Battery Life

[sweat90lx]

I've been a ham radio operator 30 years it's pretty much common knowledge, I have good friends that own
battery companies, remember who invented this and most radio and electronic technologies =Ham guys

OH LAWD! but you are probably right. My dad has been into ham for a long time also AE4OF. I remember when he was doing packet(?) and building diapoles(sp?) and other anntenas between pine trees. I also have a license but havent had a radio in years

 

[RoninX]

After my first full day of use, I am very impressed.

I charged my D4 to 100% overnight, and after 12 and a half hours of moderate use, I still have 60% charge left. That was after 10 hours on 4G and 2.5 hours on WiFi. This is with fully stock settings, automatic brightness, and absolutely nothing disabled. Touchdown was also polling for new mail all day, every 10 minutes.

This answers my last remaining question about D4 performance: "Can I get through a full day of normal use without having to turn off 4G or put the phone on a charger?" The answer is a resounding "Yes!"

 

[FoxKat]

When you have a verizon wireless service rep that turns the phone on without charging it to activate it then what? You would think they know their stuff..

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Using the phone with a partial charge doesn't damage the battery. Nor does running it down to the point of powering off, as long as you don't make a habit of it. Charging it fully and draining it fully several times also doesn't increase the battery's ability to take a more complete charge. The battery will never take more charge than its first full charge. Each charging cycle will reduce its charging capacity slightly, and over time the cumulative effect is that the battery will hold less than it did initially, based on a percentage of rated capacity for a new battery.

This is a Lithium Ion Polymer battery and its chemistry is completely different than either Nickel Cadmium, Nickel-Metal Hydride, or Lead-Acid. In fact, this battery's chemistry actually prefers multiple shorter charges throughout the day (either to partially replenish or to top off), rather than fully depleting followed by one long full charge. Deliberately draining and then fully charging in multiple cycles only reduces the lifespan off the battery by the number of cycles you put it through.

Most manufacturers claim a maximum and minimum voltage of 4.23 and 3.0 volts per cell. Taking any cell outside these limits can reduce the cell's capacity and ability to deliver full rated current.

For accurate and relevant information about LIPO batteries, go to http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/charging_lithium_ion_batteries.






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[FoxKat]

I've been a ham radio operator 30 years it's pretty much common knowledge, I have good friends that own
battery companies, remember who invented this and most radio and electronic technologies =Ham guys

Sorry to disagree but I've done extensive research in the characteristics of Lithium Ion (and Lithium Ion Polymer) batteries and the scientific evidence, widely published - I might add, is the complete opposite.

What you say holds true for Nickel Cadmium batteries to a certain extent if they've been abused for multiple charge cycles by not having been drained each time before charging, a phenomenon known as voltage depression or lazy battery effect. This results from repeated overcharging; the symptom is that the battery appears to be fully charged but discharges quickly after only a brief period of operation. In some cases, much of the lost capacity can be recovered by a few deep-discharge cycles, a function often provided by automatic battery chargers.

LI & LIPO batteries don't suffer this effect and I can site many references that say to fully discharge and charge these batteries multiple times will actually negatively impact its useful life. Unlike most other rechargeable batteries, LI/LIPO batteries actually perform better over time if charged more often and in shorter charge cycles.

There's enough information that can be learned from simple Google searches to prove what I state. Just search for "charging lithium ion batteries" to see for yourself.



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[diablo85]

Awesome. Completely ignore the instructions then run back to the store and demand a new one when that messes it up. Your my hero.

When you have a verizon wireless service rep that turns the phone on without charging it to activate it then what? You would think they know their stuff..

easy on the tone there, B. never did i say i would DEMAND a new one...but i'm certainly not going to deal with about 8 hours of battery life on a single charge, especially coming from my DX on liberty getting ~2 days of battery life on it with the standard battery.

and...since its in these supposed "instructions," what book and page number did you get it from?

 

[Wrigley25]

I got mine Friday, and I am very concerned about the battery. I had an original droid, and the battery had gotten terrible. I was excited to get a new slider and have better battery life. Not working out that way.

I realize with all the bells and whistles of the phone the battery will be taxed, but so far it will die after 8-9 hours of light-moderate use. Mainly of texting, a word game and uber social app. I'm not doing a lot of browsing or calling. And it is still dying that fast.



Yesterday I only got 6.5 hours out of my battery. Wasn't watching movies, wasn't using youtube or browsing the web. Texting/UberSocial/Wordfeud/Foursquare. 6.5 hours. And I even have a GPS shortcut that I turn on and off when I use FourSquare. It's pathetic and very disappointing. And yes, I have smart actions enabled for when the battery reaches 25%. I think I am going to have to pay Verizon a visit and do something about it either trying a different Droid 4 or another device entirely ulnless you guys have some advice or reassurances.



When I bought the phone, the Verizon guy told me to let the battery die before charging it. And he said to let this happen a few times before plugging it in before death or using a car charger. I listened to him. Based on what some of you have said he sounds wrong, and I'd like to know if this could be part of the reasoning for my battery being terrible.



So in summary I guess I have the following questions:



1. Could I just have a bad battery and need a new device?

2. Did what the Verizon guy tell me to do damage the battery life of the phone?

3. As someone else asked, what do you do if Verizon turns on the device to set it up and doesn't allow you the suggestion of fully charging before booting up?

4. Does WiFi use less battery than 4G LTE?

5. Why is the Android OS using far more battery than the Display? This is a huge contrast to the Orginal Droid.

6. Tell me what to do. Please.





Thank you.

 

[FoxKat]

I got mine Friday, and I am very concerned about the battery. I had an original droid, and the battery had gotten terrible. I was excited to get a new slider and have better battery life. Not working out that way.

I realize with all the bells and whistles of the phone the battery will be taxed, but so far it will die after 8-9 hours of light-moderate use. Mainly of texting, a word game and uber social app. I'm not doing a lot of browsing or calling. And it is still dying that fast.



Yesterday I only got 6.5 hours out of my battery. Wasn't watching movies, wasn't using youtube or browsing the web. Texting/UberSocial/Wordfeud/Foursquare. 6.5 hours. And I even have a GPS shortcut that I turn on and off when I use FourSquare. It's pathetic and very disappointing. And yes, I have smart actions enabled for when the battery reaches 25%. I think I am going to have to pay Verizon a visit and do something about it either trying a different Droid 4 or another device entirely ulnless you guys have some advice or reassurances.



When I bought the phone, the Verizon guy told me to let the battery die before charging it. And he said to let this happen a few times before plugging it in before death or using a car charger. I listened to him. Based on what some of you have said he sounds wrong, and I'd like to know if this could be part of the reasoning for my battery being terrible.



So in summary I guess I have the following questions:



1. Could I just have a bad battery and need a new device?

2. Did what the Verizon guy tell me to do damage the battery life of the phone?

3. As someone else asked, what do you do if Verizon turns on the device to set it up and doesn't allow you the suggestion of fully charging before booting up?

4. Does WiFi use less battery than 4G LTE?

5. Why is the Android OS using far more battery than the Display? This is a huge contrast to the Orginal Droid.

6. Tell me what to do. Please.





Thank you.

I'll answer #2. To do what he said will not do any perceivable amount of damage to the battery, as long as it was only a few times. Unfortunately it will also do nothing to help the battery to push its charging capacity beyond where it was at point of manufacture.

Where the negative effects of such deep discharging and recharging or "cycling" are seen is over extended periods of time and multiple repeated cycling. By extending the discharge and them fully charging stresses the battery. Damage can occur with even just one extreme discharge that goes below certain voltage level thresholds. Fortunately, the charging circuitry in the phone is designed to shut the phone off long before such damage occurs. If the charging circuitry were to fail and allow such deep discharge, even once, it could render the battery irreparable and unable to take any subsequent charge.

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[fingaz]

My battery seems to be lasting over 12 hours with moderate use - Texting, web browsing, some calls, light gaming. WiFi will KILL your battery in like 2 hours. I would highly suggest to NEVER EVER use wifi. the 4g is really fast anyway. and will use up a fraction of the battery power. Also remember to kill off battery draining apps that are open in the background. And, live wall papers will drain a lot of battery, too. Also, turn off GPS when you aren't using it. Another obvious battery drain is your screen. Turn it off whenever you aren't using it.

You should be able to get a good 12 hours from one full charge. If you are not, you need to look at your usage and turn off whatever you aren't using at the moment.

 

[fingaz]

When you have a verizon wireless service rep that turns the phone on without charging it to activate it then what? You would think they know their stuff..

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I know the people at my Verizon do NOT know their stuff. First the guy couldn't find the battery and didn't believe me that it was non-removable.. and then he almost broke the battery cover trying to get it on. Totally scratched the thing up by where you put the key in to get the battery cover off. and THEN he was going through my e-mails and stuff. He said he had to send an activation e-mail... yeah, why does it take 5 minutes to do that. handed it back to me and he was in my e-mails and there was a new one that was already marked as read. he was pretty shady. I do NOT trust these "experts" with my phone... I have done more research and know more about it then they will ever know.

 

[Wrigley25]

My battery seems to be lasting over 12 hours with moderate use - Texting, web browsing, some calls, light gaming. WiFi will KILL your battery in like 2 hours. I would highly suggest to NEVER EVER use wifi. the 4g is really fast anyway. and will use up a fraction of the battery power. Also remember to kill off battery draining apps that are open in the background. And, live wall papers will drain a lot of battery, too. Also, turn off GPS when you aren't using it. Another obvious battery drain is your screen. Turn it off whenever you aren't using it.

You should be able to get a good 12 hours from one full charge. If you are not, you need to look at your usage and turn off whatever you aren't using at the moment.

Well I keep being told not to kill apps. Android just re-boots them and the re-starting of an app drains more battery than an app just idling in the background.

Apps that start despite my not using them are:

Facebook
Maps
IM
Verizon Location Agent
Email Accounts
ESPN ScoreCenter
The Weather Channel
Backup Assistant Plus
GoToMeeting
Voicemail
DataOffload

 

[B-Unit]

easy on the tone there, B. never did i say i would DEMAND a new one...but i'm certainly not going to deal with about 8 hours of battery life on a single charge, especially coming from my DX on liberty getting ~2 days of battery life on it with the standard battery.

and...since its in these supposed "instructions," what book and page number did you get it from?

Droid4 User guide, page 3, step 4 is 'Charge up' with a clock indicating you should let it go for ~3 hours.

 

[Kas84]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought Wi-Fi used up less power than 3G mode. It was my belief that since the phone is always searching for a signal in 3G, it uses up more juice than Wi-Fi. Am I incorrect about this?

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[fingaz]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought Wi-Fi used up less power than 3G mode. It was my belief that since the phone is always searching for a signal in 3G, it uses up more juice than Wi-Fi. Am I incorrect about this?

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No no no... WiFi uses tons more battery power than 3G/4G. Plus, when you have WiFi on... you still have 4g on anyway.

Granted, I have heard otherwise. But in my experience, I just turn WiFi of and leave it off.

 

[diablo85]

Droid4 User guide, page 3, step 4 is 'Charge up' with a clock indicating you should let it go for ~3 hours.

bravo. and now for you to address the second part of my original quote...

 

[km75]

No no no... WiFi uses tons more battery power than 3G/4G. Plus, when you have WiFi on... you still have 4g on anyway.

Granted, I have heard otherwise. But in my experience, I just turn WiFi of and leave it off.

Not correct. Wifi uses less battery. The problem is when you have wifi enabled but dont have a wifi signal. Then it uses more battery because the phone is constantly looking to connect to wifi. So enable wifi if it is available. But disable it when you are not in range of a wifi network. Also when using wifi you can disable data if you are concerned about wifi and 3g/4g running at the same time.

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