I can't deal with the nexus 5 battery life anymore...

[gingerghost]

Of course, on a properly functional phone the battery life is relative to what you use it for, what network you're on and what your expectations are. I found that the N5's battery life was fairly disappointing with day-to-day use. Upgrading to a One M8 was a decent step for me; the battery life is good enough that it seems to last as long as I need it to.

 

[JeffDenver]

Is there a way to eliminate the selection bias? Can we get evidence to prove whether the Nexus 5 (or any phone, for that matter) has good or bad battery life?

IMO user reviews are a pretty good indication, if you are looking for average opinion.

But "good enough" is never going to be an objective value, because everyone will have a different idea of what decent battery life is. It will matter more to some people than others. Larger phones will almost always have better battery life than smaller phones, because they can mount higher capacity batteries.

Relative to my Nexus 4, or an iPhone 4s, or a Galaxy S3, (other smaller phones) the Nexus 5 gets awesome battery life. The larger phones like the M8, S5, and G3 will always get better battery life than the nexus. If battery life is a major concern for you, do not buy a smaller phone with a non-removable battery.

Majority opinion seems to be that Nexus battery life is middle of the road. To a lot of people, Middle of the road is the same thing as saying "bad".

 

[tonyr6]

What gets me is that I understand the battery life going down quicker when I am streaming music, video and playing games but what I don't understand is how it can be draining the battery like a sift when the phone is off sleeping at random anytime and a reboot is the only thing that fixes it while other days it can go days or weeks with normal drainage. Not even closing every app works only a reboot with is annoying to have to do.

 

[JeffDenver]

What gets me is that I understand the battery life going down quicker when I am streaming music, video and playing games but what I don't understand is how it can be draining the battery like a sift when the phone is off sleeping at random anytime and a reboot is the only thing that fixes it while other days it can go days or weeks with normal drainage. Not even closing every app works only a reboot with is annoying to have to do.

Rogue app. That would be my guess. Something is running in the background.

Btw - "closing" apps in the multi-task screen does not necessarily remove them from memory. The only thing that does that is going to the app's details page and "force closing" it. Apps are supposed to exit memory when you "close" them, but not all of them do.

 

[LeoRex]

I don't understand is how it can be draining the battery like a sift when the phone is off sleeping at random anytime and a reboot is the only thing that fixes it

Yep, that's an app that's playing fast and loose. Something is trying to do something and its not allowing your phone to go into deep sleep. Could be a million things.

What you need is something like Better Battery Stats or GSAM to find the culprit.

 

[Scott7217]

Majority opinion seems to be that Nexus battery life is middle of the road. To a lot of people, Middle of the road is the same thing as saying "bad".

I feel that there should be an objective way to prove whether a phone has good or bad battery life. For example, GSM Arena does a battery of tests that includes talk time, web browsing, and video playback. I suppose if you use a consistent method with different phones, you can make better comparisons. It is an area that probably needs more research.

 

[LeoRex]

I feel that there should be an objective way to prove whether a phone has good or bad battery life. For example, GSM Arena does a battery of tests that includes talk time, web browsing, and video playback.

They have. And the conclusion is basically what we already know; the Nexus 5 lasts as long as a phone with a 2300 mah battery , a SD 800 SoC, and a 1080 LCD display is expected to last... And, as a result, it's battery performance suffers when compared to phones that have larger batteries: S5, M8, G2/3, etc.

There is that third party camera bug, but that's it...there is nothing inherently wrong with it...it just needs another 500+ mah if you want it to compare well to other flagships.

 

[JeffDenver]

I feel that there should be an objective way to prove whether a phone has good or bad battery life. For example, GSM Arena does a battery of tests that includes talk time, web browsing, and video playback. I suppose if you use a consistent method with different phones, you can make better comparisons. It is an area that probably needs more research.

I tried posting benchmarks, and was told that benchmarks don't prove anything. So good luck.

 

[Buddy1969]

For people like me, who have had Android phone before, it's easy to tell if the next phone has a better batterylife than the one before: as I use the same profile with all the same apps, the battery is challenged the same way. So if I get more time out of one charge with my new phone it's because either the battery is better or the screen/cpu/other hardware uses power more efficiently.

Example: I had a Samsung GS3 before my Nexus 5. I used it the same way I use my nexus, if not less. On workdays, I take them off the power cable at around 6 in the morning. The GS3 needed between 6 and 8 hours to cry for another charge (down to 20% or less). After switching to the Nexus, my battery lasted me easily over the day, I even forget to put them to the cable over night sometimes and it is still alive on the next day. And that even with the typical playfulness of a new device, meaning, I certainly used it more than the SG3, because it was new and I liked it and I had so much to install, configurate and play around...

So yes, you are yourself the best tester. If you are operating the device with the same profile, use it the same and have the same apps on it, you will see if you get more time per charge out of your battery or not.

Every other test must fail for you, because your device will never be the same as the testdevice and you way of using it will never be the same as in the test. Just because a testdevice lasts 20 hrs between charges, doesn't mean it woll do the same for you.

 

[Scott7217]

They have. And the conclusion is basically what we already know; the Nexus 5 lasts as long as a phone with a 2300 mah battery , a SD 800 SoC, and a 1080 LCD display is expected to last... And, as a result, it's battery performance suffers when compared to phones that have larger batteries: S5, M8, G2/3, etc.

LG manufactured the Nexus 5 per Google's specifications, correct? So, should people blame Google for the Nexus 5's battery life? Is this a case of poor design?

 

[LeoRex]

LG manufactured the Nexus 5 per Google's specifications, correct? So, should people blame Google for the Nexus 5's battery life? Is this a case of poor design?

Well, I can only assume that it was Google, not LG, that picked a 2300mah battery... I wouldn't call it poor design though. Just a mediocre choice.

 

[Scott7217]

Well, I can only assume that it was Google, not LG, that picked a 2300mah battery... I wouldn't call it poor design though. Just a mediocre choice.

At least LG learned from that mediocre choice, which is why it went with a 3000 mAh battery with the G2. I suppose regular consumers have different power needs, though.

 

[Buddy1969]

At least LG learned from that mediocre choice, which is why it went with a 3000 mAh battery with the G2. I suppose regular consumers have different power needs, though.

...or it might be, that the G2 (and other companyphones) carry more burdens, like added UIs and services that don't run on a Google phone and therefore have higher powerconsumption and need stronger batteries.
Be honest, the times where you could get more than a day out of a charge are gone since about 10 years. I think my Palm Treo 680 was the last smartphone that did that. Even the Pre+ and the Pre3 didn't last longer that one and a half days max ...

 

[mrsmumbles]

If I don't constantly have my Nexus 5 in my hand it easily goes a day or more on a charge. But I do use it constantly most of the time so I get about 6 - 8 hours and most of that is screen on time. But standby battery is still outstanding. I keep the data turned off when I'm at home & sometimes use airplane mode to stretch the battery time. And I never installed Facebook. I've never had the mysterious battery drain problem so far.

 

[LeoRex]

At least LG learned from that mediocre choice, which is why it went with a 3000 mAh battery with the G2. I suppose regular consumers have different power needs, though.

The G2 came out a couple of months prior to the Nexus 5.... so Google had the option to put a larger battery in there. They used a lot of the internals of the G2 in the Nexus 5, but went with a smaller screen and battery and dropped a bit on the camera as well.... it was probably a compromise to hit a particular price point. I mean, we'd all say "Just charge $5 or $10 more and give me the bigger battery/better camera/etc" but to OEMs, a $5 increase in cost per device could translate in millions of dollars more in manufacturing costs.

 

[Wiley_11]

If the 2300 mAh battery is a "mediocre choice" what does that say about the iphone 5s with a 1560 mAh battery?

 

[LeoRex]

If the 2300 mAh battery is a "mediocre choice" what does that say about the iphone 5s with a 1560 mAh battery?

First, its kind of apples and oranges due to the fact that the iPhone has a much smaller, much lower resolution screen, so they can get away with a smaller capacity battery to begin with. And Apple kind of had to go with that smaller battery in order to meet their form factor demands. Small screen + compact chassis = tiny battery... so they made a conscious choice to go with a battery that small as well.

But I don't see anyone bragging about the battery life of an iPhone. In fact, it's pretty widely held that the iPhone's battery is fairly 'meh'... and in most use cases, the iPhone and Nexus 5 are fairly similar in terms of the time you'll get out of them. But Apple mostly gets a pass... go figure.

 

[Scott7217]

The G2 came out a couple of months prior to the Nexus 5.... so Google had the option to put a larger battery in there. They used a lot of the internals of the G2 in the Nexus 5, but went with a smaller screen and battery and dropped a bit on the camera as well.... it was probably a compromise to hit a particular price point.

The price point is a significant barrier. Google probably feels that there aren't enough customers who are willing to pay more for increased battery life on a Nexus phone to justify the expense.

 

[Scott7217]

...or it might be, that the G2 (and other companyphones) carry more burdens, like added UIs and services that don't run on a Google phone and therefore have higher powerconsumption and need stronger batteries.

So, how would you expect the LG G2 to perform with respect to battery life when compared to the Nexus 5? It has a bigger battery, but it runs an LG skin, not stock Android. Which should last longer on a single charge, the LG G2 or the Nexus 5?

 

[LeoRex]

So, how would you expect the LG G2 to perform with respect to battery life when compared to the Nexus 5? It has a bigger battery, but it runs an LG skin, not stock Android. Which should last longer on a single charge, the LG G2 or the Nexus 5?

2300 vs 3000... Skin or not.