My experience with battery depletion on the 1020-right out of the box

[BlackZeppelin]

Hi everyone, this is my first post on this forum. Last year I bought a Lumia 520 that made me a Windows phone fan instantly. Ever since the Lumia 1020 came out, I drooled over the 41MP camera and waited for the price to drop. 2 wks ago I bought a yellow one at a saving over $300 from the initial price when first introduced in Australia.

I absolutely loved it on my first day. Not only the camera, but stunning videos, (even more impressive than the still shots I think), the audio equalizer and the glance screen, plus all the usual Windows phone features which I was used to on my 520. Though I will say this. To be honest though, I couldn't tell much difference, and in bright daylight none whatsoever, in still image quality between the the 5MP and 34MP RAW image.

My joy turned sour overnight instantly when the battery dropped 25% plus. l expected battery to discharge quickly when browsing and taking pictures, but not on standby. I took the phone back and got a second Lumia 1020. The same thing happened. I was bitterly disappointed because according to Nokia's own specifications regarding run times, the 1020 equals or exceeds the 520 on all but one parameter-web browsing time. On standby, the 1020 is supposed to beat the 520.

I noticed one curiosity on both phones-straight out of the box the batteries were completely dead. I mean really dead. Both phones didn't have enough power to turn on. So dead that after connecting to an AC charger, it took a couple of mins before they would just turn on. Then I researched about battery conditioning on the web. Numerous websites all said the same thing. That Li ion batteries should not be completely discharged and if so, should be as soon as possible recharged. Complete emptying caused permanent battery capacity loss. I figured that this would have been even worse on a brand new battery that never received its first charge. Also, numerous websites also said that for long term storage and transport, batteries should be charged to about 40% and turned off. Nokia's own website states that this is what they do.

I thought before I return a second 1020, that I would try recharging it for a week and apply battery saving solutions. I researched on the web and employed all manner of battery tips, including disabling apps running in the background and using 2G network. I even used a flashlight app that had a battery status instead of a dedicated battery app as it did not run in the background graphing and applying statistical analysis. Then I read on this actual forum that to test for a faulty battery, switch to airplane mode and see the battery drop after a number of hours. I did that and turned off the glance screen and overnight the battery dropped exactly the same, proving conclusively it was the battery.

I returned my second 1020 and the salesman was happy for me to either get a refund, leave in store credit or try another 1020. There was only a black one left and decided that I didn't care anymore about the color. So before I agreed to take it home, I took it out of the box to see if it had any charge in the battery. Just like the other 2, completely and utterly dead. Because the salesman was really nice and didn't try to squirm out and pin blame on me, I arranged in store credit. I decided I would wait for a successor to this model, one hopefully with a larger battery capacity, considering how much the camera chews up.

Ironically, once I reinstated my 520, I applied all the battery saving techniques and am utterly amazed at the standby rates. This phone has always been good on power, but after the battery saving techniques, it's astounding. I'm talking about a 2% drop in standby mode in 7hrs. Ironically, seeing how good my 520 does with all the battery saving techniques, I can't help but wonder how good the 1020 would have been if I had just had a battery in it that wasn't compromised by being allowed to completely discharge.

One of the reasons I also got the 1020 was that my gut tells me that Microsoft will not release another 41MP phone camera. They are much more commercial business interest driven, not willing to invest in low volume niche products with unique expensive features like a 41MP camera. I just hope I don't regret waiting now for a 1020 successor. It was kind of nice having for 2 wks a feature that was completely unique in the mobile phone world.

I would say to anyone buying any phone, but especially lower volume selling products, first check the battery status right in the store before purchasing. If it is completely dead or just a percent or two, pick another box.

Part of me still wants to go to another branch of this retailer and pick up another 1020-one that obviously has a proper storage battery capacity. But after 2 1020's with the same experience and a 3rd one in the store that was the same, I have half heartedly opted for waiting for the 1020's successor.

 

[anon(7900571)]

sad to hear this , 3rd replacement with same problem , this time don't go that store , try contacting nokia or visit nokia care centre , explain them this situation and they will test your Lumia 1020 , if they found it faulty , they will surely replace it
I got Lumia 920 and 520 , both out of the box had nearly 40% battery , they suggested me to fully charge the phone and then use it

 

[BlackZeppelin]

sad to hear this , 3rd replacement with same problem , this time don't go that store , try contacting nokia or visit nokia care centre , explain them this situation and they will test your Lumia 1020 , if they found it faulty , they will surely replace it
I got Lumia 920 and 520 , both out of the box had nearly 40% battery , they suggested me to fully charge the phone and then use it

40% charge is EXACTLY the correct charge for transport and storage, as I said in my post. The salesman also told me since late last year, the store sold about 60 Lumia 520's and only about 6 1020's. Obviously, these phones are sitting a long time on the shelves, hence the complete discharge and compromised battery. I wonder how many other people have poor battery performance from the 1020's because of this reason. As I also said, the price dropped about $300 and was marked "clearance".

I don't think there was any need for me to contact Nokia and have the battery tested. Any phone on airplane mode and no other accessory feature that is dropping 30% plus overnight is obviously faulty. As an aside, I charged to full my Lumia 520 then turned it off and a week later turned it back on. It still read 100%. I did this to my second 1020 and overnight it dropped 1%. Conclusive proof that the battery was compromised.

 

[anon(7900571)]

40% charge is EXACTLY the correct charge for transport and storage, as I said in my post. The salesman also told me since late last year, the store sold about 60 Lumia 520's and only about 6 1020's. Obviously, these phones are sitting a long time on the shelves, hence the complete discharge and compromised battery. I wonder how many other people have poor battery performance from the 1020's because of this reason. As I also said, the price dropped about $300 and was marked "clearance".

I don't think there was any need for me to contact Nokia and have the battery tested. Any phone on airplane mode and no other accessory feature that is dropping 30% plus overnight is obviously faulty. As an aside, I charged to full my Lumia 520 then turned it off and a week later turned it back on. It still read 100%. I did this to my second 1020 and overnight it dropped 1%. Conclusive proof that the battery was compromised.

battery does improve after certain charges

 

[DaT Franchise]

^^^^ exactly, my 1520 had horrific battery life for the first 3 or 4 days now its very impressive.

 

[Westoncreg]

^^^^ exactly, my 1520 had horrific battery life for the first 3 or 4 days now its very impressive.

yeah same here the first week I was having a easy time killing my phone in a days time, two months later and I can't kill the thing, I'm a fairly heavy user and I usually end up with 70% at the end of the day

 

[anon(7900571)]

yeah same here the first week I was having a easy time killing my phone in a days time, two months later and I can't kill the thing, I'm a fairly heavy user and I usually end up with 70% at the end of the day

impressive

 

[BlackZeppelin]

yeah same here the first week I was having a easy time killing my phone in a days time, two months later and I can't kill the thing, I'm a fairly heavy user and I usually end up with 70% at the end of the day

I don't think that what you are suggesting and my particular experiences are the same. They sound the same but are not. Yes, a new Li ion battery can improve after a number of charges. That is because during the initial charges, not all the battery chemistry has been activated. Over a few charges, all the chemistry becomes activated.

But you are talking about battery charge improving and I am talking about non operational discharge. They are not the same thing. A battery that is not performing initially well because not all its chemistry has been activated will not drop 30% overnight on airplane mode. It will not hold all the charge that it can potentially hold, but what charge it does hold will drop at a normal rate-not abnormal rate. That is the key difference between your situation and mine.

 

[Taigatrommel]

It sucks to get such an experience. After taking the phone back five times, I'd also have enough. When I unboxed my 1020 two weeks ago, it was definitely charged. I don't really remember how much battery percentage was left, but I think it was between 30-40%.
Yet even if you get a working unit, you simply can't expect any good battery times of it! The specs are just too much for the 2000mAH battery. Especially now seeing so many things on Windows Phone aren't yet optimized for AMOlED use, be it OneNote, browsing the web or reading/writing mails: There is so much white on such a large screen it simply drains the battery.

 

[BlackZeppelin]

It sucks to get such an experience. After taking the phone back five times, I'd also have enough. When I unboxed my 1020 two weeks ago, it was definitely charged. I don't really remember how much battery percentage was left, but I think it was between 30-40%.
Yet even if you get a working unit, you simply can't expect any good battery times of it! The specs are just too much for the 2000mAH battery. Especially now seeing so many things on Windows Phone aren't yet optimized for AMOlED use, be it OneNote, browsing the web or reading/writing mails: There is so much white on such a large screen it simply drains the battery.

I agree. I figured that even if I did get a good battery that gave me reallly good standby times like my Lumia 520, using the camera would still drain it something ridiculous like the 30% plus per hr as I experienced. Considering that this is a flaghsip device and considering the battery sizes of flaship Samsung and HTC phones with similar size, (over 3000mAh), I too considered that 2000mAh is indadequate. Remember too the camera has optical stabilisation, not digital. I do look forward hopefully to a successor with a much larger battery capacity. It is okay for my 520 because with it's 5MP camera I'm hardly going to do any picture taking. But when you get a top of the range device with all those goodies plus glance screen which you can switch on always, it's too tempting not to be using it continually for music, web, photos, videos etc.

 

[ttsoldier]

Whatsapp kills my 1020 battery,
if I don't use it, with 1020 on edge, I can get 2% discharge per hour and im content with that.

best way to test your battery is to factory reset it and leave it idle after a full charge,

I did not see u mention anything about hard reset and/or software/firmware update.

 

[BlackZeppelin]

Whatsapp kills my 1020 battery,
if I don't use it, with 1020 on edge, I can get 2% discharge per hour and im content with that.

best way to test your battery is to factory reset it and leave it idle after a full charge,

I did not see u mention anything about hard reset and/or software/firmware update.

Yes, soft and hard resets are the way to go before you decide to return something. I did both of those on my 2 returns and it didn't help. But definately a good idea to try it out. Perhaps a good idea when getting a new phone is to try it out with minimal apps first and see how the battery performs. If then you need to do a hard reset, you have a minimal amount of apps and settings to reinput again.

 

[Residing]

Well, I see I'm not alone

I ordered my Lumia 1020 directly from Microsoft - the first device I sent back within a few days of ordering it due to a microphone/speakerphone issue - I didn't even get an opportunity to check out the camera! The second device I received was sent back due to the compass being defective. The one that I just received two days ago (3rd order) - no issues with reception/speakerphone, compass or camera. But I did notice that for each device I received, the battery was dead and I had to fully charge them before using, something I never experienced with my Lumia 900 that I ordered 9 months after it was released!

Granted, I did not update the software - it came installed with Amber - but I feel as though a device should work right out of the box and I shouldn't have to update the software just so that the 'basics' work. The battery drainage on this 3rd device is severe - more so than the other two devices, and I've disabled all background tasks. I just charged my Lumia 900 and the estimated time remaining is 1 day and 18 hours. I'm charging my Lumia 1020 - if the estimated time remaining doesn't reflect the same or better, I'm sending this one back also.

Maybe the devices I'm ordering have been sitting on the shelves for too long....

 

[Janda45]

The percentage and time left on the battery aren't representative of actual use but estimated. Some days it's more some days less. I thought my 1020 had poor battery life but I found that once it settled in it is really a decent battery. It isn't Blackberry good but it's as good as or better than iPhone good.

 

[Morpheus Phreak]

Indeed and that estimate also calibrates over time as well.

 

[chmun77]

1020 has erratic battery life. The battery status is not accurate as well. The percentage changes back to display more whenever after a reboot. Something is just wrong about the OS or phone itself.

 

[Morpheus Phreak]

1020 has erratic battery life. The battery status is not accurate as well. The percentage changes back to display more whenever after a reboot. Something is just wrong about the OS or phone itself.

If it were the OS then every Windows Phone would exhibit this behavior.

How long have you had the phone? Also did you see my post right above yours and some other members posts about how the battery status calibrates over a period of time to become more accurate?

 

[Spriteman]

My 920 does the same thing.

battery % jump at reboot.

 

[chmun77]

If it were the OS then every Windows Phone would exhibit this behavior.

How long have you had the phone? Also did you see my post right above yours and some other members posts about how the battery status calibrates over a period of time to become more accurate?

Since last year Oct. Don't tell me about it needs calibration. There is no such thing at all. If it works, it works. TBH, lots of 1020 users are facing the same battery drainage. I bet even other models also the same. The battery status is just bonkers.

Only 7hrs but already depleted by 15%. No background tasks except Whatsapp. Unless Whatsapp is the culprit here, otherwise something is really wrong with the battery, or the OS.

 

[Morpheus Phreak]

Since last year Oct. Don't tell me about it needs calibration. There is no such thing at all. If it works, it works. TBH, lots of 1020 users are facing the same battery drainage. I bet even other models also the same. The battery status is just bonkers.

http://i60.tinypic.com/2cz3si0.jpg

Only 7hrs but already depleted by 15%. No background tasks except Whatsapp. Unless Whatsapp is the culprit here, otherwise something is really wrong with the battery, or the OS.

Wait a second here. First of all.... I said that the status indicator can take time to calibrate...not the battery.

The OS gives you an estimated time remaining based on prior usage statistics. It usually takes several days of initial use after purchase or any hard resets to give truly accurate times. Don't tell me, someone who has worked on Windows Phone that I don't know how the OS works. That's pretty rude.

I means seriously what in the hell is happening around here today? You're the second person to reply rudely to me today...and it's not cool or funny.

Also a 2% per hour average usage with apps running in background and with the phone seeing some usage is actually about average for Lumia devices. You have to remember that some core apps have background tasks that cannot be disabled.
The only way you'll see it drop to 1% or less per hour is to flat out not use it at all. That is the nature of technology...as use increases so does the average hourly drain. That's just common sense.