Considering a Nexus 5... a few questions

[anon(8312128)]

Hello,

I'm very close to buying a Nexus 5, but I have a question first. I have T-Mobile ... if I go buy the phone today, Jan 17th, what are the chances I will get the "new and improved" model? I guess what I'm saying is, I don't want to buy it unless I know for sure that it's a newer unit with the improved hardware. Apologies if this has been discussed already.

On a separate note ....... what seems to be the consensus on battery life? I'm coming from a Moto X and maybe it was just my particular phone, but I was having a horrible time with idle battery drain and could never narrow down the problem. Could I be facing the same nightmare by switching to the Nexus? I love the price point and vanilla Android experience ... that's what really has me interested. But I really worry about running into the same idle battery drain issue that I had with my Moto X.

Any feedback would be really appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Daden04]

Can I ask what you mean by new and improved? Kinda vague there. As far as battery life, I've owned the phone now for a days and have no complaints and I'm a medium to heavy use user. But, I came from an iPhone 4 which, I'm my opinion, had terrible battery life.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[jj14x]

@Daden04 I suspect djr7572 is asking about the larger speaker holes and the fix for the power button rattling issue that has impacted several users.
@djr7572 - you cannot be sure. There is a good possibility that you will get the newer version, but no guarantees (since the 'new' model is using the same SKU/Item#)
Battery life - idle battery drain is pretty much non-existant - assuming you have decent cell coverage where you are located. If your carrier's cellphone signal is low where you are located, your battery WILL drain. There was a play services update a week or so ago that is supposed to have addressed the occasional play services services battery drain.

 

[srkmagnus]

What kind of battery life were you seeing when using the Moto X? If you are concerned with battery if I think you'll definitely notice that the N5 will not compare to the Moto X.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[anon(8312128)]

@Daden04 I suspect djr7572 is asking about the larger speaker holes and the fix for the power button rattling issue that has impacted several users.
@djr7572 - you cannot be sure. There is a good possibility that you will get the newer version, but no guarantees (since the 'new' model is using the same SKU/Item#)
Battery life - idle battery drain is pretty much non-existant - assuming you have decent cell coverage where you are located. If your carrier's cellphone signal is low where you are located, your battery WILL drain. There was a play services update a week or so ago that is supposed to have addressed the occasional play services services battery drain.

Yes, sorry ... was referring to the newer models with the slightly-larger speaker holes. I suppose you can't realistically ask to see the device first before deciding. I'll just have to roll the dice and hope I get lucky with one of the newer ones. So, it sounds like it has a lot to do with your signal coverage where you live. I never truly realized how much juice it really takes for a cellular device to stay connected if the signal is weak. Will it be any better if Im connected to WiFi while at home?

 

[anon(8312128)]

What kind of battery life were you seeing when using the Moto X? If you are concerned with battery if I think you'll definitely notice that the N5 will not compare to the Moto X.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using AC Forums mobile app

I was experiencing anywhere from 15-20% battery drain after 8+ hours of sleeping. That's not normal battery behavior to me ... and I did as much "optimizing" as I could with the settings etc ... turned off Google Reporting, turned off Facebook sync, etc. Didn't seem to make a difference. I won't mind just "mediocre" battery life with the Nexus as long as it doesn't drain like that on me like my Moto X. That was just beyond frustrating. If it gets me through an entire day without running on fumes toward the end I can be happy with that.

 

[jj14x]

So, it sounds like it has a lot to do with your signal coverage where you live.

It may, if your signal coverage is poor. There are a lot of factors to consider when reviewing battery performance. Background data use by apps, cell signal coverage, screen on time, location reporting (with active GPS), wakelocks by some apps, etc.

Will it be any better if Im connected to WiFi while at home?

See above - lot of factors. But if your issue is being caused by poor signal, WiFi MAY help. Sorry about the "may" - but again, WiFi will help with the data part. But your phone is still trying to connect to your service provider for voice/sms, so if the signal strength is weak, your phone is going to keep struggling to maintain the signal connectivity, and will result in more battery usage.

 

[anon(8312128)]

Also, I forgot to ask ... regarding the sound/speaker quality issues ... has this been more of a problem with earpiece volume (hearing the other caller) or more with the volume (or lack of) coming out of the speakers when you get notifications or listening to music etc .. ?

 

[jj14x]

I was experiencing anywhere from 15-20% battery drain after 8+ hours of sleeping. That's not normal battery behavior to me ... and I did as much "optimizing" as I could with the settings etc ... turned off Google Reporting, turned off Facebook sync, etc. Didn't seem to make a difference. I won't mind just "mediocre" battery life with the Nexus as long as it doesn't drain like that on me like my Moto X. That was just beyond frustrating. If it gets me through an entire day without running on fumes toward the end I can be happy with that.

I agree - overnight, my battery typically drops from 100% to 98% (I charge my battery and take it off the charger and reboot before I go to sleep). I have location reporting enabled, but set to battery saving mode. I have a tasker profile that enables active GPS when I launch Google Maps, and switches to battery saving mode when I exit Maps. Anything else doesn't need active GPS lock (for my usage at least)

After a reboot and full charge to 100% (this will reset the battery usage graphs), leave it idle overnight. Look at battery usage details (settings/battery) - what apps/processes are using the battery? Screen print.

 

[anon(8312128)]

I agree - overnight, my battery typically drops from 100% to 98% (I charge my battery and take it off the charger and reboot before I go to sleep)
After a reboot and full charge to 100% (this will reset the battery usage graphs), leave it idle overnight. Look at battery usage details (settings/battery) - what apps/processes are using the battery? Screen print.

Well it sounds like you're lucky and getting normal battery life. Maybe you have a rock solid signal at home. But like you said, there's many factors. Guess I'll just have to wait and see how it goes.

 

[jj14x]

Well it sounds like you're lucky and getting normal battery life. Maybe you have a rock solid signal at home. But like you said, there's many factors. Guess I'll just have to wait and see how it goes.

My LTE signal sucks, but voice (1x) signal is pretty good. I'm on WiFi at home.
But do try what I suggested - it would at least tell you (us) what is causing the battery drain

After a reboot and full charge to 100% (this will reset the battery usage graphs), leave it idle overnight. Look at battery usage details (settings/battery) - what apps/processes are using the battery? Screen print.

 

[Shawn Magm]

I get very good idle time on my N5. I have wifi, bluetooth, 4G LTE (AT&T) on at all times, location service set to battery saving. NFC, GPS off. I've gotten rid of Facebook, Twitter apps and if needed, go to the Chrome mobile browser to access my account. My screen brightness is about 20%. I switched to ART. At night while I'm sleeping, I get about 1% drain per 3-4 hours. My 4G LTE signal is moderate. I had a Moto X, and while I didn't switch to ART, the idle time was not as good as the Nexus, maybe 2%/hour. However, with screen on, the N5 sucked juice faster, which isn't surprising given the N5's greater pixel count and the more efficient AMOLED screen of the X. Generally speaking, most of the reports and reviews I've read have given the battery edge to the X. I think I read that Anandtech's conclusion may be that the N5 had better overall battery.

For my purposes, the N5's battery life is good enough for my lifestyle at the present time. I don't use the phone much during the day, as I'm near my computer and office phone. I charge right before sleep, and get through my day with mostly the phone idling. When I get home, the phone is about 70% after 18-20 hours.

 

[flick0416]

Regarding battery life, I'm beginning to think that your battery life depends on the number of social media apps you install on your phone. My wife and I both have N5's, and the only social media app I have on my phone is G+. She has G+, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat...pretty much all of them, and she's been having terrible battery life lately. She's seeing about 50% drain overnight while idle. Me, I see maybe 2 or 3 % in the same time period. I've gone over 30 hours on a charge multiple times.

I'm still trying to figure out what is the culprit for her battery drain, but I'm starting to lean toward the social media apps, particularly because I keep seeing in these forums that most of the people who have battery issues mention Facebook and Instagram specifically.

 

[mrsmumbles]

Regarding battery life, I'm beginning to think that your battery life depends on the number of social media apps you install on your phone. My wife and I both have N5's, and the only social media app I have on my phone is G+. She has G+, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat...pretty much all of them, and she's been having terrible battery life lately. She's seeing about 50% drain overnight while idle. Me, I see maybe 2 or 3 % in the same time period. I've gone over 30 hours on a charge multiple times.

I'm still trying to figure out what is the culprit for her battery drain, but I'm starting to lean toward the social media apps, particularly because I keep seeing in these forums that most of the people who have battery issues mention Facebook and Instagram specifically.

Set Facebook to only refresh or sync manually. If it's default it really drains battery. I don't know if it will help that much though. Better just to uninstall it and use a browser for Facebook.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk 2

 

[madlaw1071]

why do people leave their phone unplugged overnight and then wake up and complain about battery drain? Asking for a friend...

 

[flick0416]

why do people leave their phone unplugged overnight

Well, my wife uses her phone for her alarm and there isn't a plug close enough to her night stand for her to be able to charge it while she sleeps.

and then wake up and complain about battery drain? Asking for a friend...

She doesn't complain about it. It's just confusing as to why it's happening, because it doesn't happen every night, and obviously my phone, under the same network conditions, doesn't experience the same kind of drain.

 

[mrsmumbles]

why do people leave their phone unplugged overnight and then wake up and complain about battery drain? Asking for a friend...

Some of us only have a mobile phone and no landline. Aside from an alarm clock it's nice to have the phone ready if there's an emergency in the middle of the night. But that's also why wireless Qi charging is nice.

Sent from my LG-LG870 using Tapatalk 2

 

[jj14x]

why do people leave their phone unplugged overnight and then wake up and complain about battery drain? Asking for a friend...

If the phone is draining battery overnight when it is idle, it will likely use even more battery when in use during the day... so folks have reason to complain.... Explained by my friend

 

[patruns]

why do people leave their phone unplugged overnight and then wake up and complain about battery drain? Asking for a friend...

Why do some people with absolutely nothing to offer still post?

 

[patruns]

Hello,

I'm very close to buying a Nexus 5, but I have a question first. I have T-Mobile ... if I go buy the phone today, Jan 17th, what are the chances I will get the "new and improved" model? I guess what I'm saying is, I don't want to buy it unless I know for sure that it's a newer unit with the improved hardware. Apologies if this has been discussed already.

On a separate note ....... what seems to be the consensus on battery life? I'm coming from a Moto X and maybe it was just my particular phone, but I was having a horrible time with idle battery drain and could never narrow down the problem. Could I be facing the same nightmare by switching to the Nexus? I love the price point and vanilla Android experience ... that's what really has me interested. But I really worry about running into the same idle battery drain issue that I had with my Moto X.

Any feedback would be really appreciated.

Thanks

I have had my Nexus 5 since about a week after it came out and am on T-Mobile. I have absolutely no issue with the speakers and battery life is fine. I switched from Davlik to ART which seems to have extended battery life a bit. I use the phone a fair amount during the day for email and to stream music. I turn it off at night since I have a land line and put it on the charger (USB to PC) while at work to keep it fresh. However, I do that to keep it fresh not knowing when I will be able to do it again. I can still make it through a day without charging, just a personal choice. I am sure there are other things I could do to squeeze more life out of the battery but at the moment I have no need. Go ahead and order it. You will be happy that you did.