Internal Battery

[and_youf]

How long are users averaging until they need to replace theirs? My phone is a 2016. Battery life is maybe 8 hrs if I don't have battery saver on. Is it now normal for battery to severely deteriorated since people love to upgrade their phones every two years? Carrier said with protection plan they would most likely replace it (after running "tests") but then it would be out of commision for a few days. Not a fan of internal batteries although I know they help with packaging efficiency and making it waterproof.

 

[rewolff]

In general Lithium Ion batteries are quoted as having a lifetime of about 500 (full) cycles. If your phone lasts only a little more than a day (in the beginning) then you are well over 500 cycles by now (after two years).

That said... This "lifetime" is the lifetime to about 80% of the original capacity. The phone should still be usable with more than day of batterylife at 80%. On the other hand, once a battery degrades to 80%, quickly thereafter things go really quickly downhill.

I personally don't like to charge that often. So I take care to disable GPS once I'm done with it. This means that my MOTO G lasted about 6 days on a battery (or say 3 days to 50%). That means that it would take 3000 days (500*6) for it to reach end-of-life. My new "Redmi 6", lasts a bit less, but still about 3 days, so 1500 days or about 4 years to 500 (full) cycles.

The MOTO had a bug that killed the original battery quite quickly, the replacement chinese clone held out much longer/better.

 

[and_youf]

Thank you for that information am I interested in lithium batteries (was wondering recently why the AAs in a pack of Energizer Ultimate's were lighter/why when the device dies with them in it's sudden not a slow drop off..led me down a bit of an internet search). I was going to say 500 cycles seems horribly short but I see what you mean with the percentage degradation.

Thing is I am not a heavy user of the phone (galaxy s7) at all and was flying through battery. Did a factory reset which I don't know why I avoided for two years because it's so easy and it is much, much better, ~36 hours. And now like you mentioned later I'm avoiding wasting cycles on a phone that just needed a reset. Not getting six days though, that is impressive. Or three days for that matter. When I do replace I'll just get the battery and that suction cup tool thing off Amazon, watch a YT video, and do it myself. Cut off the protection plan a few months ago it is a waste IMO. At least for my usage.

Finally got a wireless charger over black Friday so I "like" charging for about another week until that novelty wears off then hate again. MOTO G, six days is impressive with only GPS turned off. I've only seen that when everything is turned to full battery saver, low res screen, etc. I needed to get my dad something to replace an aging S4 and was debating between G6 or X4. Got unlocked X4 took to Sprint was painless. So far I really like it he does not but it's not the phone it is the transition from Lollipop to Oreo. I haven't been able to test battery life yet. Estimates of time remaining from full I think were giving two-three days.

Ha, it's nice/sad that the chinese clone is doing better than the original. That's the way to go. Smartphone industry is a racket. My s7 was in the $700's years ago. That was "on sale" and with an upgrade discount/plan renewal. It's now worth $150 on eBay. That's ridiculous. I'd rather baby it like I do and keep it for a long time or get a cheaper unlocked phone if I want the latest thing. Don't need to make a fashion statement with an S9. Used to be when you sign your two-year contract you then pay a very discounted price to own the phone. Now it's lease which I don't like at all or buy phone for outrageous price.

I do wish I would have waited for the S8 which I think is better than the S7 or S9. Since I am now eligible for full upgrade discounts an S9 would be $400 (Sale!) in lease payments to not own it after 18 months or $800 to buy. There's actually a refurbished S7 on my upgrade page they want $290 for it. I guarantee they would offer little more than $100 for mine on a trade. The whole unlocked phone process was great I'll never get from carrier again. Even if I stay with Samsung the open market isn't ripping off on prices for the S9 like the carrier does. Wow that's one huge wall of text sorry.