The G3 Battery, Sat Nav & Screen in General...

[stevovr]

Thanks.

I do use a charger - I just trialled it to see how much juice it used without. What led me to do so was that, when I last used the charger, it gave me only about +1% battery PH whilst using it and having Nav Free on. I started on 70%, and, by the time I'd reach my destination 2 hours later, it was on 72%. I know you'll never get anywhere near the charge you would from a wall charger, but I found this odd, so was interested. On the Z30, the car charger would bump my battery up 5-8% ph at least whilst mapping.

To answer your Q's, the app I was using on the Z30 was also Navfree. The usage yesterday was pretty much split - about 18% each way. That's why I used NF one way, and Google the other - to check it wasn't app. specific.

I totally get that the BB Z30 was a 720 display, 'only' 5" and how their antenna's worked, but I just think that 30-40%ph drain on the G3 seems high, regardless of Quad 5.5" HD displays. TBH, the more I post about, the more I'm beginning to think that using the G3 screen for anything more than a few messages, SMS or bits and bobs is basically gonna kill it quick. I've even started mucking around with Nomone to see if I can lower the res. but it doesn't sit right, and I'm not having an odd looking phone for the sake of it.

I wonder if it's a Blackberry thing. My z10 was fine charging on nav free but my HTC one x 32gb would actually loose charge while plugged in using Google maps. Would consistently get a warning that the phone was using more power than being provided. What amp rating does your car charger have.

Steve/Boanerges Performance

 

[Stwutter]

I wonder if it's a Blackberry thing. My z10 was fine charging on nav free but my HTC one x 32gb would actually loose charge while plugged in using Google maps. Would consistently get a warning that the phone was using more power than being provided. What amp rating does your car charger have.

Steve/Boanerges Performance

Not sure what amp my charger is. It was cheap tho', so probably not much...

It's certainly a Blackberry thing. Or, more likely, lower spec. thing. The Z30 has a 1.5 processor and 'only' a 720 screen.

At the end of the day, the G3, screen-wise at least, doesn't have anything to be measured against, so whether the kind of usage I get with Sat Nav. is going to be the industry standard won't really be known until other manufacturers follow suite.

 

[Joltcola1234]

Depends on the battery.... but in general, going on the '1 a day' guess for people charging, I'd say that once you've hit a year on a cell, you're on bonus time. If you abuse the hell out of it (charge it to dead then leave it on a charger at 100% for a long time), you might send it to an early grave.

There are pros and cons.... If you cycle through them, the batteries would most likely last longer, especially if you pull them AFTER charging it to let them 'rest'.... but the flip side to that is that when they DO start to go, they'll all start going around the same time. But if you are cycling through THREE of them, I'd wager you'd replace the phone before the batteries start to die. You could always use one for a week, then switch them.

If you beat on one and use the others as backups, keep in mind that storing these batteries fully charged is also not exactly the best for them. If they are going to sit for a long time, I think you'd probably want them registering 25% to 50% in the phone prior to putting them away.

How would you avoid leaving the phone plugged in for long periods of time after charging? I usually go to bed around 10:00PM, plug the phone in, and unplug it when I wake up. The thing is the phone is generally fully charged in less then 60 mins - not usually a bad thing right?!

Also, I was always of the understanding that it was good to cycle the battery once in a while (100% down to 15-20%, then charge it back up). Rather then always keeping at 50%, 60% etc. I understand there is no harm to charging it a bunch through the day, it's even a good thing, but I thought never letting it get low wasn't really a great thing for the battery.

 

[xocomaox]

Also, I was always of the understanding that it was good to cycle the battery once in a while (100% down to 15-20%, then charge it back up). Rather then always keeping at 50%, 60% etc. I understand there is no harm to charging it a bunch through the day, it's even a good thing, but I thought never letting it get low wasn't really a great thing for the battery.

The idea with these Li-Po batteries is how you use it and how hot you let them get. To maximize the life of the cells, the ideal situation is charging in short spurts and using in short spurts, and to never let the battery get hot. Charging for a while (from 10% to 100%) or using for a long, uninterrupted period of time will create excess heat, which is bad for the battery cells.

You also damage the cells by letting it run down below 10% and charging past 100%.

 

[KoukiFC3S]

I have a 2a android car charger and what I do while navigating is turn off the G3's display while driving on long stretches of road. This lets the phone cool down and get a nice charge. I then double tap the screen and the navigation shows up instantly.

 

[LeoRex]

How would you avoid leaving the phone plugged in for long periods of time after charging?

The thing charges so fast (thank you Qualcomm!), I don't have to worry about it. I just pop it on the charger when I wake up and by the time I am ready to leave for work, it's juiced up. I rarely, if ever, leave it on the charger overnight or for several hours.

Also, I was always of the understanding that it was good to cycle the battery once in a while (100% down to 15-20%, then charge it back up). Rather then always keeping at 50%, 60% etc.

Well, deep discharging the battery is more for the phone's power calibration more than anything else. LiPo batteries are more than happy to have partial charges throughout its life.... it doesn't have the same issues with memory that the older rechargables had. Now and again is fine, but if you consistently kill the thing (100% to <10% to 100%, for instance), that'll stress out the cells and shorten the battery's life.

 

[Daniel P1]

Hi.

Had my G3 for a while now. Love the phone, the UI and so on.

I've posted a few times about battery life, and read numerous posts on how good/bad it is.

I'm a pretty intensive user, and I'm on my phone a lot of the day, using SMS, internet, bit of gaming to and from work, checking travel, e mail... As I said, quite heavy, but nothing that I would call extreme for a top-end smartphone in 2014. I'd say, on an average work day, I may get from 6am to 4pm and have 10-20% battery left (altho I often keep my phone on charge at work to save having on charge as soon as I'm home). In fact, on Saturday, I was busy a lot of the day, so my usage was minimal. From 8am to 5pm, my battery only dropped to 70% as I only checked a few sports scores, played a game for 10mins and sent a few emails. This at least shows that I don't have and rogue apps or errors eating my battery unnecessarily.

Yesterday, I used Sat nav for 30 minutes using nav free, and then 30 back from my original destination using Google Maps (in case it was one app. in particular that ate battery badly). In total, I lost 36% for this hour of mapping.

Is this what I should expect? I of course realise the G3 screen will eat power at a heavier rate than other lesser screens, but this does seem very high. I could do and hour mapping on my old Z30 and barely use 10%. It's a similar scenario if I watch a video or play a reasonably screen intensive game.

I have my screen brightness down as low as I dare with using Lux.

If this is just my 'lot' with the G3, then that's fine, but I'm interested in other users experiences with similar usage. I carry spares, so never get caught short, but it's just a bit of a pain knowing that taking my phone off charge in the morning, and then using the screen for an hour or so will basically leave me 70% battery or less from early in the morning.

Thanks for any responses and advice.

Posted via the Android Central App

I have an LG G2 and a Samsung Galaxy S3 before that. On both phones the GPS was by far the one thing that would kill the battery the quickest. You used up 36% in an hour? That sounds about right.

 

[Stwutter]

On a slightly different loop, but still connected, what kind of usage are people getting watching films etc.? Downloaded stuff I mean? I'm assuming less than sat-nav as, altho' it's screen intensive, there's no data?

 

[KoukiFC3S]

On a slightly different loop, but still connected, what kind of usage are people getting watching films etc.? Downloaded stuff I mean? I'm assuming less than sat-nav as, altho' it's screen intensive, there's no data?

Both engadget and gsm arena got around 10 hours of battery looping a downloaded video.

LG G3 review: the company's best phone yet

LG G3 battery life test - GSMArena Blog

 

[Crimsonforce]

Both engadget and gsm arena got around 10 hours of battery looping a downloaded video.

LG G3 review: the company's best phone yet

LG G3 battery life test - GSMArena Blog

Yea but I would venture to guess most people watching videos would be streaming it. That would be much more battery intensive than playing a video that is saved on the phone..

 

[LeoRex]

From the GSMA battery test:

At 69 hours, the LG G3 will last just under three days before charging if you do an hour of calls, an hour of video watching and an hour of web browsing each day.

If I had the time, patience or self control necessary, I'd actually try to put this bold statement to the test. I mean, I can get a good 36 hours on the average day if I waited until it was on empty before I charged it up... but 3 days?? Pardon my skepticism, GSMArena.

 

[Nunya Biz1]

My battery life SUCKS. I'm at 24% at 1:20 in the afternoon. Started at 7. Not heavy use- mail, 2or3 calls. Read some articles. And this is a new battery from tmobile. Love the phone but wouldnt have changed from iphone had i known.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Stwutter]

Yea but I would venture to guess most people watching videos would be streaming it. That would be much more battery intensive than playing a video that is saved on the phone..

True, but the answer and links given are relevant as my Q specifically mentioned downloaded video, not streaming.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Stwutter]

I mean, I can get a good 36 hours on the average day.

Wow. Are you Doctor Who?

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[meyerweb#CB]

Also, I was always of the understanding that it was good to cycle the battery once in a while (100% down to 15-20%, then charge it back up). Rather then always keeping at 50%, 60% etc. I understand there is no harm to charging it a bunch through the day, it's even a good thing, but I thought never letting it get low wasn't really a great thing for the battery.

This is true of other battery technologies (NiCad, NiMH), but not Li (Lithium Ion). Lithium batteries don't like being discharged all the way, or close to all the way. They really don't like being overcharged, but that shouldn't be a problem on any modern phone.

Cars that use Li batteries (like the Tesla), signal the battery is empty at 25% and full at 75% to get maximum life. Then again, the battery for your phone doesn't cost $20,000 or $30,000 to replace.

 

[meyerweb#CB]

My battery life SUCKS. I'm at 24% at 1:20 in the afternoon. Started at 7. Not heavy use- mail, 2or3 calls. Read some articles. And this is a new battery from tmobile. Love the phone but wouldnt have changed from iphone had i known.

Posted via the Android Central App

That's not normal for this phone. Either the phone is defective, or you have a app running out of control. If you haven't already, reboot the phone. If that doesn't solve it, I'd suggest doing a factory reset, and see how it runs without all your apps installed.. And if that doesn't solve it, demand a replacement phone.

 

[meyerweb#CB]

I have an LG G2 and a Samsung Galaxy S3 before that. On both phones the GPS was by far the one thing that would kill the battery the quickest. You used up 36% in an hour? That sounds about right.

Using navigation really taxes a phone. Not only are you using the GPS radio (which is really pretty efficient, but you're constantly downloading map data as you drive, using the cpu / gpu to constantly redraw the screen, and keeping the screen on all the time. Yes, all that activity uses a lot of energy.

 

[LeoRex]

Wow. Are you Doctor Who?

Posted via the Android Central App

Allons y

Sent from my LG-D851 using Tapatalk

 

[Nunya Biz1]

I'll give that a try this weekend. Need to figure how to back up calendar and contacts. Any ideas how to figure what apps are causing the problems?

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[stevovr]

lg has a built in backup app. check settings,apps, running for an intial idea of what is running on the phone,then check settings, battery, and click the battery symbol to bring up the list of components and what each is using.