Only Charges 90%

This is my second Kin TwoM. The first one died after about 60 days and first VZW warranted the battery, then had to replace the phone altogether. I argued for a new phone because that is what I was told over the phone, but they would only supply a FRU.

Now, 1 month later, the phone will only charge to 90% and in searching I have found enough threads along this line to suggest that there is a common problem with the battery and charger. I will have to let the battery discharge fully to see if I can charge it back up fully.

I do not have a lot of confidence when they replace a phone with a FRU after telling me over the phone that I was due a new one.

Accepted answers

fisharefriends

Well, that's a gamble you have to take. Or, to get rid of the risk, that's why they have the insurance plans. I don't get them, but perhaps they will give you a little reassurance. You can add them up to 30 days after you purchase the phone (although i'm pretty sure you're past this time period, but oh well). I think my phone will last, and i certainly think the battery will. With my old phone, the battery was good up until about the year mark, and then right about then, it would only hold about a day's worth of battery-life. It was a bummer..but nothing that i didn't expect, it just was a little more drastic than i hoped for. Was i disappointed? yeah. But there was no part of me that was going to call it out as a defective battery.

That is a little peculiar that your phone won't charge full overnight, though. But remember, that is just the indicator, not the actual battery. You leave a battery in the charger, it is going to continuously keep charging; these chargers are not 'smart chargers' where they stop charging once it is full, and then start re-charging once it falls below a certain threshold, and that is why you shouldn't leave them in a charger for extended periods of time. But in your case, that doesn't really matter, cause it hasn't noticed that the battery is 'full' anyways. Are you using the factory charger that was provided with the phone? If so, i wouldn't worry about the indicator not going full. How long does your battery actually last? That is what matters; have you noticed a significant drop in battery life? As far as the indicator goes, even when these batteries go 'old' and start losing their full charge, they will still top out and say it is 'full'. It is just the nature of the battery that the definition of full just drops, but the indicator will show its values in respect to that reduced 'full'.

It sounds like you've tried cycling the battery a few times, and that's the only advice i could've given to try to fix the indicator issue. But just be mindful of what is stated in those other links i provided, you don't want to fully discharge your battery too much, cause it could cause more harm that help.

All comments

fisharefriends

gkamieneski, i just wrote a long post regarding battery life, linked here (post #2):
http://community.vzw.com/t5/KIN/kin-twom-battery-display/td-p/464360

To answer your question specifically, are you saying that the battery doesn't last as long, or that the indicator itself never says 100%? Batteries naturally decrease in life as they are charged and discharged. If you mean the indicator never reaching 100%, how long are you charging your phone? In a little depth of the science behind batteries, they charge logarithmically (non-linearly), meaning they charge much quicker the first portion than the last. It only takes about 2 hours to get the phone charged to 80, 90%; however, it can take over 6 hours to get it charged '100%'. And even there, a battery is never truly 100 percent full; it is just close enough where you can call it 100% full. Just look at a logarithmic curve, and you'll see what i'm talking about, it never fully reaches the full charge, it just approaches it. Do remember that is only an indicator though, the actual battery life is what matters. Read that linked article if you want a more detailed explanation of the battery life. My battery had the same issue the first day or 2, when it would only reach the 90% threshold, but after a while (and longer, overnight charges), it now says 100%. That isn't going to say that the battery life is actually longer though; i guarantee my battery 3 months ago, even when it showed it was at 90%, lasted longer than it does now, when it says 100%. Indicators are rather inaccurate, and the definition of 100% decreases over a battery life anyways, so i wouldn't worry too much about it. Just remember, overcharging can cause more damage; so don't leave your phone in a charger for an extended period of time (more than 20 hours).

gkski

Phone was left to charge overnight and never moved above 90%. It has always done so before after 3 or 4 hours of charging. Given that my 1st Kin TwoM also suffered from power problems, I seriously doubt that this model will last for contract life.

fisharefriends

ridgerunner57

Yep, mine does it too. My wife's identical phone goes to 100%. I switched her battery, charger and charging cable over to my phone. Still only 90% after overnight charge, so it's my phone. I'm beginning to think verizon should have sent these things to the electronics recyclers instead of selling them to their customers.

I like the phone, but my confidence regarding it's quality is fading...

James