Waiting for my *third* HTC 8X

[radiogirl83]

Hi everyone,

Just had a call with my cellphone store and they're sending me a *third* HTC 8X because the previous 2 drained in a matter of hours. I have tried letting the battery go completely empty and then recharge but it didn't help on both devices.

My set up:

I switched off location, NFC, sometimes WiFi, screen was on low or normal and my email accounts (1 gmail, 2 imap, 1 live.com) would sync max every hour or every two hours. I also switched off Xbox Games, Microsoft feedback, ... All background apps *blocked*


As soon as I used the phones they would get hot and I could see the battery just going, going and going. I'm also carrying an iPhone 5 from my job and used this one a lot more intensely. It lost 25 percent in the course of 4 hours of intensive use with a gps game (Landlord), calling, texting, .... In those same 4 hours my barely used HTC 8X went from 100 to below 20 percent. My phone died by the morning lying next to me while I was sleeping for 6 hours. It was at a 100 percent when I went to bed.

I know you're supposed to wait it out a bit and that the battery life gets longer over time but I can't walk around with a phone that lasts 5 hours when I do nothing and 2 hours when I actually use it. That's basically a useless object to me (a pretty one, though). I also see people not having these problems from the start at all.

I got this reaction from HTC:

"Dear ...,
Thank you for contacting HTC regarding your HTC 8X.
My name is ... and I am a Technical Support Agent for the HTC Written Team.
I?m sorry to hear that you are experiencing difficulties with the battery life.
The battery life on your device can vary on usage etc. The battery will not calibrate until around 2 weeks of usage. This is normal. Please carry on using the phone,drain the battery and then charge the battery. The battery cells will then last longer."

Luckily, my phone shop is a bit more helpful than HTC. They're not making a problem out of switching phones because they understand a phone that lasts for a few hours is not a usable phone. What is HTC thinking? I can't give a new phone 2 weeks to start working. It's not like hiking shoes having to adjust to your feet. My iPhone 5 didn't need 2 weeks to have decent battery life. None of the phones I ever owned did. Except for the Lumia 800, that is. I had a lot of problems with that device as well.

My first two devices were blue and the third one will be a black one. I hope to rule out a bad batch that way. I can send back the one that doesn't work on Monday. Or I can send back both. I'm hoping the black one will be a lot better out of the box than the blue ones were... (My battery went from 97 percent to 90 while I was typing this out , so just lying here next to me, sigh)

Any of you having these problems?

 

[jimski]

So, did you check to see if GMail is constantly syncing? Settings>Email. That seems to be one of several possible WP8 battery issues. Remove your GMail account for 24-48 hours (you still have an iPhone) and see if that changed anything. It's unfortunate when you (we) have to test a new device but its the curse of early adoption. And you might help others with your findings.
Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express Pro

 

[Coolknight1968]

I have two HSPA+ 8X in Europe. When properly configured they last a day. The design time is around 6 hours of browsing over 3G. My two phones last a day on a charge and I do use them very much both. If I had only one phone, I would have to recharge for 2 hours in the afternoon in the office. Read my post on battery life. Also, HTC is right... battery life improves after about 14 days of usage.

 

[radiogirl83]

I don't think it's constantly syncing. Everything seems normal and when I open gmail it says 'last synched 48 minutes ago'

 

[radiogirl83]

but I don't browse for 6 hours. Even when I have the screen off, and it's not doing anything extra apart from the syncs every two hours (so just lying on a table), it's still dead after 6hours... If I do use my phone lightly, battery is dead after 4 hours

 

[Coolknight1968]

What mobile network speed options do you have? Select the lowest one with data for most of the time.
Did you follow all my suggestions in my list?
Did you switch off iPv6?
Sure no email account is a duplicate of your primary Microsoft account?
Did you install Facebook, Skydrive and Skype? I have all 3, no problems.
Did you update the HTC app in the app store? Must update it, it had issues. (search for HTC, select the app you already have... it will tell you if an update is available, alternatively, switch off all options under Attentive phone.)
Is your phone CDMA or GSM?

 

[radiogirl83]

What mobile network speed options do you have? Select the lowest one with data for most of the time.

>> Edge en 3G. Just using Edge is liking going back to the 90's and no problem on other phones

Did you follow all my suggestions in my list?

>> more or less
Did you switch off iPv6?

>>this one I should still do

Sure no email account is a duplicate of your primary Microsoft account?

>>very

Did you install Facebook, Skydrive and Skype? I have all 3, no problems.

No, just Facebook and without battery goes as well

Did you update the HTC app in the app store? Must update it, it had issues.

>>jup, still draining

Is your phone CDMA or GSM?

>>GSM

 

[Coolknight1968]

It is 3G... try Edge. It could be that the reception of your phone is not good, is a firmware issue.
If you have a blue phone... the black ones have newer firmware... My blue 8X will not last long in 3G, my black one does not seem to care.
In Edge 2G, my blue phone does just great.
3G is a higher frequency signal, it requires much more power for longer ranges...
HTC is supposedly working on a way to update the firmware OTA.
(This applies to my HSPA+ only phones, not to GSM-LTE or CDMA phones)
Firmware I have on blue is: 1532.20.10022.401, Bootloader: 0.01532.20(156246)
Firmware i have on black is: 1532.20.10024.401, Bootloader: 0.0.1532.20(156943)
Rest is same on both.
What is yours under settings, about, more information.

 

[jgraves4480]

You have got something in the way you setup the phone causing that drain. The only issue I have seen is sound going out when I plug certain headsets in. Then I have to reboot. Make sure u don't have double hotmail accounts. I am at 69% and been using the crap out of mine since 6am, it's 12:52pm now. I have location, wifi, bluetooth, nfc, gmail, hotmail, comcast mail, Facebook, espn, weather, stocks, and skype running.

 

[jgraves4480]

Ya know gsm is kinda wonky on signal strength. It could be a tower switching issue. I notice u can't sit and watch that, cuz it disappears from view. I stick with verizon for just that reason. CDMA can just about penetrate anything and goes farther.

 

[rkremers]

I've had my 8X for almost 24 hours. It's been unplugged for close to 4 hours, and it's at 82%. I made two short phone calls, sent 4-5 text messages, a few emails and took a few pictures.

How does this compare to other people? I'm hoping it improves after a few days of full to near empty charges as others have reported improvement after the first few days.

 

[Coolknight1968]

It improves after 2 weeks, but it is a one day device. It will not last two days if you use it much.
On the HSPA+ Phones, 3G H+ is a power hog, don't use it all the time! No need for 3G when you're just checking Email and doing Msg.

Well... Let me say, mine are now two day devices, bit of power mgmt and follow my procedures. Takes two weeks but now the battery is great! Full day of use 06:30 to 1:30, in Edge, WiFi... Was at 63% when I went to sleep.

 

[radiogirl83]

Had the same problems with the black one but less. Then I finally caved: factory reset and didn't set it up to sync my Google calendar & contacts, just email every two hours. First results are really good. Pretty normal usage (not great, but not alarming) and more important: phone is not hot, not even warm. Def. the Google problem, I think. BUT now that I have a blue and black one here: the blue one makes cracky noises when I hold it, the black feels a lot more solid. I think this is just one bad unit because the previous blue didn't have that cheap feeling.

 

[GarrettSR5]

I have all stock settings except for I turn wifi off when I'm not using it. I didn't charge my phone since yesterday morning and it died around 5PM today. I was using it all day too, FB, twitter, Gmal set to sync every 15 minutes, forums etc.