First tablet and needing some help with battery

[cd_blue]

Hi there,

I just got my first Tablet ever. I have used Thunderbolt smart phone for about 2 years. It's new first generation Nexus 7 that I got on sale since second generation came out.

I did some research thought it would fit my needs. I am having major problem though with the battery life. I don't know if I am expecting too much or if something is wrong with the battery/tablet. I turned off GPS/Bluetooth/display low etc etc. I read some saying they could get days worth of use out of it using it few hours a day.

I however just did some testing and running Moon Reader (e reader application) in 7 minutes lost 3% power. If I play a plants vs zombies for about 10 minutes I'll lose about 5 percent.

It's much worse than my Thunderbolt without any applications running in the background.

Was hoping I could get some information on if it's normal. I don't know much about tablets. Don't know if I should return it for another, return it and get another phone/laptop.

I planned on using it for school and won't be able to charge it at times for 6 hours. So not sure and was hoping for some help/advice

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! First, review these tips: http://forums.androidcentral.com/general-help-how/298919-guide-battery-saving-tips.html

The battery use you're describing doesn't seem that unusual. Screen use will generally be the biggest power drain. In real world use, you can expect around 6-7 hours of total screen-on time per charge. Games will use up battery at a faster rate because of screen use as well as increased CPU load.

You shouldn't have to charge the device up for that long to get to 100%. Benchmark tests have shown a total recharge time of around 3 hours.

 

[Paul627g]

You have to also take into consideration the size of the screen does consume more battery than your smartphone.

I have the N7 and battery life can vary but overall I'm pleased with the battery life. If I stay away from games my charge can last a day or two with a few hours each day of email, forum browsing and other light duties.



Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using AC Forums mobile app

 

[jpash549]

If you want to keep track of your battery usage you can get the free apps from the Play Store. I use Battery Doctor, Gauge Battery and Battery Graph. Try not to run your battery below 10% or you may encounter charging problems. And don't be surprised if it takes longer than three hours to recharge using the Asus charger. Despite the fact that the charger is supposed to put out 1.8 amps mine never does better than 0.9 amp. The charger from my HP Touchpad will however do 1.5 + amps. The battery is rated at 4325 milliampere-hours.

You can cut your battery drain by decreasing screen brightness, reducing the frequency of notifications from social and mail sites, turning off GPS and going into airplane mode when you can. But use the N7 in the way you want and you'll decide how you want to handle the battery issue.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[cd_blue]

Thanks everyone for the responses. I read the thread and did everything listed and it seemed to have helped tons. I guess I am a bit of a power user and might have to figure out a means of charging it maybe for my last class. I'm the nerd always tries to be up front and in the middle so going to be hard find place to charge. Looking at some kind of charge pack or something might bring along with me.

btw really have fallen in love with this tablet so thanks so much for advice/help

 

[anon(5719825)]

Previous to 4.3, I barely got 2-3 hrs but mostly it would be under one hour. I did have one time since upgrading to 4.3 that I was able to go 4.5 hrs using Netflix. I haven't done that since. The battery life on these things is bad.

On my iPad this week, I went 2 days, 14 hrs standby and 10 hrs 18 minutes usage. I wish my N7 could do that. My N7 is the cellular version but so is my iPad so that should not be the reason for the drain.