Battery life after the update.

[Lobstar]

I've been a heavy user of my Droid for a while now, and with the same app load out as I had prior to 2.1, I'm noticing my battery life is horrible. I went from a full day draining me to only 30% or so to having to charge back to 100% multiple times a day. I also have noticed that if I get the 15% warning, if I restart my phone I magically have charged it back to about 40-50%.

My question is this: Does anyone have a similar story/issue and have you been able to nail it down?

(I'm sorry if this is a repeat, but I've searched and have come back empty of any real information to the problem.)

 

[Papachabre]

I use mine quite a bit as well. Yesterday I lost 40% over a 12-hour period, and it's updated to 2.1.

Did you try calibrating the battery? I.e. draining it to the point where the phone shuts itself down and then charging it for two additional hours after it reads 100%. I did that before the update and noticed an improvement; the phone ran on empty for over an hour all the while I was running Pandora and YouTube to try to drain the battery :icon_eek:.

 

[hookbill]

One of the main things this update did was improve battery life. It's discussed quite a bit throughout the Forum threads. I would like you to look at the following: http://support.vzw.com/pdf/system_update/moto_droid.pdf.

This has been posted many times in the Droid Forum.

 

[Hines]

I read a thread yesterday about someone using Apollo Task Killer to automatically kill background apps when your phone goes into it's usual suspend mode.

I just installed this program last night, so I can't give any real-life proof yet.

 

[mikehal38]

My battery is doing the same thing, although mine is lasting much longer than before the update. I use my phone as an mp3 player and before the 2.1 update I would have to charge my phone during lunch in order for it to last 8 hours at work. Now it is making it about all day with heavy use without charging during lunch.

 

[OyVOid]

My battery is doing the same thing, although mine is lasting much longer than before the update. I use my phone as an mp3 player and before the 2.1 update I would have to charge my phone during lunch in order for it to last 8 hours at work. Now it is making it about all day with heavy use without charging during lunch.

I am glad to hear that because I use my Droid as my music player everyday at work and I found my battery drain was ridiculous. I had to keep it on the charger every three hours. I just installed the 2.1 update and hope the battery life will improve.

 

[zasran]

Why are you pointing to http://support.vzw.com/pdf/system_update/moto_droid.pdf It does not mention battery life.

ero

 

[Lobstar]

As an update, I Uninstalled handcent and am at about 24 hours on a charge. Still lower, but getting better. Weird...

 

[cyber3d]

Do check the battery usage from: Settings>About Phone>Battery Use
Interesting stats on what processes are using what percent of battery juice.

 

[hookbill]

Why are you pointing to http://support.vzw.com/pdf/system_update/moto_droid.pdf It does not mention battery life.

ero

Hmmmm.....so it doesn't. I used that list because it's my experience that all the list were the same and I felt the Verizon page was the best one to point to.

There is this list but I can't guarantee the source Android 2.1 features for Droid leaked | Geekword

And I've seen it in just about every other list on the internet. But the fact that Verizon doesn't have it listed does disturb me a bit.

 

[Lobstar]

Do check the battery usage from: Settings>About Phone>Battery Use
Interesting stats on what processes are using what percent of battery juice.

Its funny you mention that. My top three are "Display" at 44%, "Phone Idle" at 22%, and "Cell Standby" at 18%. Prior to 2.1 my display would be WAY ahead of anything else, in the 70% range ... and I'm not using my phone any less that my idle and standby should be that high just from that. Maybe its reporting those processes differently or there is some sort of bug that causes the low power modes to not operate the way they should?

Or maybe I'm just going crazy and I'm really the only person with this problem ...

 

[hookbill]

I'm not an expert in battery life or human behavior. I do believe this: In every update I have ever seen for any smart phone, there are a group of people who will cheer the increase of battery life, and there will be a group of people who will complain about the battery life. 2.0.1 is a great example of this. We had a huge thread of people loving the extended battery life, and we had another huge group of people saying the battery had turned to garbage.

I myself don't see too much change at all in this update. I didn't see any in 2.0.1. I do know this, they have lowered the speed to supposedly extend battery life while optimizing other components so it won't be noticeable (though some claim they do notice it).

So this debate is going to happen on every OS, every time we have an update, in between updates, and if you go to the start of the forum before the first update. That much I do know is a fact.

 

[BachinPhx]

I just installed the update this morning. I thought it was my imagination but this lastest update is sucking the life out of the Droid. I am running the same Home Screen and same apps so I know it is not my imagination. I like the one suggestion about bleeding it dry and then charging 2 hours beyond 100%. Willing to try anything at this point. I do, however, love the new photo gallery. This has to be the biggest improvement for this update so far.

 

[Johnly]

I think the battery life is better. playing with those live wallpapers, and other 2.1 goodies too much in the first few days can make the battery life appear to be less, but give it two weeks when you go back to using the phone like norm, then it will become apparent how much better the battery life is. Did for me.

 

[gpaw]

has anyone installed the new update with out going back to stock?