Last effort before i sell it

[Goldchamp]

Even a crappy 3g signal will destroy a battery. I'm sure that's the main issue here. Inconsistent signals. I work in the field where sometimes i lose 3g off and on, on every phone I have owned (and it has been alot) battery charges usually last 75% less than with a consistent signal.

 

[potermac]

My bionic had data loss issues until we got 4g. Its been perfect for over a month now.

 

[projektorboy]

In the Android world, the #1 and #2 ways of conserving battery are to turn off auto-sync and to make sure that background apps aren't pulling data like crazy without telling you.

When it comes to the Bionic, I keep mine in CDMA only, and turn on LTE only when I need it. I can make it last about 7-9 hours on heavy-ish usage that way. If I had an extended battery I could probably not worry about plugging it in until bedtime.

 

[Pur3vil]

For me, the battery life is linked to signal searching. I can kill my extended battery before I leave work, if I don't manage my radio/GPS connections while in the office. Because my area of the building is a Verizon dead zone, when I get in I turn on airplane mode (since I get no signal anyway), and turn off my GPS since it really cannot penetrate the building either. I then turn Wi-Fi back on. The only issue that I have then is when I move around the building and switch between Wi-Fi routers. Following this routine saves about 70% of my battery over a 9 hour period.

Or I just plug it in while I'm sitting at my desk and I don't worry about it....

 

[Geezer Squid]

Here's what helped me:

Battery Life – BY: NoBloatware on DF

If you are having short battery life:

Consider doing a factory reset. Do not sync apps, wifi connections, etc. with Google services as that may cause a problem. Install all apps and wifi connections from scratch. A bit of a pain, but not too bad.- install a home/launcher replacement. I use Go Launcher EX, which is free, and I love it. No reason not to try out an alternative launcher as you can always go back to how you had it.

- Don't use an automatic task killer--not even the one that comes with the phone. Reboot your phone and look at what's running. If anything that you've installed is running and there's no reason for it, then uninstall it and find an alternative that behaves. Ignore any stock apps that run on boot as I've found them to be more or less benign.

- Weather widgets, live wallpapers, news/social feeds, any app or service that you use that runs--do without it if you can. If you can’t do without it, lengthen it’s refresh time.

- Don't use antivirus

- Set your WIFI sleep policy to never. The default is "turn off when screen turns off". This will cause the wifi to reconnect every time you open the phone. From any Home Screen select Menu/Settings/Wireless & Networks/ and then use the Menu button to see some new options - select Advanced. Then select Wifi Sleep Policy and set it to Never. Home key to return to Home Screen.

- If you have access to wifi, leave it toggled on as it is more efficient than 3G. Wifi consumes less battery power than 3G.

- I leave GPS toggled on too by the way. Apps use it as needed. When I'm done with Maps or an app that uses it, I'm sure to return to the home screen so GPS can stop. Under wireless settings turn on "Google location services" so that an app is able to use network resources to get your location instead of GPS. I have "VZW location services" turned off--don't know why that option is even there. By the way, I increase the speed of voice output > text to speech > speech rate because I like the directions to get spit out faster. That saves a bit of battery. Turning off the display and just listening for directions help. Also, often I just get the directions and then exit back to the home screen: GPS uses so much battery I try to get it over with ASAP.

- When you get a 1) new battery, 2) do a factory reset, or 3) an OS upgrade - run your battery all the way down until the phone shuts off and then charge the battery all the way up. This will calibrate the phone's understanding of the battery's capacity. Do this once every month or two also, but don't do it too often if you can help it.

- I have my battery set to "Performance Mode" and data is on all the time because I am on call 24x7. If you don't mind, try out a more conservative battery profile to save more gobs of energy.

- Set screen brightness to "Automatic"

- Under Accounts, click on any account listed and turn off sync for any items that you're not interested in syncing. For example, Google Books if you don't use it. Don't use Backup Assistant--I prefer syncing my contacts with Google. You don't need both. Also go into your contacts > menu > display options > backup assistant > UNCHECK. Also do contacts > menu > more > settings > contact storage > and select your Google account and "remember this choice"

- Turn on Bluetooth only when you are going to use it.

- Consider turning off voice privacy. This may not be a big deal but it will save some processing (and therefore battery). It may also improve call quality.

-T off haptic feedback, animations, and any un-needed sounds in Android settings and in your apps

- Set your screen timeout to as low a time as you can stand (I use 1 minute) and manually turn the screen off when you’ve finished using the phone.

- Turn off in-pocket detection

- Keyboard: turn off vibrate on key press and sounds for any keyboards you use

- Use a red or black screen background. On the original Droid screen--not sure about this Bionic screen--red was the most efficient color that could be displayed.

- Camera app: I like keeping location on and flash on auto. Consider turning location off or at least returning to the home screen ASAP when using camera if location for camera is on.

- In stock browser the default home page is Google and it uses your location. This is a bad idea as it can waste your battery for no reason. Make something else your home page and make sure to close any web page that uses your location when you're done viewing it.

- Charge your phone via the wall charger instead of computer USB as it is faster. Also, don't use long USB cords--use regular power extension cords instead. I stick with the charger that came with the phone. Put the phone on charger when you go to bed every night.

- Consider install the Home Replacement app Zeam. It is basic app that uses very few resources and will help with battery power.

 

[jjsaw5]

I honestly think it comes down to this: cell phone batteries are not ready for 4G LTE. Simple as that. Or 4G LTE isn't ready for cell phone batteries. One or the other. I have the same issue. I take it off the charger at 8 am, I'm at 20% at 4 pm. This is with a standard battery and the phone basically on my desk all day - probably about 20-30 texts and checking email for about 10 minutes, then maybe 10-20 minutes of phone calls. I've decided to give up on 4G for the time being, until a standard battery can last me through the day.

I think you have hit the nail on the head with this one. I didn't want to disable 4G beacuse what's the point in having a 4G phone if you don't use it or turn it off?

Well...I've turned the 4G off and have so far(did this last night) I've notice improvement. How much so is to be determined. I'm going to run with 3G and keep switching to 4G when i need it.

I plan on running with most of my data updates (Facebook, Twitter, E-mail) to all be manual like they were on 4G and then i'll try a day with having them update every 1-2 hours and see how that goes.

I'll report back by the end of the week for anyone interested in what I find out.

 

[shadowsjc]

I usually keep 4G off when I'm at home or school/office, and turn it back on if I'm outside

 

[leaddog128]

I use an app called Juice Defender and it has made a world of difference in my battery life...

 

[jjsaw5]

I use an app called Juice Defender and it has made a world of difference in my battery life...

I've heard of this and seen it in the Market but don't really know much about it and what benifits it yeilds. Care to elaborate on what you can do with it?


To go back to my last post about trying the 3G, this seems to have been the issue. I am now making it easily through the day with heavy usage on 3G.

I also attempted to go back and forth between 4G and 3G, this was a little more taxing on the battery but still got me almost through and entire day (6am-7pm when i leave for work and when i return home).

Will continue to experiment with differnet things and post back when i can.

Thanks everyone for your input!

 

[freeky1]

It's really odd that you cannot make it through the day on the extended battery. I am a moderate user, and my LTE and BT stay turned on 24/7, and when I connect my phone to the charger at night, I usually still have about 60% left.

 

[leaddog128]

I haven't used Juice Defender for too long and keep it on the balanced profile but from what I can tell it turns off 4G while the the phones screen is off and turns it back on when the screen is on. It has almost doubled my battery life on both my extended battery and the normal battery. On the stock battery, I will last about 12-14 hours with medium use with everything turned on. Hope that helps...

 

[DaleGriggs]

I was having the same problem and had Juice Defender installed. I installed Green Power and have not had an issue since then. I didn't need the Pro Version because it is for night time and I just leave it plugged in all night.
You might give ity a try, it is free.

 

[jjsaw5]

I haven't used Juice Defender for too long and keep it on the balanced profile but from what I can tell it turns off 4G while the the phones screen is off and turns it back on when the screen is on. It has almost doubled my battery life on both my extended battery and the normal battery. On the stock battery, I will last about 12-14 hours with medium use with everything turned on. Hope that helps...

Sounds good! Thanks for the response. What profile are you using with Juice? Balanced?

 

[mobrules]

I spoke with Verizon rep today and they stated Motorola pushed out the phone with a junk 3G radio. I am really disappointed by this. They also said the Razr and the upcoming Droid 4 have the same exact radio.

I returned the Bionic because of the data signal issue. The phone itself was great but useless if I could not get email. I keep hoping that there is a fix but they even said the upcoming update will not solve it for everyone. They said the issue really only affects locations that are on the outskirts of a 4G area.

 

[viper8315]

I spoke with Verizon rep today and they stated Motorola pushed out the phone with a junk 3G radio. I am really disappointed by this. They also said the Razr and the upcoming Droid 4 have the same exact radio.

I returned the Bionic because of the data signal issue. The phone itself was great but useless if I could not get email. I keep hoping that there is a fix but they even said the upcoming update will not solve it for everyone. They said the issue really only affects locations that are on the outskirts of a 4G area.

Ok, please don't spread this around. I sincerely doubt Motorola would put out crappy radio hardware. The issue we are seeing is a bigger problem than just the bionic. I quick google search yielded this article: Dear Verizon: Your 4G Phones Have Data Connectivity Problems, And It’s Really Pissing Everyone Off

I also found a few other hits as well. Honestly, being an engineer, this is a software problem (phone and/or network) that will get fixed at some point. If it was hardware, well frankly, the situation would be A LOT worse. Whatever rep told you this clearly doesn't know the whole story, or does, and doesn't want to admit to a Verizon problem. It's a lot easier to just blame the phone.

Personally, I'm happy with my Bionic. I leave my 4G off, as when I'm at home & work, I'm on WIFI. When I'm out, I only turn on 4G if I need it. In the rare occurance of a data drop, a quick toggle to airplane mode fixes it for me.