Emailing HTC regarding Inadequate Battery

[drPheta]

I emailed the following to HTC here:
HTC Mobile Phones - Customer Service - E-mail Support

I emailed VZW here:
https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...zonglobalhome/ghp_landing.aspx&token=ShWS5FAS

I just purchased a Verizon HTC Droid Incredible, and I'm appalled by the fact that the battery in this phone is rated at a paltry 1300mAH. This phone is a resource hog when it comes to features, and I purchased it with the intent of CONVENIENTLY utilizing these incorporated features to the fullest. I use the GPS in the car AND while walking in new cities and places. I use WiFi constantly in several WiFi hotspots. I talk on the phone a lot, and I send many texts, emails, messages. I play games, use applications, browse the internet... I use the phone the way it allows me to do so freely; that is until the battery runs out.

So, please explain to me. Why create a full featured phone, but put in a weak battery that barely makes it past 6 hours? Yes, literally 6 hours. I take it off the charger at 7:00 am, head out the door, run through my daily tasks, and by 1pm I'm told I have less than 14% battery life left and need to plug in a charger. Now, if I turn off WiFi, GPS, turn down the screen brightness, etc. I can get to about 4-5 pm before the battery dies. So, don?t go suggesting I deactivate certain features of the phone. WHY SHOULD I HAVE TO DO THAT? This is a smartphone, named INCREDIBLE! It's supposed to allow me to COMFORTABLY, CONVENIENTLY, and CONFIDENTLY stroll through my daily (DAILY, at least 8 working hours plus leisure) tasks and errands. WiFi hotspots are abundant, GPS is an integral part of SEVERAL apps beyond navigation, I need a bright screen in broad daylight, I drive using a Bluetooth headset, and I need and like to be constantly connected. With the demanding hardware this phone comes with, you?ve handicapped the Incredible with a pathetic battery. Seidio has developed a 1750mAH battery that fits into the same space as your 1300mAH one. Why short change us? I understand battery technology is not the same across the board, and you may claim third party companies do not live up to your standards, etc. However, third parties also exceed OEM hardware in many cases. Seidio is one of those companies, and I?ve used them with great success in the past for my Blackberries and Windows Mobile devices.

I hate to sound rude, but I?m very frustrated at the battery life of this phone. I waited a long for an Android phone to come to Verizon and meet my expectations. I could have purchased the Motorola Droid. However, the specs of the Incredible wowed me, at least on paper, and I took the bait. So, please explain to me why the majority of Incredible owners are reporting such poor battery life. It?s sad to say the iPhone lasts longer than my Incredible. I, along with most other Incredible owners, hope there?s a fix for this coming in the near future.
--

Thanks for submitting - your reference number is 808799

Hope enough people do this so that they fix this problem correctly and quickly

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5/22/2010
UPDATE:

I have drafted and emailed this formal letter to upper management. Hopefully there are no typos, it finds them well, and we get something fixed soon.
(contacts found here: Emailing HTC regarding Inadequate Battery - Android Forums, thanks FierceDeityLink1)

To whom it may concern:

I hope this letter brings light to a major flaw in one of your newest products. I have recently purchased a HTC Incredible smart phone, and I am very happy with how the phone performs tasks with exceptional ease and speed. However, I am disappointed in the atrocious battery life of the device. With the advancement of technology, inclusion of complex radios and hardware, and the amount of power necessary to process immense amounts of data I understand today?s smart phones will consume batteries quickly. What I don?t understand is why a 1300mAH battery has been given to the HTC Incredible while its older, less power hungry HTC counterparts have 1500mAH batteries. I am not suggesting the 15% increase in capacity to be a significant improvement over the current battery, but I am curious as to why HTC and Verizon did not anticipate the dramatic battery drain while still stocking it with a smaller power pack.

As it stands today, my phone lasts anywhere between 6-12 hours per day (depending on my usage.) To circumvent this issue, I have been charging my phone throughout the day, turned down screen brightness, minimized my usage of GPS and WiFi, cut down on internet usage, and essentially handicapped the phone in order to achieve roughly 12 hours of uptime. Still, requiring users to charge their phones throughout the day is unacceptable, because we should not be expected to carry, or have access to, a charging station at all times. Granted, real world usage times vary from what is stated on spec sheets, but 12 hours of multiuse-uptime is a far cry from some combination of a claimed 5 hours talk time and 6 days of standby. Furthermore, I assure you that my phone is on standby for the majority of those 12 hours I?m squeezing out of it. Simply put, there is something wrong with the battery, the hardware, or (hopefully) the software.

I have waited for a long time for Verizon to offer an Android phone of this caliber, and on paper the Incredible fulfilled all of my requirements. Unfortunately, the device has one major flaw that keeps it from living up to its name. I am aware that new devices naturally need to have kinks ironed out, and that is why I am writing you. I certainly appreciate your time in reading this letter, and I look forward to some sort of resolution to the HTC Incredible?s battery life.

Regards,

My name

 

[Jasonrj]

Good luck. I emailed them because the charger for my phone doesn't work at all, and makes a scary buzzing sound like it is going to burst into flames and error messages popup on the phone.

Their response? 4 days later they told me to call a customer service number which is just an endless loop of phone menus that get me nowhere.

 

[drPheta]

I don't care for a response. I care for a plethora of emails flooding them regarding this issue. Dealing with the Blackberry Storm, VZW became well aware of (after initially denying) the inadequacies of the Storm 1 since its release from a bunch of feedback emails and complaint calls. So, I emailed both VZW and HTC similar emails in hopes of getting this issue addressed.

And, I encourage everyone to do the same. More noise means more awareness on their part. Hopefully something good comes out of it. We all already post one these forums raging about how bad the battery is and trying to figure out the best workarounds. Taking 5 minutes to give the companies feedback could be part of this workaround. Heck, we're already on the internet complaining.

 

[ShannonDavis]

I don't care for a response. I care for a plethora of emails flooding them regarding this issue. Dealing with the Blackberry Storm, VZW became well aware of (after initially denying) the inadequacies of the Storm 1 since its release from a bunch of feedback emails and complaint calls. So, I emailed both VZW and HTC similar emails in hopes of getting this issue addressed.

And, I encourage everyone to do the same. More noise means more awareness on their part. Hopefully something good comes out of it. We all already post one these forums raging about how bad the battery is and trying to figure out the best workarounds. Taking 5 minutes to give the companies feedback could be part of this workaround. Heck, we're already on the internet complaining.

Post email addresses so we all send to the same place.

 

[drPheta]

I emailed through the links in the first post (forms on their respective websites).

 

[Kainz15]

Good luck bro.. IF they respond let us know!!

 

[drPheta]

I got the following response from VZW

Good morning Mr. ___,

Thank you for contacting Verizon Wireless through our website. My name is Gary, and I understand you are inquiring about the battery usage on your Droid Incredible. I know how important it is to have the longest battery life available. I will be happy to review your account and provide more information about how I can assist with your inquiry. I also want to thank you for your business with Verizon Wireless.

Mr. ___, I apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced as a result of needing to recharge your Incredible more often that you would like. The Incredible can run many applications at one time, as many as the available memory will support. Applications running in the background use battery power even if you are not actively using the application.

There is no issue with the power management on the Incredible. However, unused applications running in the background need to be closed to extend battery life. I recommend a free application called Advanced Task Killer available in the Marketplace on your phone.

While I was able to provide general information about extending battery life on your Incredible, the verification information in your email does not match the information on the account and I am unable to provide specific information about your account. If you need specific information about your account, remember to include the account password in your email. It was too early to call when I received your email but I will call later today between 1:30 and 3:30 PM to ensure that I have resolved your concerns.

Mr. ___, I have provided general information about extending battery life on your Incredible. I hope this information has been helpful.

We appreciate your business and thank you for using Verizon Wireless products and services.

Sincerely,

Gary
Verizon Wireless
Customer Service

If you have received this e-mail in error or are not the intended recipient, please notify us immediately by replying to this e-mail and deleting it and all copies and backups thereof. If you are the intended recipient and are a Verizon Wireless customer, this response is subject to the terms of your Customer Agreement.

To which I responded:

Thank you for your response. It’s unfortunate that you recommend a Task Killer to circumvent the lack of proper battery power on the phone. I thought I should refer you to this. Android is a Linux based OS, and as such has its own task killer, and it runs fairly efficiently.

http://geekfor.me/faq/you-shouldnt-be-using-a-task-killer-with-android

This does not solve my problem, and would only likely create more battery drain, an unstable OS, or at best do nothing. Background services don’t run if not asked to do so (i.e. email sync, calendar sync, etc are requested to run in the background. Weather is not). I should also note that my sync times have been reduced (longer time between syncs), and I do not use Facebook, Twitter, or have my GTalk sign in automatically.

Again, I really hope that a true battery fix will come out soon. I emailed VZW and HTC in hopes of bringing this problem to the forefront of your list of bugs/problems to address with this new device.

Regards,

 

[YourMobileGuru]

They wanted the phone to sell well and they know that most people wont pay more than $199 at the two year upgrade price. They put the cheaper battery in there to keep the cost pf the phone down (same reason they are putting less and less accessories and paperwork in the boxes), which sucks I know but what can you do?

You can get an extended life battery (the Sedio 1750 mAh for example) or just another HTC battery. I've read that they battery from the HTC Ozone (1500 mAh) works in the Incredible as well. I personally just got a second battery (it's the same as the Droid Eris) and charge the spare before bed and then the second one overnight. Kinda inconvenient, but even if the phone came with a little better mAh battery you wont get more than 2-3 more hrs out of it

 

[AggressorBLUE]

what we need a REAL extended battery. As in needs-a-new-back-case phone battery.

The other problem with a 1300mah batt. is it's going to get warn out wayyyy too fast. I have to charge the thing three times more than any other phone I've ever used, and that means the battery will last 1/3 the time (ie, if you get 1000 charges from a given battery, and you use three of those a day...). I believe at the very least they owe us this as a warranty replacement.

Kinda makes me miss my moto razr. I got the extended battery for it (pretty much dobuled the thickness of the case, lol) and I think at one point, with about ~1.5 hours of talk a day, lots of texting, and having the thing sit in my dorm room with about 2 bars of service, I got 5 days without a recharge

 

[YourMobileGuru]

what we need a REAL extended battery. As in needs-a-new-back-case phone battery.

The other problem with a 1300mah batt. is it's going to get warn out wayyyy too fast. I have to charge the thing three times more than any other phone I've ever used, and that means the battery will last 1/3 the time (ie, if you get 1000 charges from a given battery, and you use three of those a day...). I believe at the very least they owe us this as a warranty replacement.

Kinda makes me miss my moto razr. I got the extended battery for it (pretty much dobuled the thickness of the case, lol) and I think at one point, with about ~1.5 hours of talk a day, lots of texting, and having the thing sit in my dorm room with about 2 bars of service, I got 5 days without a recharge

Battery is covered under the one year manufacturer's warranty (the only accessory that is) so if it dies in the first year they will replace it.

No offense but comparing this phone to a Razor is laughable. This is 10x the phone the Razor was (and processor wise 2x the phone any other smartphone (Moto Droid, BB, etc) are. Incredible is a miniature computer and it is expected that it will need to be swapped with heavy use. I completely agree that the one they gave us is woefully inadequate and you can bet I will be counting the days. If my I have issues with my battery before the warranty is up then you bed I'm getting it replaced.

 

[Qazme]

Kinda makes me miss my moto razr. I got the extended battery for it (pretty much dobuled the thickness of the case, lol) and I think at one point, with about ~1.5 hours of talk a day, lots of texting, and having the thing sit in my dorm room with about 2 bars of service, I got 5 days without a recharge

Why did you need an extended battery for the Razr?? I got one of those when they first came out and it would last a week on the regular battery, not exactly what I would consider a battery draining phone as long as you have coverage lol.

The battery I think has a charging issue on the incredible from the factory. If you bump charge it you get 2 hours of additional time on it, with that being said this may not be within manufacturers requirements. If it's not then the only issue the battery has, is it's too small. Then we come around full circle to the cost issue as posted above. Some can argue that they would pay $20 more for the phone for a bigger battery, but across several million phones that cuts their projected profit, and in the end they can sell you an extended battery to get you what you want for $50 more.

In the end they make more profit selling you an add-on extended battery and keep the people who don't need it within their and Verizon's pricing scheme.

 

[threepio]

Im just surprised with the technology advances in processing power of mobile devices, the powering technology hasnt been in stride.

 

[YourMobileGuru]

Why did you need an extended battery for the Razr?? I got one of those when they first came out and it would last a week on the regular battery, not exactly what I would consider a battery draining phone as long as you have coverage lol.

The battery I think has a charging issue on the incredible from the factory. If you bump charge it you get 2 hours of additional time on it, with that being said this may not be within manufacturers requirements. If it's not then the only issue the battery has, is it's too small. Then we come around full circle to the cost issue as posted above. Some can argue that they would pay $20 more for the phone for a bigger battery, but across several million phones that cuts their projected profit, and in the end they can sell you an extended battery to get you what you want for $50 more.

In the end they make more profit selling you an add-on extended battery and keep the people who don't need it within their and Verizon's pricing scheme.

GSM razors had great battery life from what I read but CDMA ones definitely didn't. I had the same issues getting it too last a day.

EDIT: I also wonder if there may be something with the (RED OEM) battery that came with the phone. I have been using a brand new black Droid Eris battery (same mAh as Incredible) and it already is getting as good a battery life as the original took a week to build up to. I've been using it 3 days.

 

[Qazme]

Mine was on Cingular at the time now AT&T, maybe that was the difference. It was also that phone that caused me and the person behind the desk at Cingular to have a yelling match when he lied to me, then told me he would make sure I got screwed if I canceled. Went straight down the road to Verizon ported my number opened an account, called Cingular's customer support line ranted and raved and never paid a dime since I was at the beginning of my billing cycle. Got bills from them for different amounts over the next year too, I guess they try to sucker you into the early termination stuff even when you aren't on contract....... Idiots, I guess part of the reason I can't stand AT&T now or the Razr lol.

/rant

Anywho......

 

[YourMobileGuru]

Im just surprised with the technology advances in processing power of mobile devices, the powering technology hasnt been in stride.

Just out of curiosity I dug out my old MotRazor v3m to compare. It has a 750 mAh battery vs the Incredible's 1300. It's only slightly thicker than the HTC battery and about 2/3 the size. I'd say something has improved. The Storm/Tour battery is also 1300 and almost exactly the same size as the razor battery and about 2/3 the thickness. Volume wise the BB and HTC battery are almost the same, HTC just spread it out more.

 

[Qazme]

There have been HUGE advancements in battery tech over the last 10 years. You can tell this by walking into any R/C shop near you. LiPo versus NiCad etc. Sizes, power ratings, life cycle counts etc etc etc. The battery in my Incredible is 1/4th the size of the very first Motorola Color flip phone that came out, yes I had it lol, and has about 11x the power. NiCad versus LiPo and 1999 vs 2010. lol gotta love technology.

 

[drPheta]

Bash me all you want for "complaining" about poor battery life, but saying nothing means nothing gets done. Maybe VZW and HTC didn't need me to say anything, however my letter to them simply ensures that they know one more person in the real world is experiencing battery issues on top of everyone else who may have sent a letter.

On a lighter note, my battery has increased to 12 hours of uptime since my first days with it (still running stock 1300mAH), and I emailed a formal letter to upper management. The letter can be seen on the original post and below:

To whom it may concern:

I hope this letter brings light to a major flaw in one of your newest products. I have recently purchased a HTC Incredible smart phone, and I am very happy with how the phone performs tasks with exceptional ease and speed. However, I am disappointed in the atrocious battery life of the device. With the advancement of technology, inclusion of complex radios and hardware, and the amount of power necessary to process immense amounts of data I understand today?s smart phones will consume batteries quickly. What I don?t understand is why a 1300mAH battery has been given to the HTC Incredible while its older, less power hungry HTC counterparts have 1500mAH batteries. I am not suggesting the 15% increase in capacity to be a significant improvement over the current battery, but I am curious as to why HTC and Verizon did not anticipate the dramatic battery drain while still stocking it with a smaller power pack.

As it stands today, my phone lasts anywhere between 6-12 hours per day (depending on my usage.) To circumvent this issue, I have been charging my phone throughout the day, turned down screen brightness, minimized my usage of GPS and WiFi, cut down on internet usage, and essentially handicapped the phone in order to achieve roughly 12 hours of uptime. Still, requiring users to charge their phones throughout the day is unacceptable, because we should not be expected to carry, or have access to, a charging station at all times. Granted, real world usage times vary from what is stated on spec sheets, but 12 hours of multiuse-uptime is a far cry from some combination of a claimed 5 hours talk time and 6 days of standby. Furthermore, I assure you that my phone is on standby for the majority of those 12 hours I?m squeezing out of it. Simply put, there is something wrong with the battery, the hardware, or (hopefully) the software.

I have waited for a long time for Verizon to offer an Android phone of this caliber, and on paper the Incredible fulfilled all of my requirements. Unfortunately, the device has one major flaw that keeps it from living up to its name. I am aware that new devices naturally need to have kinks ironed out, and that is why I am writing you. I certainly appreciate your time in reading this letter, and I look forward to some sort of resolution to the HTC Incredible?s battery life.

Regards,

My name

 

[Qazme]

So now they go....."see there we told them nothing was wrong with that phone he's getting 12 hours out of it now geez". And they see nothing.

 

[krelvinaz]

Don't really see your issue. My Omnia didn't get anywhere the same battery life as my DI does now and I use the DI 3 times as much. I know that If I use the phone heavily, there is a chance that I will need to charge it during the day. but rarely need to.

Typically up at 6am, and down by 1am the next morning and the phone still has power. If I need more because I use it more, I charge it. No big deal.

If I would be away for long periods of time from a charging source, there are options for that too. I've not had to use them but they are available.

Until there is a major advancement in battery technology, this will be true unless you want to make the unit a lot fatter by putting a thicker, larger capacity battery in it.

I don't want thicker... so I use what I got.

I think they have done some cute things to minimize power usage on such a powerful device... Been watching the performance of the phone using SystemMonitor over the past couple days.

If it is really that big of an issue to you and you can't charge during the day, the chances are this phone is not for you.

Don't really see what VZW or HTC are going to do about it other than offer a thicker higher capacity battery...

High performance phones eat more battery power... nothing new there.

 

[YourMobileGuru]

Until there is a major advancement in battery technology, this will be true unless you want to make the unit a lot fatter by putting a thicker, larger capacity battery in it.

I don't want thicker... so I use what I got.

I think they have done some cute things to minimize power usage on such a powerful device... Been watching the performance of the phone using SystemMonitor over the past couple days.

If it is really that big of an issue to you and you can't charge during the day, the chances are this phone is not for you.

Don't really see what VZW or HTC are going to do about it other than offer a thicker higher capacity battery...

High performance phones eat more battery power... nothing new there.

You make a lot of good points but you are wrong on a couple things. They have larger batteries (1500 mAh) batteries that they use in other phones (Ozone for example) which work in the Incredible and fit in the existing case because they are only slightly larger. Also Sedio has a 1750 mAh that also fits with no need to replace the back door. HTC/VZW were just cheap. I explained the reasons earlier in the thread but ultimately that's what it boils down to. It just kills me that they didn't even offer to sell an extended life battery with the phone when I ordered it. I specifically looked on VZW's site for an extended life or even a second stock battery for the phone and found none. Then I fond out later it is the same battery as the Eris.