Z3 Battery

[The Yalao]

Hi guys- new Android user here and I recently got the z3. Been reading everywhere about the legendary battery life of the phone. Quick question, is anyone else experiencing a quick drop in battery percentage from 100% after charging? Is this normal?

 

[charles777]

Define quick drop... percentage drop over how long exactly?

 

[The Yalao]

About less than 8minutes of just browsing over chrome via WiFi - with no other apps open.

 

[gunzkevin]

How much does it drop in that 8 minutes?

What I recommend is going into
settings--> power management - - > battery usage
and seeing what the top apps are.. If they aren't android OS, WiFi, screen, and chrome. Report back with what they are.

Also, you could have your power management set up to kick in at 95% or so, getting a quicker drop before it changes settings. Then slowly draining with power management on. To check, go to
Settings-->power management-->stamina mode - - >activation

Posted via Android Central App

 

[N_LaRUE]

I guess this is referring to how the phone doesn't seem to stay at 100% for very long? I notice that my phone either doesn't reach 100% or if it gets there it drops rather quickly to 99% but then doesn't drop quickly after that. I'm guessing this is either the 'norm' or it's a bug in the software.

Keeping in mind that with the latest battery technology that you never really reach 100% charge just as you don't hit zero either.

My guess it's a bug but who knows?

Ignoring that, the battery is epic. I'm very happy with my battery performance.

 

[The Yalao]

It drops to about 96% after less than 8minutes of browsing.

I looked at power management and saw that Spotify is up there right after Screen. Is this because of the widget Spotify on my home screen? I'm new to Android and one of the reasons I switched from ios was because of the widgets but the way it drains the battery is kind of disappointing.

I have stamina mode on at 40%. Do you guys have it set so that it kicks in at a higher battery percentage level? Any other tips to make my z3 last close to 2days?

I appreciate the responses.

Thanks again.

 

[The Yalao]

Yes, it doesn't stay long on 100% right after charging. I remember with my iPhone, it took longer for it to drop from 100% to 99 and 98%.

How long are you getting from a single charge? And how much do you use it? On average I'm only getting 16-18hours with moderate use (checking social networking sites, Spotify, emails and all this via WiFi only)

 

[N_LaRUE]

I'm not a heavy user by any stretch. 16- 18 hours is about average for the phone with moderate to heavy use and with about 5-6 hours screen time.

You can have STAMINA on all the time. It will help.

You should check Settings -> Apps and see what's running. Some apps just stay on all the time. There are some apps that help with this but I've been trying to avoid them. There's this one to try - > https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...om.oasisfeng.greenify&hl=en_GB&token=_fIjRCaM

Also you should go to Settings -> Personalization -> Manage Notifications and turn off anything you don't want to be notified about.

My phone drops to 99% almost instantly, even on STAMINA. I'm assuming it's a bug of some sort.

Keep in mind all phones, regardless how good the battery is, it drains eventually. Batteries take some time to sort themselves out, usually a few of charge cycles.

You can turn off services like Location, NFC etc to help with battery life. Check to see what sort of Location setting your on as GPS is a big drain on all phones after the screen that is.

 

[gunzkevin]

It drops to about 96% after less than 8minutes of browsing.

I looked at power management and saw that Spotify is up there right after Screen. Is this because of the widget Spotify on my home screen? I'm new to Android and one of the reasons I switched from ios was because of the widgets but the way it drains the battery is kind of disappointing.

I have stamina mode on at 40%. Do you guys have it set so that it kicks in at a higher battery percentage level? Any other tips to make my z3 last close to 2days?

I appreciate the responses.

Thanks again.

I have stamina mode always on. With my z2, I only ever charge my phone to 50% (it will make the battery last longer), and I always make it through a full day with that. When I do charge to 100%, I end the day with around 45% left.

I would turn stamina to always on, and just set exceptions to apps you need (such as hangouts-if you use it, snapchat, messaging) that way you don't miss any notifications.

I wouldn't download the app the other person listed, as he kind of stated, they aren't much help. I see you are new to Android, so just so you know, you can close all running apps by pressing on the bottom right soft key (next to the home key), then hitting close all.

As for Spotify, if you don't use it I would uninstall it. Or, I would go into settings - > apps--> Spotify - - > force stop
See if that helps. Spotify might have background processes it will try to run all the time, and drain your battery.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[N_LaRUE]

I have stamina mode always on. With my z2, I only ever charge my phone to 50% (it will make the battery last longer), and I always make it through a full day with that. When I do charge to 100%, I end the day with around 45% left.

I'm a little confused with this. Can you clarify why you only charge to 50%? I'm pretty much up to speed on battery technology and I'm trying to sort out what benefits you are seeing doing this.

 

[Stwutter]

I had the LG G3, and the bug on that meant that it stayed on 100% for an abnormally long time, so I had a straight line on my battery chart and then a steady drop. When I first got it, I thought the fact that I had 100% after an hour was amazing - and then it was dead 12 hours later.

Yes - I also find the % on the Z3 drops from 100% to 99 & 98% quite quickly. So when I get to the end of the day, there's a very small sharp drop at the start and then a steady line down. However, it doesn't concern me as it's easily the best battery life I've experienced on a modern smartphone.

 

[gunzkevin]

I'm a little confused with this. Can you clarify why you only charge to 50%? I'm pretty much up to speed on battery technology and I'm trying to sort out what benefits you are seeing doing this.

Yeah no problem. If you were to have an empty box and fill it with clothes. It would be super easy to fill the box at first. It would gradually get harder to cram more clothes into it as you go.
Same concept for the battery cells. As you do this, the cells degrade and what was once holding 4.2v at full charge, is now holding 3.2v, and so on. Now when your phone is at 100% of 3.2v, it is going to drain quicker than 100% of 4.2v.

Manufacturers can set what "100%" charge is. If they want to prolong overall battery longevity over having the longer lasting charge, they will set 100% at a lower voltage. And vice versa. Mostly, manufactures set it to a higher voltage as customers don't care how long their phone's battery will last, only that they can make it through a day of use.

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

Posted via Android Central App

 

[N_LaRUE]

Yeah no problem. If you were to have an empty box and fill it with clothes. It would be super easy to fill the box at first. It would gradually get harder to cram more clothes into it as you go.
Same concept for the battery cells. As you do this, the cells degrade and what was once holding 4.2v at full charge, is now holding 3.2v, and so on. Now when your phone is at 100% of 3.2v, it is going to drain quicker than 100% of 4.2v.

Manufacturers can set what "100%" charge is. If they want to prolong overall battery longevity over having the longer lasting charge, they will set 100% at a lower voltage. And vice versa. Mostly, manufactures set it to a higher voltage as customers don't care how long their phone's battery will last, only that they can make it through a day of use.

Charging Lithium-Ion Batteries – Battery University

Posted via Android Central App

I've think you've misunderstood the concepts.

4.2V is the charging voltage. Not the operation voltage, the operational voltage is typically lower. It's very similar to your car battery. It's a 12V battery but it charges at ~14V from the alternator.

What the article is discussing is keeping the battery on charge for extended periods of time and maintaining that 4.2V. Simply put, you really should disconnect your phone from charge once it's fully charged. However, most manufactures usually put in over charge circuits to prevent this. That doesn't mean you shouldn't take your phone off charge.

This doesn't mean you can't charge your battery to 100% or that it will degrade quicker if you do. As you've indicated, the manufacturer set's 100%. You might gain marginal battery length with only charging to 50% but I wouldn't say it would be a big benefit.

To add to this, I believe I read an article on that same site stating that Lithium-ion batteries do suffer a bit from 'battery memory', though not to the extent of the older battery tech.

If you're happy doing what you do then that's fine but I don't see a reason to not charge my battery to 100%. I don't see the benefits or gains of keeping it at only 50% in the overall scheme of things.

 

[rspierenburg]

Haha..even in my Z3 battery lost half of its charge it still would be 10 times better than my Galaxy S2 battery new.

 

[Mister K]

Mrs K has a Z3 which is big enough that she can read and even occasionally edit work documents on it (why anyone would want to do that is beyond me, but there you go). The phone has become her primary communication and internet device. Her previous device, an S3, struggled to make it through the day, the Z3, after 2 days and more than 7 hours of screen-on time, is still at 30% battery, which is pretty impressive. It seems much better than my Z3 Compact, to be honest, but then my usage is different.

 

[gunzkevin]

I've think you've misunderstood the concepts.

4.2V is the charging voltage. Not the operation voltage, the operational voltage is typically lower. It's very similar to your car battery. It's a 12V battery but it charges at ~14V from the alternator.

What the article is discussing is keeping the battery on charge for extended periods of time and maintaining that 4.2V. Simply put, you really should disconnect your phone from charge once it's fully charged. However, most manufactures usually put in over charge circuits to prevent this. That doesn't mean you shouldn't take your phone off charge.

This doesn't mean you can't charge your battery to 100% or that it will degrade quicker if you do. As you've indicated, the manufacturer set's 100%. You might gain marginal battery length with only charging to 50% but I wouldn't say it would be a big benefit.

To add to this, I believe I read an article on that same site stating that Lithium-ion batteries do suffer a bit from 'battery memory', though not to the extent of the older battery tech.

If you're happy doing what you do then that's fine but I don't see a reason to not charge my battery to 100%. I don't see the benefits or gains of keeping it at only 50% in the overall scheme of things.

Hey sorry, I actually quoted the wrong article. This is the one I meant to send. It discusses what I said earlier, with higher percent charge, it lowers the write cycles for each cell.

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

Posted via Android Central App

 

[N_LaRUE]

Hey sorry, I actually quoted the wrong article. This is the one I meant to send. It discusses what I said earlier, with higher percent charge, it lowers the write cycles for each cell.

How to Prolong Lithium-based Batteries - Battery University

Posted via Android Central App

That article is not very well written I have to say. It's very confusing and this is coming from a person who understands the technology. Some clarification would have been nice as I had to search around to find more information to make sure I understood correctly.

Basically the simple premise is this if you want to keep your battery in the best of health.

- Keep it at room temperature. Li-ion batteries hate extremes.
- Don't keep it on charge, if you need to charge it over night it's better to get a charger that shuts off. Charging also increases temperature.
- Don't fully discharge the battery on a regular basis. Only do this once a month.
- Don't fully charge the phone all the time. Apparently 80% to a discharge of 40% is optimal life. Doesn't mean you can't charge your phone to 100% but your battery will degrade quicker.

Saying that, with the Z3 battery and it's performance. Unless you're using your phone heavily all the time it should last 2-3 days, well it does for me. Which means your need to charge it is less which allows you to stay in the 'zone' of charging.

I don't stress about batteries much personally. As long as it works for the two to three years I'll be happy.

 

[cfoied]

It's normal for me. I experience a very quick drop to 99 after about 5mins of use.