Why Is the Battery Life So Short?

[arkkkkkkk]

Hello.

I am a new Droid owner and I must say it's very impressive as my first smart phone.

I just wanted to ask this: why is the battery life so short on this phone? Are all smart phones like this?

Just today at college, I had 40% battery left and the only thing I did was check the time from time to time. Then I checked my email and the low battery warning instantly pops up.

What's the deal with that? Forgive me for my ignorance but are there tips and advices to extend battery life? Is it true that Advanced Application Killer helps?

Friendly answers would be appreciated. Thank you and have a good day.

 

[bomber889]

Do you have wifi, bluetooth, etc turned off when you aren't using them? You could try turning your display down. Also, you can go into Settings, Accounts & sync, and turn off Background data. I find that JuiceDefender helps out. you can find it in the market.

 

[warrior21]

My battery life seems to have gotten better over time. Just make sure you are letting it charge overnight. Have you checked in the settings to see what is draining it the most? Goto settings>about phone>battery use and check the percentages

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

 

[Johnly]

Droid eris or Motorola droid?

 

[arkkkkkkk]

It's Motorola Droid.

 

[ShowTime]

NO need for an app killer. A properly functioning phone with no rogue apps does not need one at all. And yes, all smartphones will suffer from less battery life than dumbphones. It's a natural outcome of all the added things the phone can and is constantly doing. That said, I can get a full day's moderate use (at least 14 hours) out of my phone on one full charge. If you aren't getting that kind of life, try setting screen brightness lower, keeping wifi and bluetooth off (no need to keep GPS off, as it is only being used when an app needs it), set any widgets to a longer refresh rate, (I personally) keep sync off, leave your screen timeout at whatever you want (I keep mine at 2 minutes so it doesn't sleep while I'm reading and such) but get in the habit of manually sleeping the screen any time you're done using it.... the suggestion list goes on and on.

 

[FLE]

What you have to keep in mind is that the battery on this cell phone is only the OEM battery is only 1300mAh. Some of the process that run on the phone are major juice suckers. As bomber889 said so correctly, if you have the wifi on the GPS bluetooh on and things like sync to your email accounts to sync every few min its going to eat your battery up quickly, Esp using the GPS. Thank God we have a bunch of peeps that are awesome at doing apps that alot of them will help manage your battery life better. Some are free and some are not.bomber889 is 1000% correct about the display setting. Also running the live wallpaper will eat alot of the batter. Just like bomber889 I also have the JuiceDefender app and it works like a charm to help manage your battery life. Moto does have after marked extended hi cap battery's Amazon sells one that is 2600mAh for a what I think is a good price. I am sure if you do some surfing you can find a high cap battery for a low price. Another option I would suggest is buying another oem battery to have around incase you want to run your droid wide open. I have bought an extra usb cable for my laptop. I have also bought the oem car doc that came with a rapid vehicle charger. Also please note that temperature plays a key factor in the life of the battery, you do not want it to get to hot or cold. I do not know much about the droid as this is my first smart phone. I can say this you made the right choice in using this forum. Alot of people here have forgot more about the droid then I will ever know. Do not be afraid to ask a question, someone here knows the answer. Sorry I had to add this is what I mean. You asked the question and you got some great answers such as ShowTime's response, he made an excellant reply. This is why I come here these people here know what they are doing. They are not just faking it. They know as if they work for MOTO or as if they are inside of the peeps head at MOTO.

 

[eliassami5]

did you condition the battery when you first got the phone? Fully charge the battery and then drain it completely till the phone shuts off, full charge it again and drain it again and it should increase the battery life significantly.

 

[Johnly]

It's Motorola Droid.

Wow, I get a full day out of mine. I do disable GPS, and set the brightness to low. I have heard it can take several charge cycles on the droid before the battery performance is at 100%. As these guys have said, task killers are bunk on the already task management capable system. Live wallpapers will eat some juice, and I hear juice defender in the market can help, though I have never needed it. The droid comes with a capable battery, and should last for 6 hours continuous use. If you are going beyond that, as has been stated, maybe an upgrade in that department is in order? Good luck!

 

[DiscoStu65]

My employer has pretty much put the kaibosh on the internet. I can't believe I can access this forum from work. I pretty much use my driod to surf the net during downtime so I'm constantly using it all day. The battery starts going low around 1pm so I bring my charger to work and give it a charge in the afternoon and then usually on the way home with the car charger. Looking into getting an extended battery, but for now, I'd say the weak battery is a direct reflection of my constant usage.

 

[hookbill]

did you condition the battery when you first got the phone? Fully charge the battery and then drain it completely till the phone shuts off, full charge it again and drain it again and it should increase the battery life significantly.

Sorry, that's just not true anymore. While it is advisable to let the battery drain a few times a year it doesn't help in "conditioning" a new battery. Charging a battery for 24 hours doesn't help either, even though you didn't mention that, it's stops charging when the battery is full.

To the OP I don't know if this is your first smart phone but I had the Blackberry Storm 2 prior to the Droid and battery time was about equal. Smart phones simply use a lot of battery. A spare battery, extra chargers, those are all good ideas.

 

[takeshi]

did you condition the battery when you first got the phone? Fully charge the battery and then drain it completely till the phone shuts off, full charge it again and drain it again and it should increase the battery life significantly.

You might want to read up on Li ion batteries. They should not be fully drained.

To the OP I don't know if this is your first smart phone but I had the Blackberry Storm 2 prior to the Droid and battery time was about equal. Smart phones simply use a lot of battery. A spare battery, extra chargers, those are all good ideas.

^ This. The "new toy" effect doesn't help either.

As for what you can expect from the battery, it really depends on your usage. To the OP: as with any question of battery life you have to assess your usage and what the Droid is doing that may or may not be expected that is affecting battery life. It could be your usage. It could be something running that you don't expect to have running that's consuming battery (GPS, etc). It's possible that your Droid is encountering a magnet somewhere that is putting it into one of the dock modes and activating the screen which can consume quite a bit of power at high brightness for any extended period of time. You really have to look at what's going on with your particular situation to troubleshoot the issue. There are tons of battery life threads that you can refer to for suggestions but try starting with your battery usage screen.

You can't just look down at the battery meter, see it's at 40% and expect others to know what the problem is (if there is one).

 

[jsh1120]

Simple solution for less than $15

Amazon.com: Motorola DROID 1300mah Standard Battery: Cell Phones & Service

 

[Darkseider]

Because only the good die young...

 

[Detonation]

I just wanted to ask this: why is the battery life so short on this phone? Are all smart phones like this?

Yes. You have to think of it more like a mini computer than a phone.

Most smart phone users get used to charging their phone everyday. I just charge mine over night and it makes it through the day, sometimes 2 even.