That Annoying Lingering 100% Battery

[KPMcClave]

I guess this may be a pretty trivial complaint, but I have a hunch it's a bit more.

The way-too-long-to-be-believable 100% battery charge on the G4 is starting to get on my nerves a bit. If it just lingered at 100% and then jumped (i.e. went from 100%/0% per hour to 96%/2% per hour suddenly) and discharged normally after that, it would be one thing. However, my sense is that once it starts displaying a charge at less than 100%, the discharge rate increases ridiculously. In no time, I've gone from 1.something% per hour to 6+% per hour. Maybe it's a glitchy thing, or maybe it's intentional to give a false sense of battery life/drain?

I haven't done scientific studies of drain cycles, but my opinion after having the G4 for 3 months and paying fairly close attention to such things, is that you'll see 100% charge for too long, then a very gradual drain, then all of a sudden a jump to where the thing is indicating that 6+% an hour drain all of a sudden.

As I said, this is fairly anecdotal, not actual data driven, but it is something I watch and seems to keep happening. I also understand that maybe this is tied to my own usage patterns. I suspect something else is going on, though.

I recall someone posting a while back that prior generations of the G series did the same sort of thing. At least the longer than expected 100% state.

Agree? Disagree? Thoughts? Observations? Guesses?

 

[lostchild]

On standby, it is draining very slow. My G4 was at 15% last night after 60+ hours with 1.5 hours of SoT. I was sick at home so the phone didn't have to do much but still that's pretty awesome. This morning I was catching up on all the Apple news and spent about 30 mins reading Flipboard and at the end.. I was till at 100% charge from the overnight. I am not sure I believe the 100% charge... I would think it is more like 99 or 98%. I did notice it stays at 100% for a unbelievable amount of time whenever I charged it to full.

 

[RedOctobyr]

Maybe it's a glitchy thing, or maybe it's intentional to give a false sense of battery life/drain?

I wouldn't put that past them.

It gives an extra-good impression of battery life. Especially for things like "I left my charged phone unplugged for 8 hours and it only dropped 1%!". Yeah, but that's first "1%" is really more like 5% of the actual battery, let's say. So you shouldn't infer that you'll get 800 hours of standby, in this hypothetical example.

But really, IMO, all it does is confuse things. Even things like a %/hour consumption reading in GSam, etc, get thrown off by this.

It could be innocuous and accidental, but I have some difficulty believing that, unfortunately.

 

[JayWill]

Yeah my G2 did the same thing. I just got used to it. After just under 2 years with the G2 and now a month with the G4, I've concluded that LG's software just does a bad job with battery consumption metrics and future usage estimates.

Hopefully it's something they can improve in future builds.

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[belodion]

Conversely to the G4, I have to be quick to see that 100% indication on my fully-charged Nexus 5....very soon after unplugging, it drops to 99%.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Mikey47]

Instead of thinking LG is trying to deceive us all, could it also not be that the stated capacity of the battery is 3000mAh, but in reality it may actually be a little more and thus 100% is listed until it gets down to 2832 (99.4%)?

Of course I could be completely off my rocker as I know nothing about batteries other than they are a necessary evil.

 

[RedOctobyr]

I don't think so. All lithium batteries of a given chemistry charge to the same voltage, regardless of capacity (3000mAh, 3500, etc). And the displayed capacity % is based on the battery's voltage.

Fully charged is about 4.40V. Mine keeps displaying 100% until it drops to 4.25V. 98% happens at 4.16V. I think the capacity calculation should show 99% at a higher voltage, not waiting for 4.25V.

 

[TNCattleDog]

IMHO, I really think it is the battery meter determining the rate of change over the first hour or so to get a more accurate reading. Once the rate of change is calculated the meter seems to stay more accurate. You can compare this with an independent app like GSam which would have nothing to gain by listing false results.

I have had other android phones do the same thing, my G2 included. It does appear to me though, that it stays at 100% longer if I charge the battery with the phone off and then turn the phone on before unplugging the charger cable.

I am not concerned with what the battery meter tells me as long as I get enough juice to make it through the work day.

David

 

[RedOctobyr]

If you could apply a consistent-amperage load to the battery, you could figure out your own discharge curve fairly accurately. Observe the battery voltage vs time, and come up with a voltage map such that the displayed % drops at a uniform rate. Of course, this wouldn't do much good, if you couldn't override the phone's built-in map.

This issue becomes somewhat misleading for someone trying to estimate their SOT, for instance. If you drain 25% and have 1 hour of SOT, you might think you'll get 4 hours, but really you'll get less than that, because you've really used more than 25%.

A battery-benchmark app that starts at 100%, and drains maybe 5-10%, for instance, will also show skewed results. The impact is reduced if the test drains more of the battery, fortunately.

 

[KPMcClave]

IMHO, I really think it is the battery meter determining the rate of change over the first hour or so to get a more accurate reading. Once the rate of change is calculated the meter seems to stay more accurate. You can compare this with an independent app like GSam which would have nothing to gain by listing false results.

I have had other android phones do the same thing, my G2 included. It does appear to me though, that it stays at 100% longer if I charge the battery with the phone off and then turn the phone on before unplugging the charger cable.

I am not concerned with what the battery meter tells me as long as I get enough juice to make it through the work day.

David

I do use GSam and it's with it that I've noticed the issue we're discussing. I haven't done a strict side by side comparison of the built in battery monitor, but anytime I've noted it's stats, they seem to be in line with what I see with GSam.

I haven't noticed any difference in charging with the phone on or off, myself. I agree the most important thing is the phone making it through the day.

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Soreloser]

First world problems...

I am just happy the battery lasts a full day with my usage. Significantly better than the HTC One M7 I used for a couple years but not as good as the Note 4 my wife is now using.

Mine seems to drop from 100% to 99% in the first 15-20 minutes after I take it off the charger.

 

[KPMcClave]

Conversely to the G4, I have to be quick to see that 100% indication on my fully-charged Nexus 5....very soon after unplugging, it drops to 99%.

I've seen that before, too. I think my Droid Turbo was like that. It didn't bother me much with the battery on that thing.

 

[KPMcClave]

Fully charged is about 4.40V. Mine keeps displaying 100% until it drops to 4.25V. 98% happens at 4.16V. I think the capacity calculation should show 99% at a higher voltage, not waiting for 4.25V.

I'm still at 100% right now. 1 hour 22 min off charger, 27:26 SoT. 4.26V.

Later in the day (discharge cycle), that amount of SoT will increase my hourly drain noticably.

 

[Almeuit]

Mod Note - Please keep it civil. If you don't care for a post you do not have to respond and are encouraged to move along.

Thanks.

 

[Almeuit]

@KP - My G4 did this when I had it as well. My iPhone 6+ also did when I had it. It is just a dead zone within the battery that takes some time before it catches up to the "real life". I noticed it just as you did .. I was sitting there and I was like "There is no way after 20 minutes of browsing I am still at 100%" lol.

 

[Aquila]

The battery percentage registered by the system is not a precise measurement, but rather an approximation based on a algorithm calculated by measurement of battery temperature, voltage and a matrix comparing the relationship of the battery capacity to the recent history of that particular device.

 

[TNCattleDog]

I look at it this way, Filled my tank up yesterday and drove 49 miles the last two days. Avg MPG is 19.4 mpg but my fuel gauge is still sitting on "Full". I know I've used at least 2.5 gallons of fuel so it should have dropped below full but it hasn't. My trip computer still says 341 miles remaining until empty.

Like my G4 which shows 100% for at least an hour, my Infiniti shows a full tank for at least the first 55 miles. Nothing is perfect. What matters most though, is that the battery meter and fuel gauge are accurate as I get closer to empty.

David

 

[KPMcClave]

What matters most though, is that the battery meter and fuel gauge are accurate as I get closer to empty.

Absolutely, David. I thought it was implied in my original post, but that is what worries me in a sense. That if the charge info isn't accurate at the start, is it the rest of the discharge cycle, and what does that mean potentially?

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[TNCattleDog]

My analogy isn't the greatest but I should have added; as my car computes the mileage, the average fuel economy levels out. But, depending on my driving habits, the distance to empty varies greatly. I do know that with my regular driving back and forth to work, I can get about 350 miles out of a tank.

To put that into perspective with my phone, on days I work, the battery meter sits on 100% for less than an hour. Probably because I connect to my cars bluetooth on my way in which will drain it a bit faster. My network signal at work is less than optimal - I'm in a large, older hospital with all kinds of wireless signal flying around - so my battery tends to drop faster and I can get through a 12 hour day with about 50% left over which is comfortable for me. But, that varies sometimes and I'm not sure why but some days I'm down to 30% at the end of my day.

At home, I'm in a pretty strong Verizon area and don't do much with my phone for the first couple hours. A little browsing, check some email and skim through G+. It will sit on 100% for at least two hours if not more.

So my thought is, at first, its just figuring out the rate of change before it actually starts subtracting from the meter which makes the % drop more accurate from there on out. It is odd though, because the other day at work it still showed 100% at least 3 hours into my day.

David

 

[RedOctobyr]

I've never done any testing to look into this. But I'll admit my assumption has been that the phone basically just used the voltage to determine what %-remaining to show.

It would seem to me that it shouldn't make %-display decisions based on your usage pattern at the very beginning of the battery. Capacity is capacity, and whether you're draining quickly at the beginning, or slowly, I'd think it should still display capacity the same way. Unlike a car, it's not trying to display remaining-miles (or hours of use), which *would* be influenced by your usage pattern (range when towing at 90 mph will be very different than cruising at 55 mph, likewise gaming at full brightness, vs sitting idle with a dim screen). It's just trying to tell you how much of your tank is left.

TNCattleDog, you could observe your battery voltage using GSam, to see what voltage the battery is at when it goes to displaying 99%. To see if this usually happens at the same voltage, or if it evaluates your usage first, and changes at different voltages.

Or Battery Monitor Widget would likely make things easier, as it records a history that you can look through. So even if you weren't watching (or had the screen off) when it went to 99%, you can still find that data point, and check the battery's voltage at the time.