Low Battery Life

mdintx

New member
Apr 16, 2012
21
0
0
Visit site
Hey Folks,

Over the last week or so, I've been getting increasingly poor battery life. Usually down to ~15% by 5pm with very light use. The phone is pretty new. I've been using it for ~6 weeks. How do I go about figuring out why it's doing this?

Thanks,

Mark
 

bigkevbosky

New member
Nov 22, 2011
496
0
0
Visit site
Well, the first questions would be the obvious ones :

1) Have you changed anything recently? For example, started using the light background? Added any new apps that are running background tasks?

2) Have you changed how you charge it? From USB port on computer, for example, or from wall outlet?

3) What is "very light use"? Not touching the phone at all unless you get a text?

4) Have you tested turning off cell data connection, wifi, and bluetooth individually to see if one of those is draining the battery?

5) Phone is "pretty new" - did you buy it used from Ebay or was it brand new in the box 6 weeks ago?
 

thelastfoiter

New member
Apr 7, 2012
139
0
0
Visit site
He got it from the WIndows Phone Challenge I bet :D On topic, it's probably some background task or you're leaving on some sort of connection like previously stated.
 

Dave Blake

Mod and Ambassador Team Emeritus
Jan 11, 2008
5,657
6
0
Visit site
Check your background tasks under Settings/Applications/Background tasks. Turn off anything you don't need. The other main battery draw is cellular signal and usage. Watch your cell signal if a tower is out in your area your device might be searching for signal a lot.

You can get more battery saving tips and even more information on everything Windows Phone in this thread:

http://forums.windowscentral.com/os-discussion/181501.htm
 

mdintx

New member
Apr 16, 2012
21
0
0
Visit site
Well, the first questions would be the obvious ones :

1) Have you changed anything recently? For example, started using the light background? Added any new apps that are running background tasks?

2) Have you changed how you charge it? From USB port on computer, for example, or from wall outlet?

3) What is "very light use"? Not touching the phone at all unless you get a text?

4) Have you tested turning off cell data connection, wifi, and bluetooth individually to see if one of those is draining the battery?

5) Phone is "pretty new" - did you buy it used from Ebay or was it brand new in the box 6 weeks ago?

1) I've installed a few apps that come recommended on the WP Central news feed. In checking background tasks, LinkedIn is the only one that shows On. I turned it off and deleted a bunch off apps I rarely use. I also deleted Connection Tiles which I'm wondering was the main culprit. So, we'll see what effect that has on battery life.

2) Nope, charge it the same.

3) Very light use is a couple of 20 minute stints on Angry Birds and about 30 minutes on Wifi checking email. The rest of the time, it's on standby.

4) Haven't tested the connections. Again, it spends 6-7 hours of my work day on standby since I'm dealing with appointments. I turn Wifi and BT off when I'm not using them. Wifi turns itself off anyways...

5) Phone was new in the box AND from ebay.
 

jimski

New member
Dec 11, 2010
2,253
8
0
Visit site
Having your phone idle for long periods is a good time to run a static test. Check your battery % in Battery Saver before setting it down. Now leave it untouched for 3-5 hours (or more). Wake your phone, note the time and check the % again. Divide by the hours to get the % drain per hour/sleeping.

My Lumia consistently drains 2 to 2.25% per hour at home, and 3-3.5%/hour at the office (different signal). This is with 8 background tasks, 5 mail accounts, WiFi on, etc. You should not be seeing anything higher.

Don't remember what size battery you have but you need to divide the size by 1930 (L900 battery) to get the right factor. So if it's 1500, divide 1930/1500=1.29. So 2% x 1.29 = 2.58 (rounded up to 3%) is the low end of what you would see in your test.

Note if you are connected to a microCell, it has been known to wreak havoc on batteries.

Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express Pro
 

mdintx

New member
Apr 16, 2012
21
0
0
Visit site
Ok, I deleted many apps that were just there and rarely used (Netflix, TuneIn, Vimeo, USA Today, and I'm WP7 + Extras). I also deleted Connection Tiles for which I had Wifi and BT pinned to the start menu. All my email accounts are set for manual sync. The only background task marked On was LinkedIn and I turned it off.

On standby at home and work, I drop 1% per hour.
With Connection Tiles re-installed, this increases to 2% per hour (not bad).
Playing Angry Birds, I lose 4% every 10 minutes.

I need to assess how much battery I lose running Fhotoroom. I think it's a bit of a double whammy cause I run it only through Wifi. I suspect it's a bit more of a hog.

With the changes I made and the same amount of use as last week, I'm ending the work day with 50-60% battery. I'm okay with this.

Thanks for the suggestions!
 

infamousdaveman

New member
Feb 24, 2012
96
0
0
Visit site
Ok, I deleted many apps that were just there and rarely used (Netflix, TuneIn, Vimeo, USA Today, and I'm WP7 + Extras). I also deleted Connection Tiles for which I had Wifi and BT pinned to the start menu. All my email accounts are set for manual sync. The only background task marked On was LinkedIn and I turned it off.

On standby at home and work, I drop 1% per hour.
With Connection Tiles re-installed, this increases to 2% per hour (not bad).
Playing Angry Birds, I lose 4% every 10 minutes.

I need to assess how much battery I lose running Fhotoroom. I think it's a bit of a double whammy cause I run it only through Wifi. I suspect it's a bit more of a hog.

With the changes I made and the same amount of use as last week, I'm ending the work day with 50-60% battery. I'm okay with this.

Thanks for the suggestions!
Do you have auto brightness enabled?? I am going to write a new post about it but my battery life skyrocketed after I changed to this setting...I mean HUGE bump.
 

boneycat

Member
Nov 9, 2011
282
0
16
Visit site
My wife's Focus S has also been experiencing very poor battery life. In fact, it's even an issue to charge this past week. After plugging it in it goes back and forth between the low battery screen and "Samsung" screen. She's a little upset.
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
322,913
Messages
2,242,887
Members
428,005
Latest member
COME ON WIN ANDROID (ADI)