Degradation of battery.

[Jpasz]

I was at the Verizon store and was talking the guy inside, we were talking about all the phones and their features, and he told me that the Razr, and the Maxx have been getting returned like mad because of a degrading battery. The battery starts out, great life, but the battery quickly turns bad, won't charge or even let the phone turn on, so I started considering the Bionic or 4. I came home, hit the internet looking for reports, all I can get is how great the battery life is, but all from initial reports. Now the Razr, if the battery ISN'T terrible, is still my first choice. He might have been trying to coerce me into the insurance for the phone, but he was more suggesting a different phone entirely, recommended the 4 because of how it's the same generation, similar specs, practically the same phone, just keyboard and battery.

Any personal information or articles that I missed in my skim? I really want to be proven wrong, the battery is all it's cracked up to be, and will be for the life of the phone, but I am not going to waste my money on a surefire failure.

 

[TisMyDroid]

I have a feeling he was trying to get rid of some b Droid 4's. The Razr's were selling so fast they couldn't even keep them stocked. If the battery was to fail within the first year, it would be covered by warranty therefore wouldn't be an insurance claim.

The Razr's battery life seems to be about average for other smart phones. The Marx's battery life is outstanding. As in high demand as this phone was/is, I don't notice a huge number of ppl complaining that there battery failed. The few that have it was because they drained it til dead so that it was almost so dead it wouldn't take a charge. But even the few that had this problem, were able to eventually get a charge. FoxKat is the exert on getting the most and the best for your battery.

There are many posts about getting the absolute most out of the battery and some posts with concerns because some app was draining the battery more than it should.

Read through the posts and you will get a pretty good idea how satisfied ppl are with their Razr's and the problems they may have had.

Good luck with your decision and happy android shopping!

Sent from my DROID RAZR Maxx using Droid Forums

 

[Trash Can]

FoxKat is the exert on getting the most and the best for your battery.

Yes, we are very fortunate to BatteryMan share his knowledge with us. As he has stated numerous times, it turns out that 90% of the phones returned for battery problems have no actual problems with the battery at all. Most of these problems are user-induced.

If you follow these simple steps, you most likely will not experience any problems.

1. Charge your device with the power OFF to 100% before using for the first time.
2. Power ON and use normally until you receive the "low battery" warning at 15%.
3. Power OFF and recharge to 100%
4. Repeat this procedure every other month or so.

Some other tidbits:

1. Never intentionally drain the battery until it dies, as there is a chance that it may never take another charge.
2. Small charges of short duration to less than 100% are a good thing.
3. Treat the battery meter like the gas gauge in your car. It's a rough estimate of how much juice you have left.
4. If you know you will need a charge before the day is over, charge it.
5. Search FoxKat's posts. All of the above info is his, not mine, and he further explains the reasons behind everything.

Obviously, the Maxx has a much better battery, but the batteries in both are fine as long as you care for them properly.

 

[FoxKat]

Charge fully before activating!!

I was at the Verizon store and was talking the guy inside, we were talking about all the phones and their features, and he told me that the Razr, and the Maxx have been getting returned like mad because of a degrading battery. The battery starts out, great life, but the battery quickly turns bad, won't charge or even let the phone turn on, so I started considering the Bionic or 4. I came home, hit the internet looking for reports, all I can get is how great the battery life is, but all from initial reports. Now the Razr, if the battery ISN'T terrible, is still my first choice. He might have been trying to coerce me into the insurance for the phone, but he was more suggesting a different phone entirely, recommended the 4 because of how it's the same generation, similar specs, practically the same phone, just keyboard and battery.

Any personal information or articles that I missed in my skim? I really want to be proven wrong, the battery is all it's cracked up to be, and will be for the life of the phone, but I am not going to waste my money on a surefire failure.

The issue the Verizon rep describes actually begins with the store representatives doing exactly the wrong thing from the start. These phones ship with a 40% - 50% charge level - NOT so you can activate it out of the box and start using it right away, but so the battery doesn't drop in voltage to the "protection" level while in transit from the factory to inventory warehouses and while sitting in those warehouses. These phones REQUIRE a 100% charge (3 hours with power off), BEFORE being powered up the first time as states in the User's Guide (see below). Click on the 1st image and notice the "clocks" in box 3 on the left with the 3H for the Droid RAZR & 5.5H for the RAZR MAXX, showing the phone being charged for 3 hours (or 5.5 hours for the MAXX) BEFORE being activated. You'll also see the new Droid RAZR MAXX HD ALSO suggests 5.5 hours charge before using (2nd image below - click to enlarge).

View attachment 58759 View attachment 58760

< ^ Droid RAZR & RAZR MAXX ^ > ---- < ^ Droid RAZR MAXX HD ^ >

But at the store what do they do? They power it up out of the box, stick a SIM in it and hand it to you while still powered on. This sets the stage for diminishing performance - NOT diminishing battery life.

There is NOTHING wrong with 90% of the batteries returned. The trouble is the meter that tells you what charge the battery is holding gets out of sync with the battery's true levels and begins a chain of events with divergence of battery levels versus meter indications that results in these batteries being deep-discharged by accident. There ought to be giant STOP sign in the box that you have to cut through to get to the phone, and it should say;

"Before powering your phone initially, you MUST charge to 100% with power OFF FIRST! If you do not follow these instructions explicitly, you may suffer diminished charging performance or a complete failure of the phone to power up in several weeks due to an out-of-sync charging system."

Another problem is that charging with power on will over time cause the same divergence of levels to indication due to the "parasitic load" of the phone confusing the charging system, and this can result in the same issue. To assure meter and actual battery levels are in sync, follow these steps about once every 2-3 months (1-2 months for the original RAZR):

1. When you can be without the phone for at least 3 hours (like at bedtime), power the phone off by pressing and holding the Power button, and at the popup menu selecting "Power off".
2. Using the MOTOROLA FACTORY USB Charging Cable and FACTORY Wall Adapter, plug the phone in and allow it to boot into Charge only mode (identified by the animated battery and numerical percentage of charge indication). To check levels along the way, press the Volume Down briefly. There is no need to press any buttons to turn off the screen, it will timeout on its own.
3. Allow the phone to charge to 100% as indicated on the screen.
4. Once fully charged, power the phone up and use as normal, but keep a watchful eye on the battery meter as it nears the discharged state.
5. Once the phone reaches 15% and you get the "Low battery" warning and indication to plug the phone in to charge, repeat steps 1 through 4 above, but without concern for repeating again.
6. Finally, avoid allowing the phone to ever get to 0%, as you risk causing the phone to become unresponsive to the charger and fail to power on.

In short, once every three months, charge to 100% with power off, use to 15%, charge to 100% with power off. It's important that you follow those steps in that order and that you complete all three in succession. Do that and you will never have any of the issues mentioned by the Verizon rep.

 

[Jpasz]

Fine info gents, as said I can't find these complaints online, and I'm relieved to know that Razr Maxx has fine hardware. Makes my upgrade choice simple.

 

[Chukee]

These new battery threads and responses are amusing.

 

[TisMyDroid]

Fine info gents, as said I can't find these complaints online, and I'm relieved to know that Razr Maxx has fine hardware. Makes my upgrade choice simple.

I think you will be very happy with your choice! Not to add something into the mix but imho, the rezound is a comparable phone. My son got the rezound when I got the maxx. It is his first smartphone. He originally wanted an iPhone (because that is what everyone at his college had). I had him use my Droid Charge for a test run with android first. When it came time to purchase, he decided on the rezound instead of an iPhone. He has had no problems and his college buddies are jealous of his rezound. It does not have the battery life of the Maxx unless you get the extended battery but phone reception and 3g/4g, display, camera, etc are just as great. His only complaint is that I can see my Maxx better in the sun than he can.

Sent from my DROID RAZR Maxx using Droid Forums

 

[drivinfocused]

OK so fox I'm a little lost. I'm more then likely going to upgrade to the Maxx next month. So you are saying before even activating the phone we need ti charge it to 100% then activate the phone?

 

[wendee2150]

The issue the Verizon rep describes actually begins with the store representatives doing exactly the wrong thing from the start. These phones ship with a 40% - 50% charge level - NOT so you can activate it out of the box and start using it right away, but so the battery doesn't drop in voltage to the "protection" level while in transit from the factory to inventory warehouses and while sitting in those warehouses. These phones REQUIRE a 100% charge (3 hours with power off), BEFORE being powered up the first time as states in the User's Guide (see below). Click on the image and notice the "clock" in box 3 on the left with the 3H showing the phone being charged for 3 hours BEFORE being activated.

But at the store what do they do? They power it up out of the box, stick a SIM in it and hand it to you while still powered on. This sets the stage for diminishing performance - NOT diminishing battery life.

There is NOTHING wrong with 90% of the batteries returned. The trouble is the meter that tells you what charge the battery is holding gets out of sync with the battery's true levels and begins a chain of events with divergence of battery levels versus meter indications that results in these batteries being deep-discharged by accident. There ought to be giant STOP sign in the box that you have to cut through to get to the phone, and it should say;

"Before powering your phone initially, you MUST charge to 100% with power OFF FIRST! If you do not follow these instructions explicitly, you may suffer diminished charging performance or a complete failure of the phone to power up in several weeks due to an out-of-sync charging system.".

What if we were ignorant of this? Is my MAXX going to be ok? I replaced my phone on the way to work Friday and just used it off and on for the rest of the day until it beeped at 15%. Then I turned it off and followed the charging steps. Is there anything I can do to "fix it"??

 

[Trash Can]

OK so fox I'm a little lost. I'm more then likely going to upgrade to the Maxx next month. So you are saying before even activating the phone we need ti charge it to 100% then activate the phone?

YES!!!!

What if we were ignorant of this? Is my MAXX going to be ok? I replaced my phone on the way to work Friday and just used it off and on for the rest of the day until it beeped at 15%. Then I turned it off and followed the charging steps. Is there anything I can do to "fix it"??

You'll be fine, just follow the procedure above from this day forward. The reason this happens is that very, very few people read the manual, store reps included.

 

[94lt1]

What if we were ignorant of this? Is my MAXX going to be ok? I replaced my phone on the way to work Friday and just used it off and on for the rest of the day until it beeped at 15%. Then I turned it off and followed the charging steps. Is there anything I can do to "fix it"??

Like trashcan said, you'll be fine. Infact when I got the first maxx, I did worse. I used it until it died, then immediately plugged it in. I had a slew of problems that started about a month later because my battery meter was out of whack and my battery life was terrible because I never turned my phone off to charge.

I did the calibration procedure and then started charging while powered off overnight. Made worlds of difference.

DROID RAZR MAXXAMIZED!!!

 

[JWX]

Just got a Razr Maxx. Sales guy turned it on and activated. Used it a slight bit before a 6hr charge while left on. I'm not all that amazed with battery life. Although it is pretty darn good I think. But, I've always kept a few batteries for my X around and just swapped them out from being on an external charger. I'm just wonky about not being able to remove it, lol...

I'll add that I apparently talked a friend into buying one via mail, and she just opened box and charged it while it was off overnight till I activated it for her and set it up... So, we've started out the two different ways.

Guess we'll see if we noticed any differences.

Hmmm... Not sure I've been without my phone turned on near me for quite a few years, lol... I may have some paranoia about it being off while I try the calibration procedure lol...

 

[jackiescivic]

You can't really blame the reps for this, as part of our job is to activate the phone. I mean, how many people want to make ANOTHER trip to the store to activate their phone? Yes, for those of us with cell phone knowledge, we know that we can activate over the phone as well, but the majority of people I service are too impatient for their new phone. Plus, add in the fact that you will fry the SIM if you turn it on before being activated, most people would be returning to the store anyway for a new card. From now on, I'm definitely going to tell my customers it is in their best interest to follow these steps.

 

[Caesars]

Good old sim cards,mi remember the first time I entered the puk code wrong too many times :-(

 

[94lt1]

Good old sim cards,mi remember the first time I entered the puk code wrong too many times :-(

Lol. That had to suck

DROID RAZR MAXXAMIZED!!!