Nexus 6 battery after one week

[sdc1]

I've had my Nexus 6 a week today. After a couple of days I almost returned it because the battery life is terrible but thought I'd hold out to see if it settles. It hasn't.

I can't get a day out of this phone. I leave the house at 7am and by the time I get back at 5pm it needs charged. I can't even get close to bed time.

I'm an average user, a hour or so on the net, listening to music on Google Play, syncing emails, etc. I wouldn't say I'm a heavy user.

I'm at the point where I need to make up my mind and I'm edging closer to returning it. I love it in every other way but I can't deal with the battery life.

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[Rukbat]

Are you syncing email every 15 minutes or doing push notifications. (Syncing constantly eats battery.) Do you have the screen brightness turned up all the way? (The screen is one of the largest power consumers.) Do you have all radios (wifi, GPS, Bluetooth, mobile data) that you're not using turned off? Are you constantly in a weak signal area? (That increases battery consumption.)

Post screen shots (How To Post Screenshots on Android Central) of the Settings/General/Battery screen and of the screen you get when you tap the graph at the top of that screen.

 

[sdc1]

I have one email app, gmail and it's syncing all day.

The screen is at about 25% but adaptive brightness and ambient display are both on.

I work in a city centre with excellent signal. WiFi is off during the day as is Bluetooth and NFC.

Location is set to high accuracy as I use Google Now quite a bit.

I'll charge it fully overnight and post screenshots tomorrow. I'd love to get this under control and keep the Nexus as in every other way it's the perfect device.

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[gmermel]

Does "high accuracy" mean you're using GPS? That'll murder the battery..

 

[sdc1]

Does "high accuracy" mean you're using GPS? That'll murder the battery..

Yes, I'm using GPS. I've used it in all my previous android phones and it hasn't had such an impact, apart from on the Nexus 5 which had weak battery life anyway.

I think I'll switch it to device only to see if that helps.

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[brosko]

Device only mode is the gps antenna only on, so you are not really saving any battery by switching to this mode I don't think. The GPS antenna will still be on. Use battery saving which uses WiFi and mobile networks to determine location and not the gps antenna. Honestly for google now that is just as good as the gps antenna in my opinion. The only time you actually need the gps antenna on is while using the device for navigation.

 

[sdc1]

Device only mode is the gps antenna only on, so you are not really saving any battery by switching to this mode I don't think. The GPS antenna will still be on. Use battery saving which uses WiFi and mobile networks to determine location and not the gps antenna. Honestly for google now that is just as good as the gps antenna in my opinion. The only time you actually need the gps antenna on is while using the device for navigation.

I guess that would make a fair difference over the course of a day. I'll switch it to battery saving and see how it goes tomorrow. Thanks.

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[brosko]

BTW the gps antenna is one of the fastest ways to suck a battery dry from my experience. Hopefully switching to batt saving mode helps you out.

 

[Robbie317]

What carrier are you using? I use to get really horrible battery life when I was on Sprint but even with the Nexus 5 switching to T-Mobile improved battery life considerably... I still use T-Mobile with my Nexus 6 and live, work and play in the heart of Dallas, Texas... when I just took it off the charger first thing in the morning and went about my day until it needed to be charged it easily lasted 15 - 16 hours with 3.5 hours screen on and would be at or around 15% remaining. I have GPS, Bluetooth and WiFi on at all times adaptive brightness set to about 40%.. I did turn the active display off... But that really only improved my battery marginally and wasn't why I turned it off.. I am only on WiFi while at home... I usually stream 1 - 2 hours of Google play music per day while at the gym (but I don't use the phone speakers I use a bluetooth headset) and the rest of my usage is texting, internet, twitter, google+ and facebook.... on a HEAVY and HARD Saturday it still went 11 - 12 hours with 5 - 6 hours screen on.... Pretty much all the same usage except more of it.... If I use the phone as my primary GPS going to a new location or kick back and watch a movie it really hits the battery hard...

After about two weeks of trying to kill the battery it easily lasted all day.. Usually 5:30 am to about 9:30 pm (Up for work until bedtime) Now I actually charge it while at work at my desk.. First thing in the morning I usually throw it on the charger while I work (Qi Wireless charging only) on and off a few times between start and lunch... usually leave work around 3:30 - 4:00 at or near 100%.... by 9:30 - 10 pm I am usually still at about 60% remaining and then leave it off the charger all night....

Oh and I've had mine since November 18th.. I don't believe the battery is as amazing as I thought it would be with all the so called improvements with 5.0 and the combination of the large battery (I honestly wish they would have just used a top of the line 1080p display vs qHD and we'd probably see much better battery life) but compared to the Nexus 5 it replaced it outpaces that by miles and miles.....

 

[sdc1]

Your usage isn't that different to mine, maybe a wireless charger on my desk at work is the answer. I'm in the UK on Three, they have strong coverage at both my home and work locations so I don't think that's the problem.

I'll look into a wireless desk charger, that would 100% solve the problem. Thanks.

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[Robbie317]

Your usage isn't that different to mine, maybe a wireless charger on my desk at work is the answer. I'm in the UK on Three, they have strong coverage at both my home and work locations so I don't think that's the problem.

I'll look into a wireless desk charger, that would 100% solve the problem. Thanks.

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Yeah I love the wireless charger.. It's slower to charge vs a plug in the wall charger (Takes about 3 hours from 5% to 100% on wireless) but if you are like me I spend 8 - 9 hours a day at that desk and I can't be on my phone the whole time... It easily just sits on my desk for 75% of the day doing nothing... it's so much easier than plugging it in..... Some people love it some do not... I have 3 total wireless chargers.. two at home and one on my desk.... My Nexus 6 has been plugged up to charge only twice since November 18....

outside of that not all that familiar with the carriers in England... I am on LTE about 75% of the day and WiFi the rest.. Rarely do I go out of LTE coverage area.. Not sure if that matters much.... I tried a couple of days with WiFi, Bluetooth and location off and the battery gain was very minimal and not worth the hassle of turning them on and off just to save battery.....

Good luck... Hopefully you get it figured out real good...

 

[brosko]

+1 on wireless charging! Best thing since sliced bread

 

[Robbie317]

+1 on wireless charging! Best thing since sliced bread

Without a doubt.......... I wouldn't want to go back to regularly fumbling with a cable to plug my phone up again......

 

[brosko]

Without a doubt.......... I wouldn't want to go back to regularly fumbling with a cable to plug my phone up again......

Yup, I'm with you on that. I don't even get how any device nowadays can come without wireless charging. It should be standard across the board IMO.

 

[gmermel]

Without a doubt.......... I wouldn't want to go back to regularly fumbling with a cable to plug my phone up again......

What charger are you guys using?

I've got a Powerbot "hockey puck". I have a heckuva time keeping it connected to both my N6 and N7. It'll take a lot of jimmying around to get connected, and then it'll disconnect from charging in the middle of the night. I have woken up with an uncharged battery often enough that I'm now plugging in from the start......

 

[Morq]

Wipe cache, wipe cache is nowadays equivalent of 'did you turn it off and on again'

 

[sdc1]

Wipe cache, wipe cache is nowadays equivalent of 'did you turn it off and on again'

I factory reset it last night, I really want to resolve this and keep the Nexus.

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[Robbie317]

What charger are you guys using?

I've got a Powerbot "hockey puck". I have a heckuva time keeping it connected to both my N6 and N7. It'll take a lot of jimmying around to get connected, and then it'll disconnect from charging in the middle of the night. I have woken up with an uncharged battery often enough that I'm now plugging in from the start......

I use the TYLT Vu, expensive but great

 

[JoePa2624]

Battery life is my only complaint after a month of ownership. But to be honest, I'm considering selling the phone because of it. I agree with OP 100%, and anyone that tells you to turn off email sync, Wi-Fi, GPS, etc is nuts. My Oneplus One had the best battery life I'd ever seen. Couldn't kill that battery, even with everything running all day long. 7 hours SOT was no problem on OPO. I'm lucky to see 4 on the nexus 6, usually get 3-3.5.

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[cozzy123]

I use my phone more than the OP, have the screen set at 40 percent with adaptive brightness. Have NFC and LTE on. Bluetooth is off Wi-Fi I turn on and off depending on if it is available. GPS is on high accuracy all the time.

I have about 20-35 percent battery left at 11pm. No charging throughout the day. You may have A dud or an app you have is not the most compatible with the nexus 6. Try rebooting your phone once a day and see how the battery acts.

Also I would make sure to manage your accounts and how/when they refresh. If there are certain things you don't use like Google play books no need for the phone to spend energy looking to see if there is anything new to sync.

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