phone would alarm me and say it had 20% battery remaining, but if I rebooted the phone it would say 80 or 90% power remaining when it came back on and work fine the rest of the day.
The following has been over the last month. I upgraded to VP3G's 3.0 and again later to 3.6 and again to 3.62. I noticed the battery continued to degrade throughout this time. So I upgraded the radio to 1.54. The battery continued to go down hill at an even rate, but I noticed something else, the battery would not take very long to charge, but was dying faster and faster.
Well I started tracking and experimenting. Starting last week (no change in software or ROM's for the last 2 or 3 weeks) the battery would rarely make it through the day even when the phone was not in use any during the day (Granted I get no cell service at my desk at work, but I never have even back when the phone would last 2 days searching for signal). Most days last week it wouldn't make it 5 hours from being unplugged even when the phone wasn't in use. I decided to run the battery all the way down to where it wouldn't even turn the phone on anymore as I had heard sometimes you needed to do that after a rom upgrade. It did not help, but I noticed that the phone said the battery was fully charged within 2 hours from being completely dead.
*
Today was the worst, I unplugged it after being plugged in all night. Unplugged it at 6:45am. I did not use the phone, it just stayed in standby (I hadn't even taken it out of standby any today. I am at work with no service (When I say no service, I don't mean sometimes it finds something, I mean no cell service from any carrier makes it past 10 feet of the front doors entering the building and I am about 150 feet from the closest wall to the outside). I grab the phone at around 10:30am to check on a meeting notice, clicked on the phone to wake up and the battery alarm alerted and the battery said I only had 20% power remaining. In 5 minutes of doing what I was doing the battery had gone down to 10% remaining (so the phone went from lost 90% of it's power, never being used in less then 4 hours). I went back to my desk, plugged the phone back in and within an hour I noticed the amber light on the front that I relate it to telling me it's charging had turned green, I unplugged it and checked it and the battery said it was full 100%. Could the battery really charge that fast?
*
I know this would be easier if I could remember what radio and what version of WM5 came on this phone and loaded it back on and I am in the middle of downgrading the radio since I had ran WM6 with no battery issues separate from WM5 until I did that one upgrade with the radio. I guess I am curious if this could be a hardware (phone or battery) where it's not charging fully or if this seems to be a software issue.
I know all the factors that can be involved make this hard, but thanks for any responses you guys can give.
ok, how about this one, Is my battery screwed? I notice while I am using the phone the battery gets really hot. Today it did the same thing of all of a sudden saying I had 10% power after only using it for 5 mintues, rebooted the phone and now I am back to 70%.
Hi,
There's a lot on here about this problem. Have you read the wiki?
Some solutions you might try:
- turn wifi off.
- turn off all beams
- put in the fake server trick.
- search to see if you have any software that continuously polls the battery or is seeking an exchange server
- ensure all your apps fully close rather than minimise
- invest in a new battery.
WB
Thanks, I have gone through the wiki Continuasly since I got the phone in April, but with all the stuff out there, I could have easily missed something.
- turn wifi off - Never turn it on
- turn off all beams - Beaming disabled
- put in the fake server trick - Have to research that one
- search to see if you have any software that continuously polls the battery or is seeking an exchange server - have to check, don't have exchange server setup. I do have it checking emails every 15 minutes, but I never had any issues with that setting and the battery lasting a couple of days
- ensure all your apps fully close rather than minimise - X button set to close not minimize and I often check it to see whats running.
- invest in a new battery. - Will be doing that next. Just waiting to see what case I might get for Christmas.
Thanks again, I will research those other items.
I had a similar problem where the stock battery would only ever last for ~7-8 hours - even on standby. I got an extended life 3000mAh battery and that managed to last for about 14 hours.
I had a talk to HTC and they agreed to warranty claim it. I'm still waiting for it back... It was sent back to them on 14/11, and I'm still waiting.
Stop your device checking for emails for a few days and ses what happens. Definitely install the fake server trick. Activesync continuosly trying to do its dirty work can be a pain in the arsenal, at times.
Let us know how you get on.
WB
wacky.banana said:
Stop your device checking for emails for a few days and ses what happens. Definitely install the fake server trick. Activesync continuosly trying to do its dirty work can be a pain in the arsenal, at times.
Let us know how you get on.
WB
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I turned off email checks last night and disabled the radio this morning so it wouldn't search for signal when coming to work and set the phone on my desk. I never used it this morning, just had it sitting on my desk in standby, until about 4 hours after I took it off the charger and the phone buzzed me and when I checked the phone the battery said 0% remaining and the phone cut off a few seconds later (now I am sure if I would have turned it back on the battery would say something like 70%, but I didn't do that this time). I left the phone off and plugged it into the computer to charge, the LED on the front come on amber for about 20 minutes then went to green. I turned the phone on and it says 100%. I don't see how the battery went from 0 to 100 in a matter of 20 minutes.
I did a lot of searching the last couple of days and phone issues from email to bad manufactured batteries (which I happen to have the brand someone suggested as a bad one), I also saw people pointing out do the fake server trick, yet I can't find a single time where anyone said what the trick is or how to do it. Not even in the WIKI where the trick was mentioned as a possible fix (or google for that matter, just the same words first posted in a thread here about it).
So, how do you do this server trick?
I plan to get a new battery after Christmas at any rate.
Check this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=338421&highlight=fake+server+trick
I was having the same battery drain problem (less than 8 hrs on a full charge), I did the fake server and turned off auto day light saving time checking the clock settings, I now get 12 - 15 hrs on a full charge.
I'm running vp3G's 3.62.3 AT&T ROM with radio 1.54.07.00
Thanks! I was just finishing flashing a new ROM when I saw this. I did the fake server trick, but this rom doesn't have the Dya Light Savings time option where the instructions say it should be. Maybe that's all removed by this rom. TIme will tell.
Thanks again.
@ Firehawkns
hey buddy!!
I am using a JasJam for the last 2 months. i dont know if my reply is useful to you or not. As far as battery life is concerned am impressed with mine. Am using TNT's latest ROM and my radio version is 1.54.07.00. I use my phone all day with couple of calls that last about 2-3 min each. But every night I get calls from my gf, to whom I talk for 3 hours straight(mostly starting from 11pm to 2 am) and every day I put my phone to charge after I finish the call. So after finishing the call I still have 50% of battery. Moreover our call starts right after I leave work at 11pm so by the time I reach home which is around 11.30pm my phone connects to wifi too. So all the time am on the call as well as an active wifi connection.
So as per my experience the battery life is cool. So try TNT ROM!!!
Interestingly enough, now I've got my phone back from the warranty claim, it's only drawing 81mA with backlight on, no wifi or BT. Before sending it back, it was drawing ~180mA with backlight on, no wifi or BT.
This will just about double the battery life that I get in theory...
Install BatteryStatus on your device and see what it tells you.
That is a cool program.
First off I really hope it isn't the phone, for one it's my third one from Cingular since the first two died within 2 weeks (back in may), second it's got one big gash down the corner where it came out of the holder and hit the road one day. I think that would be just enough reason for them to not do anything with it.
Anyway, I am going to replace the battery because I can't figure out why the phone is doing things like saying it has 20% batt remaing, then I reboot and it goes to 70%. I am hoping this is a battery issue. So far the phone has been unplugged for a tad less then one hour, has not been used and the battery meter is on 90%.
Battery Status is a kick butt program and I plan to do some searching today to see if people have benchmarked there ratings/draw. I notice mine jumps randomly. With wifi, BT, all programs all terminated, backlight on the lowest it will go and radio has one bar 3g sometimes, two bars Edge sometimes, but didn't change during watching this list below, but the MA does this every 5 second refresh:
111--190----125-----109----250----210-----140----135----226---111---etc.
I am currently running a barebones fresh flash WM6 rom with nothing installed except Cingulars media net/ISP settings, radio is 1.47.10. Going to try 1.50 today I think.
I turned the radio off just now and the MA went down (expected) to 84 and is jumping between that and 104. The battery has dropped to 80% since I listed 90 above. The phone has now been unplugged for right at an hour. Also it might be interesting to note that the little battery percent/bar icon on the "Battery Status" software once in a while will display -1% like it is right now, the phones battery display says 80% and when I tap the battery icon on battery status it jumps to 80%.
Anyway, I am just listing points since this thread is here, I know I need to replace the battery first before any additional insight can be brought forward.
Thanks everyone.
Hmm.. On my Schaps 4.22full, radio 1.54.00 on good reception (on Finnish network) I get around 30 mA with GSM and 3G when idling(no wifi, no bluetooth, no beam, backlight around halfway). With airplane mode on I get around 28 mA. Tried with backlight dimmest and the drain was 15mA on GSM network.
Usually I put the 3G off so the battery would last longer.
The phone takes more power when searching the network so it would be a good idea trying to switch the phone part off at your office.
Well, looks like it was indeed the battery. Over the last week the phone would randomly shut off (about 4 times a day), the battery would be at 10% within 4 hours even if the phone hadn't been used, and while using the phone you could almost watch the battery go from 90% to 30% within a 5 minute talk time, reboot the phone and it would be back at 80%.
Put in the new battery yesterday after charging over night and the phone not only didn't shut off at any point, but I had 60% power remaining by the end of the day (with some data and voice use).
The old battery was a Dynapack from China, that I had read on here is prone to defects.
Thanks for the help everyone, wish I would have gotten a new batt sooner.
I know that battery life has been a hot topic among EVO 4G users. I have seen both sides of the spectrum with some getting an entire day or more out of their phones, while some, like myself, see 5-7 hours at the most. I finally went to my local Sprint Store/Repair Center where I was told that my battery life was "normal" and that EVO users should "except to charge your phone two or three times a day". Then the rep handed me a spare battery at no charge to me and told me to have a nice day.
So, here's the deal. I am a non-rooted, non-anything user. Is the only way to see a 24 hour charge to root my phone and flash a custom ROM? He did mention that Froyo would "increase your battery life a lot". Whenever that's going to happen. Sorry to add another thread on battery life, but I want to make an informed decision, as well as know if this rep was just brushing me off with 5-7 hour being "normal" and then handing me an extra battery for free.
So you got a free battery and all it cost you was having to talk to a fool? Sounds good to me.
I routinely charge every other night with my moderate usage. 5-7 hours would only make sense if I was streaming Pandora all day with 1 bar.
5-7 hrs? are you constantly downloading things? heavy usage? or just on stand-by most of the time? if your using your phone casually, like 3-4 calls ~ 15-20 min each call and have emails coming in at about 2-3/hr and you surf the web about 1hr/day on your phone... 5-7 hrs is not very good... usually you would need to make calls that are 30+ min with heavy browser usage and be in a really ****ty signal area while playing games and texting every 5minutes for you to get such ****ty battery life... there are a lot of forums out there with tips/tricks in improving battery life so don't expect people to start posting them here as there are THOUSANDS of posts on battery life on androidcentral.com and other such sites...
good luck... you should be able to get at least 12hrs on one charge with little to moderate usage -- again google and read for forums out there as there is a TON of information.
I'm curious, are you in a 4G or 3G area? if you have 4G on where there is no 4G, your phone will constantly search for a 4G signal, same with wifi. I find that 3G is pretty fast where I live. 1.2MB down. so I never really turn on 4G or wifi. I've been getting about 14-20 hrs depending on use, but that was only the few times I made it through a day without plugging it in to add music, or try to root it (without success) and stuff. today I unplugged it at 9:40 am, and have been using it pretty heavy. about 15 minutes of streaming video, 45 minutes of music playback, 35 minutes of internet use, constant messaging, some pictures, google talk, fringe running, as well as qik in the background, actually all kind of apps pop up in the background. I am at 50% battery at 5:00 pm. I think that's not bad compared to the N1 I just sold. I will say that I think Advanced Task Killer, from the markets probably helps the battery life. I highly recommend it. make sure you set it up to auto kill apps in the background. I think I get a couple of extra hours this way.
Found on Android Central Forum: (and it works, I get about 15-18 hours)
CHARGING EVO BATTERY FOR MAXIMUM LIFE:
You can charge your battery the following way to see if that helps improve the battery life on your device.
1.Connect the phone to the charger and charge the device until the LED turned green with the phone powered ON
2.Disconnect the phone, and power it OFF.
3.Reconnect the phone to the charger, and charge the device until the LED turns green again.
4.Disconnect the phone, power it ON and then power it OFF.
5.Reconnect the phone to the charger and charge until the LED turns green again.
6.Power ON and use.
My battery appears to have the same issue as well. My backlight is at 8%, auto sync is disabled for all services, always on mobile data is disabled, my network is set to CDMA, I'm not overclocked at all. I've done all the other battery saving tricks and I've done all the battery charging tricks.
I played Raging Thunder 2 for less than half an hour this afternoon, and my battery dropped down to 58%. I'm aware that games are pretty intensive, but isn't this a bit much?
EVOKeith said:
I know that battery life has been a hot topic among EVO 4G users. I have seen both sides of the spectrum with some getting an entire day or more out of their phones, while some, like myself, see 5-7 hours at the most. I finally went to my local Sprint Store/Repair Center where I was told that my battery life was "normal" and that EVO users should "except to charge your phone two or three times a day". Then the rep handed me a spare battery at no charge to me and told me to have a nice day.
So, here's the deal. I am a non-rooted, non-anything user. Is the only way to see a 24 hour charge to root my phone and flash a custom ROM? He did mention that Froyo would "increase your battery life a lot". Whenever that's going to happen. Sorry to add another thread on battery life, but I want to make an informed decision, as well as know if this rep was just brushing me off with 5-7 hour being "normal" and then handing me an extra battery for free.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Holy ****!
I'm not a "heavy user" and I turn off all sync and radios until I need them. In this state the phone will still recieve phone calls and text msgs. I turn on either wifi or mobile network access when I want to surf and enable bluetooth when I drive to connect to hand free in the car. I turn everything off when I'm done using each. I have all the power widgets right on my home screen so it only takes a second to turn on/off as needed. Using this way I have gone over 3 days before charging several times. I know this doesn't work for everyone, but I'd rather decide when I'm going to use my phone for what than to be at the beck and call of my phone. YMMV
GaryJ51 said:
I'm not a "heavy user" and I turn off all sync and radios until I need them. In this state the phone will still recieve phone calls and text msgs. I turn on either wifi or mobile network access when I want to surf and enable bluetooth when I drive to connect to hand free in the car. I turn everything off when I'm done using each. I have all the power widgets right on my home screen so it only takes a second to turn on/off as needed. Using this way I have gone over 3 days before charging several times. I know this doesn't work for everyone, but I'd rather decide when I'm going to use my phone for what than to be at the beck and call of my phone. YMMV
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why don't you just use it normally and charge each night?
Just lazy.
Yeah, I've done all the tips and tricks and charge with power on the power off and charge, wash, rinse, repeat. Nothing works. I'm curious to see if the "free" battery they gave me will last longer.
I was in the same boat as you.
I have a fix and it should work.
turn on always on mobile data and enable auto sync
I posted a thread about getting rediculous battery and someone told me to do that and it worked.
go to settings all the way to the bottom to about phone Ans then choose battery. I bet ur up time and away time are the same. if they are that means something is keeping your phone on even tho the screen is off. doing what I told you above with a restart should fix the problem. also when you restart it its not going to instantly go to sleep leave your phone for like an hour and then check the up and awake time and it should be different. hope that helps.
and enable data when roaming.
Without specifics about what you have the phone doing and what kind of signal you have at home/work/etc, this is a totally irrelevant discussion. In my experience, the only thing that actually kills the battery quickly on the Evo or any other phone is poor cell signal.
I get well over a day on my evo... Running the netarchy kernel along with setcpu profiles. I have my phone set to clock to a max of about 384mhz when the phone screen is off.
I did the battery recharge trick and it helped a lot. I also have my display timeout set to 30 seconds.
5-7 hours before i rooted i would get 10-12 easy since rooting and loaded the.bakedsnackes rom i get avg 19 hours
sent with my evo from a secret place
Dump the Mail app and use Gmail to pop your accounts
If you are using the MAIL app that comes with the OS, that is likely the culprit. Especially if you are syncing more that one account. That can kill the battery very fast.
**try using the gmail app, and set it up so that it pops your pop mail accounts for you and pushes them to your phone. Then disable the built-in mail app and never use it again. This alone should double your battery life. It worked on the Hero and it works in the Evo.**
Do you by any chance use Yelp? I did an experiment last week with Yelp. Without the Yelp service running in the background, I would lose less than 8% of my battery overnight. With the Yelp service in the background, I lost about 50%. I've emailed Yelp to see if they can disable the Yelp service if I don't login to my Yelp account through the app.
Putting my phone on wifi made it so in the morning (4 hrs of low signal then to 50% battery), I put ti on the school's wifi and it was 80%.
tadtam said:
Found on Android Central Forum: (and it works, I get about 15-18 hours)
CHARGING EVO BATTERY FOR MAXIMUM LIFE:
You can charge your battery the following way to see if that helps improve the battery life on your device.
1.Connect the phone to the charger and charge the device until the LED turned green with the phone powered ON
2.Disconnect the phone, and power it OFF.
3.Reconnect the phone to the charger, and charge the device until the LED turns green again.
4.Disconnect the phone, power it ON and then power it OFF.
5.Reconnect the phone to the charger and charge until the LED turns green again.
6.Power ON and use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would avoid doing this. Lithium-Ion Batteries (found in the Evo and almost all other phones and laptops) can only go through a certain number of charge cycles. This method will not help prolong battery life.
I'll post everything I've tried and everything that's gone wrong here.
So initially I purchased this phone off of a friend nearly brand new, the screen had broken and had been replaced. Otherwise the phone is in perfect factory condition.
I unlocked the phone, and am using it on Rogers. APN settings working perfectly.
I installed GOLauncherEX on the phone as Motoblur wasn't doing it for me.
Battery life was crap (lasting hardly 3 hours and dying while I sleep). I found that Motoblur HOME had been running alongside GOLauncherEX. At first I simply uninstalled the third-party launcher, but then opted to grab LauncherPro+ and HomeSwitcher. This dramatically improved battery life.
Lately, I've been having issues once in awhile again. Mostly if I leave the phone unplugged while I'm sleeping (fully charged when unplugged) and we'll use the timeline 3am - 11am. It would either die completely or drop to around 15%.
As long as I could have enough charge to last me through work, I was fine with this as it was way better than what had been happening before.
This morning something extreme and unexplainable happened.. and it's the first time I took a look at the battery usage meter to see what had happened. Picture is below.
If someone could offer some tips or help that would benefit me even the slightest, it would be very much appreciated.
My bad for sneaking a link in, but it was the only way to show the issue.
a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/390662_10150380313609839_506884838_8126371_1297964124_n.jpg
(Remove the space between 1297964 and 124 at the end)
Oh and also, phone is rooted, bloatware is frozen via Titanium Backup Pro.
Have you recalibrated?
WiredPirate said:
Have you recalibrated?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have any suggestions as to what to use to calibrate?
I'm not keen on flashing any new roms if that makes a difference.
SL1VR said:
Do you have any suggestions as to what to use to calibrate?
I'm not keen on flashing any new roms if that makes a difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Calibrating is something you may need to do after flashing a ROM, you can search and find a guide or you can use this app.
I have not flashed any new roms and I don't intend on doing so, but I'll check out the app you posted.
Thanks for your help,
any new ideas are still welcome.
The benefits of battery calibration are not limited to only if you flash a new ROM. Battery calibration should be the first thing you try if you are experiencing battery troubles imo, and there is allot more in depth information in the guides you could search for.
There is one more thing I can think of you can try, download Watchdog and see if there are any malicious or poorly written apps burning up your cpu/battery.
WiredPirate said:
The benefits of battery calibration are not limited to only if you flash a new ROM. Battery calibration should be the first thing you try if you are experiencing battery troubles imo, and there is allot more in depth information in the guides you could search for.
There is one more thing I can think of you can try, download Watchdog and see if there are any malicious or poorly written apps burning up your cpu/battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your help, grabbing Watchdog now.
Maybe unlock the bootloader and flash a custom rom?
Go into account and sync and shut off background data. I was getting. 10-12 hours battery life and now over 30 by just doing that. Worked for a buddy at work too.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
Radio is key. After I flashed radio 1.77.30p, my phone can easily using 3 days without freeze anything.
Do not use 1.97 radio and don't use task killers. 2.3.4 gingerbread does a much better job of killing tasks than Froyo did and it's unnecessary. Also, turning off background data is not necessary.
Phalanx7621 said:
Do not use 1.97 radio and don't use task killers. 2.3.4 gingerbread does a much better job of killing tasks than Froyo did and it's unnecessary. Also, turning off background data is not necessary.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would say it is. Apps including google will try and update and locate your phone via 3g and gps when its sitting there idle. Its not necessary if you only install apps that dont use background data, or disable them individually but some dont allow it.
I still was able to get 15 hours with data enabled and over 30 with it disabled. There is a huge difference there. I just have to open my yahoo now to update it which I dont mind.
While I appreciate everyone's replies and help, has anyone actually looked at the picture I posted?
As much as I am most definitely interested in prolonging my battery life, that picture is showing a sudden drop from 70% to completely dead, idling, screen off, while I'm asleep.
SL1VR said:
While I appreciate everyone's replies and help, has anyone actually looked at the picture I posted?
As much as I am most definitely interested in prolonging my battery life, that picture is showing a sudden drop from 70% to completely dead, idling, screen off, while I'm asleep.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would purchase a new battery from Motorola, It looks like your battery has one or more bad cells in it. Only thing that really explains it. Even with everything turned ON as far as data - the battery should not drop that far that fast.
i'm not entirely sure whats going on with the charge level dropping so sharply. Either something is draining your battery big time or the readout when it says 100% is incorrect.
I had issues with the battery up time as well. In my case, the battery wouldnt last more than 8-9 hours. I had to charge it two times a day. Once overnight so its 100% when i go to work and again as soon as i get home. If i charged to 100%, unplugged and went to bed, it would be at 15-20% when i woke up.
The last time i went abroad, i left the radio turned off completely. I noticed that the battery held its charge for about a day and a half.
Now i did root, unlock the BL and install CM7 on my phone. It seemed better but not that much. After i setup the phone to NOT use my 3G data connection while my wifi was on, i noticed that i was getting great battery life when i was at home but still rubbish at work.
I'm doing a test right now to see if this makes a difference or not. I have turned off data on my phone all together this morning. I charged it to 100%. Normally after 6 hours at work, my phone is at about 30-35%
Right now its sitting at 75%
the 3g is whats killing the battery, on my phone anyway. I will see how long the battery lasts without turning on my data at all. Then i will compare that with how its like with background data turned off.
I would suggest you try re-calibrating your phone's battery, i use battery calibration from the market. Then either turn data off altogether like i have or just turn background data off as the others have suggested and see what kind of a difference it makes.
While i realize you dont want to, it may help further to have a ROM like CM7 installed as it wont have all the bloatware that can further reduce the performance of your phone. You should definitely give turning the data off a go to see its the culprit before you go spend money on a new battery which may or may not fix the problem.
Best to isolate the root cause before you spend money on fixing it. If turning off the data doesnt do it, then you very well may have a battery problem.
Routaran said:
i'm not entirely sure whats going on with the charge level dropping so sharply. Either something is draining your battery big time or the readout when it says 100% is incorrect.
I had issues with the battery up time as well. In my case, the battery wouldnt last more than 8-9 hours. I had to charge it two times a day. Once overnight so its 100% when i go to work and again as soon as i get home. If i charged to 100%, unplugged and went to bed, it would be at 15-20% when i woke up.
The last time i went abroad, i left the radio turned off completely. I noticed that the battery held its charge for about a day and a half.
Now i did root, unlock the BL and install CM7 on my phone. It seemed better but not that much. After i setup the phone to NOT use my 3G data connection while my wifi was on, i noticed that i was getting great battery life when i was at home but still rubbish at work.
I'm doing a test right now to see if this makes a difference or not. I have turned off data on my phone all together this morning. I charged it to 100%. Normally after 6 hours at work, my phone is at about 30-35%
Right now its sitting at 75%
the 3g is whats killing the battery, on my phone anyway. I will see how long the battery lasts without turning on my data at all. Then i will compare that with how its like with background data turned off.
I would suggest you try re-calibrating your phone's battery, i use battery calibration from the market. Then either turn data off altogether like i have or just turn background data off as the others have suggested and see what kind of a difference it makes.
While i realize you dont want to, it may help further to have a ROM like CM7 installed as it wont have all the bloatware that can further reduce the performance of your phone. You should definitely give turning the data off a go to see its the culprit before you go spend money on a new battery which may or may not fix the problem.
Best to isolate the root cause before you spend money on fixing it. If turning off the data doesnt do it, then you very well may have a battery problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll definitely try everything you've mentioned, I did calibrate my battery since I first started this topic. I'm not sure if there's a difference, if there is, it isn't noticeable. My phone died last night, and I charged it overnight again so I haven't had a chance to see if what happened the other night will happen again. Soon enough, I'll post details if I notice anything peculiar.
Since you said you bought the phone off a friend I would like to make sure you have the right battery.
The battery "must" be of the following to show the right charge level, otherwise it might appear the battery discharging very quickly.
The part/model no.: SNN5893A
Manufacturing Date: ??/April/2011 or onwards
In regards to the poster above who mentioned shutting off background data, my phone lasts 17-19 hours running CM7 with nothing frozen, background data on, and I record quite a bit of video + pictures every day. I don't use task killers either. So I'm thinking that maybe the background data thing is either actually covering up a radio problem, a carrier issue, previous ROM information leaking through, or a faulty battery as stated above that could possibly need replaced.
I've been using the Aria for 2 years now, and just 2 days ago I ran into an unexpected battery drainage problem.
1. When I am speaking during a call and not holding the phone close to my ear, the proximity sensor is not always triggered which causes the screen to stay on. While the screen is on, the battery drains 1% every minute (or every 30s). When I turn the screen off, the drainage is fine.
2. When I receive text messages (voicemails from my landline trigger a text message on my Aria), the battery drainage is very bad (1% per minute or 30s).
I never use data networks (turned off), background data and autosync are both turned off, gps is always off, wifi is always off, screen brightness is always custom at the 3rd lowest brightness setting. Basically, I try to conserve battery life and only use the phone for talking.
When I looked at battery usage, it was mostly due to Android System, Voice Calls, and Cell Standby.
I'm running the very old Liberty Froyo Rom (the version released like 2 years ago) and the default CM7 kernel. Also, I upgraded to the newest radio to fix this problem, but it didn't seem to make a difference. I don't think these things should be causing the problems since it only occurred 2 days ago while these things have been constant.
Any ideas what is going on or what I can do to make my phone last longer? Talking on the phone for 30 min from full charge takes my phone down to 25%...
honestly at this point my battery meter is completely wonky. the percents mean nothing now. i still get roughly the same battery life but it'll burn through large chunks of percentage in minutes but sit at a single percent for hours or active use.
i'd say try a new battery
If you've got clockworkmod installed, boot into recovery and wipe battery stats. If you're still experiencing this, try a different rom. I've been using CyanogenMod 7 for a long time with no issues.
If this fails, it's probably your battery. It might just be pooped out. If you get a new one always buy and OEM battery! Don't get anything off-brand.
really? its about the battery? not the OS itself?
after 2 years of use it's safe to assume that it's the battery and no necessarily the rom.
2 years with the same battery? old battery i say and is usually the life expectancy with it. i say you get a new battery. or try charging your battery all the way full. wipe the battery stats. then let your phone die, then completely recharge it all the way up again. that worked for me.
Battery life with ANY Android phone is hit and miss, but the Aria is notoriously terrible with it. However, there are several "tweaks" you could do to help it (note: I said help, not fix.). Beyond the basic system setting adjustments, I have found the "Die Hard Battery Calibrator" script by zeppelinrox to be helpful. Look for his V6 SuperCharger thread here on XDA to find it (as well as other useful scripts). Of course, the usual caveats apply: S-OFF, root, magic powers, etc.
First to clarify my question: I'm not asking how to prevent the daily battery drain in a poor-signal area. It definitely happens unless the phone is switched to airplane mode. My question is how to avoid the shortening of the battery life in the long run if the phone has to be used in such condition.
My workplace is basically a signal black hole to any carrier. With T-mobile I got no service for most of the time but I can occasionally send/receive text messages/emails say every 15 minutes with flimsy connection. There is absolute no way to make a phone call, so I usually walk outside when needed. I don't have WiFi neither so I prefer to keep the phone on to stay on the grid. However my concern is doing so will shorten the battery life eventually due to the constant power draining and recharging, so I come up with some ways for such condition. Please suggest which you think will do the least harm to battery and allow me to receive email and text.
1. Use it normally. It usually consumes 60% of the battery just sitting on my desk throughout the day. I can actually live with it be cause the battery is large enough for me to waste this way. But it harms the battery life without a doubt.
2. Use it with a charger plugged on my desk for most of the time, so it will supply the power for signal searching. Usually if you keep a battery at full charge all the time, it dies soon due to "slacking." My laptop has this problem and its battery basically serves as a UPS now. I have less concern for a phone because it will still be recharged daily.
3. Use an NFC tag to tell the phone it's in the office, and then use some software to prevent the draining like Tasker/Juice Defender. That makes most sense but I haven't have figure out the profiles. I've used Tasker before (thought it's too complicated) and NFC is totally new to me. I would like to take some suggestions if you have done something similar.
Thanks!
wawacoffee said:
First to clarify my question: I'm not asking how to prevent the daily battery drain in a poor-signal area. It definitely happens unless the phone is switched to airplane mode. My question is how to avoid the shortening of the battery life in the long run if the phone has to be used in such condition.
My workplace is basically a signal black hole to any carrier. With T-mobile I got no service for most of the time but I can occasionally send/receive text messages/emails say every 15 minutes with flimsy connection. There is absolute no way to make a phone call, so I usually walk outside when needed. I don't have WiFi neither so I prefer to keep the phone on to stay on the grid. However my concern is doing so will shorten the battery life eventually due to the constant power draining and recharging, so I come up with some ways for such condition. Please suggest which you think will do the least harm to battery and allow me to receive email and text.
1. Use it normally. It usually consumes 60% of the battery just sitting on my desk throughout the day. I can actually live with it be cause the battery is large enough for me to waste this way. But it harms the battery life without a doubt.
2. Use it with a charger plugged on my desk for most of the time, so it will supply the power for signal searching. Usually if you keep a battery at full charge all the time, it dies soon due to "slacking." My laptop has this problem and its battery basically serves as a UPS now. I have less concern for a phone because it will still be recharged daily.
3. Use an NFC tag to tell the phone it's in the office, and then use some software to prevent the draining like Tasker/Juice Defender. That makes most sense but I haven't have figure out the profiles. I've used Tasker before (thought it's too complicated) and NFC is totally new to me. I would like to take some suggestions if you have done something similar.
Thanks!
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Click to collapse
Isn't the issue with batteries related to cycles? I'm not sure it matters that you end up with 40% of battery at the end of the day vs 15% when you charge it up. A cycle is a cycle, more or less I think.
If you don't believe the first point, I also don't think that research really shows that leaving a lithium ion battery plugged in "all" the time has major detrimental effects, and even if it did you would still be using the battery for a good deal of the day, at least the time you're not at work right?
I feel like you might be a little too worried about it.
kanetheninja said:
Isn't the issue with batteries related to cycles? I'm not sure it matters that you end up with 40% of battery at the end of the day vs 15% when you charge it up. A cycle is a cycle, more or less I think.
If you don't believe the first point, I also don't think that research really shows that leaving a lithium ion battery plugged in "all" the time has major detrimental effects, and even if it did you would still be using the battery for a good deal of the day, at least the time you're not at work right?
I feel like you might be a little too worried about it.
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Click to collapse
About the charging cycle, I read something here: http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries. Basically it shows deep charging cycles has more detrimental effects on the battery capacity. My point was if the battery is cycled deeply everyday, it is under much more stress compared to those working with good signals.
Maybe I worry too much but I feel really bad just to see my phone sitting there wasting a lot of battery.
I have had the same problem with you as my office is underground.
From my experience, it's best to turn off data. You can turn off the radio all together, but I guess you still want to have signal where you can.
This can be automated by Taker (haven't used) or Juice Defender. I don't know if Juice Defender Free can do this (it should), but Juice Defender Ultimate have an option to turn off wifi and data when the screen is off.
Having the charger next to your desk is also a viable option. But rather than plugging it all the time, you should charge when it is needed.
Edit: as discussed elsewhere, you should not try to do full charges (0-100%) as this would not work out well for you at office as well as it it will shorten battery life.
Edit 2: Juice Defender Ultimate
=> Enable Advance profile (Status Tab)
=> Go to Control Tab
=> Enable Mobile Data and Wifi control (first and third option)
wawacoffee said:
About the charging cycle, I read something here: http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries. Basically it shows deep charging cycles has more detrimental effects on the battery capacity. Mypoint was if the battery is cycled deeply everyday. it is under much more stress compared to those working with good signals.
Maybe I worry too much but I feel really bad just to see my phone sitting there wasting a lot of battery.
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Can you try only charging your phone at work? From the options you've listed,leaving it plugged in seems like the best option at work seems like the best option. Assuming you currently only charge your phone once a day, it shouldn't make much difference to switch the charging time to during the work day.This way your peak energy usage will fall on a time when you have unlimited power available and you should have enough battery to go home and come back.
build.prop tweak
There is a build.prop tweak but I can't guarantee that it works.
You can try it out and tell us about it :fingers-crossed:
http://www.s3forums.com/forum/galaxy-s3-hacking-mods/474-list-some-build-prop-tweaks.html
#improve battery under no signal
ro.mot.eri.losalert.delay=1000
The number value is how often to re-connect to the tower. A phone in a poor connection area will
attempt to reconnect all the time, draining the battery. It's in milliseconds so 1000 = 1sec. I wouldn't
exceed 2sec but you already knew you are on your own with this one.
I have the exact problem at work.
My question is if I connect the phone to the charger at work, will the phone runs on the juice from the charger or from the battery? If it runs on the juice from the charger (like laptops), that should have minimum effect to the battery. If it uses the battery and the charger just charges the battery then the battery life will be cut in half (2 charge per day instead of 1 charge per day).
I have terrible signal at work and my Inspire has a small battery. My phone is in power save by lunch. I charge mine during lunch every day and leave it on the charger at night. I generally will not plug it in if I can't charge it all the way up. My original battery is now 18 months old and works as well as it did new. Other Inspire/DHD users have had to replace batteries in less than 12 months, so I don't think my charging cycle variations have harmed it too much.
It only has to last until after the holidays when I can order my N4. Even if I had to try to push it to 2 years, I think I wouldn't worry too much.
Also, by the time it is not under warranty, the batteries will be cheap and will always be easier to change than an iPhone.
Sent using the power of the dark side.
Thanks everyone. Based on the discussion I think I will just use it normally and charge whenever needed. The phone should be my slave not the other way around. I'm not planning to root it, at least not now, so I won't change the build.prop.
I did tried Juice Defender yesterday. It slowed down the battery drain but not very impressively, because it only turns off the data not the entire cellular radio. I installed the app during lunch so you can see the difference from the middle of the day. Google+ was a real ***** because it tried to upload my camera photos with such connection... I turned it off too so it also helped.
"Android OS" should not be this active.
It's possible that you have some background process draining the battery. Try disabling as many services as you can.
If you have Wifi at work try turning it ON. If not then turn your Mobile Data OFF like KyraOfFire suggested.
I get weak signal at my work as well. Thankfully, we have WiFi, so I usually force my phone to use 2g then connect to WiFi. :good:
-Mindroid- said:
"Android OS" should not be this active.
It's possible that you have some background process draining the battery. Try disabling as many services as you can.
If you have Wifi at work try turning it ON. If not then turn your Mobile Data OFF like KyraOfFire suggested.
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I don't have Wifi unfortunately. I will look into Android OS later on.