The official Droid Turbo battery life thread.

[FoxKat]

I made it. ...two days! I do find the battery to be nonlinear
I unplugged this am and after a few texts and forum posts I'm down to 92%. I find that odd.

Captain, don't find it odd. These phones are designed to charge to 100% and then turn the charger off so as to not over charge the battery and damage it and shortness life. Lithium Ion batteries are a unique chemistry, and they cannot be left on a charger or they will begin to self destruct.

On the other hand, an opposite comparison is lead acid batteries like the kind in your car which actually wants to be on trickle charge 24 hours a day. If you do trickle charge a 12 volt car battery constantly ( called float charging, and you can buy float chargers at Harbor Freight for instance), you can get as many as 10 to 15 years out of it. What kills car batteries is that they sit there parked in the hot sun of the summer and in the cold in the winter and beat themselves up inside because there's no charging taking place.

So even though it's still plugged in, your turbo is running on battery power from the moment that it shuts the power charging off. It won't go back onto a charge mode until the battery's power drops to 90 percent. So even though it's connected and you disconnected you may find that it's not at 100% percent if you check the battery level immediately.

For me it was at 99% when I disconnected as you'll see from my pictures up above. I've disconnected phones once they've reached 100% before, and then done battery stats and seen 100% there and in fact that 100% has remained for 5 or 10 minutes of use before it drops. So in your case obviously it was on charge for perhaps overnight? But for however long it was charging, when you disconnected it, it had been running on battery for a period of time prior to disconnecting.

To know if you phone is actuallycharging or not while connected to the charger, look at the battery icon on the top right. If it's just a solid white battery with no lightning bolt, that means the phone is actually running on battery power and not currently charging. If the battery has the lightning bolt, that's an indication that charging is taking place at whatever rate it happens to be at that time.

Most likely if the battery is full and you see a lightning bolt after hours of charging, it's in the final stages of the initial charge and a trickle charge is being administered to top off the battery and that will be charging at a very low average rate. Otherwise the phone had discharged itself to 90% sometime since the completion of the full charge (not likely in the few hours it sat there off and not being used, and so it's now doing a replenish to top off the battery to 100% again.

In fact, if you take the phone completely off the charger once it hits 100% versus leaving it attached, the phone will still self-discharge at the same rate in the background. The only difference is once the phone would hit 90% while still connected to the charger, it would initiate a replenish cycle whereas if not connected obviously it would continue to discharge.

 

[FoxKat]

Not trying to be argumentative, but is it truly going to matter all that much whether they use the stock charging (turbo) cable or a slower charging cable? I mean we all know that our typical smartphone battery goes through a lot in this day and age. Said battery (regardless of charge methods) is going to start losing maximum effectiveness between the first & second year. We've seen this for years now across multiple devices. Being that replacement batteries are only around 20 bucks, (usually a year or so after original release date of your device) so wouldn't it stand to reason that "babying" your battery like this isn't really needed in the grand scheme of things? I just don't see it making that much of an impact in the long run, unless of course you want your battery to last more than two years.....which isn't a concern for most of us who will upgrade within that time.
Again, I'm not knocking this practice....just wondering.

S5 tap'n

No, I don't see your comments or questions as argumentative. In fact I see them as just what they are trying to clarify. The fact is that lithium-ion batteries begin to lose their capacity for a charge the moment they leave the factory whether they're charged or not.

When they leave the factory they're charged to a level of approximately 50 percent of their full charge capacity, this is called a storage charge. The purpose for the storage charge is to prevent the battery from falling into the protection mode because the charge levels dip below the minimum threshold voltage of about 2.75 to 2.5 volts. While sitting on the shelf, the battery will slowly discharge itself so over time it is possible if a battery is left on a warehouse shelf for an extended period of time for it to essentially shut itself down.

However even if the storage charge is in place, the battery's charge capacity begins diminishing the moment it leaves the factory production line. So a brand new battery off the production line may be able to take a full 3,900 milliamps as in the case of the turbo battery, but that same battery sitting on a warehouse shelf for 6 months and then tested for capacity may only be able to handle 3,600 milliamps of charge.

It's been said that lithium ion batteries have reached the end of their useful life when they can only take upwards of 80 percent of their original manufactured capacity as a charge. This date is a variable date however, and can be anywhere from as little as a year away to as much as three years or more depending on how you care for the battery.

It is also well documented that lithium ion batteries prefer to be charged slowly rather than fast. Anybody that works with RC cars or planes, knows this to be true. For them, fast charging is imperative so they often charge the batteries at a rate much higher than we'll ever see on our phones. As a result, their batteries typically last for about a year or maybe longer if they're willing to accept 80 percent of the original charge as being a full charge.

Charging a lithium ion battery rapidly, as in turbocharging, causes chemical changes inside the battery that over time reduce its ability to take as much current, or as I said diminishes its capacity for a charge. This is also true of allowing a lithium-ion battery to drop below a certain threshold and voltage, as well as to charge them to their maximum capacity frequently. This is why you can extend a lithium ion battery's life by as many as two or three fold by never letting it drop below 20% and never charging it over 80 percent but always keeping it charged somewhere within that range.

Electric car manufacturers are well aware of the factors and so considering the extreme expense of replacing those huge blocks of batteries in electric cars, most of electric car manufacturers offer a life extending charge option (aka battery saver), which would do what I've described above, say it's time to charge well before the battery's dead, and interrupting the charging process at about 80 percent of full.

Now of course, we are replacing our phones in one and a half to two years or less, so diminishing battery capacity isn't necessarily a big issue for most. It only happens to be a problem for the power users such as us here on the forum who put our phones through the heavy paces.

If we want our batteries to last till its time for us to do our next upgrade, and we want the batteries to perform at nearly the same level as we approach that upgrade date as they did when we bought the phone originally, we do need to baby them and not turbo charge them unless it's necessary. You also notice of course that turbocharging will not kick in unless the battery is below a certain charge level and it won't continue if the battery is above a certain charge level. This was by design and again is to try to do as little damage as possible to the battery during the turbo charging phase.

Even though the turbocharger has three voltages and offers up to 1.6 amps during two of the three charging phases and up to 1.2 amps during the third charging phase, the phone's charger is actually going to be regulating those amperages and voltages, and monitoring battery temperature through the charging cycle to be sure that it doesn't give the battery more than I can handle without doing damage. That said, charging it rapidly, even for 15 minutes to give you 8 hours worth of capacity, is in fact doing some damage to the battery and if done consistently over time, would reduce the overall capacity of the battery.

 

[TatDroid]

Being that replacement batteries are only around 20 bucks, (usually a year or so after original release date of your device) so wouldn't it stand to reason that "babying" your battery like this isn't really needed in the grand scheme of things?

Keep in mind that for phones with sealed, "non-replaceable" batteries battery preservation does become more of a priority.

Sent from my Droid Turbo

 

[krnmc]

No, I don't see your comments or questions as argumentative. In fact I see them as just what they are trying to clarify. The fact is that lithium-ion batteries begin to lose their capacity for a charge the moment they leave the factory whether they're charged or not.

When they leave the factory they're charged to a level of approximately 50 percent of their full charge capacity, this is called a storage charge. The purpose for the storage charge is to prevent the battery from falling into the protection mode because the charge levels dip below the minimum threshold voltage of about 2.75 to 2.5 volts. While sitting on the shelf, the battery will slowly discharge itself so over time it is possible if a battery is left on a warehouse shelf for an extended period of time for it to essentially shut itself down.

However even if the storage charge is in place, the battery's charge capacity begins diminishing the moment it leaves the factory production line. So a brand new battery off the production line may be able to take a full 3,900 milliamps as in the case of the turbo battery, but that same battery sitting on a warehouse shelf for 6 months and then tested for capacity may only be able to handle 3,600 milliamps of charge.

It's been said that lithium ion batteries have reached the end of their useful life when they can only take upwards of 80 percent of their original manufactured capacity as a charge. This date is a variable date however, and can be anywhere from as little as a year away to as much as three years or more depending on how you care for the battery.

It is also well documented that lithium ion batteries prefer to be charged slowly rather than fast. Anybody that works with RC cars or planes, knows this to be true. For them, fast charging is imperative so they often charge the batteries at a rate much higher than we'll ever see on our phones. As a result, their batteries typically last for about a year or maybe longer if they're willing to accept 80 percent of the original charge as being a full charge.

Charging a lithium ion battery rapidly, as in turbocharging, causes chemical changes inside the battery that over time reduce its ability to take as much current, or as I said diminishes its capacity for a charge. This is also true of allowing a lithium-ion battery to drop below a certain threshold and voltage, as well as to charge them to their maximum capacity frequently. This is why you can extend a lithium ion battery's life by as many as two or three fold by never letting it drop below 20% and never charging it over 80 percent but always keeping it charged somewhere within that range.

Electric car manufacturers are well aware of the factors and so considering the extreme expense of replacing those huge blocks of batteries in electric cars, most of electric car manufacturers offer a life extending charge option (aka battery saver), which would do what I've described above, say it's time to charge well before the battery's dead, and interrupting the charging process at about 80 percent of full.

Now of course, we are replacing our phones in one and a half to two years or less, so diminishing battery capacity isn't necessarily a big issue for most. It only happens to be a problem for the power users such as us here on the forum who put our phones through the heavy paces.

If we want our batteries to last till its time for us to do our next upgrade, and we want the batteries to perform at nearly the same level as we approach that upgrade date as they did when we bought the phone originally, we do need to baby them and not turbo charge them unless it's necessary. You also notice of course that turbocharging will not kick in unless the battery is below a certain charge level and it won't continue if the battery is above a certain charge level. This was by design and again is to try to do as little damage as possible to the battery during the turbo charging phase.

Even though the turbocharger has three voltages and offers up to 1.6 amps during two of the three charging phases and up to 1.2 amps during the third charging phase, the phone's charger is actually going to be regulating those amperages and voltages, and monitoring battery temperature through the charging cycle to be sure that it doesn't give the battery more than I can handle without doing damage. That said, charging it rapidly, even for 15 minutes to give you 8 hours worth of capacity, is in fact doing some damage to the battery and if done consistently over time, would reduce the overall capacity of the battery.

I learned more reading this post then I did in 5 years in undergrad. ><

 

[94lt1]

Anyone else notice that the turbo tells you to hook it up to a charge at 20%? Kind of odd.. I also notice that the battery meter is a tad off.. Charge to 80%..reboot and you're at 68%..charge to 100%, reboot and you're at 80%...towards the bottom of the battery. It gets worse.. But I've yet to deplete to 10-15% and charge back up...

 

[krnmc]

For me I depleted 10% in one hour of usage. So idk ... Lol

 

[FoxKat]

Anyone else notice that the turbo tells you to hook it up to a charge at 20%? Kind of odd.. I also notice that the battery meter is a tad off.. Charge to 80%..reboot and you're at 68%..charge to 100%, reboot and you're at 80%...towards the bottom of the battery. It gets worse.. But I've yet to deplete to 10-15% and charge back up...

Haven't seen that yet, but I've only had it since about 6:30pm yesterday so give me a day or two.

 

[TatDroid]

For me I depleted 10% in one hour of usage. So idk ... Lol

If that was 1 entire hour of screen-on time, that sounds about right.

Sent from my Droid Turbo

 

[Garemlin]

Today's results. All day on network inside work. Screen pegged and location on.

Tap'd from my Droid Turbo

 

[jstafford1]

I don't know how you go with the screen pegged. I thought I was going to burn my retinas when I took it off auto

 

[FoxKat]

For me the following results so far...

What I can tell you is that the Green showing up in the Mobile network signal area is virtually a new thing for me. I have looked back at snaps of this screen on my Maxx, and I most often have NO green. So apparently this phone is getting better signal. The awake time is also not as prevalent during times I'm not actually using the phone. You'll see considerable awake time in the morning with no screen activity. It was sync'ing apps. Then you'll see a long period late in the day with almost no awake time while the screen was off. That is highly unusual for me - and a good thing.

 

[Garemlin]

I don't know how you go with the screen pegged. I thought I was going to burn my retinas when I took it off auto

Old eyes. LOL

Tap'd from my Droid Turbo

 

[lloydstrans]

I have my screen so dim I have to turn out the lights to see it, hovers around 10%.

 

[TatDroid]

My screen has been on auto since day one. It seems to do a pretty good job. I do notice it adjusting every once in a while, but it's not an issue for me.

Sent from my Droid Turbo

 

[Garemlin]

This was on wifi most of the time. Still nice getting that long out of one charge.

Tap'd from my Droid Turbo