Battery life in WP 8.1 is awful

[anon(8151408)]

I turned OFF Battery Saver and let my phone die. It didn't take long. Only six hours from charge to a cold, black death. But then I charged it. It was charging noticeably slower, and the charge has held MUCH better.

Now at 97% after 3 hours with an estimated time remaining of 22 hours. Considering this morning it was 63% after 3 hours, that's a solid improvement!

This is what I did on my Lumia 520, same result. Battery takes far longer to charge but lasts ages! Almost like 8.1 added another battery!

 

[Svetoslav Enkov]

Wrong its preview for developers , but OS is RTM'd /Final and shipped to OEM's , no further changes expected until GDR1 for 8.1

Yes, it is RTM core, but the drivers/firmware will be updated by manufacturers soon, also MS promise to update as fast as twice per month the system applications (Games, Video, Music, Store, People) - that is the main reason of extracting them from the Core!

 

[theefman]

Yes, it is RTM core, but the drivers/firmware will be updated by manufacturers soon, also MS promise to update as fast as twice per month the system applications (Games, Video, Music, Store, People) - that is the main reason of extracting them from the Core!

Only the music app was mentioned by wpcentral to be updated bi weekly, nothing else. Lets not start another rumor now.....

 

[Svetoslav Enkov]

I am sure they will update all of them regularly! Games is buggy too, Video same. Ok, maybe it will not be exactly bi-weekly term but when necessary, not waiting GDR's core updates. Look at the Android side... A bunch of updates every day.

 

[Romberry]

The title of this thread is awful. The problem isn't so much Cortana or 8.1 but those who cannot tell the difference between beta and release code. Maybe it wasn't obvious and Dan Rubino should have reminded us in some double-wide, brightly lit, disclaimer about 8.1 developers preview aka beta, but this is what you signed up for. If you expected a finished product, then you are in for a lot of heart ache.

You and several others are confused. This "developer preview" is not beta code, it is the release code for WP 8.1. It doesn't have specific device firmware optimizations. Those will come from the manufacturer. But it is the release code for WP 8.1. It's called "developer preview" because developers (or for us enthusiasts just wanting to use it, "developers") get it early so that they can get busy writing/updating apps for it.

 

[Dantekai14]

I am sure they will update all of them regularly! Games is buggy too, Video same. Ok, maybe it will not be exactly bi-weekly term but when necessary, not waiting GDR's core updates. Look at the Android side... A bunch of updates every day.

MS will fix all issue in GDR update.
This is the way MS work.

 

[TheRotfler]

MS will fix all issue in GDR update.
This is the way MS work.

I'm not so confident. There were 3 GDRs since WP initial release, almost two years ago, and a lot of issues were not solved until WP8.1
I'm afraid next GDRs will fix only few issues and mostly focalize on supporting new hardware.
Then, at some point, there will be a WP8.2/9 (or whatever it will be called) but older phones (920, 820, 720, etc) will not supported and allowed to download it.

So basicly, unless you have a new phone model, what you see now is what you'll get and you'll be stuck with your bugs unitl you buy a new phone.

 

[Cree Ray]

I did a couple of things yesterday and some kind of semblance has returned.

1. Turned off WiFi Sense...don't need it / don't use it.
2. Removed all apps from Background except those necessary.
3. Let the battery die off completely. Then recharged it completely to 100%. Technically, this should'nt work, but looks like it works.
4. Didn't turn off Location or Cortana.

Took off the charge at 730 hrs today morning. By 1500hrs it was 80% with usual usage.

 

[taymur]

I drained my battery to 0% then fully charged it. Seems way better better

 

[zany1]

high battery drain after updating to WP 8.1 is not an isolated problem its all over the fourums

im pretty sure this is the problem with geofencing.

geofencing is a new feature in windows phone 8.1 the phone keeps on checking your location continuously even though the app doesn't require it example IE , whats app etc pretty much any app. this is just like using nokia drive for 4 hours and your battery dies. constant use of gps reduces battery life and heats up the phone for no reason.

when ever this feature is accessed the phone does this in the background( the location icon on the top bar is not displayed how i know this is because it says so in settings-location )

How do i know its the problem with geofencing

heres a little experiment you guys can try out ( please don't mock this post if you haven't tried this out)

turn off location and use your phone normally for a day and you'll notice the battery performance is like pre update. and phone doesnt heat too.

 

[Connor Bunch]

what app did you use for that graph?

 

[nikhilr51]

This is a problem:



(already done a hard rest and many soft ones)

 

[CharlieBoy1894]

Try a soft reset. It worked for me. If not maybe a hard reset.

 

[anon(5562316)]

My battery has defiantly improved after running it flat and then all the way back up a few times. Still not as good as it was with 8 but at least it lasts most of a day now.

 

[CharlieBoy1894]

Mine as well. I got a lumia 720 and it takes 5 hours before it drops to 99 %