Battery envy

[speedlever]

I really have no complaints about my OP3/ATT battery life. I charge it to 80-90% when it gets down to around 30% and generally go 24 hours-ish on that.

I have a friend (on VZW) who recently got a Moto Z Play. He's not an app-aholic like me, but told me he has some network tools, and app that syncs with Outlook, Note to sync with his PC, etc. He charged it to 100% the other day and texted me about 30 hours later that he was down to 78%.

I am officially jealous... even though my battery is more than sufficient for my needs. But still!

That being said, he is still on MM (6.0.1).

This guy is an independent IT pro and uses his phone... lots of phone calls, remotes in with it, etc. I would love to have one and set it up like my OP3 and see how the battery life compares. That might be pretty similar to the 3T... which would really be a sweet comparison too.

I have to say that if the OP3 had fallen short for me, the unlocked Moto Z Play was on my short list of phones to consider when I bought last October.

Out of curiosity, has anyone moved from the 3 to the 3T, kept pretty much the same app setup and usage and compared battery life? Does that 400 mAh really make that much difference? Or is it the SoC in the Moto Z Play that really contributes to the battery life it enjoys?

 

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

It's the SoC

The Z Play uses a 14nm chipset with 8 power-efficient Cortex A53 CPU cores. Couple that with very little background processes and an efficient kernel + OLED display panel and it provides some crazy endurance.

The <$5 Vivo phone that I got off a carrier recently had a similar setup but it's a 28nm chip with lower clocks. Despite the seemingly tiny 2730mAh capacity, it can easily get 6 hours of on-screen time over 3 days of moderate-to-heavy use.

 

[speedlever]

If that SoC performs well, comparable to the SoC in the 3/3T, then I have to commend MotoLenovo in their implementation of that SoC in the Z Play. I wonder if Moto has released Nougat for the unlocked Z Play yet?

 

[D13H4RD2L1V3]

If that SoC performs well, comparable to the SoC in the 3/3T, then I have to commend MotoLenovo in their implementation of that SoC in the Z Play. I wonder if Moto has released Nougat for the unlocked Z Play yet?

It's slower than the 820 on your OnePlus 3, but it doesn't show in any significant manner in real-world use. I'd say it's very well-implemented unless gaming performance is critical.

The Z Play's Nougat source-code was released not long ago and some regions are starting to see the update. In the US, however, it's not out yet, for both unlocked and Droid variants.

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

It's kinda pointless to compare the two in my opinion... They have very different goals in mind.

Of course the Z play has better battery life, that seems to be the main focus of its design, the Oneplus 3 and 3T focus on raw power and performance. And I bet you that new Nokia 3310 will own both in terms of battery life!

The Z play is probably a better choice for an average consumer, but I don't really consider us to be average consumers...

As an example, my mother needed a new phone last year after I'd bought my Oneplus 3, I recommended the Moto E3. Why? She doesn't need a Oneplus 3, she doesn't need a Z play, either of those would just be a waste of her money.

 

[speedlever]

If the Z Play can achieve that kind of battery life without affecting performance, then I say bring it on! From my very brief time with the Z Play, it seemed quite fluid and smooth in operation.

 

[soma4society]

If the Z Play can achieve that kind of battery life without affecting performance, then I say bring it on! From my very brief time with the Z Play, it seemed quite fluid and smooth in operation.

As others have mentioned the z play is supposed to be a pretty solid performer for everyday use. It benefits from an Android skin that's about as light as they come, the 625 chip it uses sips power, and the software is optimized well. I've even seen some reviewers say it multitasks and handles games much better than they expected given the older chip set.

Over at XDA there is a *lot* of development for the oppo 3/3T. If you're a tinkerer you can probably improve the battery life (significantly) by flashing a different ROM and / or kernel.

 

[speedlever]

I am more of a tinker wanna be than a real tinkerer. I was hoping to use my GS4 (which the OP3 replaced) to tinker with and learn all about the process. Unfortunately, it has Lollipop on it and is locked down. I'm told the bootloader cannot be unlocked on it.

I'd prefer not to experiment with my main phone.

 

[soma4society]

I am more of a tinker wanna be than a real tinkerer. I was hoping to use my GS4 (which the OP3 replaced) to tinker with and learn all about the process. Unfortunately, it has Lollipop on it and is locked down. I'm told the bootloader cannot be unlocked on it.

I'd prefer not to experiment with my main phone.

I understand the sentiment.

I'd still recommend you Check out XDA (if you haven't). You may get some measurable benefits even if you just root and underclock your processor. The 3/3T are renowned root/flash friendly devices, and there's plenty of knowledgeable ppl over there to answer questions. I think there's even a dedicated thread to battery life for your device. Cheers!

 

[sahir hussain1]

i was the guy who always wanted the latest and greatest. i would change phones every few months as soon as the better specced one came out. however, over time, i realised that i do not game on phone, i do not use the camera, i do not use the fancy assistants in fact i didnt use any of the features on my phone that makes it command a premium price. i use my phone mainly for twitter, flipboard, feedly and occassional calls and whatsapp. you cant even imagine how much money i have saved after this realisation. currently rocking a redmi note 4 and its good enough for me. i am never going to get back in the flagship race.