Nexus Battery Concerns

[Fairclough]

That's a shame, least you would get a free work phone. Do you really get segways at work? because I saw pics of the an office with slides and fireman poles. God that would be fun.
So without being Bias would you view the battery life is reasonable and too many reviewers were expecting too much?

 

[Ziptied]

I would say reasonable. Its obviously not insanely good, but better than any nexus before it I'd say. Expectations are always too high for the time being, having a non removable battery is a tad inconvenient, but I've never owned a spare battery for any phone I've owned so I could see some being a tad annoyed. Battery life is one of those subjective things, its very relative to usage, conditions, screen brightness, apps, battery conditioning, etc etc. For me its still not what I'd like but better than anything before it.

 

[Ziptied]

Oh and 4.2 does some better power usage optimizations than 4.1 did

 

[Winterfang]

Thanksgiving will mark 2 months of my N4. I get a good amount more life from it than my galaxy nexus got with the OEM extended battery. Optimization shows for battery life with a marked and noticeable improvement. I only charge it every two days and I use moderately throughout the day and heavily at night.

 

[raazman]

Oh and 4.2 does some better power usage optimizations than 4.1 did

Can we get a screenshot of your screen time before you charge (~2 days like you said)? Thanks!

 

[jian9007]

Until we start seeing final release versions (actually sold to consumers) that have final software builds, we can't pay much attention to any tests. Also, even in some of the tests where reviewers and others are talking about battery life, their charts show it performing on par with GS3. As they both have similar sized screens (4.7" vs. 4.8") with 720p, along with 2100mAh batteries, it not a surprise. I think the real world battery life will be decent in the final release of the N4. It will also take a few weeks of living with it before you can really get a fair judgement of how long it lasts on average.

 

[Ziptied]

As part of my confidentiality agreement im actually prohibited from posting screen shots, benchmarks, etc. I love you guys and I really do, but I love my job and family more, so I can't and hope you understand.

 

[onthecouchagain]

I personally think Google made a mistake releasing early review units without final software build.

It's wrecking havoc on benchmarks and battery tests, giving a ton of varying results across different credible reviews. What a mess. The average consumer, who doesn't understand or frankly care about "unfinished software," will simply see the blemishes of "poor battery" and be turned off by the device. The rest of us more tech-savvy will know Google will patch up the final software.

But this is a huge misstep in trying to market and brand the Nexus smartphone to the general masses, and make no mistake, that is Google's goal with a more premium product and low entry unlock price. You're not going to win a lot of people over with these sorts of reviews, early or not.

 

[spacemn_spiff]

I am a recent Android user who jumped from a jailbroken iPhone 4 to GSM Galaxy Nexus on ATT. I bought the Galaxy Nexus a month ago and I love the phone. After Android version ICS I thought that Android really started appealing compared to a jailbroken iPhone. Battery life on my Nexus compared to my two year old iPhone 4 is atrocious. From the battery monitor looks like the most of the battery juice is taken by the screen, which is set to auto just like the old iPhone. From what I understand the AMOLED screen is blame for that.
I am hoping to jump to the Nexus 4 because of hopeful better battery life because of LCD screen. But reviews have me doubtful of the upgrade. If battery life is not considerably improved compared to the Galaxy I might have to thinking about switching to iPhone 5.
Another issue missed in most critics reviews and user reviews is how fast does the phone charge. My old iPhone 4 and my wife's iPhone 5 can charge from 0 to100% in about 100 minutes on a wall charger or a car charger. Its roughly 1% a minute. Just this morning I charged my wife's iPhone 5 from 46% to 97% in ~45 minutes. Galaxy Nexus is atrocious in this regard too, my Samsung 1A wall charger or the car charger cannot charge the phone this fast, it probably takes 2-3 times as much to charge the phone. It will take a long time for me to charge my Nexus, and I am not even talking about charging it via USB plugged into a computer (~0.5A).
Slow charging makes the phone less useful and me paranoid of a dead phone when I need it the most - family emergency. Another area that Apple engineering excels and hardware software synergy is fast charging and slow discharging.

Gist of the long post is that I hope that Nexus 4 holds the charge longer and charges faster than the outgoing Galaxy.

 

[fiveodano]

Not sure if this was mentioned yet. But I hear lots of people complaining about battery life on this and other phones without a re-movable battery. What about this ZAGGsparq | Portable Chargers For Tablets, Smartphones & USB Devices | ZAGG as an option? I would rather carry this around than an extra battery as I can use it as a plug in re-charger as well.

Personally I don't really care much about a phones thickness if it comes at the expense of battery storage.

 

[khuzema]

LG Nexus 4 Battery Life Isn’t That Great At All : The Droid Guy

please read this , i dont know how accurate this might be , but i am really disappointed ...i am waiting for more reviews

 

[Fairclough]

Charging wireless would be slower then my the computer for those with that idea.

 

[vietmode]

EDIT: double posted.

 

[vietmode]

I personally think Google made a mistake releasing early review units without final software build.

It's wrecking havoc on benchmarks and battery tests, giving a ton of varying results across different credible reviews. What a mess. The average consumer, who doesn't understand or frankly care about "unfinished software," will simply see the blemishes of "poor battery" and be turned off by the device. The rest of us more tech-savvy will know Google will patch up the final software.

But this is a huge misstep in trying to market and brand the Nexus smartphone to the general masses, and make no mistake, that is Google's goal with a more premium product and low entry unlock price. You're not going to win a lot of people over with these sorts of reviews, early or not.

I think Google releasing unfinished software with different builds to review sites was a good idea, they get to see which builds were the best and what bugs they need to fix before launch. Of course you get bad reviews because all the sites compete with each other and want to get their review out first. As you can see where Android Central and Android Police used the device for about a week before releasing their very thought out and had way better reviews than many of the other sites (IMO) that only used the device for a couple days before releasing a review.

 

[Syrential]

LG Nexus 4 Battery Life Isn?t That Great At All : The Droid Guy

please read this , i dont know how accurate this might be , but i am really disappointed ...i am waiting for more reviews

I'm sick of websites quoting anandtech. It was one review so far that claimed a "low" battery life, most other reviews didn't complain about it.
Also the whole battery thing obviously is either because of wrong usage or because of the 4.2 software, a 2100mah battery will definitely not naturally drain that quickly, especially because the battery of the Nexus 4 is actually a Lithium-Polymer battery which quality is far above the Lithiun-Ion battery used in most other smartphones.

Also I am sick about reading that you can't change the battery. Honestly, if you want more juice then buy one of the battery adapters to charge your phone when travelling. It's by far more useful than having a second battery. Why? Because if you watch a video or listen to music, switching the battery will obviously power off your device, also you first need to buy a new battery for every new phone that you get, not to mention that charging a second battery is also ridiculous, unless you have some device that charges it for you.

 

[ahylianhuman]

Not sure if this was mentioned yet. But I hear lots of people complaining about battery life on this and other phones without a re-movable battery. What about this ZAGGsparq | Portable Chargers For Tablets, Smartphones & USB Devices | ZAGG as an option? I would rather carry this around than an extra battery as I can use it as a plug in re-charger as well.

Personally I don't really care much about a phones thickness if it comes at the expense of battery storage.

This. I wish manufacturers would stop their phobia of slightly thicker phones and put more of what matters into a device - battery life. You could have the world's thinnest smartphone all you want but that's not going to matter if the battery dies quickly.

 

[Rayzaa]

This. I wish manufacturers would stop their phobia of slightly thicker phones and put more of what matters into a device - battery life. You could have the world's thinnest smartphone all you want but that's not going to matter if the battery dies quickly.

They can put more in it. You can buy a 2900 mAh battery for the GS3 on eBay and it doesnt require a thicker back cover. It fits in the stock cover