148 Battery Drain

[wolfzero]

I upgraded to 4.7.0.148 from 4.7.0.75 just a few days ago.  I used to get a day to a day and a half of battery power.  After the upgrade I have about 6 hours of battery power before a fully charged phone is completely drained.  That's with minimal use and the phone holstered as well.  It's unusable at this point so have no choice but to go back to .75.  It may be a good release for some but it's unuseable on my phone.

[jkf]

I've found if you lock your phone when your not using it, the Storm will go into a  sleep mode that turns off the display.  This greatly increases the battery life.  I personally have noticed an improvement with the new update because of this.  Also, every since I've had a cell (1994), I've been into the habit of plugging it into it's charger every night when I go to bed.  Don't try to see how many days it will go without a charge.  I realize this might not be practical for everybody, but it certainly has made it so I haven't had any battery issues since the beginning.

[SaNDman]

What is minimal use? I usually send picture and text messages to my friends, use email sevices. My battery life is almost the same.

[wolfzero]

Thanks for the replies jkf and Sandman.  My Storm is set to lock when hostered and I keep it holstered most of the day.  I'll give an example for minimal use yesterday.  Had the Storm on my work desk holstered.  I unholstered, unlocked, and viewed about 4 e-mails.  Deleted them and re-holstered (locked) each time.  I didn't use it to make any phone calls.  The battery was so low after 7 hours that the phone shut the radio off.  I called Verizon support last night.  So far he indicated he had not hear of this problem and no advice (he told me that wiping it would restore it back to .75 but I don't think so.

[SaNDman]

If 3 Blackberry Storms gives you the same problem, I don't really know. But are the settings like backlight set low? What about Bluetooth, do you have it on? It's famous for killing baterries if kept on. I'm sorry if you're having problems with the Storm.

[gocardinals]

My battery life has improved significantly, going from 75 to 148.

[wolfzero]

I am starting to see more on a the .148 release and fast battery drain on crackberry forums.  So this is not unique to my Storm.  I fixed the problem by visiting Verizon Wireless store and essentially they gave me a new Storm with the .75 OS.  So if you upgrade have a fallback plan. 

[SaNDman]

I'm happy you got the problem taken care of at Verizon. So far my battery lasts a little longer now, since the upgrade. Right now it is at 40% charge. Verizon said the new batteries don't have memory and there is no need to run it down, I can charge often I want to. Mainly turn my Storm off when charging.

[BlackBerry_i812]

I found a Good External BlackBerry Rapid Battery Charger that recharges The Standard BlackBery Battery in 2 hours or less

BlackBerry Mini External Battery Charger for Curve 8900, Storm 9530, Storm 9500

(13 Customer Ratings)   Manufacturer: BlackBerry Works with: BlackBerry Curve 8900, Storm 9530, Storm 9500

http://shop.crackberry.com/blackberry-mini-external-battery-charger/5A83A4270.htm

Now you can make sure you have a spare battery fully charged while you continue to use your BlackBerry device, or just add in a USB cable to charge your device and your spare battery at the same time. Use the Mini Extra Battery Charger with any BlackBerry charger (sold separately) to power up a spare battery in your car, in your home or office, or right off your computer.

Like all BlackBerry device chargers, it reliably delivers constant current and voltage to charge your device safely and rapidly, and help extend the life of your battery. You'll have the security of knowing your extra battery is charged and ready whenever you need it.

LED shows charging status

• Orange: Charging
• Green: Charged

The Charger has the RIM BlackBerry Manufacturer Label on it.. 

It works Great for me..

[JimR]

I upgraded to 148 and also am experiencing the rapid battery drain.  It is going from a full charge (Iplug it in every night) to completely drained and shut down in 7 hours.  I will revert back to OS 75 if this is a continuing problem. I have had the problem since converting to 148 three days ago.

[joeyfly55]

My wife and I both upgraded to the "official OS" .148 from .75. We are both have significant battery drain issues and .75 was not nearly as bad as far as battery life for both of us. I grow tired of this crap and am very tempted to go back to my old flip phone if not resolved very soon. So very frustrating.

[gocardinals]

I feel for you people who are suffering battery drain with 148. Like I said, my performance, including battery life, is SO much better going from 75 to 148.

[nycrdc]

My battery lasts a little longer now that I have the 148 update but a few of my co-workers have a shorter battery life.

[BlackBerry_i812]

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nycrdc wrote:
My battery lasts a little longer now that I have the 148 update but a few of my co-workers have a shorter battery life.

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Here is my two cents worth..

1.) Enable the Memory Cleaner function..

Options/Security Options/Memory Cleaning..  click Menu - Save

2.) Options Screen/Keyboard / Automatic Dim Backlight On

LED Coverage Indicator - Off

3.) I have heard that if your not using BlueTooth, then Turning it Off will save some battery use.. ??

[seabright]

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BlackBerry_i812 wrote:

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3.) I have heard that if your not using BlueTooth, then Turning it Off will save some battery use.. ??

---

This is true. If you don't use Bluetooth, turn it off. It will contribute to battery drain and, if configured incorrectly, can, at least theoretically pose a security risk.

Best of luck.

[russgross]

I've been having the same problem since upgrading. The battery won't even make it through the day. Why should I have to turn Bluetooth off, when it used to last all day even with Bluetooth on?

[EdMart]

I've had 148 installed for about a week now.  My battery life has actually been better than it was with 75.  I have bluetooth on all the time as I use an earpiece.  I also use the Storm as a book reader and read at least an hour daily. 

I usually charge the phone every night, but went 48 hours as of yesterday just to check.  I still had two battery bars (from Monday nights charge) when I placed the phone in the charger last night.

[wolfzero]

I started this thread but wanted to share some good news.  After Verizon gave me the new Storm, with 4.7.0.75 loaded, I could not resist trying 4.7.0.148 again.  So I upgraded to find that my batter life actually improved.  What was the difference?  I'm guessing a 3rd party application.  This time I did not have any loaded.  I later went and added a 3rd party application (iheartradio) and noticed significant batter drain.  I removed the application and batter life was good again.  I download Meterberry.  It's a great app that, among other things, calculates avg battery drain.  I can use Meterberry, when I load a new app, to see what it's really doing to my battery.  So, if you have fast battery drain try removing your 3rd party applications, charge and check battery life, then perhaps add them back one-at-a-time and see which might be causing the problem.

[jrm2183]

Had same battery issue after downloading new SW. Just did a long charge for about 10 hours like you should do when the phone is brand new and it solved my problem. Might be somthing to try before reinstalling software or getting replacement.

[russgross]

As of today, my battery drain issue seems to be resolved.  It's 3:00 and I still have 4 bars on my battery meter.  This is the first day that my phone has not been dead by this time since I downloaded the software update.  What changed?  This morning the phone prompted me to download an update to the visual voicemail application.  I did, and now my battery life issues have disappeared.