RAZR Returned

[DroidXJoel]

Well, sorry to see you go...hope you like the Nexus or Droid 4, but I wouldn't expect much difference in battery life since they are both 4g phones.

The following rant is not direct towards you or anyone else complaining about battery life, I just have to say it and get it off my chest: I don't understand why users complain about battery life on these 4g phones. What do they expect...when asked how they have them set up and what they do with them, they respond; "watched a movie and some videos all day over 4g, streamed my music from Pandora for about 4 hours, sync with Facebook every 10 minutes, browsed the web for about an hour, read a book, made about an hour of phone calls and 100 text messsage.... and I have Bluetooth, GPS and WiFi on all the time...REALLY...GIVE ME A BREAK. I don't claim to have the perfect set up or exercise the smartest use of my phone but I turn my phone on a 630AM, process 30-40 business/personal emails, respond to 20 or so text messages, browse the web for about 20 minutes and make or receive about 1 hour of phone calls and at the end of the day (usually 1130PM) I have 75-80% of my battery left with no smart actions activated. Yes, I have WiFi turned on only when I can get it, never have Bluetooth or GPS on when not actively using them and my screen brightness turned down to 40% and screen off after 1 minute. Watching a movie, reading a book or listening to music on a cell phone is beyond my understanding...that is why they make HD TVs, great stereo equipment and bound books.

Lmao, beyond your understanding of why people use Pandora or Netflix on the phone? Well carrying my 60 inch to work to watch a show during my lunch break seems pointless and tiring, however conveniently I am able to just that on my phone. Music, really? A book, tho I don't own any books, because I download them on my phone so whenever I'm able I can turn my phone on and read a little. Basically if I'm on the same page as you, having smart phones is pointless. Everything our phones do we can do on our computers or TV or radio. Really!?
Now on the battery, it's different for everyone. No matter what settings I do or change I get 6 hours or so on cdma only. Because on a 10 hour shift at work my phone is on and I'm doing something on it 7-8 hours of that.

Typed with my Rooted RAZR

 

[jpcalhoun]

I just got a razr yesterday,and in one day of moderate use,ive seen the orange battery icon twice and charged twice..mine is a few weeks old i got it used,so the battery shoud be conditioned already.Im very concerned at this point...I understand about conditioning the battery,but who has time to do this? You cant replace the battery! If you run it down,you have no phone if you need to go....I work 6 days a week,and work odd jobs on my day off,with 3 kids,I cant afford to risk having a dead phone at anytime...if it was an ipod or extra device,no problem.This is my phone,and since i cant swap with battery and charging from 60% to full takes over an hour,i wont let it go below 40% unless its late and im home....Im thinking of trading for a bionic or just going back to the x2,which had much better battery life with the ext life batt...

I can understand where you're coming from. I use my phone for business and personal. For business I can't afford a dead phone. Fortunately I haven't had that problem with my Razr. I know you don't have a lot of money to throw at a phone and accessories, but Verizon (and other outlets) sells a aux battery supply that will plug right into your Razr. It is about the size of a iPod (hate to use anything Apple as an example..but), plugs into your Razr and will recharge it. I bought one as a safety measure in case I was someplace I couldn't plug-in. It cost about $29 if I remember correctly. I've only used mine to test it and it took the Razr from a 60% charge to 95% charge. It's not a replacement battery but the next best thing and it to is rechargable.

 

[Zandar]

I've found the biggest battery saver, for me, is turning off WiFi when I'm not using it and turning off 4G when I'm not using it. With just 3G running (and GPS; no bluetooth), I get as good or better battery life than my OG Droid in the same conditions, all while getting significantly better 3G speeds (and I have 4G if I go surf the web or watch videos; 3G is fine for texting via GVoice, IM, navigation, etc.).

If you're draining super fast while idling and not on 4G, either you have a defective battery, a rogue app, you left WiFi on, or you're in a poor coverage area. Too bad that so many people blame a defective battery without checking the other things, first.

 

[bsmith0731]

LOL. Exactly. Charge to 100% and drain till power off. I've now done this three or four times and what a difference. I was skeptical at first but am now a believer. This in combination with Smart Actions have made this phone last longer than my OG battery life. Not by a little, I'm talking miles ahead.

When you say drain it till it's done and shuts off and charge it back to full. Can you use it while its charging?

sent from my Droid RAZR. 1st android after almost 4 years with apple.

 

[jcgam]

By deep cycling the lithium-ion battery in the Razr you are actually SHORTENING the lifespan of the battery. These batteries have no memory effect and SHOULD NOT be cycled. I quote:

"Similar to a mechanical device that wears out faster with heavy use, so also does the depth of discharge (DoD) determine the cycle count. The smaller the depth of discharge, the longer the battery will last. If at all possible, avoid frequent full discharges and charge more often between uses."

How to Prolong Lithium-based Batteries - Battery University

 

[jpcalhoun]

Lmao, beyond your understanding of why people use Pandora or Netflix on the phone? Well carrying my 60 inch to work to watch a show during my lunch break seems pointless and tiring, however conveniently I am able to just that on my phone. Music, really? A book, tho I don't own any books, because I download them on my phone so whenever I'm able I can turn my phone on and read a little. Basically if I'm on the same page as you, having smart phones is pointless. Everything our phones do we can do on our computers or TV or radio. Really!?
Now on the battery, it's different for everyone. No matter what settings I do or change I get 6 hours or so on cdma only. Because on a 10 hour shift at work my phone is on and I'm doing something on it 7-8 hours of that.

Typed with my Rooted RAZR

Ok, let me put my "rant" into context. The phone, no matter what phone, has a limited power supply...it appears some haven't grasped that concept. Yes, you can do all kinds of neat things with these phones, but I would think that at some point a disciplined user would tailor what they do on the phone to match their desired time between charges. So, if you want 24 hours between charges then don't stream videos from Netflix and music from Pandora all day and then wank because you can't get 24 hours between charges...that was my point. You use your device anyway you want and if you're happy with 6 hours or so between battery charges so be it, if you're happy, I'm happy for you.

 

[67maroboi]

About to go on one week on razr and no deep cycles here and my battery lasts from 530am to about 10pm where it hits 20%. I do listen to Pandora 1-2hrs. About 50-75 texts 10 calls about 5 min. Prowl craigslist and Droid forums. No complaints here. Guy from Costco told me to not let fully drain too harsh on battery but to never charge if over 70%. Got one more week to see if any problems creep up

Sent from my DROID RAZR using DroidForums

 

[jpcalhoun]

About to go on one week on razr and no deep cycles here and my battery lasts from 530am to about 10pm where it hits 20%. I do listen to Pandora 1-2hrs. About 50-75 texts 10 calls about 5 min. Prowl craigslist and Droid forums. No complaints here. Guy from Costco told me to not let fully drain too harsh on battery but to never charge if over 70%. Got one more week to see if any problems creep up

Sent from my DROID RAZR using DroidForums

Sounds like you're a happy camper. I get pretty good battery life out of mine too...absolutely no complaint here. And the performance...really nice.

 

[USAFgreg]

Maybe I got one of the good ones, with smart actions shutting off my GPS wifi and data when ever the screen is off.. is amazing.. I can go 2 days with extreme texting and 30 mins of calls. Uploaded a video to Facebook as well! Favorite phone yet!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using DroidForums

 

[BayouFlyFisher]

Unless you have a defective phone or defective battery, they are all going to be the same. Look at the size of the batteries in these things and they are all about the same. I don't have a RAZR, but I firmly believe you gave up on a perfectly good phone and your next one will be no different.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you are having short battery life here’s a list of things that can help. Just read through the list and select the items that fit with the way you want to use your phone. Not all items will work for everyone and this list was written for the Droid Bionic but should work for your phone too:


- Don't use an automatic task killer--not even the one that comes with the phone. Reboot your phone and look at what's running. If anything that you've installed is running and there's no reason for it, then uninstall it and find an alternative that behaves. Ignore any stock apps that run on boot as I've found them to be more or less benign.

- Weather widgets, live wallpapers, news/social feeds, any app or service that you use that runs--do without it if you can. If you can’t do without it, lengthen it’s refresh time.

- Don't use antivirus

- Set your WIFI sleep policy to never. The default is "turn off when screen turns off". This will cause the wifi to reconnect every time you open the phone. From any Home Screen select Menu/Settings/Wireless & Networks/ and then use the Menu button to see some new options - select Advanced. Then select Wifi Sleep Policy and set it to Never. Home key to return to Home Screen.

- If you have access to wifi, leave it toggled on as it is more efficient than 3G. Wifi consumes less battery power than 3G.

- I leave GPS toggled on too by the way. Apps use it as needed. When I'm done with Maps or an app that uses it, I'm sure to return to the home screen so GPS can stop. Under wireless settings turn on "Google location services" so that an app is able to use network resources to get your location instead of GPS. I have "VZW location services" turned off--don't know why that option is even there. By the way, I increase the speed of voice output > text to speech > speech rate because I like the directions to get spit out faster. That saves a bit of battery. Turning off the display and just listening for directions help. Also, often I just get the directions and then exit back to the home screen: GPS uses so much battery I try to get it over with ASAP.

- When you get a 1) new battery, 2) do a factory reset, or 3) an OS upgrade - run your battery all the way down until the phone shuts off and then charge the battery all the way up. This will calibrate the phone's understanding of the battery's capacity. Do this once every month or two also, but don't do it too often if you can help it.

- I have my battery set to "Performance Mode" and data is on all the time because I am on call 24x7. If you don't mind, try out a more conservative battery profile to save more gobs of energy.

- Set screen brightness to "Automatic"

- Under Accounts, click on any account listed and turn off sync for any items that you're not interested in syncing. For example, Google Books if you don't use it. Don't use Backup Assistant--I prefer syncing my contacts with Google. You don't need both. Also go into your contacts > menu > display options > backup assistant > UNCHECK. Also do contacts > menu > more > settings > contact storage > and select your Google account and "remember this choice"

- Turn on Bluetooth only when you are going to use it.

- Consider turning off voice privacy. This may not be a big deal but it will save some processing (and therefore battery). It may also improve call quality.

-Turn off haptic feedback, animations, and any un-needed sounds in Android settings and in your apps

- Set your screen timeout to as low a time as you can stand (I use 1 minute) and manually turn the screen off when you’ve finished using the phone.

- Turn off in-pocket detection. In-Pocket Detection has been the source of many issues already.

- Keyboard: turn off vibrate on key press and sounds for any keyboards you use

- Use a red or black screen background. On the original Droid screen--not sure about this Bionic screen--red was the most efficient color that could be displayed.

- Camera app: I like keeping location on and flash on auto. Consider turning location off or at least returning to the home screen ASAP when using camera if location for camera is on.

- In stock browser the default home page is Google and it uses your location. This is a bad idea as it can waste your battery for no reason. Make something else your home page and make sure to close any web page that uses your location when you're done viewing it.

- Charge your phone via the wall charger instead of computer USB as it is faster. Also, don't use long USB cords--use regular power extension cords instead. I stick with the charger that came with the phone. Put the phone on charger when you go to bed every night.

- Consider install the Home Replacement app Zeam. It is basic app that uses very few resources and will help with battery power.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a link to some very good videos about saving battery power on the Bionic (there are 4 parts and the other parts will show up as available videos when part 1 finishes):

Battery Saving Video

Part 1: [video=youtube;cvWg7SbUgsI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cvWg7SbUgsI[/video]



If battery life is still bad: Consider doing a factory reset: These have gotten pretty painless lately by following these simple steps: 1. Make sure Backup and Restore are checked in the Privacy setting. 2. When going through the setup after the reset, turn on wifi as soon as you can (assuming it is available). 3. After you have entered your Gmail account info, you will be presented with a screen that has two check boxes. Basically they are "Do you want Google to backup and restore this phone”. Make sure you check both of those. Your apps will then automatically reinstall (paid and free). Set the phone aside for a minute or two and let the apps download and install. 3. If rooted, use an app such as titanium backup to restore data only to select apps such as Tapatalk and you will not have to re-enter all your login information. I do this for 3-4 apps (Tapatalk, SPB Shell, etc.).

I've been flashing new roms/updates about once per day lately and I can be up and running with all my apps and settings back in place in less than 20 minutes. It's pretty painless now.

 

[jroc]

Battery usage is such a user profile function. 1 guy has screen brightness turned up and is in a bad 3G area where it has to keep polling for service. The next guy lives in downtown Detroit where he gets 5 bars all the time and keeps his screen dim. The 1st guy will never be happy with any Smartphone. The 2nd can use any.

So true.

I've learned since working and living in a bad reception area to use airplane mode at work. Been doing that since I got the Droid X1 last year. At home I have to use my wifi, apt is a virtual dead zone.

The only issue I see with the non removeable battery is if that's the only thing wrong with the phone, a bad battery, you have to get a new phone and take a chance on getting a lemon. So far for me battery life has been good.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using DroidForums

 

[ex0rcist]

Why do people care to start threads like "got rid of xxx... because of xx" who rlly cares???.. u want cookies n milk or something? Why start a whole thread that results in trolling between supporters an haters of said returned device? Seen about ten of these... all pointless.. half get locked.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

[breedingh8]

LOL. Exactly. Charge to 100% and drain till power off. I've now done this three or four times and what a difference. I was skeptical at first but am now a believer. This in combination with Smart Actions have made this phone last longer than my OG battery life. Not by a little, I'm talking miles ahead.

Agreed

Sent from my GT-P7510 using DroidForums

 

[Newps]

Battery usage is such a user profile function. 1 guy has screen brightness turned up and is in a bad 3G area where it has to keep polling for service. The next guy lives in downtown Detroit where he gets 5 bars all the time and keeps his screen dim. The 1st guy will never be happy with any Smartphone. The 2nd can use any.

That's true but I can compare to my OG Droid, using it the same way. I have the D2 extended battery in my D1 which as it happens is almost exactly the same size as the RAZR battery. D1 is rooted running GB and I'm in a 3G only area, good signals. RAZR started out draining 10% per hour with zero use. I "conditioned" the battery, funny how all of a sudden when you get a phone with crappy battery life suddenly a new term has been invented and a new procedure to follow. Not necessary with the D1 battery. After a couple days the battery drain improved a little and then I did a Smart Action that turned off GPS and both syncs. Don't have to do any of that with the D1. Same goes for GPS. Back when the D1 was new on these very forums the conventional wisdom was to just leave the GPS on because it drew no power unless it had to get a position and then went back to drawing no power. Best I got out of the phone was 15 hours of little use before it got to 25%. That's 1/3 the battery life of my D1 with even more use on the same size battery. Like a lot of others I would have kept the phone if not for the crappy battery life. Loved everything else about it. Well except for the belt clip, that's a bad design too.

 

[Newps]

Ok, let me put my "rant" into context. The phone, no matter what phone, has a limited power supply...it appears some haven't grasped that concept. Yes, you can do all kinds of neat things with these phones, but I would think that at some point a disciplined user would tailor what they do on the phone to match their desired time between charges. So, if you want 24 hours between charges then don't stream videos from Netflix and music from Pandora all day and then wank because you can't get 24 hours between charges...that was my point. You use your device anyway you want and if you're happy with 6 hours or so between battery charges so be it, if you're happy, I'm happy for you.

What I want is simply the same battery performance as my OG Droid with the extended battery(which is the same size as the RAZR battery) when the RAZR is on CDMA. It's not even remotely close. My D1 gets 3 times the battery life with the same usage. First thing that makes no sense is why don't phones come with variable processor speed as standard. Just stupid the damn thing is running at 1.5 GHz when the screen is off. My Dell Axim of 10 years ago had this, why should I have to root my phone to get this? In 5 years we're going to look back and laugh at the time we only got 12 hours of battery out of a top of the line phone.