How to improve Moto 360 Battery life

[smooth4lyfe]

So I've noticed a lot of people complaining about the battery life of their watches, so I want to share how I fixed mine

When I first got my phone, it asked my to charge, you have to charge it to 100% before you use it
Once its at 100% and useable, the battery seems to be well, but then suddenly drops very quickly...this happened to me
This is how I fixed it

1. Charge to 100%, and use it until the battery dies (not 2% or 1%...let it die)
2. Charge it back up all the way, you will notice the battery acting different, taking longer to charge, and dropping quickly
3. Let it drop to about 2% now, then charge it up all the way (you are "training" the battery to use the full max of it battery)
4. The battery should be noticeably better

After I've done this, my watch has lasted from 100% as 7:30AM to 36% at 1:30AM all the time

 

[NexusKoolaid]

You may for some reason be seeing battery battery life,but it has nothing to do with your efforts to train the battery - that's simply not how Lithium Ion Batteries work. Lithium batteries don’t suffer from the memory effects of older battery tech like NiCad or NiMH, meaning you can't 'train' them – full discharges aren’t necessary to help them charge more efficiently.

On the other hand, Lithium Ion batteries (like the Lithium Polymer variety found in the 360) can endure a certain number of discharge cycles before their performance degrades below 70% to 75% capacity. This number will vary based on the severity of the discharge. If you’re habitually draining the battery to near 0% you’ll be lucky to get 500 charge cycles before you hit that 70% efficiency mark. If you’re the kind that likes to charge up when your charge goes to 80%, you’ll probably stretch that count to 3000 charge cycles. The point being that purposely running your battery down to depletion, while perhaps unavoidable with today's crop of Smart Watches, is not in your battery's best interest. This goes for cell phones as well.

 

[smooth4lyfe]

Sorry for the confusion
I didn't mean to deplete it to 2% every time, just once, then use it normally
It helped me in my experience though, maybe it wasn't training per se, but after I did that once, my battery has been pretty good, I usually put it back on the charger when I sleep while its around 30% now

 

[vzwuser76]

I've always heard that about Li-ion batteries, but when I used to keep a spare battery for my phones, I saw something that certainly acts like memory effect. Say my primary battery would be low, I'd remove it and put it on my external charger. Then I'd put my fully charged spare battery (that I only used when my primary was too low and needed my phone powered on) in the phone and powered it up. All of the sudden I'd see differences in my home screen. The home screen would be set up the way I had it when I last used my spare battery, and it happened almost every time the above conditions occurred. Maybe that's not memory effect per se, but it seems to act like it.

As far as what the OP was doing, it may not be training the battery so much as training the battery gauge. I've seen that before where if I'd only let the battery discharge to 50% before charging it, the battery life SEEMED to be shorter. The two solutions I found were running the battery down to around 10% before charging for awhile, or resetting the battery stats (there's a thread on here explaining how to do that). Now since I doubt anyone knows that procedure for the 360 at this time, running it down to the 10-15% mark should remedy the situation. It may not have anything to do with the battery, but the gauge that measures the battery.

 

[Jonneh]

Yeah, not quite sure exactly what the variable was, but lithium ion batteries don't "train" like the old tech of yesteryear.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[clevin]

While suggestions are welcome, I'm unsure what you listed really matters. Li ion battery is not new, there is no secret in how to care for it.

@T-Mobile GN3

 

[zedorda]

Ok I will try and address this battery memory people keep saying does not exists with Lithium-ion batteries and why that is a wrong conclusion but also correct.

Old Ni-Cad batteries themselves would develop memory from usage. Lithium batteries don't develop memory the same way but the devices that are estimating their capacity do develop a memory because they store .log files of many stats about the battery over time. There is not a universal measuring stick you can figuratively hold the battery to and it show the plain level of power left in a lithium battery. Several stats are stored to help estimate the capacity like amps, voltage, temp, time, plus many more. Over time the device should be more accurate at predicting the battery level but if any of the parameters used in the equation go far out of normal it can effect the prediction. Like going out on a hot day for awhile when it is normally in an AC'ed room most of the time it may not show an accurate battery level.

Now if you use multiple batteries with the same device this makes things much more possible to not be accurate. Because the device doesn't know which battery you are using and it can only have 1 .log file and assumes you always use the same battery. This is why they suggested resetting battery history when buying a new battery.

So in conclusion Lithium batteries have a memory just not in the same way as the old rechargeables did and yes you should train your device to read the batteries stats from full to empty at least once if not once in awhile when you find the battery not working the same as it once did. Just remember the older a lithium-ion battery gets the more risk you run killing the battery when running it dead even if it is only a slight risk.

 

[Jonneh]

Very interesting read! I've read this debate quite a few times now but I've never seen the information like this. Thanks for your explanation.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[clevin]

Ok I will try and address this battery memory people keep saying does not exists with Lithium-ion batteries and why that is a wrong conclusion but also correct.

Old Ni-Cad batteries themselves would develop memory from usage. Lithium batteries don't develop memory the same way but the devices that are estimating their capacity do develop a memory because they store .log files of many stats about the battery over time. There is not a universal measuring stick you can figuratively hold the battery to and it show the plain level of power left in a lithium battery. Several stats are stored to help estimate the capacity like amps, voltage, temp, time, plus many more. Over time the device should be more accurate at predicting the battery level but if any of the parameters used in the equation go far out of normal it can effect the prediction. Like going out on a hot day for awhile when it is normally in an AC'ed room most of the time it may not show an accurate battery level.

Now if you use multiple batteries with the same device this makes things much more possible to not be accurate. Because the device doesn't know which battery you are using and it can only have 1 .log file and assumes you always use the same battery. This is why they suggested resetting battery history when buying a new battery.

So in conclusion Lithium batteries have a memory just not in the same way as the old rechargeables did and yes you should train your device to read the batteries stats from full to empty at least once if not once in awhile when you find the battery not working the same as it once did. Just remember the older a lithium-ion battery gets the more risk you run killing the battery when running it dead even if it is only a slight risk.

No, Li ion battery has no memory effect, in that charging levels do not affect battery life.

The effect you are discussing, is the battery calibration curve, yeah, system can be reporting confusing or inaccurate battery levels, but it doesn't really matter to the longevity of the battery. Any such effect can be easily calibrated at any time. It's not something worth worrying.

We really don't need to redefine what battery memory effect is at this stage. It adds to the confusion.

@T-Mobile GN3

 

[solotristan88]

Took it off charger today at 930am...its now 8pm....so about ten hours use....still at 58%!

Posted via Android Central App

 

[zedorda]

No, Li ion battery has no memory effect, in that charging levels do not affect battery life.

The effect you are discussing, is the battery calibration curve, yeah, system can be reporting confusing or inaccurate battery levels, but it doesn't really matter to the longevity of the battery. Any such effect can be easily calibrated at any time. It's not something worth worrying.

We really don't need to redefine what battery memory effect is at this stage. It adds to the confusion.

@T-Mobile GN3

Nice you did not even understand what I posted then replied with stuff I never even posted about. Thanks for more pointless babbling.

 

[vzwuser76]

Nice you did not even understand what I posted then replied with stuff I never even posted about. Thanks for more pointless babbling.

Thanks for the info, but I do have a question. The explanation you gave in regard to other batteries makes sense for battery level, but have you ever heard of the issue I mentioned in my post. The part about how when I'd switch batteries if I hadn't used my spare for awhile and made changes to the home screen since it's last use, it appeared to have the same layout as it did when I last used the battery. For example, if I had an app like gmail on the home screen when I last used the spare battery, but had since taken it off the home screen, when using the spare battery next time gmail is back on the screen. And I don't just mean one app, the entire home screen layout reverts back to the way it was when I last used that battery (number of home screens, which apps were on those home screens, etc.). It's almost like "last known good configuration" on windows PCs. But would info like that also be stored in the stats that determine battery level? Not a big deal since I'm now using a Droid Maxx, but it always bugged me. Thanks for any info you may have.

 

[zedorda]

Thanks for the info, but I do have a question. The explanation you gave in regard to other batteries makes sense for battery level, but have you ever heard of the issue I mentioned in my post. The part about how when I'd switch batteries if I hadn't used my spare for awhile and made changes to the home screen since it's last use, it appeared to have the same layout as it did when I last used the battery. For example, if I had an app like gmail on the home screen when I last used the spare battery, but had since taken it off the home screen, when using the spare battery next time gmail is back on the screen. And I don't just mean one app, the entire home screen layout reverts back to the way it was when I last used that battery (number of home screens, which apps were on those home screens, etc.). It's almost like "last known good configuration" on windows PCs. But would info like that also be stored in the stats that determine battery level? Not a big deal since I'm now using a Droid Maxx, but it always bugged me. Thanks for any info you may have.

Sorry I can not help but I have never heard of that one. Your experience is a first for me. I also used 2 batteries with my Galaxy Nexus but never had that happen to me.

 

[vzwuser76]

I always used spare batteries on my Incredible (1&2) but this happened on my Rezound. The only time I ever saw that. But I could always make it happen. I'll just file it away under weird s#*t.

 

[turnerm]

Why argue about lithium batteries when you can simply refer to the facts...

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries

 

[DanPLC]

I'm not sure if it's related, but the previous day I let the watch go down to 0% and auto-power off. Then the next day (which was yesterday), I had record-breaking battery endurance (at least for my watch). It was off the charger for 14 hours and was at 47% charge when I went to bed.

We'll see how it does today, but that was pretty amazing based upon its previous performances.

 

[Green_Laser]

I always used spare batteries on my Incredible (1&2) but this happened on my Rezound. The only time I ever saw that. But I could always make it happen. I'll just file it away under weird s#*t.

Before getting an extended battery which I no longer remove from my Thunderbolt, I used to frequently switch between stock size batteries (1600mah), and I would see that happen. Could be an HTC thing, I don't know, but always thought that it was strange.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[SpookDroid]

Just to pile up to the debate hehe. What you're doing with the depleting and recharge it's not actually FOR the battery, it's for the system calibration. It needs to know the actual levels! It's basically letting it go from 100 to 0, see how much it takes to discharge, go from 0 to 100 and see how much it takes to charge, then do its math and algorithm magic and voila! Better, more accurate battery level REPORTING. Plus, you get to let the electrons flow in all the battery, that's always a good thing every now and then.

 

[slave]

Took it off charger today at 930am...its now 8pm....so about ten hours use....still at 58%!

Posted via Android Central App

Same here. I simply do what I normally do. I didn't baby the watch, I didn't use it to play around. I used it to notify me if I had texts, or emails. If I couldn't get to my phone, I used the voice to text. Nothing special, and no fear of the battery dying.

I have had it off the charger for 12 hours, 50% battery left.

 

[vzwuser76]

Just to pile up to the debate hehe. What you're doing with the depleting and recharge it's not actually FOR the battery, it's for the system calibration. It needs to know the actual levels! It's basically letting it go from 100 to 0, see how much it takes to discharge, go from 0 to 100 and see how much it takes to charge, then do its math and algorithm magic and voila! Better, more accurate battery level REPORTING. Plus, you get to let the electrons flow in all the battery, that's always a good thing every now and then.

That's what I was alluding to in the second part of my first post. I used to always do that, but now I clear the battery stats on the phone, which I hadn't heard of before I got my Maxx. But unless someone has heard how to, I don't believe there is a way to do this on the 360.