Love the phone hate the battery life

[Wolfman237]

So I just upgraded to the Bionic a couple of days ago... I had a Droid X before which in itself was a great phone and awesome battery life! Now with the Bionic is a great phone as well but the battery life leaves alot to be desired...

So far I have been trying different things to see what could be killing battery life:

 - Standard battery with phone on factory settings - 4 hrs max

 - Standard battery with all power saving, 4g turned off, data turned off as well as wifi and bluetooth - 4.5 hours

I see inthe discussions where the battery life is very good I am just not seeing it

So i went to the verizon wireless store with some questions and was told that 4 hours was unheard of..

Rep sold me the extended battery for the Bionic and i went and left it charge

Here is what the extended battery is doing:

- factory settings - 6 hrs max

- everything turned off and set to power save as before  - 9-10

Any ideas about this would be helpful

[Wildman]

To be honest I wasnt expecting to see any good battery life out of the Bionic because of the dual processor, 4G and higher resolution screen because all of these items pulls more power..  Have you tried System Panel to identify what apps are using the most amount of resource?

[Wolfman237]

Wasn't expecting great either but i think 4hrs idle even with settings on is a little too short..

And when turning everything off i should be able to gain more than a half hour in batt life

Checked the apps and only things running are base svcs and apps for the phone to run

Shows cell standby and phone idle using the most juice but figure as to be pretty much normal.

I am going to try and do a fac reset on the phone to clear anything out as well

[Wildman]

To identify the load on your system you have to enable the monitoring option under settings of app and allow it about a day to really get a reliable status of your systems resources...

[Wolfman237]

System panel is a great app!! After letting it run for a couple days only thing using any processor are basic services but shows battery dropping like a rock. In checking with tech support over the phone a few time it was stated as normal for battery life to be this bad with nothing running and in a few words or less refused any exchange or further assistance.

[NuclearFenix]

Technical support never actually knows what they are talking about. Just for example call them, 3 different times with the same question or problem and they will give you 3 different answers as long as you talk to 3 different people, I kid you not, this will happen.

[Wildman]

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NuclearFenix wrote:

Technical support never actually knows what they are talking about. Just for example call them, 3 different times with the same question or problem and they will give you 3 different answers as long as you talk to 3 different people, I kid you not, this will happen.

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CS usually only have information along the line of your accounts and Motorola is the ones that has tech knowledge on the devices hardware issues, the CS is given the basic spec information data sheets that covers hardware specs and some troubleshooting information.  Most developers due not choose to have users working on their device that isnt a authorized  service tech.

The information that you receive from the CS department usually comes from hands on knowledge and customers information, so the reason each would have a different answer is because the information is limited to the techs hands on and customers reports.  I know that this isn't the best way to service devices but most manufactures limit the tech knowledge on some products to limit users attempting to service the device without the proper training.

I know this may not be what you want to hear but in a perfect world everything would make sense but I have yet to find a perfect world....  It is what it is..

[Wolfman237]

Well I would think that if you are going to do tech support you would have as much info from manufacturers and other sources as well to make the role as it was meant to be or even look outside of work to help you out
I was dealing with motorola before here after talking to a tech rep. As of today though I went to the vz store and switched out for another unit. After talking with the in house tech support and testing my phone as I also had the whining noise from. The earphones when trying to do anything not just music.

I used the system panel app as well best money I have spent on the market
I showed the tech the history from the apps as well as CPU usage and battery stats it was found my phone was draining the batt with nothing running at all other than basic functions as well as data was turned off as well as LTE so only running in 3G mode (CDMA)

Will post again to let you all know how the placement phone is working

[NuclearFenix]

I agree with wolf, you go into tech support for a reason, I was talking about tech support anyway, not cs. If you were talking about TS and not CS, then that means both are the same and I've been living on a lie my whole life.

Please do tell me what happens wolf. Your response is gonna decide for me if I go to VZ and trade mine in or keep mine.

Just a question did you do the costco deal?

[Wolfman237]

Nah didn't do the Costco deal I went directly through a verizon wireless store. The extent of the tech support was let me test your batteries,ok good idea but then they were like everything was fine and started going through random menus on the phone and said everything was fine and their solution to the whining noise was to try and sell me a JAMBOX for my phone.....
As for the t/s and c/s depending on the store they are one in the same person as was my case...all I have to say is if the customers know more about the phones then the sales/support that does not bode well...

[gina7289]

I get about 7-9 hrs but my screen isent fully bright Im in 3g though. I have little amount of apps. I do lot of web if I have a great signal. I do hotspoting.

[vidguy7]

I'm getting about 14 hours and still have about 20% left...something I never even came close to on my Samsung Charge.

I've also found the battery is constantly getting better as it goes through more charge/discharge cycles. I'd say the battery life has improved about 30% from the first cycle.

[Wolfman237]

Does your phone get pretty warm while running?

[gina7289]

Mine doesent even with silicone cover. The thunderbolt gets very warm

[#15]

The battery life on the Bionic is great when compared to other 4G devices. If you purchased an extended battery and still have poor battery life, we know it's not a defective battery.  This could easily be the software or an application that is causing the issue. I've personally dealt with a couple 3rd party email apps that drastically reduce the battery life of the Bionic. Have you tried a master reset yet? If you've already done this, and you see no improvement, I would exchange the device under the 14-day Worry Free Guarantee.  If you are outside of that period, you can call the warranty number pre-stored in your contact list. 

Thanks for posting! Please let us know how things work out. 

[NuclearFenix]

I dont see any solution and I dont know why this was marked as solved but my battery does the same thing. I'm having such a hard time with it. I have the standard and extended and both times match up with yours. I would liketo see an actual legitimate response to one of these battery life topics from VZ, instead of, "well you can trade it in under the 14 days warranty, there should be more time on this since it seems to be a device issue and not a user error.

[Wolfman237]

Well talked to the store and tech support I was told that it is what it is... In that warranty exchange would not matter. Even though it is states slot more in the batt specs:

Battery: 1735 mAH Li–Ion
Talk Time –Up to approx. 10.8 hours
Standby Time –Up to approx. 8.3 days
SAR: Head 0.88 W/kg / Body–worn 0.94 W/kg


As for being solved I am not believing it is. Above is directly from specs listed on page.. Not even close in my opinion

[NuclearFenix]

VZ is pathetic.

As long as the money comes in then there are no "Technical Issues" Refusing to replace the device is ridiculous. Call tech support and just get upset about it, they will put a notation on your account then you should be able to go back and replace it. Otherwise the run around. Their refusal to actually help you, and lack of training is ridiculous.

[gina7289]

I agree with all said. Why is this solved. U solve a problem by tradeing it in. Technically what happens after the 14 days u trade it in for clnd? If ur not getting the right hrs as troubleshooting they should replace battery. Store might not want to because they would want to sell the battery

[reallyniceguy]

I have good battery life but its no regular phone. It can last me around 6 hours if I am on it NON stop on 4g. I can get the battery to last longer if I turn off all vibrations. I bought a second battery and combined I get around 12 hrs. I hear the extended battery lasts around 10 hrs if not more. If you live in a 3g area and no 4g, turn off 4g in network settings. Also dim display down to lowest and use the battery manager app. Its normal for a phone this big and with 4g to have low battery power. Im sure those 10 hrs talk time are under perfect conditions and NOT on 4G internet connection. I have never gotten 10 hrs out of this. This is a big phone and fact is it will use battery fast. It is better than the thunderbolt battery life tho.

[Wolfman237]

Nice! I wish I got that...to get through a 12 hr day I am looking at 2 extended batt and a standard battery!!!
I have exchanged the phone already and nothing has changed... Also only apps I have downloaded are juice defender extreme and system panel pro... Both are set to highest batt savings to the point where all my phone does is give me the time if I press the power button to turn screen on for a sec... No calls no 4g no data even went to airplane mode! If it has not been over the fourteen day period I would have returned the phone and got my money back.. I just find that unacceptable to have to all that for what they are asking for the phone.. I fully understand how smart phones work.. I have owned quite a few and all had better than this in terms of battery life. They advertise 8-10hrs talk on STD battery which would mean standard features running and talking if I am not mistaken.. I am not even getting close with the ext batteries... But I am being told by vzw that it's normal for the batt life to suck so bad... And there is nothing that can be done..