Extreme low battery life, is this normal?

[guztavo]

Hi Guys, im new in the forum, i just bought my Milestone 2 days ago.

Up to now im liking the phone but i have a serious issue and i wanted to know if my battery is faulty or is it normal.

I never got a full day on one charge.

This morning i used the phone for 5 hours in a row (mostly surfing the web) and the battery went from 100% to dead.

Is this normal? 5 hours on a charge? I really feel frustrated about it,

i hope to receive your comments,

thanks a lot!

Gus

 

[mikes]

Well, Motorola rates it at "GSM: up to 390 mins; 3G: up to 290 mins" for talk time. Constantly web browsing is constantly using the network, plus using the screen, plus using more processor, so I wouldn't expect it to do any better than that when web browsing. You got 300 minutes of use, so that seems about right.

 

[guztavo]

Well, Motorola rates it at "GSM: up to 390 mins; 3G: up to 290 mins" for talk time. Constantly web browsing is constantly using the network, plus using the screen, plus using more processor, so I wouldn't expect it to do any better than that when web browsing. You got 300 minutes of use, so that seems about right.

Thanks Mike, i guess you are right. This seems to be a battery sucking vampire

I was just browsing a couple of sites about the battery in the Droids/Milestones, at least im now at peace knowing that Im not faulty hehe. I will try an "aggressive saving" mode for tomorrow to see how far it gets. Just switched to 2G network mode, brightness to auto, all connectivity off unless required, hope it works through the day

Have you ever made it work over a day in "normal lifestyle conditions"?

Thanks!

 

[sloopjohnb]

I only get about 12-14h of light/medium use with my milestone. I think that's the way it is. It's disappointing. I'm considering buying a spare battery and carrying it in my wallet.

 

[mikes]

I've got a Droid, and am on a CDMA network. I can't ever see myself browsing the web for 5 hours on a Droid - too small, both input and output, and too slow. I use a laptop enough during the day to have an opportunity to top up via USB. Apples to oranges.

But, to more closely answer your question, I do get through a full day just fine, but it's not like my KRZR, where I could go 2-3 days between charges.

 

[guztavo]

I only get about 12-14h of light/medium use with my milestone. I think that's the way it is. It's disappointing. I'm considering buying a spare battery and carrying it in my wallet.

Yep, i considered that one too, but i think they are a little expensive yet, i saw it in the motorola webpage for 40 dollars each.

A friend of mine just bought a battery for his samsung omnia for USD 12, so i will wait a little bit more to see if i can get it cheaper.

Another solution would be to carry the usb cable with you and hope theres a computer nearby when you need it, but it doesnt sound too practical either

 

[sloopjohnb]

I believe it's got something to do with android 2.0. It seems very 'beta' to me. I think with 2.01 or 2.1 we'll see a better battery life. I'll post something after the update is available in my country (brasil).

 

[flaviamoda]

Another solution would be to carry the usb cable with you and hope theres a computer nearby when you need it, but it doesnt sound too practical either

I started doing that, and also started feeling ridicoulous beacuase of it. I look for energy for my phone all the time i'm out the house....I might buy a spare battery, but is just dissapointing haging to worry about your phone battery everytime you out of the house.

 

[hookbill]

I believe it's got something to do with android 2.0. It seems very 'beta' to me. I think with 2.01 or 2.1 we'll see a better battery life. I'll post something after the update is available in my country (brasil).

One of the things that 2.0.1 specifically addressed was battery life. That's caused a great deal of controversy but on the official list of fixes included in 2.0.1 that was one that was listed. Improved battery life.

 

[greg_p]

Could you try disabling clock auto update? On french user reported same issue as you and this fix helped him find a good battery life back...

 

[AlanN]

Could you try disabling clock auto update? On french user reported same issue as you and this fix helped him find a good battery life back...

I get a comfortable day out of my Milestone here in the UK, in fact I can normally squeeze two full days if I want to.
I have the following "setup":

Location services (GPS and Wireless) off unless needed
Bluetooth off unless needed
WiFi off unless needed
Phone set to use 2g networks only unless I need 3g

There are readily available toggle widgets for all of the above in the market, so it's a matter of one-touch to switch a feature on/off as required.

I have my mail set to check every 30 minutes, push turned off.

I also use Advanced Task Manager which is set to auto-kill every hour.

I charge my Milestone most nights for around 7-8 hours and I take it off charge around 0700.
My typical daily useage would be 5-6 10 minute calls, Bluetooth connection to car kit for 3-4 hours, 60-70 emails, 30-40 texts and around 1-2 hours of websurfing via wireless.

My battery is usually still above 50% by midnight and as I said, if I really want to I can easily get a further day by using a car charger for an hour or so.

All in all I'm pretty happy with this and I don't have the 2.01 update yet which is supposed to improve battery life further.

 

[sloopjohnb]

Something happened to my milestone today... Since I bought it (early jan), every time I checked for software updates I got the 'can't connect to server' message, today I did the same thing and got 'your system is up to date' but I'm still at 2.0!! This means Brasil won't get the 2.0.1 update???

 

[guztavo]

Hi Guys!! I turned everything off unless necessary and my battery life increased drastically, It seems like a totally different phone now!. I noticed that switching to 2G makes a great difference, this is because the phone uses the 3G network not only for data but also for voice, and this requires a lot more energy than 2G even if you are not doing anything. Now i get to the end of the day very easily.

I think AlanN made a great recommendation in his post for anyone wanting to extend battery life.

Thanks!!

 

[AlanN]

Something happened to my milestone today... Since I bought it (early jan), every time I checked for software updates I got the 'can't connect to server' message, today I did the same thing and got 'your system is up to date' but I'm still at 2.0!! This means Brasil won't get the 2.0.1 update???

No, the "Cannot connect to server" message means that the update server for your region is unavailable, or doesn't exist.

The "Your system is currently up to date" message means that the server for your region is now available, exists and is ready to handle updates.
It sees your 2.0 as "up to date" because it as yet has no later software to offer...it will come...the fact you can now connect to the server means it will arrive!

 

[m0zzie]

Hi Guys!! I turned everything off unless necessary and my battery life increased drastically, It seems like a totally different phone now!. I noticed that switching to 2G makes a great difference, this is because the phone uses the 3G network not only for data but also for voice, and this requires a lot more energy than 2G even if you are not doing anything. Now i get to the end of the day very easily.

I think AlanN made a great recommendation in his post for anyone wanting to extend battery life.

Thanks!!

I also keep on 2G only unless I need 3G. Though I did find that when I needed to use 3G, it was annoying to go through settings menus just to turn it on. I found this widget which now sits on my home screen, for quick switching between 2G/3G: 2G-3G OnOff - Cyrket

Hope that helps!