Hard Reset; Will it help battery life?

[dmmbutts]

The battery on my red Lumia 920 is crazy; some days it hardly drains at all and others I can almost sit there and watch it die. Has anyone done a hard reset and noticed better battery life or any other improvements? Today for example, I hardly used my phone at all since taking it off the charger @ 100%; 11 hours later it's at 54% and falling. Before doing a hard reset, what's the best way to backup my phone?I really hate the thought of doing this due to the pain of getting my music to sync correctly, but if it will help...

 

[ttsoldier]

From what I've seen here. It differs. For some people yes. For some people no.

I am presently struggling with crazy battery life. I get about maybe five hours. I've done two hard resets. I'm on the brink of retuning the phone.

I just may do one more though

 

[jdhooghe]

Some hard resets result in better better battery life. You might do a couple and see different battery lives across them. Mine was good but now, I have no idea what is going on

 

[socialcarpet]

Some people say it does. I cannot think of a scientific explanation why though and I haven't seen anything other than anecdotal evidence of it working. I'm skeptical and a hard reset can cause other issues. Luckily I have had no battery problems from day one so its not an issue for me.

 

[jdhooghe]

I can't figure out what could be the cause either. All I can say is that I saw it in my device

 

[NokFromApp]

Its helped me.
I did thrice and it did not brick my phone. I did a hard reset on the first device and that definitely helped battery life. Had to return it because of a sticky power switch, and then got a replacement. Did a hard reset on that (only because of the battery gain I had seen with the first device). Had to return this device because of creaking and then got a third device (which I've now had for over a month). Did a hard reset on that as well for the same reason I did it on the second one.
Here's what I did on all three occasions
1. After getting it from the store, I let the battery drain
2. Then I charged it to 100%
3. While the phone was still on the charger, I did a hard reset.
4. I did not restore from backup after the reset
5. unplugged the phone after the reset was complete

I am not suggesting that this will always work, but it has worked for me on all three occasions

 

[Bruce Hallberg]

Before hard-resetting, I'd suggest you simply close all apps with the back button repeatedly, and then turn the phone off and then back on again.

When I first got my phone, it's battery life was all over the map. I've come to believe that there are several things that are probably going on:
1. The algorithm that estimates % battery remaining needs work, and at least initially misestimates badly. It seems to do better over time, however.
2. Random bugs in apps and the OS are leaving processes running in a way that is consuming more than normal battery life, even when people are careful to always close apps.
3. The battery itself needs some charge cycles to settle down.

These days my phone normally gets herculean battery life (for a smartphone); I charge nightly, but it's rare for it to dip below 70% after a day of moderate use. However, a few days ago I noticed it dropping precipitously... since no apps were running, I turned the phone off and back on, and the abnormal drop immediately stopped.

All operating systems get hinky over time... even iOS needs a restart every 2-3 weeks because it starts misbehaving. Since WP8 is new, it's certain to have weird bugs that need the occasional restart.

Best,
Bruce