Trouble with Sony z3v

gtricecakes

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I'm having the testing issues all the time it seems, but also have a few more issues that I wonder if it's just my phone or the z3v in general.

Battery: it sucks. I'm having to charge my phone at least twice a day. If I use it heavily, it may get to 50% after three hours. With moderate use, I get to 10% after 6-7 hours. I want a better Battery life. The reviews led me to believe it would last longer. I would like to get through a work day without bump charging.

Data: my Data just randomly goes out. It will say there is 4g, but in browser and apps so I'm offline.

I routinely have to restart in phone in order to get everything back.

I'm debating returning for a turbo. Battery and performance were supposed to be good, but I've yet to see it.

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gtricecakes

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No, but I just got the phone last week. Why would I need to reset my already? It's also in second z3v, my first one was stolen and I had similar problems in that one.

I have until Thursday to return.

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gtricecakes

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Of course after I wrote this, I have a decent battery day. I still would like a better battery life though.

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pchain

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Can you also provide the more detailed view by tapping the graph? Also curious what your screen on time is... tap on screen.
 

DJ Sandman

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Sorry about your issues. I don't have any battery issues at all, but I do have fluctuations with cell reception. I am "out in the woods" and the cell reception is not stable, so that is prolly why it occasionally drops from 4g to 3g and then intermittently, nothing at all.

I was just curious if anyone else has signal issues with the Z3v. Otherwise, it is a very good phone and the best battery I've ever experienced!

Edit: I also have some minor buffering issues, especially with Slacker Radio (while driving) and Google Play Movies and TV. They could be attributed to the signal dropouts, but who knows.
 
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xeene

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Something is keeping your phone awake when it shouldn't be and that amazon app suite is pretty high on the list.
 

pchain

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Sony Xperia Z3v Battery Life Advice:

So below are some of the key things to check if you're not getting the battery life you would like from the Z3v. It is actually how I have my phone set up right now and I've never gotten less than 8 hours of Screen Time. Averaging about 9 hours screen time overall. I've gotten as much as 11 hours of screen time. I charge nightly so I don't need two days, but I tested the longevity once and got 42 uptime hours with 7 hrs 12 minutes screen time. I know several Turbo owners that aren't getting that much. It probably has to do with settings which many of the things I lay out below would apply to Turbo users and any other Android users as well. All of this is my own experience and your mileage may vary depending on your type of usage.

1. Factory Reset: The first thing I do when I get a new phone - even if it's straight out of the box - is to do a factory reset. This way you can be 100% sure you are starting with a clean slate. Some testing may have been done with your phone or someone at the store played with it and you just don't know if any settings were changed. Is this step necessary, no, but it could possibly fix an issue you'll never figure on your own after you set things up.

2. Turn the phone completely off, and charge it to 100% with the OEM cord and power block that came with the device. This was something I was dubious about working until I had an issue and tried it for myself and it improved things dramatically. It's easy - just do it. Apparently the theory is the device cannot accurately read the battery level, so by powering it off and then charging it until it's at 100%, then powering it back on, it will reset and know exactly where 100% really is. Basically recalibrating itself.

3. Disable Verizon apps. When using the phone for the first time you will be asked for several Verizon apps to be launched, connected, and activated. Unless you know ahead of time that there is something you need, say no. Just say no. You can always go back later and enable those that you think you need, but initially say no. Go into Settings > Application Manager > and select the Verizon apps you want to disable, then select disable. It may ask you if you want uninstall updates and restore to factory settings - that's perfectly fine. I personally don't use and have disabled Verizon Cloud, Verizon Message+, Verizon Support & Protection, and VZ Navigator.

4. Disable Amazon App Suite plus any other Amazon apps you know you won't use. The Amazon App Suite is a battery hog - disable it immediately. I still use Kindle, and the Amazon app, and the Amazon app store only when I need it, but have disabled Amazon Music and a few other Amazon apps. But that Amazon App Suite killed my Z3v battery.

5. If you don't use an app, disable it. Some would argue why should I have to do this? Well, you don't have to, but why wouldn't you if they were using battery? Some things I have noticed that I don't use a dedicated app for and to watch out for are:
> Facebook app - If you really like it great, keep it but know that the app will take some juice. I just use the mobile site to read general wall postings etc. For messages I just use the Facebook Messenger app. (I'm only a casual Facebook user at best)
> Google+ app - If you really like it great, keep it but know that the app will take some juice: I pretty much never use Google+ except for forums now and then - and then I just go to the mobile website. I don't use it often enough for the battery it takes.
> Audible app - For some reason this app really eats battery on my Z3v. I don't listen to books on my phone so I disabled it - problem solved.
> Google Currents - this has been known to drain battery in conjunction with high MediaServer usage.
> Google Play Books - I use Kindle so I've disabled this one.

6. NFC - turn it on only as you need it. Why have it on unnecessarily if you're not using it? It takes juice.

7. Bluetooth - turn it on only as you need it. Why have it on unnecessarily if you're not using it. It takes juice.

8. Location: I leave this on all the time with high accuracy. If you become desperate for battery life use the stamina modes or airplane mode or turn this off (just remember to turn it back on later)

9. WiFi Advanced Options: Go to settings > WiFi > Advanced Options (3 dots lower right hand corner). Uncheck all boxes EXCEPT WiFi Optimization "minimize battery usage when WiFi is turned on". Make sure this is checked.

10: Mobile Network Mode: If you are on Verizon exclusively, there's absolutely no reason to have all global radios turned on. Change your mobile network mode to LTE/CDMA only. The phone comes defaulted to Global. Go to Settings > More > Mobile Networks > Network Mode > select LTE/CDMA

11: Xperia Connectivity: Turn off anything you may have turned on that you don't use. Use on demand only. Go to Settings > Xperia Connectivity > run through all the settings to make sure everything is off if not being used.

12. Live Wallpaper: Live wallpaper is cool. It also takes a little juice. Keep it if you really like your live wallpaper. :)

13: Things to keep in mind: Using video camera, camera, and voice calls, and intensive video games will drain batter relatively quick compared to other apps.

14: WiFi and Unlimited Plans: I have a grandfathered unlimited plan with Verizon. Because of this I have learned that I get better battery life keeping WiFi off altogether. I'm in a fairly low LTE reception area - 105-110 dbm, but my connection is strong enough where it's faster than my home WiFi. I don't need to worry about how much data I use so the only time I use WIFI is when there is no LTE reception. I know I'm a minority in this respect, but I needed to mention this as it does seem to affect battery life.

15 Reboot your phone every once in awhile. This should be obvious, but just do it. :)

Some of the above may seem obvious, some of it not. But either way I hope it helps! It certainly has worked great for me!

One other note: Mediaserver! There are a multitude of things that may cause mediaserver to kill your battery. Mediaserver basically indexes everything for easy retrieval. Sometimes files, apps, pictures, songs, videos, etc corrupt and messes with Mediaserver. There can be a lot of trial and error to determine what's going on. Things I would check:
1) SD Card. if you're using an SD card I would make sure it was formatted for the phone before using it.
2) Check your pictures... I've seen it where sometimes a picture can corrupt and all you see in a gallery is a black image. Delete it.
3) Trial and error by app - see which app it's tied to. Could be anything. Ugh.
4) Many people give up and do a factory reset, then add things back one at a time over time to figure out what is causing the mediaserver battery drain. My own experience is that I jump to a factory reset right away. I'm about 50/50 in solving this. It happens on all makes and models of Android phones.
 
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