Battery Life: Lesson Learned

[Websquad]

I've had my Droid 4 since a few days after they came out, and today, for the first time, I got a low battery warning. Alas, it is charging as we speak.

The cause: for the first time I used the device for vehicle navigation (using the stock navigation app that came with the D4 -- which I really like) and I failed to plug in the battery charger in the car. That app uses the juice, 'cause it spends a lot of time doing GPS calculations and naturally, it runs hot. Will not make that mistake again.

 

[schatzy62]

Just and FYI. If running navigation and a few other apps at the same time even a 1 amp charger can not keep up with the power drain the phone uses.

Last weekend I drove three (3) hours to Albany NY and while driving had Navigation running, bluetooth on, FoxFi on (so others in the car could get internet access) and Torque Widget running (keeps logs of the cars ODBII computer statistics and sends them out to a server via the internet). All this while it was plugged into a 1000ma charger. The phone was charged to 100% before we left and by the time we got to our destination the battery was at 25%. And YES the phone showed charging the whole time. I then charged the phone all the way up and tried the same apps without the charger and it only took 53 minutes for it to drain the battery to 25%.

I am working on finding a charger for the car that can output up to 3 amps and see if that helps. It would be nice to have it do all of the above and not drain the battery.

 

[justin82]

i think you run a danger of overcharging/overheating the batteries if you do that. i know when i have my bionic docked and watching netflix the charger will not keep up . i am no expert but i dont think you would want to dump that kind of amperage into the phone .

 

[94lt1]

No matter how strong the charger is.. the device will only allow so much through the charging circuitry... if you get to high up there, you might cause issues...

DROID RAZR MAXXIMIZED!!!! PREPARE TO BE VANQUISHED!!!

 

[Websquad]

950mA -- True or False ?

I got a Motorola Vehicle Power Adapter micro-USB Rapid Rate Charger from Amazon.com. The product description does not indicate what the current output is; however, the top-most review, which sounds more like a Motorola marketing pitch than an ordinary customer review, indicates that it can produce 0.950mA.

Does that sound reasonable for this device?

 

[schatzy62]

As an electrical engineer i know that I could put a charger on the phone that can output 100 amps and if the phone does not need that much it will not pull that much current. Just because a charger states it can put out 875ma or 1000ma or 1500ma does not mean that it "always' puts out that much. Those figures are just a maximum it 'can' put out. the only problem i can see is if the circuitry tries to draw to much and it burns out traces on teh circuit board inside the phone but I would be willing to bet that there is current limiting circuitry in the phone so that does not happen.

 

[schatzy62]

I got a Motorola Vehicle Power Adapter micro-USB Rapid Rate Charger from Amazon.com. The product description does not indicate what the current output is; however, the top-most review, which sounds more like a Motorola marketing pitch than an ordinary customer review, indicates that it can produce 0.950mA.

Does that sound reasonable for this device?

Yes that is possible. On Motorola's site they list it as a P513 charger but have no specifications listed. Some other web sites do list it as a 950ma charger.