Last Monday I slipped my Razr into my back pocket and hopped in my truck, got home and the display was shattered. Went to a corporate Verizon store and got a new phone. Now my battery(unplugged at 8:00AM) is 20% at noon and dead by 2:00PM. Should I take it back or does it take a while for the battery life to improve? Has all updates. I'm working in Akron/Canton area and the phone isn't struggling for signal. This is frustrating.
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new Razr battery stinks
- Thread starter khenning2
- Start date
There are a ton of threads in this forum about improving battery life, I recommend you do a search, you'll find quite a few...to many to "link to " in this response. Smart Actions have produced some great improvements for many users. Some common actions users have taken are: Turn pocket detection off, turn GPS, Bluetooth and WiFi off unless you are actively using one of them, turn your display time out down to 30 secs or 1 minute, adjust your display brightness down to 25-30% unless you're outdoors, turn Data Saver off, limit the number of widgets/apps you have syncing data and limit the frequency the sync, task killer can be a big battery hog...don't use one, keep your phone in 3g unless you need the 4g speed for downloading large files or streaming video. These are just a few suggestions, you'll find more with a search.
Did you install any apps on this unit that you didn't have on your original? It sounds a lot like a poorly coded app running amok, or it could be that the software isn't quite right. If it's still pretty new, do a factory reset and then install your apps back one by one. If you have issues after a factory reset, it's probably a hardware issue. Of course, you could always simply go back to Verizon and exchange it, but if it's an app issue you'll just run into the same thing if you install the same apps.
I am sorry to hear of your recent experiences with the RAZR. I can assure you that you will love the phone once the initial pain of the screen shattering wears off. As for the battery, both JP and Zandar made excellent suggestions. One warning regarding the batteries, don't fall for the recommendations of some regarding "cycling the battery", where they suggest to use the phone until its dead and powers off by itself, then fully charging and repeating this process one or more times. These batteries are a completely different chemistry than some rechargeable batteries which can in some cases actually benefit from this cycling. Lithium Ion and Lithium Ion Polymer batteries both prefer to not be deep discharged, and also prefer to be charged often - even if only a partial charge rather than long full charges. This practice of cycling the battery can reduce its effective lifespan.
Also there are plenty of threads about putting the phone in pockets and screens shattering. The phone is very thin and so it's not as rigid as other phones. Being more flexible through the middle places stress on the glass and shatters it. Some have had this happen in front pockets and when they bent over the screen cracked, some in rear like you and when sat on it cracks. I recommend either a belt case, or a top shirt pocket with a button to close the pocket as it can slip out if you bend over and go crashing to the ground. When wearing a coat, I use the inside "wallet" pocket for my phone.
Best of luck and keep us updated with your progress.
You just need to train and break in the battery. Completely kill it and fully recharge 3 times. Then after that you will see improvement.
Sent from my DROID RAZR using DroidForums
Actually, like Foxkat said, you only need to let it die once. More than that is unnecessary and isn't good for the battery.
And new batteries always suck the first week or so pretty much regardless it seems.
letting battery die isnt good for battery. interesting.
This is not an issue with letting the battery break in, condition, etc. (not that that's even a good idea). The OP is obviously having some sort of issue with either software (an app draining the battery or a bad OS update) or hardware (broken battery or something not being able to go to standby).
OP, let us know how it turns out since people might get here from a search and could benefit from your experience.
OP, let us know how it turns out since people might get here from a search and could benefit from your experience.
Thanks for the ref, and only to clarify... There is no evidence that letting the battery die even once does anything toward promoting good battery health or extending its ability to take a "full charge". I will also say that doing so even a few times will have little perceptive negative impact, but the fact is, a Lithium Ion (or Ion Polymer) battery has only so many cycles available to it before the battery has lost its capacity to a certain percentage. So, unless you're using the battery for reasons OTHER than to simply discharge it, you're OK. Now, if you are using the battery simply to discharge it and then fully recharge it ("cycling"), believing it will somehow magically extend the battery's ability to hold a certain level of current, you are wasting your time, the money spent on the electricity, the lifespan of your phone AND the battery's effective lifespan.
There is however plenty of evidence in studies done in many laboratories and under strict testing conditions that prove allowing the battery to discharge below certain thresholds, or charging beyond certain thresholds will at the very least impact the battery's life by reducing its capacity by stressing the battery.
Truth is, all batteries have a finite number of charging “cycles”, simply due to their design. However, Lithium-Ion batteries also have a lifespan dictated by when they were manufactured. In fact, Lithium-Ion batteries start dying the moment they leave the assembly line! Lithium-Ion batteries left on a shelf at the manufacturer will actually be able to hold less charge as time goes on, even if not being used or charged, and after 3 years will effectively be able to hold only about half of their original rated charge, so even if you DON'T cycle the battery, it will eventually die. For this reason, manufacturers try to move their inventory of Lithium-Ion batteries quickly to prevent them from degrading over time while not in the consumer's hands.
I still do stand by the assumption that Motorola is well aware of the battery's characteristics and has put more conservative thresholds in place that show the battery at 100% charge when its voltage has reached possibly 4.2V or slightly less (commonly considered a safe "full charge" voltage), to further extend its lifespan, and showing 0% when the battery is at no less than 3V or slightly higher (again commonly considered a safe "minimum charge"), and also to extend its lifespan. In other words, Motorola has put in place "Buffer Stops" to protect you from yourself, or to prevent you from doing damage to the battery - no matter how small, so although doing the "cycling" or "deep discharge" while in the phone MAY not damage the battery perceptibly, there is no evidential benefit whatsoever to doing it, so why would anyone?
In fact, to charge beyond 4.3V for prolonged periods of time can result in both permanent damage to the battery effectively reducing its capacity to take a charge, and if allowed to continue can ultimately cause the battery to explode. Just that information alone and the risk of liability I am sure has Motorola taking a very conservative position with regard to its charging protocol and engineering. Furthermore, storing a LI or LIPO battery for extended periods of time with a full charge can also reduce it's lifespan, and again not so much for liability but for battery claims, I suspect Motorola has taken the conservative position as well.
As for discharging, anything below 2.7V can cause the battery to go into a state of "Sleep mode" rendering it completely unresponsive to a standard charger, and although it may be able to be "revived" with an expensive battery rejuvenation device manufactured by Cadex for example, it may ultimately be beyond recover and completely destroyed. Further, if a battery remains below 1.5V for even beyond a week, it can develop "shunts" internally which would effectively short the battery from inside. If a battery in this state were attempted to be recharged, it could result in becoming excessively hot and unstable. So not to be repetitive, but Motorola has certainly protected the phones' batteries from such damage and potential resultant harm.
Ref: Battery University - Charging Lithium-Ion Batteries
and: Battery University - How to prolong Lithium-based batteries
Here's an excerpt from Wikipedia as well (which ironically cites the link above):
Prolonging battery pack life
- Avoid deep discharge and instead charge more often between uses, the smaller the depth of discharge, the longer the battery will last.[SUP][96][/SUP]
- Avoid storing the battery in full discharged state. As the battery will self-discharge overtime, its voltage will gradually lower, and when it is depleted below the low-voltage threshold (2.4 to 2.9 V/cell, depending on chemistry) it cannot be charged anymore because the protection circuit (a type of electronic fuse) disables it.[SUP][96][/SUP]
Here's another reference (maybe not a popular one here, but still...),:
"You can also recharge a lithium-ion polymer battery whenever convenient, without the full charge or discharge cycle necessary to keep nickel-based batteries at peak performance. (Over time, crystals build up in nickel-based batteries and prevent you from charging them completely, necessitating an inconvenient full discharge.) "
And even with all this info and more available, there are still people out there who will profess to be experts and give advice that is completely contradictory to the lab tests. For instance:
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Thanks for the excellent advice on Li-Ion batteries, FoxKat!
Also, there are a lot of sub-standard, low-cost battery chargers for sale, built by monkeys who refuse to clearly identify themselves as the manufacturer.
If the device and battery is important to you, buy a charger from the same manufacturer as the device and/or battery.
Sent from my unrooted DroidX using Tapatalk
Also, there are a lot of sub-standard, low-cost battery chargers for sale, built by monkeys who refuse to clearly identify themselves as the manufacturer.
If the device and battery is important to you, buy a charger from the same manufacturer as the device and/or battery.
Sent from my unrooted DroidX using Tapatalk
Couldn't have said it better myself...and I HAVE said much the same thing many times before too! Use the charger that CAME with the phone, since it was manufactured to match the battery's specifications and to mate with the charging circuitry in the phone.