Thunderbolt Battery Complaints + Tips/Tricks

[Spaniard85]

Got my seidio 1600 battery yesterday. charged it all night. Took it off the charger at 11 am (no bump)......its 12:37 at night and im at 51%.
Moderate to heavy use. Rooted to the perfect storm. I have NO idea why its so much better than the 3 hours till 20% i had earlier in the week....but its awesome

Got a link for that battery? Is it the same size as stock?

 

[Chilly818]

I've been unplugged for 4 hours this morning, 4G, one phone call, 5 texts, checked five emails, NO browsing, NO facebook, display on <25%, GPS OFF, BT OFF. Facebook, Foursquare, and Twitter are NOT refreshing and I'm at 19% on the battery.

I feel you on this. I walked into Verizon demanding a new phone and they said " oh, i'm sorry the sales rep didn't mention this phones battery life is extremely poor; you may want to look into the extended battery since this is a known issue.

 

[snackattacker]

Here's my observation. Hope it helps anyone.... I live in Houston, Tx where I have 4G coverage at all times. I had a Droid Inc and could not get a full day on stock battery. I ended up buying the extended battery.

When I got the Thunderbolt, I expected the same, but surprisingly found I was getting a full day (8 a.m. to 9 p.m.) on the Thunderbolt. I had it for 4 days with consistent results.

Then on Thur I had to fly to Atlanta... turned the phone on at 8 a.m., turned it off at 9 when I arrived at the airport, then back on at noon when I landed. By 2 p.m. my phone was dead.

For 2 days in Atlanta I had the same results...power on at 8 a.m. and it was dead by 2ish. When I returned to Houston, I'm back to full days.

This leads me to believe the battery issue is related to the 4G coverage. If your in a spotty area and it s shifting from 3 to 4G, the battery is killed. If you are in a consistent area, its stable.

 

[P7M8]

I feel you on this. I walked into Verizon demanding a new phone and they said " oh, i'm sorry the sales rep didn't mention this phones battery life is extremely poor; you may want to look into the extended battery since this is a known issue.

Went into the store and spoke to a guy I had dealt with in the past. He said there should be another OTA update coming although he couldn't say when. I want to root but don't want to miss any update that could help with the battery issue.

After charging mid-day today I got much better battery performance and stayed above 50% most of the day with normal use. Who knows what's going on with this battery. I thought maybe it was the charger (Droid charger @ home, I carry the HTC charger with me) I was using but he said he's using an old Blackberry charger at work and he's not having any issues.

 

[javadog#CB]

I think "racedog" is closer to the truth. Coming from a Storm1 for the last two years, I learned alot about configuring app management for performance. I've also explored all the available options to stretch my battery life, without going into all the steps that have already been covered, the best I've got with minimal use is 4-5 hrs. Called VZ support, documented to them my experience, and got the OK for a new battery. Walking into the store with complaints usually results in the "bums rush". Those reps are getting inundated with complaints. I always get better service calling CS, then they note your account, have you go to a company store to pick up replacements. This a great phone, amazing in fact, they will back their claims. Just my 2 cents.

 

[shley00]

As soon as I turned friend stream off the battery got a lot better.

Definitely makes a huge difference

 

[Jace]

Definitely makes a huge difference

How did you turn off friend stream? Is never signing into it and deleting the widget from the screen good enough? Or do you need to tweak the setting somewhere?

 

[P7M8]

My submission to HTC regarding the battery and their response

Thunderbolt Battery

I really like the device but the battery performance is abysmal. I bought the extended battery (shouldn't have to spend the $50.00 extra) and it works fine but is not convenient due to the lack of cases available and you can't use the car dock with it.

So far today...I've been unplugged for 4 hours; 4G, one phone call, 5 texts, checked five emails, NO browsing, NO facebook, display on <25%, GPS OFF, BT OFF. Facebook, Foursquare, and Twitter are NOT refreshing and I'm at 19% on the battery.

I've tried the "Bump Charging". I do it every chance I can. It doesn't seem to help.

I'm contemplating returning the device in favor for the Moto Bionic due out in a few weeks. My former Moto Droid had a great battery. The VZW CS Rep yesterday didn't help things when she said I was pretty much out of luck when it came to the battery and if I wasn't happy I could return the phone for something else.

4 hours and 8 minutes and my phone just alerted me 15% at to connect to my charger.

I've been using "Smartphones" for 8 years now and have never experienced a battery issue like this.


Response

Dear xxxxxxx,

To be honest, I wish there was some setting I could tell you to adjust or application to download, or something, anything to fix this issue.
HTC is very conserned about this, about why Thunderbolts are not having good bad life. We are working very hard to get to the bottom of what is causing the poor battery life and will then work to resolve the issue as soon as possible. We appreciate your continued patience in this matter.

To send a reply to this message or let me know I have successfully answered your question log in to our ContactUs site using your email address and your ticket number 11U........1.

Sincerely,

Travis

HTC

 

[dubleaa]

Apps Running When Not Requested - killing battery!

Battery drain - I have tried to read posts on how to configure my TB to optimize battery life. I did the bump charge, tried to manage Auto-Sync in Accounts & sync yet when I go into 'Advanced Task Killer' I have 15 Apps showing as "Active" that will be killed. I didn't access any of them! How do I disable them or request that they remain idle until I select them for use? Isn't this what is killing my battery?
Example of Apps in list; Weather, Maps, Search Anywhere, VCAST Apps, Voice Dialer, Messenger, Mobile IM, VZ Navigator

An aside - how do I configure my email so they are sent more frequently than an autorefresh or 5 minutes? I am using Hotmail.

Confused and becoming Frustrated

 

[E90 Commie]

Battery drain - I have tried to read posts on how to configure my TB to optimize battery life. I did the bump charge, tried to manage Auto-Sync in Accounts & sync yet when I go into 'Advanced Task Killer' I have 15 Apps showing as "Active" that will be killed. I didn't access any of them! How do I disable them or request that they remain idle until I select them for use? Isn't this what is killing my battery?
Example of Apps in list; Weather, Maps, Search Anywhere, VCAST Apps, Voice Dialer, Messenger, Mobile IM, VZ Navigator

An aside - how do I configure my email so they are sent more frequently than an autorefresh or 5 minutes? I am using Hotmail.

Confused and becoming Frustrated

The principal way to battery saving is to root the device and remove all bloat. The best solution is to flash an unbloated ROM.

Then the power consumption can be reduced with SetCPU (underclock the CPU when screen is off), Juice Defender, disable - freeze - some HTC services (I'm not using Sense so I freeze it, the same applies to the lockscreen etc) and reduce the screen brightness. Another power saver is to disable 4G when it's not needed but I don't do that yet before there's a widget that can do it (like SwitchPro which I normally use).

It's recommended to use CurrentWidget to check the power consumption.

 

[Pzyborg]

The principal way to battery saving is to root the device and remove all bloat. The best solution is to flash an unbloated ROM.

Then the power consumption can be reduced with SetCPU (underclock the CPU when screen is off), Juice Defender, disable - freeze - some HTC services (I'm not using Sense so I freeze it, the same applies to the lockscreen etc) and reduce the screen brightness. Another power saver is to disable 4G when it's not needed but I don't do that yet before there's a widget that can do it (like SwitchPro which I normally use).

It's recommended to use CurrentWidget to check the power consumption.

There has been some comments by some users that stated that they did not see a big improvement in battery life after rooting. Just being able to get rid of the bloat is reason enough to root. They still had to do most of the same tweaks they had to do before rooting. My point is, I can understand having to compromise on some features and/or apps to get better performance from the battery, especially with 4G. But with the Thunderbolt it is a bit much! I mean I turn on my phone and I can't just start using it the way I'd like, I have to bump charge, stop some apps, constantly check my battery, etc. And even with all that I still get horrible battery life. Now granted I do think that the Droid X spoiled me, so I didn't expect the Thunderbolt to be anywhere near that category. But not this bad. A great phone but I can see all this bump charging, etc, getting old real quick. I'm pretty sure that I'll be returning mine tomorrow.

 

[obidos]

How did you turn off friend stream? Is never signing into it and deleting the widget from the screen good enough? Or do you need to tweak the setting somewhere?

I'd like to know the answer to this too... I've never used Friendstream but I see it as a widget.

 

[Pzyborg]

I'd like to know the answer to this too... I've never used Friendstream but I see it as a widget.

Just place it in the trash can.

 

[anonymous239411]

yesterday i was about to get 12-14 hrs out of the battery, (i got stuck at work doing a double) probably only used my phone for like 1.5-2hr total, drained out before my shift ended and i got stuck with a dead phone. I tried not to use it all day, but what good is a high tech smart phone that I bought to use if I'm only able to use it for 2hrs and then make a conscience effort not to use it all day. I had all connections like wifi and even mobile (only 3g coverage here) as well as all location services.

 

[Xharakov]

I was actually trying to drain my battery last night so I could get it down to the acceptable range for recharging (don't hate ) I had unplugged from the charger at 6:50am in the morning, and did a moderate amount of texting, Gtalk, web surfing, checking and writing email, Facebook, Android Market, etc throughout the day. At 6pm, I still had 60% battery (I am not in a 4G area).
My phone is not rooted, screen brightness was about 25%, only Google location service was on, 2 email accounts sync every hour, weather syncs every hour, Facebook syncs manually, screen timeout at 30 seconds. I turned wi-fi on and turned off 3G when I got home from work a little before 6, and used that until about 9, when I saw that battery was still over 50%. It seems to drain really slow when it hits that 50 or 60% mark.
So I turned on Verizon location service and GPS, set screen brightness to 100%, turned off wi-fi, turned on 3G, screen timeout to never, and got on the internet for about an hour, used Google maps, places, Android market, etc. Downloaded an app and installed.
At 11:30pm, phone was finally down to about 25 -28% so I plugged it into the charger and hit the sack. I've had the Tbolt for 10 days now, and for the first 5 or 6 days I was getting about 6 hours total out of the battery. For the last 3 or 4 days I did the bump charging thing that's been detailed here many times. It really seemed to do the trick and yesterday I had at least 25% battery after 16 hours up time and close to 6 hours awake time.
I really think the battery conditioning thing has merit when it comes to this phone, so try that before you throw in the towel on this beast!

 

[anonymous239411]

Unplugged today at around 545 its 907. I have about 61% battery remaining. With an awake time of 30 mins. This seems to happen only when I'm at building 1 of work

 

[obidos]

Just place it in the trash can.

thanks. I did that then I checked if it was still running - it was. I force stopped the service. hopefully it won't restart on its own.

 

[ClimbingDave]

Post newbie here. Have had Androids since G1 on T-mo but jumped their ship for TBolt and that ATT/Tmo acquisition going down.

I've had my TBolt for 9 days. The battery is very inconsistent - but per other posts, I downloaded "Info" from the Market, and manage my need for 4G vs 3G. I run in 3G 75% of the time. I also manage my screen brightness between 20% and 55% and that seems to help as well. I've been getting a solid 5 hours of life lately (surfing & phone). I want to buy that new 1600 battery seeing how its the same form factor.

 

[AstroStrat89]

I'm buying into the coverage effecting battery life. At home on wifi battery life is great, at one location at work I've got a good solid 4g and battery life is good. But at my down town location where at my desk I seem to be constantly going back and forth between 1x,3g,4g I have to pretty much have it plugged in to keep up with the battery drain.

I'll probably end up turning off 4g while downtown and see how it effects it.

 

[Pzyborg]

Post newbie here. Have had Androids since G1 on T-mo but jumped their ship for TBolt and that ATT/Tmo acquisition going down.

I've had my TBolt for 9 days. The battery is very inconsistent - but per other posts, I downloaded "Info" from the Market, and manage my need for 4G vs 3G. I run in 3G 75% of the time. I also manage my screen brightness between 20% and 55% and that seems to help as well. I've been getting a solid 5 hours of life lately (surfing & phone). I want to buy that new 1600 battery seeing how its the same form factor.

Do not buy that battery, you will be disappointed! Better off getting another 1400 mah. I suggest you give it a little time and some better solutions will present themselves, (i.e. firmware update, better battery which doesn't add bulk, etc).