Need some quick help

[drummerskey]

I just bought a Razr Maxx HD yesterday. I came from a Samsung Charge, which I really hated.

After 24 hours of use, I am far from impressed. The phone came with 4.2 JB and the real reason I bought the phone was battery life. With what I would call moderate to aggressive use of the phone, the battery was at 33% at 11:30a and I didn't pick it up until 7:30a.

The processes by the specs should be twice as fast (i.e. more ram, twice the processor, etc) but it is about as fast as the Charge and there can be a lag on the phone where any button is pushed and it does nothing for about 10-15 seconds of repeated pushes. Additionally, when I went to check my email this morning; it took around 20-30 seconds for the text of the email to load, huge lag with forwarding an email.

If there are tips or tricks that I should know for battery use or speed, please let me know. At this point, I have 13 days to return the phone and unless something changes, I don't see a reason to keep a phone that I have to fiddle with the settings (which is why I bought in the first place, to not have to) to get a work day's worth of use when I can just strip down the Charge and get the same speed and battery life...........but I get my $200 back.

Other things to note: unrooted, Go Launcher, mainly using email and playing with settings today (no streaming, videos, movies).

 

[B. Diddy]

I have a non-HD Razr Maxx. I also don't use Go Launcher, so can't comment there. But here are some things to try:

1. If you use Google Currents, then don't. It can be a memory and battery hog. If it came preinstalled, then disable it; if you installed it, then uninstall it. If you really like Currents and don't want to get rid of it, then at least turn its data refresh frequency to manual.

2. Keeping background sync on can tend to slow things down, because the system is often checking your various email accounts, Google apps, etc. for updates. If you don't need to be notified in real time when new emails or other messages arrive, turn off sync. Use a good toggle app like Power Toggles to make it easy to turn sync on and off.

3. If you use live wallpapers, keep in mind that some of them are far more CPU-intensive than others, and therefore can cause more bogginess (and battery use). In general, any live wallpaper that has a lot of stuff going on in 3D, or has a filesize of >3 MB or so, will be like that. Use a static wallpaper if you don't really care about live ones.

4. Do a system cache partition wipe from time to time. This can "clear the cobwebs," so to speak, and make things run a little faster. https://motorola-global-portal.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/93162/p/30,6720,8579

5. Antivirus/security apps can bog things down, especially if they're often working in the background. If you use one, try a different one. I like Lookout, because it's pretty lightweight and has an excellent reputation in the Android security field. But when it scans a newly installed app, it definitely causes a brief slowdown.

6. Since the process of updating an app to a new version can also slow things down a bit, turn off automatic app updates in the Google Play Store by opening the Play Store's settings, tapping "Auto-update apps," and selecting "Do not auto-update apps."

I realize that much of what I am suggesting seems like fiddling with the settings, but the way I look at it, the default settings are often not optimal. You just have to find the settings that are right for you. Anyway, I hope your phone settles down, or you find one that works better for you.

 

[oscarnyc]

For battery life the first thing I would do is go to Settings > more > Mobile networks > Network Mode and select LTE/CDMA. This had a big effect for me. Also, you can disable google location - some people say that helps a lot with battery life.

as far as that lag, I have no idea. i haven't experienced that. if it doesn't improve in a day or two I'd definitely return the phone.

 

[PowrDroid]

As to the battery life--Did you fully charge the phone before you started using it? I know, it's a basic question but some people don't do it.

I would suggest that you use the phone until the battery is down to between 15% and 20% of charge remaining. (Don't go below 10% charge remaining.) Then do a hard power off, so the phone is OFF. Then plug it into the charger and let it charge completely to 100%. This might take 2 1/2 to 3 hours. You can check progress by depressing the power button for a half second or so while it is charging.

Now power up your phone and use it as normal. Please report back. I have Google Currents running, background sync on, etc. and I easily get a full day of use out of my Maxx HD. I have my screen brightness at about 45%.

As to improving the speed of the phone, something is definitely wrong if it takes 20 seconds to check email. You might want to consider swapping it out for another Maxx HD.

 

[kmf1]

Where did you buy your phone that it came with 4.2?

Sent from my DROID RAZR MAXX HD using Tapatalk 4 Beta.

 

[drummerskey]

I was reading through the other forum posts yesterday and saw a few things that I wanted to try. I disabled the list of things on the sticky at the top of the forum, really wanted to disable other things but it said that they are system files and may make other things not work well. Not sure what "Currents" are but I disable location services and use the Gmail app and search bar. No anti-virus live wallpapers but I did download a cache app that seems to be working well. I just never had to do that before.

With some fiddling, I haven't had the same lag issues today and I unintentionally let the battery drop to 18% and then charged it over-night and I have 90% but honestly, have not messed with the phone as much today. I had Go Launcher on my last phone and liked it but it has a big footprint (65mb) when I looked. I also uninstalled Go Batter Master or Power Master.

I still have some time to see how it goes, I can take it back for a fee and go back to the Charge if needed.

Bought the phone at Verizon Wireless. Forgot how to screenshot but the phone information says Android Version 4.1.2 (sorry, that probably makes a difference).

- - - Updated - - -

Also, What is Smart Actions?

Is it worth it to use?

 

[PowrDroid]

Also, What is Smart Actions?

Is it worth it to use?

Smart Actions are automatic actions you can program your phone to perform. I've got a couple set up. It's a way to automate certain actions on your phone that you would normally have to enter on a daily basis. For example, you can program your phone with Smart Actions to:

--Turn ringer off between hours of XX pm and XX am
--Turn ringer off between hours of XX pm and XX am, except for this contact--let the ringer sound.
--Disable email sync between hours of XX pm and XX am (won't get email notifications at night)
--Turn off bluetooth and GPS beween hours of XX and XX
--Battery Saver, saves battery when phone is idle.
--Turn off Wi-Fi when you leave work, turn it back on when you get home.

More here: SMARTACTIONS App - Extend Battery Life - Optimize Your Smartphone - Motorola Mobility LLC. USA

I'm not sure how intricate you can get with Smart Actions using the Custom feature. If you want to program your phone to call your spouse (or send pre-composed text) while you are on the way home from work and when you are 10 miles from home I think it can be done.

 

[angrybassets]

I found that after a couple weeks the battery life has seemed to have improved immensely compared to when I first got it.

No lag issues with how my phone is set up (rooted/nova prime launcher) but for the extremely short time I ran the stock launcher,I found it very laggy.